REU Site: Effects of political upheaval and ethnic discord on the mental health of a population

该项目由SBE理事会的本科生研究经验(REU)站点计划资助，NSF国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)联合提供支持和资金。作为一个具有国际活动的REU网站，它兼具科学和社会效益，并在多个层面上整合了研究和教育。从社会/行为科学的角度来看，这个项目的研究涉及心理健康。任何国家和人口内部根深蒂固的紧张局势的长期影响可能包括政治动乱、社会经济劣势、族裔不和谐以及从一种经济制度向另一种经济制度的迅速转变；所有这些因素都可能对这些人口的精神病发病率产生影响。这个REU网站的研究项目在三年的时间里直接影响了27名本科生，通过一个有意义的跨学科研究体验，拓宽了学生的全球意识和跨文化能力，专注于一个正在经历多次转型的国家精神疾病水平上升的案例研究。这个案例是后苏联时代的乌克兰。作为REU网站的一部分，一群不同的本科生参与了一个正在进行的研究项目，探索乌克兰公民的心理健康。在这个REU网站上，PI-Team招收学生，重点是学生的参与，参与者来自研究机会有限的代表不足的团体和机构。这些学生将通过向高中生和他们所在机构的学生展示来进一步扩大他们的研究经验的影响。这个REU网站关注的是一个社会学和社会心理学领域非常感兴趣的研究课题。该项目为乌克兰的学生提供现场协作研究和文化沉浸体验，直接与基辅国际社会学研究所(乌克兰的一家全国性研究公司)的合作者合作。该项目通过一个由四名经验丰富的教师组成的跨学科团队，以及一个关于乌克兰心理健康和心理健康的全球专家团队，为本科生研究人员提供强有力的指导和发展，并提供了一些关于乌克兰心理健康风险因素和影响的唯一具有全国代表性的信息。学生将能够在这个项目中使用的数据集在心理学和全球健康研究领域具有创新性和独特性。分析这些类型的全球数据作为培训学生从事心理学和/或健康研究的未来工作的一种手段，意味着这些工作本身具有学术价值，但由于这影响到未来几代学者，它也对该领域产生了长期影响。让美国学生意识到他们在分析全球数据时带来的文化偏见，对于创造良好的未来科学至关重要。该项目由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate, with joint support and funding from the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE). As an REU Site with international activities, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education at multiple levels. The research in this program involves mental health, from a social/behavioral science perspective. Long-term effects of deep-rooted tensions in any country and within any population can include political upheaval, socio-economic disadvantages, ethnic discord and rapid change from one economic system to another; all these factors can have an effect on the rates of mental illness in that population. This REU Site's research program directly impacts a group of 27 undergraduate students over a three year period by broadening students' global awareness and cross-cultural competence through a meaningful, interdisciplinary research experience focusing on a case study for elevated levels of mental illness in a country that has been going through multiple transitions. The case study is Ukraine in post-Soviet era. As part of this REU site, a diverse group of undergraduate students are involved in an ongoing research project exploring the mental health of Ukrainian citizens. In this REU site the PI-team recruits students with an emphasis on the participation of students participants from under-represented groups and institutions where research opportunities are limited. These students will further broaden the impact of their research experience by presenting to high school students and students at their home institutions. This REU site is focused on a topic of research that is of great interest in the fields of sociology and social psychology. The program incorporates an on-site collaborative research and cultural immersion experience for students in Ukraine, working directly with collaborators at the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (a national research firm in Ukraine). The project provides strong mentorship and development of undergraduate student researchers by an interdisciplinary team of four experienced faculty members, in conjunction with a team of worldwide experts on Ukraine mental health and, and it provides some of the only nationally representative information on mental health risk factors and impacts in Ukraine. The dataset students will be able to use in this project is innovative and unique in the fields of psychology and global health studies. Analyzing these types of global data as a means of training students for future work in psychology and/or health studies means that the work itself has intellectual merit, but that inasmuch as this affects future generations of scholars, it also has long-term impact on the fields. Making American students aware of the cultural biases they bring to the table when analyzing global data is crucial for producing good future science. This project is co-funded by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.