Prevention of Depression Among Pre-Adolescent Youth

描述（由申请人提供）：本指导研究科学家发展奖（K-01）申请的目标是使McCarty博士能够从开展了解青少年精神病理学背景的基础研究过渡到针对青少年抑郁症的多组件预防计划的开发和测试，从而启动她作为专注于预防干预研究的独立研究者的职业生涯。她的长期研究项目的总体目标是利用儿童和青少年发展的知识，在社区和临床人群中，推进项目，有效地破坏高危青少年抑郁和抑郁症状的升级。为了实现这一目标，申请人将在以下三个方面扩大培训：(1)发展预防科学的专业知识；(2)将基本行为研究的知识应用于干预措施的开发和修改；(3)接受纵向数据分析，建模技术和研究方法的高级培训。申请人在儿童精神病理学、循证治疗、方法学和统计学方面的强大学术和研究背景为这项工作提供了良好的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K-01) application is to enable Dr. McCarty to make the transition from conducting basic research understanding the context of youth psychopathology to the development and testing of multi-component prevention programs targeting youth depression, thus launching her career as an independent investigator focused on preventive intervention research. The overall goal of her long-term program of research is to utilize knowledge of child and adolescent development, both in community and clinical populations, to advance programs that will effectively disrupt the escalation of depression and depressive symptomatology for at-risk youth. To pursue this goal, the applicant will expand her training in three areas: (1) developing expertise in prevention science, (2) applying knowledge from basic behavioral research to intervention development and modification, and (3) receiving advanced training in longitudinal data analysis, modeling techniques, and research methods. The applicant's strong background of academic and research training in child psychopathology, evidence-based treatments, and methodology and statistics provides an excellent foundation for this work. The proposed award will encompass three stages of research that will cumulatively build a foundation for a larger prevention trial. First, using a sample of 550 youth that are being followed longitudinally between 6th and 8th grade, contextual factors that predict the growth and timing of depressive symptoms during these two years will be identified. The results of this longitudinal examination of contextual risks together with the broader literature on risks and prevention will be applied to the modification of an existing, well-tested prevention program ("Coping with Stress"). The core of the intervention will involve cognitive and behavioral skill building with modifications made to make it developmentally appropriate for a younger cohort of children, and to enhance supports and manage stressors within the family, peer, and school contexts. The third stage of research will entail pilot testing of the overall cognitive-behavioral-ecological prevention program using a school-based sample of 60 youth. The data collected will form the basis for a future R-01 research proposal to study an expanded application of the prevention program that will be generated.