The purpose of this project is to develop the candidate as an independent researcher with skills in clinical psychiatry, epidemiology, and economics, investigating the role of social and economic factors in an epidemic of adolescent suicide. The Research Plan will have three components: (1) a case/control retrospective investigation of an outbreak of adolescent suicide in South Boston in 1997, with a focus on the role of social networks linking victims of suicide and a large number of adolescents in the community who made non-lethal attempts during the outbreak; (2) a record linkage study, making use of a unique database collected by the candidate and by the Boston Emergency Services Team, comparing the roles of neighborhood risk and protective factors as predictors of adolescent self-injury in South Boston and in neighborhoods elsewhere in Boston; and (3) an econometric analysis, using cross-sectional and longitudinal data, placing the South Boston epidemic in a national context. The Training Plan is designed to develop the candidate's practical skills in research methodology and biostatistics, and to deepen her theoretical background in the psychological study of trauma and affective disorders, economic theory, and epidemiology. Her training will involve three components: (1) individual guidance and instruction from a multidisciplinary group of mentors and consultants, representing the disciplines of psychology, epidemiology, and economics; (2) formal coursework in biostatistics, economics, other social sciences, and epidemiology, and (3) the completion of the three research projects, as outlined. The principal mentors for the candidate's career development will be Dr. Terence Keane (psychology) and Prof. Jonathan Gruber (economics); other consultants will include Drs. Eva Deykin and Madelyn Gould (psychiatric epidemiology), and Drs. David Cutler and Richard Frank (health economics).
| Ludwig, Jens; Marcotte, Dave E; Norberg, Karen (2009) Anti-depressants and suicide. J Health Econ 28:659-76 |
