Comorbid childhood anxiety and asthma

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DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The applicant is requesting five years of funding through the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) program to enhance her technical and methodological skills in the investigation of the co-occurrence of anxiety disorders and asthma/allergy in youth. The ultimate goal is to gain expertise in the relationship between the co-occurrence of anxiety disorders and asthma/allergy and the risk of severe psychopathology among youth, using longitudinal, epidemiologic research methodology and ultimately to identify preventive interventions. The applicant's strong academic background in human development, clinical psychology, and psychiatric epidemiology, and her research experience using a developmental paradigm to study risk for severe psychopathology among individuals with early-onset anxiety disorders provide an excellent foundation for this work. The proposed training goals include (1) further training to increase the applicant's knowledge of the relationship between respiratory pathophysiology and anxiety disorders; (2) advanced statistical training and experience with longitudinal data analysis and survey methods, and; (3) investigation of potential interventions that integrate research on anxiety disorders and asthma/allergy. These goals will all facilitate the applicant's pursuit of innovative, comprehensive, technologically efficient approaches to study these comorbidities in youth. The research plan for this Award is divided into four investigations which complement the proposed sequence of training activities and offer the applicant the opportunity to explore important cross-sectional and longitudinal data from epidemiologic clinical and community samples, as well as hands-on experience, in the first two studies, the applicant will analyze previously collected data (MECA & SED and Dunedin). In the third study, the applicant will collect her own asthma data prospectively (Network study), in an ongoing longitudinal epidemiologic clinical (psychiatric) investigation, while learning how to conduct a study. The fourth investigation will involve developing measures and collecting pilot data on asthma and anxiety in a clinical (medical) sample. The applicant's resulting ROl will address the developmental paradigm described above, which will be further tested and will include early intervention strategies to facilitate the identification and treatment of children who are at risk for severe psychopathology. That study will involve a longitudinal epidemiologic preventive intervention study aimed at reducing the risk of anxiety disorders among pediatric asthma/allergy patients.