INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH: BEHAVIORAL/EMOTIONAL HEALTH

描述(由申请人提供)：这份T32申请描述了一个博士后培训计划，旨在促进儿科学、儿童/青少年精神病学、临床/发展心理学以及认知和行为神经科学领域的跨学科研究培训，以促进对儿童和青少年行为和情绪健康问题的理解。该培训计划的一个中心主题将强调发展神经行为框架，以解决临床相关问题-包括对发育过程中大脑/行为相互作用的研究，神经成像的使用，以及认知、行为和情感功能的测量。然而，将同样重视指导这项研究的心理社会框架的重要性--需要考虑家庭、学校、社区、同龄人的作用，以及对这些神经发育过程的各种社会和文化影响。 为了说明这种跨学科的方法，本申请将突出三个临床研究的例子：a)儿童和青少年的情感障碍；b)青少年肥胖；c)慢性医学疾病的心理和社会后果。虽然这三条线提供了培训的中心重点领域，但它们被描述为儿童和青少年后期出现的更广泛的行为和情绪健康问题的例子-包括酒精、毒品和尼古丁的使用、攻击性和暴力、冒险和鲁莽行为、事故、与高风险性行为有关的健康问题、注意力缺陷障碍、儿童和青少年躁郁症、儿童和青少年睡眠问题，以及与儿童和青少年的医疗障碍相关的广泛的行为和情绪问题。 研究培训活动的长期目标是增加临床研究人员的数量，以促进为临床实践和社会政策提供信息的知识，从而产生更有效的治疗和预防战略，从而减少与青年行为和情绪健康问题有关的痛苦和残疾。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This T32 application describes a postdoctoral training program that is designed to promote interdisciplinary research training at the interface of Pediatrics, Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, Clinical/Developmental Psychology, and areas of cognitive and behavioral neuroscience to advance understanding of behavioral and emotional health problems in children and adolescents. A central theme in this training program will emphasize a developmental neurobehavioral framework to address clinically relevant questions-including studies of brain/behavior interactions during development, the use of neuroimaging, and measures of cognitive, behavioral, and affective function. However, an equal emphasis will be placed on the importance of a psychosocial framework to guide this research-the need to consider the role of families, schools, communities, peers, and a diverse range of social and cultural influences on these neurodevelopment processes. For the purposes of illustrating this interdisciplinary approach, this application will highlight three examples of clinical research: a) affective disorders in children and adolescents; b) adolescent obesity, and c) the psychological and social consequences of chronic medical illnesses. While these three lines of investigation provide central areas of focus for training, they are being described as examples of a much broader range if behavioral and emotional health problems emerging in late childhood and adolescence-including alcohol, drug, and nicotine use, aggression and violence, risktaking and reckless behavior, accidents, health problems related to risky sexual behavior, attention deficit disorders, pediatric and adolescent bipolar disorder, child and adolescent sleep problems, and a wide range of behavioral and emotional problems associated with medical disorders in children and adolescents. The long-term goals of the research training activities are to increase the number of clinical investigators to advance knowledge that informs clinical practice and social policies leading to more effective treatment and prevention strategies, and thus, to reduce the suffering and disability related to behavioral and emotional health problems in youth.