Environmental Toxicity, Malnutrition, and Children's Externalizing Behavior

描述(由申请人提供)：这个为期四年的FIC发展奖将培养候选人实现成为一名独立跨学科研究人员的长期目标的能力。最终，她将发展技能、知识和经验，从事专注于全球健康挑战，特别是儿童行为问题的环境和营养风险因素的国际合作研究事业。这一目标将通过参与以导师为导向的国际合作研究，通过开展研究活动、课程工作、实验室培训和会议/讲习班来实现。拟议的培训计划旨在以候选人先前的研究经验为基础，通过新的培训了解环境毒性和/或微营养不良对儿童行为问题的影响。五个具体的培训目标是：(1)扩展环境毒性的新知识；(2)接受营养评估及其对儿童行为问题的影响的进一步培训；(3)获得精神病理学的进一步培训；(4)提高研究方法和高级统计方面的技能；(5)发展国际合作研究和跨文化研究的新知识和技能。拟议的研究计划旨在检查环境毒性与微量营养素缺乏和儿童外化行为之间的联系。四个具体目标是：(1)评估铅暴露和微量营养素缺乏对儿童外化行为的直接影响；(2)考察生物和心理社会风险因素对儿童外化行为的交互影响；(3)测试哪些因素介导了上述直接和交互影响；以及(4)确定导致儿童外化行为的环境毒性/微量营养素缺乏和心理社会风险因素的具体成分。假设将在一项正在进行的国际合作前瞻性研究的背景下进行验证，该研究对780名5至6岁的中国幼儿园男女儿童进行了研究。测量指标包括血液中铅和微量营养素的水平、智商、心理社会障碍和行为问题清单。将使用结构方程模型进行数据分析。/总而言之，这项拟议的有指导的国际合作研究/培训将针对三个全球公共卫生问题：环境毒性、微营养不良和儿童行为障碍，这一重点与FIC解决全球卫生研究优先事项的使命一致。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This four-year FIC Development Award will foster the candidate's ability to achieve her long-term goal of becoming an independent interdisciplinary researcher. Ultimately she will develop the skills, knowledge and experience to pursue an international collaborative research career focused on global health challenges, particularly environmental and nutritional risk factors for child behavior problems. This goal will be achieved through involvement in a mentor-oriented international collaborative research study, through pursuing research activities, course work, laboratory training, and conferences/workshops. The proposed training plan aims to build on the candidate's prior research experience with new training in understanding the impact of environmental toxicity and / or micromalnutrition on children's behavior problems. The five specific training goals are to (1) expand new knowledge on environment toxicity, (2) receive further training in nutrition assessment and its implication in child behavior problems, (3) obtain further training in psychopathology, (4) enhance skills in research methodology and advanced statistics, and (5) develop new knowledge and skills in international collaborative research and cross-cultural research. The proposed research plan aims to examine the link between both environmental toxicity and micronutrition deficiency and childhood externalizing behavior. The four specific aims are to: (1) assess the direct effect of lead exposure and micronutrient deficiency on children's externalizing behavior; (2) examine the interactive effect of biological and psychosocial risk factors on childhood externalizing behavior; (3) test which factors mediate the above direct and interactive effects; and (4) identify the specific components of environmental toxicity/micronutrient deficiency and psychosocial risk factors which give rise to childhood externalizing behavior. Hypotheses will be tested in the context of an ongoing international collaborative prospective study of 780 five to six-year-old male and female Chinese kindergarten children. Measures include blood levels of lead and micronutrients, IQ, psychosocial confounds, and behavior problem checklists. Structural Equation Modeling will be used for data analysis. / In summary, this proposed mentored international collaborative research/ training will target three global public health problems: environmental toxicity, micromalnutrition, and childhood behavior disorder, a focus consistent with mission of FIC of addressing global health research priorities.