MidCareer Investigator Award: Health Behavior Interventions for Suicidal Youth

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this application for a Mid-Career Investigator Award, Cheryl King, Ph.D., requests support for mentorship of early career investigators, advanced training, and new research focused on developing health behavior interventions for youth at risk for suicide. As emphasized in the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide (1999) and the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (2001), the development of evidence-based interventions for suicidal individuals is of substantial public health significance. The mentorship plan for early career investigators includes close integration and involvement with the candidate's research program, individualized goals and development of independent research projects, and consultation with nationally recognized senior investigators. The candidate's mentees will obtain substantial training in research with suicidal youth, health behavior theories and interventions, research ethics with high risk and vulnerable populations, and the development of culturally sensitive interventions. Current mentees include three junior faculty, one advanced child psychiatry fellow, 1 postdoctoral fellow, one senior research associate, and two graduate students. The candidate's career development plan proposes consultation and focused training in three areas related to the goal of developing interventions that promote treatment seeking, treatment adherence, and improved outcomes among youth at risk for suicide: (1) health behavior theories, social network models, and effective health behavior interventions for youth with chronic diseases and other at risk conditions; (2) culturally sensitive strategies for studying and implementing health behavior interventions; and (3) strategies for ensuring that study design, informed consent, and risk management procedures meet the highest ethical standards and changing regulatory requirements. A research plan is proposed that includes (1) continued intervention research related to the Youth-Nominated Support Team intervention for suicidal adolescents, and (2) development of a multi-component Emergency Department based health behavior intervention for adolescents at risk for suicide. This award will contribute substantially to the candidate's career objectives by relieving her of patient care duties and providing protected time for mentorship and advanced training activities.