Center for the Study of Schools as a Context for Urban Children's Mental Health

描述(由申请者提供)：该建议的主要目标是通过推进支持学校促进儿童心理健康的固有能力的研究和实践，解决生活在城市贫困中的儿童的心理健康需求。拟建的作为城市儿童心理健康背景的学校研究中心是一个位于伊利诺伊芝加哥大学的虚拟中心，将弗吉尼亚大学、田纳西大学和南卡罗来纳医科大学教育和心理健康服务研究领域的主要研究人员的研究项目与生物统计学(伊利诺伊大学芝加哥大学)和心理健康实践(社区心理健康委员会)方面的领先项目联系起来。我们认为，这种观点的整合将对心理健康和教育资源的协调产生新的理解，并转移对城市青年有效干预的研究的重点和性质。这项研究的指导思想是将学校理解为组织，将教室理解为促进学习和适应的关键互动发生的环境。这一背景重点旨在确定和利用学校和社区内的土著资源，以改变城市贫困青年上学的社会背景，增加儿童获得积极心理健康和学业成果的机会。我们的多学科研究计划将借鉴组织理论、发展生态理论和教育研究，以：(A)评估城市学校内破坏或促进儿童教育和心理健康的特定社会背景因素，(B)确定和动员土著学校和社区资源作为变革的催化剂，以及(C)促进和研究创新干预战略和方法的可行性和影响。通过已规划的合作活动和研究项目，该研究所将(1)创建和采用新的方法方法，(2)应用综合理论观点来审查与心理健康促进相关的社会背景的核心维度，(3)创建和支持可持续的社区伙伴关系，以及(4)为在可持续的跨学科研究团队中工作的早期职业研究人员提供培训和指导。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of this proposed DCISIR is to address the mental health needs of children living in urban poverty by advancing research and practice to support the inherent capacity of schools to promote children's mental health. The proposed Center for the Study of Schools as a Context for Urban Children's Mental Health is a virtual center based at the University of Illinois Chicago, linking research programs of leading investigators in education and mental health services research at the University of Virginia, the University of Tennessee, and the Medical University of South Carolina along with leading programs in biostatistics (University of Illinois Chicago) and mental health practice (Community Mental Health Council). We propose that this integration of perspectives will yield a new understanding of the coordination of mental health and educational resources and shift the foci and nature of research on effective interventions for urban youth. This DCISIR is guided by an understanding of schools as organizations and of classrooms as the setting in which critical interactions occur that promote learning and adjustment. This contextual focus aims to identify and leverage indigenous resources within schools and communities to change the social context of schooling for youth in urban poverty and increase the chances for positive mental health and academic outcomes for children. Our program of multidisciplinary research will draw from organizational theory, developmental-ecological theory, and education research to: (a) assess select social contextual factors within urban schools that disrupt or enhance children's education and mental health, (b) identify and mobilize indigenous school and community resources as catalysts for change, and (c) promote and study the feasibility and impact of innovative intervention strategies and methods. Through planned collaborative activities and research projects, the DCISIR will (1) create and adopt novel methodological approaches, (2) apply integrated theoretical perspectives to examine the core dimensions of social context associated with mental health promotion, (3) create and support sustainable community partnerships, and (4) provide training and mentoring for early career researchers working within sustainable interdisciplinary research teams.