Substance Use and Risky Sex in Highly Vulnerable Populations

描述（由申请人提供）：提议的项目将帮助我发展必要的技能和专业知识，建立一个独立的研究生涯，专注于药物使用在性冒险行为和相关的不良生殖结果中的作用，特别是性传播感染（sti）。为了实现这一目标，我将在我作为发展心理学家的研究生培训和流行病学博士后培训的基础上，对弱势人群的性风险行为、与种族相关的健康差异以及纵向研究方法的职业发展进行培训。作为这些培训活动的补充，我建议：1)利用正在进行的对未成年母亲后代的纵向研究和对患有和不患有边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的女性的研究的数据，对性风险行为和结果进行二次数据分析；2)在一项为期16年的评估中收集关于未成年母亲后代的新数据；3)对该样本（未成年母亲的后代）中常见性传播感染的新试点研究。建议的研究将成为奖励期第三年R01申请的基础。我的短期目标是：(1)增加关于性传播感染风险的知识，包括行为失调，这可能是危险性行为的基础，以及与危险性行为和相关结果相关的风险因素；(2)学习衡量风险行为和不良生殖结果的新方法，包括性传播感染的临床测试和事件级评估；(3)更多地了解与种族有关的健康差异。(4)培养研究技能，使我能够成为一名独立的研究者，并获得NIH的资助来支持我的研究，特别是纵向数据分析。我的长期职业目标是了解弱势群体中药物使用和性风险行为的生态环境，以及药物使用如何导致非裔美国青年意外怀孕和性传播感染的显著增加。拟议的职业发展培训将在匹兹堡大学医学院精神病学部门进行。该系为跨学科培训提供了一个良好的环境，由高度协作的教师组成，他们是各自领域的领先专家。公共卫生相关性：拟议的研究将有助于确定与艾滋病毒感染率较高有关的性传播感染的行为风险因素，特别是在非洲裔美国人中。研究结果可用于制定预防计划，旨在减少易受伤害的青少年和精神病患者的吸毒和性传播感染。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed project will help me develop the skills and expertise necessary to establish an independent research career focused on the role of substance use in sexual risk-taking behavior and associated adverse reproductive outcomes, especially sexually transmitted infections (STIs). To achieve this goal, I will supplement my graduate training as a developmental psychologist and postdoctoral training in epidemiology with training in sexual risk behavior in vulnerable populations, health disparities associated with race, and career development in longitudinal research methodology. Complementary to these training activities, I propose: 1) secondary data analyses of sexual risk behavior and outcomes using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of the offspring of teenage mothers and a study of women with and without borderline personality disorder (BPD); 2) collection of new data on the offspring of teenage mothers during a 16-year assessment and; 3) a new pilot study of common STIs in this sample (offspring of teenage mothers). The proposed research will form the basis for an R01 application in the third year of the award period. My short term goals are to (1) increase knowledge about risk for STIs, including behavioral dysregulation that may underlie risky sex and risk factors associated with risky sex and associated outcomes, (2) learn new methods of measuring risk behavior and adverse reproductive outcomes, including clinical tests for STIs and event-level assessments, (3) learn more about health disparities associated with race, and (4) develop the research skills that will enable me to become an independent investigator and obtain NIH funding to support my research, specifically longitudinal data analyses. My long-term career goal is to understand the ecological setting for drug use and sexual risk behaviors in vulnerable populations, and how drug use may contribute to significantly higher rates of unintended pregnancies and STIs in African-American youth. The proposed career development training will take place at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. This department provides an outstanding environment for interdisciplinary training by highly collaborative faculty who are leading experts in their chosen fields. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research will help identify behavioral risk factors for sexually transmitted infections that are implicated in higher rates of HIV, especially among African-Americans. The results can be used to develop prevention programs aimed at reducing drug use and sexually transmitted infections among vulnerable adolescents and within psychiatric populations.