This application addresses the Broad Challenge Area (01) Behavior, Behavioral Change, and Prevention, and the Specific Challenge Topic, 01-AA-101: Identifying Phenotypic Markers for Positive Behavior Change. The proposed study will significantly advance the scientific knowledge base about the role that physiological activity plays in children's psychosocial functioning. In particular, the assessment of data from multiple biological systems and the examination of these systems in combination with parents'alcohol use and abuse, parenting behaviors and children's social cognitions is novel. Importantly, the use of a sample of low-resource African- American children and their families provides a unique opportunity to chart these associations in a severely understudied population. The knowledge gained from this work will provide a basis for customizing intervention and prevention programs for children based on individual endophenotypes. The first objective is to test a theoretical model of autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical-axis (HPAA) activity as key moderators of links between children's attributional styles and behavior problems. The second objective is to examine parents'self-reported alcohol consumption, parents'attributions, and patterns of parent-child interaction as correlates of children's psychophysiology, social information processing, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The third objective is to examine the coordination of behavioral, affective, and physiological systems during parent-child interactions. The fourth objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-component relationship enhancement program on children's psycho-social functioning, parenting behaviors, and physiological indicators. The proposed research addresses significant economic and scientific challenges targeted by the Recovery Act Stimulus Package. First, we propose to use funds to purchase equipment made in the United States (Gahanna, Ohio). This will stimulate the economy and also will position our research team to compete for additional extramural funds in the coming years. Second, the research project will infuse dollars and jobs into an economically depressed area of the country, Macon County, Alabama. Third, with respect to public health, we propose to utilize a sample of under-resourced African-American families in rural communities to examine associations between parenting behaviors, physiological activity, attributional styles, and behavior problems, thereby generating critical new knowledge needed to generate effective intervention and prevention programs for an understudied population.
The proposed research addresses significant economic and scientific challenges targeted by the Recovery Act Stimulus Package. First, we propose to use funds to purchase equipment made in the United States (Gahanna, Ohio). This will stimulate the economy and also will position our research team to compete for additional extramural funds in the coming years. Second, the research project will infuse dollars and jobs into an economically depressed area of the country, Macon County, Alabama. Third, with respect to public health, we propose to utilize a sample of under-resourced African-American families in rural communities to examine associations between parenting behaviors, physiological activity, attributional styles, and behavior problems, thereby generating critical new knowledge needed to generate effective intervention and prevention programs for an understudied population.
