This Research Scientist Development Award (K01) will provide the candidate with skills to pursue an independent program of research specializing in the prevention of childhood anxiety disorders. This award will be pursued within the context of ASU's Prevention Research Center where the sponsor will be Dr. Nancy Gonzales. The applicant is seeking training in prevention science, school-based intervention research, and conducting research within the contexts of cultural diversity in order to help reduce the incidence of anxiety disorders and their sequela (depression, and early initiation of the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs). The training plan includes coursework and mentoring in prevention science theory, preventive intervention development theory, statistical approaches relevant to prevention trials, issues in conducting school-based research (including the ethical conduct of research in school settings), theory and methods for studying factors impacting the mental health of ethnic minorities, and strategies for studying within group variability on cultural dimensions. One goal of the proposed research is to identify potential barriers to implementing a school-based anxiety preventive intervention, identify strategies to overcome these barriers, and use this information to pilot a school-based indicated intervention. Another goal is to refine a theoretical model to facilitate the study of mechanisms by which anxiety preventive interventions may affect change and factors that may impact these preventive effects. The research plan relies on qualitative and quantitative strategies. Focus groups will be conducted with stakeholders (school personnel, parents, students) to develop a plan for implementing anxiety prevention in the schools in a way that fits with their needs, priorities, capacities, and preferences. With this information, a pilot study of an indicated school-based intervention will be conducted aimed at refining the school-based screening, recruitment, and intervention implementation procedures, and at providing an estimate of program effects to support a future efficacy and theory development indicated prevention trial.
This K01 will help me conceptualize a school-based prevention trial examining mediators of anxiety prevention and moderators of preventive outcomes in a sample that includes a large segment of Mexican origin youth. By examining mechanisms of change and factors that may impact preventive effects, I hope to optimize outcomes and ultimately increase the ability of """"""""at risk"""""""" youth to live full and productive lives.
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