A Mentored Scientist Development Award for New Minority Faculty is requested to enable the applicant to examine the role of parent and child attachment in the social emotional development of young (age 12-14 months) American Indian children. The ultimate goal is to gain the skills to design and implement a longitudinal program of research to investigate the long-term impact of parental attachment status and early attachment relationships between parent and child on later emotional and behavioral outcomes for the child. The applicant's background in clinical psychology, research with Native populations, clinical work with Native populations, American Indian background, and affiliation with an established research center for American Indian and Alaska Native mental health provide an excellent foundation for the career development plan and program of research outlined in this proposal. A group of nationally recognized scholars in the fields of early childhood social emotional development, attachment, cross-cultural research, qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, and longitudinal research will provide intensive mentoring and consultation. The goals of the proposed award include: 1) the study of early childhood social emotional development; 2) training in the use of attachment-related research measures and attachment theory; 3) training in the use of qualitative research methodology; 4) advanced training in quantitative data analytic techniques; and 5) training in the design and implementation of longitudinal research. The data for the proposed research will be collected over the course of three years. Eighty expectant mothers will be recruited from a Northern Plains reservation. They will be interviewed prior to the birth of their child and again when their children are 12-14 months old. The relationship between maternal attachment status pre-birth (as measured by the AAI) and infant attachment status (as measured by the Strange Situation) and social emotional development at 12 months will be examined within the larger socio-cultural context.
| Sarche, Michelle; Spicer, Paul (2008) Poverty and health disparities for American Indian and Alaska Native children: current knowledge and future prospects. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1136:126-36 |
