Prevention and Methodology Training

 描述(由申请者提供)：十年来，预防和方法学培训计划(PAMT)通过培养专注于药物滥用预防科学和高度创新方法相结合的职业，满足了国家预防科学家培训和NIDA组合中的关键需求。PAMT的目标是培养两类训练有素的科学家。一种是药物滥用/艾滋病毒预防科学家，他们在研究中应用最合适的方法，对采用先进方法充满热情并乐于接受，并在新方法出现时从事终身学习。另一个是方法学家，他们改进和传播用于药物滥用/艾滋病毒预防研究的创新方法，他们了解并致力于预防，从而使他们的方法学工作真正加强这一领域。我们通过宾夕法尼亚州立大学两个成熟而充满活力的研究中心之间的密切合作来实现这一目标：班尼特·皮尔斯预防研究中心和方法论中心。我们已经建立的培训计划为年轻科学家做好准备，以解决药物滥用预防方面的关键研究问题，而大多数研究生和新博士都没有准备好解决这些问题。PAMT中的预防主题包括成本效益分析；跨翻译连续体的研究，包括实施保真度；了解针对预防干预措施的异质性；根据个人情况量身定做和调整干预内容 特定时代；服务研究和功效问题之间的相互作用；积极的作用 预防方面的青年发展战略；通过移动设备创新地提供预防内容；遗传和神经变量在危险行为和抵御危险因素方面的作用。PAMT中方法论主题的例子包括对在预防中日益重要的各种大数据的复杂建模技术，例如密集的纵向数据、遗传数据和神经学数据；用于理解作为预防计划基础的冥想过程的统计模型；以人为中心的分析方法(例如，潜类和潜在转变分析)；研究作为年龄和/或时间的连续函数的风险因素和行为干预的影响的方法；以及建立更有效和更有效的行为干预的创新方法。所有PAMT受训人员都学习如何运用他们的知识和技能来制定和完善减少药物滥用和艾滋病毒发生率的战略。此外，研究员在撰写期刊文章和资助提案以及负责任的研究行为方面接受指导和指导。总而言之，PAMT受训人员从事的是前沿工作，将预防科学和方法论这两个领域整合为了解和预防药物滥用和艾滋病毒的无缝、详细和全面的方法。我们培养的科学家将在未来许多年里站在这一关键领域的前沿。通过本提案，我们寻求资金，以继续和扩大这一重要努力。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): For ten years the Prevention and Methodology Training Program (PAMT) has met a critical need in the nation's training of prevention scientists and in the NIDA portfolio by fostering careers focusing on the integration of drug abuse prevention science and highly innovative methodology. The objective of PAMT is to produce two types of well-trained scientists. One is drug abuse/HIV prevention scientists who apply the most appropriate methods in their research, are enthusiastic about and comfortable with adopting advanced methods, and engage in career-long learning as new methods emerge. The other is methodologists who improve and disseminate innovative methods for use in drug abuse/HIV prevention research, and who understand and are committed to prevention so that their methodological work truly enhances this field. We achieve this objective by capitalizing on the close collaboration between two well-established and vibrant research centers at Penn State: the Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center and the Methodology Center. The training program we have established prepares young scientists to address critical research questions in drug abuse prevention that most graduate students and new Ph.D.s would be unprepared to tackle. Examples of prevention topics in PAMT include cost-benefit analysis; research across the translation continuum, including implementation fidelity; understanding heterogeneity in response to prevention interventions; tailoring and adapting intervention content to individuals at particular times; the interplay between services research and efficacy issues; the role of positive youth development strategies in prevention; innovative delivery of prevention content via mobile devices; and the role of genetic and neurological variables in both risk behaviors and resiliency against risk factors. Examples of methodological topics in PAMT include sophisticated modeling techniques for the kinds of big data that are growing in importance in prevention, such as intensive longitudinal data, genetic data, and neurological data; statistical models for understanding meditational processes that underlie prevention programs; person-centered analytic methods (e.g., latent class and latent transition analysis); methods for studying effects of risk factors and behavioral interventions as a continuous function of age and/or time; and innovative approaches for building more efficacious and effective behavioral interventions. All PAMT trainees learn how to translate their knowledge and skills to develop and refine strategies to reduce the incidence of drug abuse and HIV. Additionally, fellows receive instruction and mentoring in writing journal articles and grant proposals and in the responsible conduct of research. To summarize, PAMT trainees are engaged in cutting- edge work that integrates two fields-prevention science and methodology-into a seamless, detailed, holistic approach to understanding and preventing drug abuse and HIV. The scientists we train will be at the forefront of this critical area for many years to come. With the present proposal we seek funding to continue and expand this important effort.