The candidate has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and an M.P.H. in Maternal and Child Health and is currently an Assistant Professor in Sociology. She has begun scientific work related to child neglect in high-risk populations. Her immediate K01 goals are: (1) to develop a systematic program of longitudinal research on child neglect particularly exploring the possible role of maternal responsibility, depression, and social support as significant etiologic factors in child neglect among adolescent mothers; and (2) to enhance her analytical skills for testing and refining complex, longitudinal, and interactive models of development. Her long-term objectives include: (1) designing and conducting multi-disciplinary, multi-site longitudinal studies to prevent child neglect; and (2) integrating theories and research findings from the fields of developmental psychology, social demography, and maternal and child health. This application describes a 5-year plan for didactic training, mentored research experience, and increasing independence in the conduct of research. She will be working with nationally recognized experts in the field. The proposed study builds directly upon a recently funded NICHD 4-site longitudinal study of child neglect (John Borkowski, P.I.; Dr. Sharon Ramey, Co- P.I. at UAB site), and specifically expands the scientific inquiry and planned data analyses among adolescent mothers to include an adolescent development construct. The overall hypothesis guiding the proposed work is that child neglect among adolescent mothers may be compounded by their stage of development and lack of experience, greater levels and/or fluctuations in depression, and inadequate or wavering social support. The behavior of 100 adolescent mothers (primaparous) will be compared to that of a matched sample of 50 adolescents who are not mothers and a matched sample of 50 adult mothers. Innovative aspects of the proposed research include the recruitment of an additional comparison sample of age-matched females to provide normative, longitudinal data; the use of cell phone methodology to obtain new measures regarding adolescent mood fluctuations and changes in the composition and adequacy of their social support networks; the creation of a general """"""""adolescent responsibility index"""""""" and the development and application of a structured dialogue to probe both adolescent and adult mothers' perceptions of """"""""child neglect."""""""" This research is of paramount significance because there are alarming rates of child neglect among adolescent and high-risk mothers and limited understanding of the maternal developmental factors related to the onset, severity, and duration of child neglect.
