Paul Florsheim - US grants

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): The proposed summer undergraduate research program is designed to facilitate the development of minority scholars and generally increase the representation of minorities in psychological science. Eight promising undergraduates from Underrepresented populations will participate in an eight week research program. Trainees will attend a seminar on research and professional issues and participate directly in the research activities of faculty mentors. During the final week of the program, trainees will present their research at a poster session, provide a formal oral presentation of their project, and submit an APA style paper on their findings. Trainees will live on campus in a University dormitory and engage in various social and recreational activities aimed at facilitating their adjustment to their summer environment. The specific objectives of the training program are to: a) provide intensive hands-on research experience in the psychological sciences; b) develop research skills; c) develop skills in the written and oral communication of research findings; d) increase trainees self-confidence in their scholarly abilities; e) expose students to a range of research opportunities in psychology; f) increase trainees preparation for graduate school; g) help trainees acquire the credentials necessary for entrance into the graduate program of their choice; h) encourage students to pursue research and academic careers in the behavioral and neurosciences. Follow-up interviews will be used to assess the long-term effectiveness of the program for facilitating mental health research activities among underrepresented minorities.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this study is to evaluate a preventive-intervention program designed to help pregnant adolescents and their partners make a successful transition to parenthood, defined in terms of the quality of their co-parenting relationship and their functioning as parents. The importance of developing such a program is underscored by the large numbers of young couples who have serious problems maintaining a successful co-parenting relationship and the need for innovative interventions for reducing the well known risks associated with both dysfunctional co-parenting and adolescent parenthood. This flexible 5-10 week intervention will be administered prior to childbirth and will focus on the development of interpersonal skills and improving the quality of the relationship. The interpersonal focus of the intervention program is based on several preliminary studies of young couples making the transition to parenthood and a review of previous research on couples therapy, adolescent interpersonal development, and interpersonally based models of prevention and intervention. The study design will be a randomized prevention trial in which 90 expectant couples will be recruited from a university based clinic providing services to pregnant teenagers and assigned to one of two groups. Sixty couples will be recruited to participate in the intervention and 30 couples will serve as controls. The project will be divided into three phases. The first phase will focus on refining the intervention protocol, developing a manual, and training therapists (interventionists). The second phase will include (a) participant recruitment, (b) collecting baseline data, focusing primarily on the couple's relationship, (c) administering the program to the intervention group, and (d) collecting the first wave of follow-up data at six weeks post birth. The first follow up will focus on changes in the quality of the couples' relationships. The third phase of the study will include a preliminary evaluation of program effects and a second follow up focusing on parental functioning at 18 months post birth. Primary analyses will focus on testing the effects of program participation on the quality of co-parenting relationships and the quality of parental functioning, defined in terms of parenting attitudes, parenting stress and observed parenting behavior.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Researchers have proposed that both genetic and environmental factors can contribute to the development of psychosis during adolescence and young adulthood. Individuals identified as being at high genetic risk for schizophrenia may not develop the disorder if they possess skills for coping with initial symptoms and reducing associated stressors. Understanding how to facilitate resilience and support protective factors among adolescents at risk for schizophrenia has implications for many individuals and communities because schizophrenia occurs across societies. Developing preventive-intervention models for schizophrenia is particularly important for regions of the world where the genetic risk for schizophrenia is particularly high and the medical resources for managing the illness are scarce. For example, the Republic of Palau is an isolated island nation with a population at heightened risk for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (Myles- Worsley et al., 1999). This population provides an excellent opportunity for testing preventive-intervention models because (a) the genetic risk status of individuals has been previously identified and (b) the government of Palau is eager to develop nonstigmatizing strategies to address the problem. The goals of the proposed project are to build capacity among Palauan health care providers to conduct intervention research and to pilot an existing preventive-intervention program for the first time among Palauan adolescents at-risk for psychotic disorders. The first year of the project would involve research training workshops, a clinical training workshop, and a workshop in culturally sensitive protocol development. The second year would involve pilot testing a Palauan-adapted preventive-intervention program on a small sample of high-risk youth (n=30). The training component of the grant is designed for Palauan health care providers and will utilize datasets previously collected from Palauan adolescents at-risk for psychotic disorders (Myles-Worsley et al., 1999). This project represents an international collaboration between psychologists and physicians with a wide range of expertise (e.g. preventive-intervention, adolescent treatment, public health, research education, schizophrenia and psychosis). The long-term goal of the project is to build research capacity in a developing nation and to test strategies for conducting a large scale preventive-intervention study targeting adolescents at heightened risk for psychosis, living in isolated regions of the world. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]