This K award will be integral in the development of Dr. Sigel's career, which is focused on youth violence detection and intervention in the primary care setting. Dr. Sigel will work with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, under the primary mentorship of Dr. Terence Thornberry. To become an independent researcher in this field, the candidate has identified several skill sets that need enhancement, including: improving knowledge of psychometric properties of screening tools, improving ability to conduct longitudinal, randomized control intervention trials, learning skills to evaluate program implementation, increasing understanding of what interventions work for youth violence intervention, and understanding the interface between violence as a public health problem and how the medical setting can be used to address this issue. A combination of working at the CSPV, taking didactic classes, interfacing with the community, and carrying out the proposed research project will accomplish this. Long term career goals include: 1) becoming an independent clinical investigator in the field of youth violence assessment and intervention;2) studying and implementing evidence-based interventions at the primary care level to decrease morbidity and mortality from youth violence and 3) establishing a center of excellence in youth violence assessment and treatment, in collaboration with community partners. The research project is: Assessing Predictive Validity at 1 and 2 Years of the Violence Injury, Protection and Risk Screening Tool for Primary Care.
Specific Aim : Determine the predictive validity at one and two years of the Violence Injury, Protection and Risk Screening (VIPRS) Tool that identifies youth at risk for future violence involvement (aggression, violence perpetration, violence victimization, and injury from violence).Methods: An initial cohort of 165 youth, and 131 parents have been enrolled to evaluate the reliability and validity of the VIPRS cross-sectionally. This proposed study will examine the future predictive validity of the VIPRS by assessing the initial cohort of youth and parents at one and two year follow-up from initial enrollment. Questionnaires evaluating aggression and victimization will be administered, as well as repeating the VIPRS. Chart review will be done at one and two year follow-up to determine whether the primary care practitioner diagnosed any behavior related to violence involvement, or any violence related injury. Analysis The predictive validity of the VIPRS will be examined using multivariate linear or logistic regression analysis to determine whether:1) the VIPRS baseline scores are associated with violent behavior occurring between baseline and the one-year and two year follow-up interview;and 2) change in VIPRS scores from baseline to one-year is associated with violent behavior occurring between the one-year follow-up interview and the two-year follow-up interviews, adjusted for baseline VIPRS scores. Project Narrative/Relevance: This project is vital to the public health issue of youth violence. Primary care health professionals have not been actively involved in treating youth violence, mostly because it is time consuming and challenging to recognize youth at risk. By creating an easy to administer screening tool, health professionals will be able to recognize, and ultimately intervene before youth suffer the consequences of violence involvement.
| Sigel, Eric; Harpin, Scott B; Tung, Gregory (2015) Increasing documentation and referral for youth at risk for violence through the primary health care setting. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 54:451-7 |
| Sigel, Eric J; Harpin, Scott B (2013) Primary care practitioners' detection of youth violence involvement. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 52:411-7 |
| Sigel, Eric; Hart, Jan; Hoffenberg, Analice et al. (2011) Development and psychometric properties of a violence screening tool for primary care. J Adolesc Health 48:358-65 |
