This proposal is a request for funds to support continuing collaborative research efforts of the highly successful Family Research Consortium (FRC), in the Transdisciplinary Consortium on Mental Health, Co- occurring disorders, and Families (FRC V). As the fifth generation of a collaborative initiative that began 20 years ago, FRC V will draw upon the accomplishments of its predecessor, the Consortium on Transitions, Families, and Mental Health in Diverse Populations (FRC IV). However, the proposed new consortium has a distinctive function, a reconstructed faculty, and a new set of activities to continue the advancement of science on mental health and families. The focus of FRC V will be on the effects of co-occurring psychiatric disorders (e.g., affective/anxiety diagnoses or personality disorders co-occurring with drug/alcohol abuse), conceptualized within a transdisciplinary framework and with emphasis on translational interventions. This Consortium will continue the FRC tradition of deliberate, careful attention to ethnic, racial, cultural, and economic diversity and in this new iteration, will bring concerted attention, in particular, to the role of mothers (who are generally primary caregivers of children and other adults, and whose own adjustment can have major spillover effects on others). The Family Research Consortium was initially established in order to promote intellectual exchange and collaboration among scholars across the nation on issues related to families and mental health. The activities of this consortium will focus specifically on the implications and consequences of comorbidity in five broad areas: 1) Comorbidity and human productivity: Costs to society; 2) Comorbid problems in childhood and adolescence; 3) Gender differences in comorbidity: Pathways and Implications; 4) Comorbidity in racial, ethnic, and other minorities; 5) Mental health and substance use: Prevention, treatments, and policies The specific aims of the proposed FRC-V consortium are (1) to promote intellectual exchange and collaborative research and training in the study of comorbid psychiatric disorders among diverse groups of families, as they influence the well-being and resilience of family members; (2) to advance innovative, substantive, theoretical and methodological knowledge on the ramifications of comorbidity for parenting and family relations; and (3) to consider evidence across multiple levels of influence, using a translational approach a) to prioritize salient risk and protective processes for diverse families in multiple contexts and across multiple levels of inquiry; b) to design appropriate and culturally relevant interventions; and c) to inform policies at state and national levels through dissemination of research advancements. to public health A significant number of people today suffer from serious mental illnesses (such as depression or anxiety) simultaneously with substance abuse. These individuals tend to fall through the gaps between treatment systems, often at high costs to society. This proposal will bring together leading scientists who study risk and protective factors implicated in co-occurring disorders, with the aims of (a) synthesizing cutting-edge knowledge and (b) translating this knowledge into effective prevention and treatment strategies for diverse groups of families. ? ? ?
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