Research Training in Social Work and Mental Health

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revised application seeks support for a predoctoral training program in social work mental health services research. Building upon twenty-two years of experience educating mental health research scientists supported by the NIMH NRSA program, we propose a continuation of this program focusing on issues of mental health clinical services and service systems research. Within this broad designation, three specific areas have been selected for study. They are mental health issues related to: (1) assessment; (2) special populations including racial and ethnic minorities, children and adolescents, and those affected by AIDS/HIV; and (3) social work and social policy analysis in mental health services research. These three areas have been selected because of their current importance to the field, their span of clinical services and service system concerns, and the presence of courses and senior faculty with ongoing research in each area. Training will emphasize applied intervention research of relevance to practice in mental health service systems. Bridging the gap between research and practice is of central concern. The goal is to educate social work researchers with academic preparation in both clinical services and service systems, knowledge of sophisticated methods of empirical research, and supervised research field experience. These research field experiences will be provided in funded research conducted at the Columbia University School of Social Work and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Predoctoral trainees will remain in full-time study for three years including summers. We request support for 2 predoctoral trainee positions during the first year, 4 during the second year, and 6 during each of the three subsequent years. During the first year of the proposed training program two new trainees will be appointed. In each subsequent year, two new trainees will be appointed.