PREVENTION AND METHODOLOGY TRAINING (PAMT)

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Prevention Research Center (PRC) and Methodology Center (MC) at the Pennsylvania State University jointly seek five years of support for a prevention and methodology pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training program. The Centers will work together to train researchers in the development and application of cutting-edge research methods in the design and evaluation of substance abuse" and comorbid prevention programs for children, youth, families, and communities. The proposed training grant combines two existing "research cultures" - preventionists and methodologists - into a fluid community of preventionists who are comfortable with cutting edge methods and methodologist who consider themselves prevention scientists. The strengths of the two Centers in substance abuse etiology, methods, statistics, evaluation, and program development and testing will provide a high-quality training environment to develop future leaders of multidisciplinary research teams. Both Centers currently have a portfolio of support from NIDA and NIH and are establishing reputations as leading forces in national efforts to advance the field of Prevention Science. The training program will produce researchers who: (1) are knowledgeable about the central principles and models of prevention science; (2) are knowledgeable about effective prevention strategies in the context of applied settings; (3) can utilize sophisticated modeling techniques for longitudinal data, including handling of missing data; (4) understand the interplay between services research and efficacy issues; (5) can apply statistical models to understand medicational processes that underlie prevention programs; (6) are knowledgeable of adaptive research designs; (7) can apply techniques that incorporate different units of analysis (e.g. HLM); (8) can apply person-centered analytic methods {e.g. latent growth curve analysis); (9) understand the rote of positive youth development strategies in prevention; and (10) have the capacity to translate these skills into development and refinement of strategies to improve the lives of young people.