Psychobiology of Trauma and Resilience Across Lifespan

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks funding for scientific presentations at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) in Hollywood, California. The theme of this meeting is "The Psychobiology of Trauma and Resilience Across the Lifespan." The prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) such as child maltreatment, interpersonal violence, crime, disasters, terrorism, and war is high, and exposure is demonstrated to increase risk of several mental disorders including depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders. The proposed presentations within the ISTSS Annual Meeting are designed to address several barriers to improved traumatic stress research and clinical practice that include: 1) fragmentation with respect to type of PTE studied; 2) lack of knowledge of findings and implications of traumatic stress research conducted from different perspectives (e.g., behavioral genetics, psychosocial, biological); 3) failure to consider the developmental impact of PTEs experienced at different points in the lifespan; and 4) poor translation of research findings and their implications from traumatic stress researchers to clinical practitioners. Specific aims are to: (1) organize a meeting that will engage academic, practice, and policy audiences in a discussion about the genetic, biological, and psychosocial factors that influence traumatic stress, resilience, and treatment of trauma-related problems in an effort to educate these disparate audiences and to encourage the development of innovative treatment and research; and (2) integrate psychosocial and biological state of the art knowledge to improve scientific knowledge and scientifically informed clinical practice and advocacy. Under the direction of the Co-PIs and a Project Coordinating Committee, approximately 20% of the 2006 Annual Meeting content will be devoted to addressing these issues. Keynote speakers are Drs. Caspi and Moffitt who will highlight behavioral genetic approaches towards using gene x environment factors to understand risk and resilience given exposure to PTEs. Other plenary speakers will address these issues from psychosocial and biological perspectives. Keynote, plenary, and other presentations will be summarized and published on the ISTSS website, and a Special Section on this topic will be published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress. In collaboration with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, special efforts will be made to generate media coverage of research findings and their implications. The coordinating committee will insure that the program committee is diverse with respect to inclusion of women and racial/ethnic groups who are traditionally under represented, similar diversity among speakers. Evaluation will consist of obtaining survey feedback from meeting participants, compiling data on media coverage, and gathering citation data on articles published in the Special Section of JTS. The proposed presentations within the ISTSS Annual Meeting are designed to address several barriers to improved traumatic stress research and clinical practice that include: 1) fragmentation with respect to type of PTE studied; 2) lack of knowledge of findings and implications of traumatic stress research conducted from different perspectives (e.g., behavioral genetics, psychosocial, biological); 3) failure to consider the developmental impact of PTEs experienced at different points in the lifespan; and 4) poor translation of research findings and their implications from traumatic stress researchers to clinical practitioners. Specific aims are to: (1) organize a meeting that will engage academic, practice, and policy audiences in a discussion about the genetic, biological, and psychosocial factors that influence traumatic stress, resilience, and treatment of trauma-related problems in an effort to educate these disparate audiences and to encourage the development of innovative treatment and research; and (2) integrate psychosocial and biological state of the art knowledge to improve scientific knowledge and scientifically informed clinical practice and advocacy.