This Mentored Research Scientist Award (K01) will enable the candidate to become an independent prevention science researcher, with a focus on enhancing the delivery and impact of evidence-based preventive interventions for low-income families with children at-risk for early-onset conduct problems. Career goals are to integrate discoveries from basic developmental science, behavior change theories, and family-focused preventive intervention research to build a model of change processes in families and to identify intervention strategies that reflect these processes. Proposed research activities during the training period include (1) Developing ecologically valid measures of theoretically driven constructs;(2) Conducting a prospective study of factors associated with caregivers'participation in family-focused services to identify viable treatment targets;(3) Conducting a randomized clinical trial of an engagement-enhancing intervention (i.e., Family Check-Up [FCU]) to experimentally test factors that impact participation in an empirically- supported prevention program for families (i.e., the Incredible Years Parenting Series). Rigorous training with Ronald Seifer, Ph.D., an expert in child development within high-risk family contexts and in advanced statistical methodology, provides the foundation for this work. Co-mentors also contribute uniquely to training. They include a leading scholar in prevention science and authority on the etiology and treatment of conduct problems (John Reid, Ph.D.), and experts in preventive parenting interventions (Carolyn Webster-Stratton, Ph.D.), treatment outcome research applying behavior change theories (Suzanne Colby, Ph.D.), and community-based randomized clinical trials and dissemination research (Patricia Chamberlain, Ph.D.). Consultants include a survey methodologist (Melissa Clark, Ph.D.), the FCU program developer (Thomas Dishion, Ph.D.), and a clinical researcher who will help build community partnerships necessary to conduct proposed research (Susan Dickstein, Ph.D.). The overarching training goal is to develop methodologic and statistical expertise necessary to develop, execute, and evaluate community- based prevention and intervention programming for high-risk families. The training award will prepare the candidate for a career focused on enhancing the service utilization and impact of preventive services for families, ultimately decreasing the incidence and prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders that are costly to society.
| Shepard, Stephanie; Armstrong, Laura Marie; Silver, Rebecca B et al. (2012) Embedding the Family Check Up and Evidence-Based Parenting Programs in Head Start to Increase Parent Engagement and Reduce Conduct Problems in Young Children. Adv Sch Ment Health Promot 5:194-207 |
| Shepard, Stephanie A; Dickstein, Susan (2009) Preventive intervention for early childhood behavioral problems: an ecological perspective. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 18:687-706 |
