Jasmina Burdzovic Andreas, Ph.D. - US grants

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project summary: While research shows that dysfunctional neighborhoods are often associated with multiple negative outcomes in adolescents (including substance use), not all individuals from such neighborhoods develop problem behaviors. Still, the specific mechanisms connecting dysfunctional neighborhoods with adolescent substance use, as well as with unexpected resilient outcomes have not been adequately explored in the literature. The proposed project aims to bridge this gap, by examining how adolescents' neighborhoods, families and their individual characteristics relate both positively and negatively to their substance use. We argue that through the process of social contagion, neighborhood dysfunction acts as an independent developmental risk, to directly promote anti-social problems among adolescents exposed to it. We also argue that there is a developmental progression of these anti-social problems, with adolescent substance use being preceded by school and behavioral problems. Finally, we argue that these negative associations between high-risk neighborhoods and adolescent outcomes can be alleviated by positive family relationships, which are a protective factor against neighborhood dysfunction. These hypotheses will be tested using the existing data from the Springfield Child Development Project (SCDP), a prospective longitudinal study of a community-representative sample of children and their mothers. The proposed R03 will analyze the final 2 SCDP assessments (T3 and T4; N =357, in which adolescent substance use was assessed), and will examine how neighborhoods, families, and adolescents' own behavior impact their substance use over a 1 year follow up period. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we will first determine whether T3 neighborhood dysfunction is a risk for adolescent substance use 1 year later, after controlling for prior substance use and demographics. Next, we will determine whether adolescents' other anti-social problems at T3 mediate the risk effect of T3 neighborhood dysfunction on T4 substance use. Finally, we will determine whether positive family relationships have protective effects against the risk of dysfunctional neighborhoods, by separately analyzing the associations between T3 neighborhood dysfunction, T3 anti-social problems, and T4 substance use in adolescents who (a) do have, and (b) do not have positive family relationships. Relevance: If risk effects of neighborhood dysfunction on substance use are lessened in adolescents with positive family relationships (compared to adolescents without such positive relationships), then support will be obtained for the hypothesis that positive family relationships are a protective factor against neighborhood dysfunction, buffering its risk effects and reducing the serious public health problem of adolescent substance use. Consequently, more informed preventive efforts can be developed and aimed at families from high-risk neighborhoods and at children who are at risk for, but have not yet engaged in substance use. [unreadable] [unreadable]

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The candidate, Dr. Jasmina Burdzovic Andreas, is seeking 5 years of support though the Mentored Career Development Award (K01) in order to (1) advance her understanding of adolescent substance use and abuse, (2) develop and expand an independent line of longitudinal research on risk and protective factors pertinent to etiology and epidemiology of substance use disorders among adolescent populations, and to (3) gain additional expertise in biostatistics and epidemiology as applied to the study of psychiatric disorders. The proposed award will provide the candidate with the training, mentoring, and research time necessary for the successful transition into the new fields of epidemiology and population mental health, and for the mastery of the relevant research methods. Specifically, Dr. Burdzovic Andreas aims to augment her existing training in developmental psychopathology and her methodologipal experience with longitudinal data to include epidemiologic approaches to the study of adolescent populations at risk, focusing primarily on substance use and abuse issues. Thus, the proposed K01 will allow Dr. Burdzovic Andreas to fully integrate her background in developmental psychopathology. Her existing statistical knowledge, and her continued research interest in the processes of risk and resilience with her long-term career goals of becoming an independent investigator concerned with epidemiology and etiology of adolescent substance use problems. The candidate will effectively take advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of her home institution department (Brown University, Department of Community Health) and its multiple research centers. She will work closely with a team of nationally recognized experts -- including Dr. Stephen Buka (primary mentor) and Drs. Joseph Hogan, Kristina Jackson, and Ronald Seifer (co-mentors) - who will support her in her training, research, and career development objectives. These objectives will be achieved though (1) additional training in substance use and misuse research, (2) the development of an independent line of research on adolescent substance use, which includes identifying and examining community-level factors associated with naturally-occurring desistence and cessation in substance use (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) among adolescents who had previously engaged in such behaviors, and (3) acquisition of further expertise in advanced biostatistics, longitudinal and epidemiologic research methods. The proposed research component will utilize data on adolescents from two existing longitudinal and community-representative data sets: (1) Springfield Child Development Project (SCDP, N = 357; Age range: 12-18) and (2) Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN, N = 2,976; Age range: 9-24). Together, these two data sets will allow for examination of different longitudinal profiles of adolescent substance use and abuse, as well as of identification of unique constellations of broader ecological factors associated with naturally occurring reductions in these problems - ultimately informing prevention and treatment efforts. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]