Dr. Jeanne M. McIntosh, Assistant Professor of Psychology at DePaul University, is pursuing applied research in the area of adolescent risk and resilience. Dr, McIntosh will refine and examine the construct of Community Connections, or degree of connectedness between adolescents' primary developmental settings, among samples of low-income urban African American adolescents and their families. This line of research is expected to eventually result in the development of a culture-specific intervention component that will enhance the effectiveness of coordinated service interventions by assisting low-income urban African American adolescents and their families to promote and engage indigenous and organizational mesosystem support networks. The Scientific Development Award will fund four studies related to this goal. Study 1 involves a qualitative examination of the content, structure, and process of adolescents' Community Connections. Study 2 involves construction of the Community Connections Inventory. Study 3 examines the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the measure. Study 4 tests a model predicting that Community Connections moderates the relationship between Neighborhood Risk and Psychological Problems. The applicant's research career development plan supports these goals by focusing on skill development in the areas of scientific writing and publication, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and grantsmanship.
