The applicant is requesting five years of funding through the Mentored Career Development Award (KO1) program to enhance her methodological skills for outcomes research on youth mental health services, and specifically to examine the ecological, social, and predictive validity of commonly used outcome measures. The ultimate goal is to have the expertise to offer empirically supported recommendations on the use and interpretation of multidimensional outcome assessment protocols in community settings and to apply such protocols in large scale service effectiveness research. The applicant's strong background of academic, research, and clinical training in developmental psychopathology, program evaluation research, service utilization, psychiatric assessment of children and youth, and consumer satisfaction provides an excellent foundation for this work. The proposed training goals, including enhanced skills in qualitative research techniques, advanced psychometric and data analysis training, and increased familiarity with non- traditional mental health services and information technology will allow the applicant to pursue ecologically valid, technologically efficient, innovative, and comprehensive approaches to outcomes research. The research plan for this award is divided into two studies which complement the proposed sequence of training activities. In the first study, interviews will be conducted with multiple stakeholders (administrator, clinician, teacher, parent, youth) involved in the treatment of 60 youth ages 11-17 who are receiving mental health services. The desired outcomes and ranked priorities of outcomes across five outcome domains defined by Hoagwood, et al (1996) will be obtained from each stakeholder. The respondents will also report on their perceptions of the burdens, benefits, and validity of the state mandated outcome assessment protocol in which they will have participated. The second study will examine the predictive validity of changes in scores on the commonly used outcome measures related to """"""""real life"""""""" outcomes such as school attendance, living environment, and service utilization as well as perceived changes in the youth's and family's functioning for 200 youth receiving mental health services.
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