The goal of the proposed fellowship is to prepare the applicant, Kira Riehm, for an independent research career focused on improving the identification, management, and treatment of mood disorders among adolescents. To this end, the proposed fellowship consists of two complementary components: (1) a research project that aims to assess the relationship between depression screening and a range of diagnostic, treatment- related, health services use, and health outcomes among adolescents; and (2) a training plan composed of mentored research, didactic and informal training, experiential learning and professional development activities. The applicant will be supported by a rich array of resources at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a strong mentorship team with expertise in health services research, depression and suicide prevention, adolescent health, and advanced causal inference methods. The training plan will allow Ms. Riehm to prepare for a research career by a) learning and applying rigorous epidemiological and statistical methods; b) developing expertise in the assessment, management, and treatment of mood disorders among adolescents; and c) strengthening the skills necessary for an independent academic research position. The proposed research project is of high
The proposed study will be one of the first to use causal inference methods to examine outcomes of depression screening in primary care settings in a longitudinal cohort of adolescents from the United States. This study will determine if depression screening increases detection of depression, connects a greater number of adolescents to mental health care, and leads to improved mental health outcomes in the long-term. Findings will inform the United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines for depression screening in adolescents and will help determine if depression screening may be a useful strategy for preventing suicidal behaviors among adolescents by increasing access to mental health care.
