Mental and Behavioral Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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This application requests R13 funds for the 2021 conference of the American Psychopathological Association (APPA) on the topic “Mental and Behavioral Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” This topic is timely due to the current crisis that has gripped our nation since March, appears likely to persist at least through the end of 2020 and beyond, and has led to enormous stress, and is liable to trigger and exacerbate mental illness and substance use disorders. The APPA, in existence since 1910, has as its mission to support the investigation of disorders of mind and behavior, and their biological underpinnings and psychosocial substrates, and to promote the development of junior scientists. The APPA holds a yearly scientific conference whose topic differs each year. Presenters and attendees are widely diverse in terms of disciplines and areas of expertise. The unique all-plenary format for APPA conference presentations stimulates an exchange of information, concepts, methods, new findings, current controversies, and pressing gaps in knowledge that arises due to the diversity of the presenters and the audience. The aim of the 2021 conference is to advance the field of disaster mental health in general and COVID-related areas in particular by providing an exciting scientific meeting in this unique format, with the goal of impacting the field by stimulating new research directions, collaborations, and, for junior scientists and those from under-represented minority groups, new connections and career opportunities. For the 2021 conference, presenters are all distinguished leaders in their fields, including NIH institute directors, university department chairs, center directors and others whose fields include psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, genetics, and neuroscience. Presentation topics include: Disaster mental health and psychological first aid, Preventing post-disaster psychopathology, Ethnic variation in COVID mental health outcomes, Stress and suicide, Resilience, Exposure and response prevention treatment during COVID-19, The collision of the COVID-19 and addiction epidemics, and The Impact of the pandemic and Black Lives Matter on minority substance users. Many activities are designed specifically for junior scientists (students, fellows, early- career investigators), e.g., a workshop, breakfast round-table with senior scientists, oral poster presentations to the entire APPA audience, and meeting mentorship. Funds are requested primarily for awards that will provide the benefits of 2021 APPA attendance to junior scientists and to investigators from under-represented minority groups who would otherwise not be able to participate in the 2021 APPA meeting. Such attendance is designed to attract junior scientists to become members of the next generation of researchers, and members of under-represented groups to become involved in research in our field. Funds are also requested to facilitate the 2021 conference by covering some of the infrastructural costs of the meeting.