Deaf Sign Language Users, Suicide and Social Network Characteristics

描述(由申请人提供)：Steven Barnett医学博士是一名家庭医生兼研究员，主要从事美国手语(ASL)聋人用户、他们的家庭和社区的健康和健康研究。聋人ASL使用者包括语言和社会文化少数群体，他们在健康和医疗保健方面存在差异，经常被排除在健康研究之外。自杀是这些健康差距之一。巴尼特博士的目标是减少聋人中与自杀相关的发病率和死亡率。这个拟议的为期一年的K18导师职业提升奖的目标是让Barnett博士获得必要的基本行为和社会科学研究(b-BSSR)技能，以研究社会联系在这一人群中自杀中的作用。具体地说，巴尼特博士将与导师一起学习自杀学、社交网络分析和受访者驱动的抽样，并将调整研究方法，使其易于获得并适合聋人ASL用户使用。巴尼特博士将在自杀人际理论的指导下进行一项试点研究项目，以衡量聋人ASL使用者的社交联系和自杀风险。本研究采用社会网络分析和人际需求问卷相结合的方法，对社会连通性的结构连通性和心理连通性两个维度进行测量。巴尼特博士将对两个成年聋人ASL使用者样本、一个使用受访者驱动抽样招募的在线样本和一个参与正在进行的与健康体重相关的临床试验的聋人ASL使用者样本使用这些可获得的方法和措施。分析将检验结构连接性、心理连接性和近端自杀风险之间的关系。巴尼特博士将把数据和分析带回他的社区顾问委员会，他们将共同努力解释研究结果，并确定未来的合作研究项目。这一试点研究项目将首次描述聋人ASL用户的社交网络特征，这些特征与自杀风险有关。纽约州罗切斯特有大量的聋人ASL使用者，因此是进行聋人ASL使用者健康研究的绝佳地点。通过这次K18研究和研究培训，巴尼特博士将在罗切斯特大学的两个研究中心之间架起桥梁：精神病学系的自杀研究和预防中心(CSPs)，以及社区和预防医学系的罗切斯特预防研究中心/国家聋人健康研究中心(NCDHR)。这本K18的重点填补了一个重要的需求，因为到目前为止，关于聋人ASL使用者自杀风险的研究很少，而且没有针对这一人群的健康研究来检查社交网络，包括点对点招募方法。这项拟议的研究，以及建立在这一b-BSSR基础上的后续研究，将有助于实现健康人2020目标，以促进残疾人的健康和减少自杀。 公共卫生相关性：自杀是一个重要的公共卫生问题。聋人手语使用者是自杀风险较高的人群。这项研究将帮助我们了解社会联系与自杀之间的关系，这将有助于我们设计预防自杀的干预措施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Steven Barnett MD is a family physician-researcher with a career focus on health and health research with deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users, their families and communities. Deaf ASL-users comprise a language and sociocultural minority population that experiences disparities in health and healthcare, and is often excluded from health research. Suicide is one of these health disparities. Dr Barnett's goal is to reduce suicide related morbidity and mortality in the deaf population. The objectives of this proposed one-year K18 Mentored Career Enhancement Award is for Dr Barnett to acquire the necessary basic behavioral and social science research (b-BSSR) skills to examine the role of social connectedness in suicide in this population. Specifically, Dr Barnett will work with mentors to learn suicidology, social network analysis and respondent- driven sampling, and will adapt the research methods to be accessible and appropriate for use with deaf ASL- users. Dr Barnett will conduct a pilot research project, guided by the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide, to measure social connectedness and suicide risk with deaf ASL-users. The research will measure the two constructs of social connectedness, structural connectedness and psychological connectedness, by adapting methods of social network analysis and the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire. Dr Barnett will use these accessible methods and measures with two samples of deaf adult ASL-users, an online sample recruited using respondent-driven sampling, and an in-person sample of deaf ASL-users who are participating in an ongoing clinical trial related to healthy weight. Analyses will examine the associations of structural connectedness, psychological connectedness and proximal suicide risks. Dr Barnett will bring the data and analyses back to his community advisory board and they will work together to interpret research findings and indentify future collaborative research projects. This pilot research project will describe for the first time the social network characteristics of deaf ASL-users that are associated with suicide risks. Rochester NY has a large population of deaf ASL-users, so is an excellent place to conduct health research with deaf ASL-users. With this K18 research and research training, Dr Barnett will bridge two research centers at the University of Rochester: the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide (CSPS) in the Department of Psychiatry, and the Rochester Prevention Research Center/National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR) in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine. The focus of this K18 fills an important need in that to date there has been scant research on suicide risk with deaf ASL-users, and no health research with this population has examined social networks, including peer-to-peer recruitment methods. This proposed research, and subsequent research that builds on this b-BSSR foundation, will help achieve the Healthy People 2020 goals to promote health with people with disabilities and to reduce suicide. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Suicide is an important public health concern. Deaf sign language users comprise a population at high risk for suicide. This research will help us understand the relationship between social connectedness and suicide in this population, which will help us to design interventions that will prevent suicide.