Support is requested for the collaborative work of the Consortium on Diversity, Family Process, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health (FRC III). FRC III emerges from the current Research Consortium on Family Risks and Resilience (FRC II) and involves new members, an expanded organizational structure, and a new focus. This new Consortium is comprised of a twelve member faculty of senior and advanced junior scientists, each of who has a funded program of research on ethnically, socioeconomically and structurally diverse families and child/adolescent health; an advisory board; liaisons from other relevant research networks/consortia; postdoctoral trainees; and research partners from historically minority colleges. FRC III was organized to promote intellectual exchange and collaborative research and training on: (1) the further development of theoretical approaches that are culturally and contextually relevant for study of mental health and families in diverse populations: (2) new advances in research designs, measurement, and statistical methodology that need to be incorporated in research on diversity, family processes and child/adolescent mental health; and, (3) the extension of basic studies on diverse families and mental health to prevention and intervention research. Intellectual exchanges and collaborative research will focus on four highly relevant themes: (1) the impact of families' socioeconomic trajectories on family processes, and development outcomes for children; (3) the prevalence of mental illness among children as it relates to family networks and service utilization; and (4) the role of culture and family structure in developing effective family and child mental health interventions. In addition to collaborative research, FRC III will develop a multisite training program, research training partnerships with historically minority colleges (both to be funded through other mechanisms), and an annual Summer Institute. Products of the FRC III will include: (1) review papers and technical reports; (2) collaborative research projects involving other consortia and research partners; (3) improved research on diverse families and child mental health resulting from the participation of family researchers in the Summer Institutes: (4) a group of well-trained post-doctoral fellows; (5) training partnerships between consortia and historically minority institutions; and (6) handbook(s) on theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of diverse families.
