CANDIDATE. The applicant is a child clinical psychologist with a background in child maltreatment, including work with mothers of drug-exposed infants. His goal is to validate interventions that facilitate readiness to change in parents at risk of child maltreatment, especially those at risk due to substance abuse. The proposed K23 award will make possible close supervision from Dr. Schuster and the advisory team, observation of state of the art programs, graduate coursework, and applied experience, through which the applicant will gain advanced skills in (a) research methodology and data analysis, especially regarding clinical trials; (b) substance abuse and motivational models; (c) culturally sensitive and ethical research with a vulnerable population; and (d) the measurement of attachment in infancy, as well as an increased record of scholarly productivity. ENVIRONMENT. Wayne State University is a Carnegie I research institution. Access to WSU's many senior researchers, including Dr. Schuster's productive clinical research division and faculty with expertise in perinatal substance abuse, longitudinal research, child maltreatment, and attachment, is available. The applicant has extraordinary support from his institute's director and from WSU's Vice President for Research, and will be freed of all teaching or clinical duties. RESEARCH PLAN. The above training will inform and be continued through the research plan, which is based on a model hypothesizing readiness to change as a mediator of the relationship between risk/protective factors and child maltreatment, especially in a services-rich environment. Intensive, barrier-free early intervention programs aimed at child maltreatment prevention (especially those targeting substance-abusing and other high-risk populations) have faced significant problems with engagement and retention, causing reductions in overall effectiveness and less efficient use of resources. To address the gaps between (a) availability of/need for services and service utilization, and (b) need for and readiness for change, theory and technique from the substance abuse field - including brief motivational interventions, the use of operant behavioral principles, and a """"""""check-up"""""""" model - will be applied via a brief intervention with first-time parents in an urban Detroit hospital. Following a development and pilot phase, a small-scale clinical trial will assess the impact of a brief motivational intervention on maltreatment, attendance at community programs, and risk-related change.
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