PACIFIC PEOPLE'S MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH SUPPORT PROGRAM

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): The proposed five-year plan of activities will enhance and strengthen the ongoing research development initiative within the Department of Psychiatry; establish the Pacific Peoples Mental Health Research Support Program (PPMHRSP); and conduct three mental-health-related research projects. All three studies investigate the association between mental health and ethnicity (with emphasis on Hawaiian and other Asian/Pacific-Islander populations). Study 1 uses both archival data and a prospective-longitudinal design to investigate the development of psychopathology from early adolescence to young adulthood in Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians (i.e., Japanese, Filipino, Caucasian, "other"). Particular focus is placed on epidemiology and prevalence rates, psychiatric symptomatology, Hawaiian cultural identification, and a comprehensive causal model of mental-health development. On a retrospective and prospective basis, Study 2 examines the role that ethnicity plays in the diagnosis and treatment of adult inpatients in a public psychiatric hospital. Study 3 reviews medical records to determine the influence of ethnicity on the frequency and duration of seclusion and restraints, as well as the effects from an intervention by the U.S. Department of Justice. Collectively, these studies will provide critical data on the relationship between ethnicity and development of psychopathology from early adolescence (community sample) to adulthood (inpatients). In addition to advancing our scientific knowledge and theories concerning ethnicity and mental health, these studies will lead to appropriate assessments and effective prevention strategies and treatment interventions. The Institutional Research Development Plan serves as the infrastructure for these studies as well as for the Department, and will provide support in various domains of professional growth.