Anxiety disorders are among the most common and troublesome mental illnesses affecting children and adolescents. While the field has made considerable progress in developing empirically supported treatments for these conditions, the anxiety disorders still lag far behind the disruptive behavior disorders with respect to treatment research. One reason is that there are too few researchers with sufficient exposure to both cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological treatment interventions for anxious children, as well as the tenets and methods used in complex clinical trials and studies of mechanisms of improvement. As one of the few researchers, my chief aim is to use time liberated by this Independent Scientist Award (ISA) to develop, evaluate and disseminate new diagnostic and treatment approaches for the pediatric anxiety disorders. To this end, the ISA career development plan (1) further my knowledge of complex statistical procedures, evidence-based medicine and understanding of ethics in research, and (2), emphasizes knowledge dissemination, including a proposed T32 training grant focused on the treatment of pediatric mental disorders. The ISA research plan centers on ongoing and proposed NIMH- funded treatment outcome studies in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As with the preparatory Scientist Development Award for Clinicians (SDAC), the ISA will advance sustained practical and theoretical contributions to my chosen research area.
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