The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a 4-year, $640,196 Project Grant (R01MH137697) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to The Johns Hopkins University to investigate suicide risk and protective factors among economically disadvantaged, preteen Black youth. The study aims to characterize the severity and course of suicide ideation and behaviors in this population, identify risk and protective factors, and determine the impact of early preventive...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), provides $633,671 to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey to conduct research on the safety of prescription sleep medications in children, adolescents, and young adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The key objectives of this 5-year project are to: 1) evaluate nationwide patterns of prescription sleep medication use and...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (CFDA 93.307 - Minority Health and Health Disparities Research) provides $1,901,976.00 to fund a study titled "A Community Driven Modeling Approach for Identifying Community & Policy-Level Interventions to Address the Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health." The study aims to leverage data from the Context Study, a large longitudinal...
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a $857,060 Project Grant under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The grant funds a research study titled "Social-Ecological and Individual Determinants of the Course of Suicidal Ideation & Attempt Among African Americans from Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood". The study aims to: 1) identify trajectories of suicidal ideation and behavior among Black...
This federal Project Grant award, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), supports a mixed-methods study to characterize childhood suicide ideation (SI) and expressions of distress among a diverse sample of 150 children, ages 8-12, with recent SI or suicide attempts. The $1,382,278 award, with a project period from September 1, 2024 to May 31, 2028, aims to: 1) identify profiles of SI among ethnoracially diverse...
This $1,135,986 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (CFDA 93.242 - Mental Health Research Grants) aims to address critical knowledge gaps regarding suicide risk among preteen youth aged 8-12 years old. The primary objectives are to: Adapt an existing measure of suicide risk to create a developmentally and culturally appropriate assessment tool for preteens, incorporating input from experts and preteen/caregiver interviews. Use this new measure to establish...
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a 5-year, $857,216 Project Grant (CFDA 93.242 - Mental Health Research Grants) to The Children's Hospital Corporation (doing business as Boston Children's Hospital) to conduct a longitudinal study on the neurodevelopmental trajectories and social determinants leading to early symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behaviors in young children. The study will leverage an existing NINDS-funded cohort of...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $107,002 to The New School to conduct a cross-sectional, quantitative study exploring the impact of racism-related experiences (including major discriminatory events, racial microaggressions, internalized racism, and historical trauma) on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and polysubstance use among Black young adults. The study aims...
This federal Project Grant award under the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) provides $2,091,715 to The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York to conduct research on the impact of structural racism on neurocognitive mechanisms related to substance use risk among minoritized youth. The research will characterize how neighborhood-level structural racism, measured by racial differences in income, education, and exposure to...
This $729,367 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), will support research conducted by the RAND Corporation to assess the impacts of a nationwide shortage of immediate-release amphetamine mixed salts prescription stimulants, such as Adderall, on the health and educational outcomes of youth with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The research aims to: 1) evaluate the...
UNDERSTANDING THE MULTILEVEL IMPACT OF RACISM ON SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS AMONG BLACK CHILDREN WITH ADHD: INTERSECTIONALITY, RISK, AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS - OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, SUICIDE RATES HAVE BEEN RISING AMONG SCHOOL-AGE BLACK CHILDREN (5-11 YEARS OLD), DESPITE DECREASING RATES AMONG WHITE CHILDREN OF THE SAME AGE. BLACK SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN REPORT SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIOR (STB) MORE FREQUENTLY THAN THEIR WHITE PEERS AND ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO DIE FROM SUICIDE. THE STRONGEST PSYCHIATRIC RISK FACTOR FOR STB AND SUICIDE AMONG BLACK SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IS ATTENTION- DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD). CHILDREN WITH ADHD ARE PREDISPOSED TO STB DUE TO IMPULSIVITY, EMOTION DYSREGULATION, SCHOOL FAILURE, PEER PROBLEMS, FAMILY CONFLICT, AND DEMORALIZATION. BLACK CHILDREN MAY FACE A DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT FROM ADHD-RELATED RISK FOR STB DUE TO RACISM. BOTH STRUCTURAL RACISM (UNEQUAL SYSTEMS OF OPPORTUNITY) AND INTERPERSONAL RACISM (BIASED INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS) PROFOUNDLY AND NEGATIVELY INFLUENCE CHILD HEALTH AND MAY COMPOUND THE RISK FOR STB AMONG CHILDREN WITH ADHD. FOR EXAMPLE, STRUCTURAL RACISM LEADS TO LESS EDUCATIONAL AND TREATMENT RESOURCES, AND INTERPERSONAL RACISM LEADS TO BIASED DISCIPLINARY AND TREATMENT DECISIONS. HOWEVER, LITTLE EVIDENCE EXISTS ON IF AND HOW RACISM INCREASES RISK FOR STB AND WHICH FACTORS COULD MITIGATE RISK AMONG SCHOOL-AGE BLACK CHILDREN WITH ADHD. THUS, OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW STRUCTURAL, INTERPERSONAL, AND CLINICAL RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS INTERSECT TO DETERMINE RISK FOR FUTURE STB IN THIS POPULATION TO INFORM SUICIDE PREVENTION STRATEGIES. TO ACHIEVE OUR OBJECTIVE, WE PROPOSE A MIXED-METHODS PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY OF 320 BLACK CHILDREN AGED 6-11 YEARS WITH ADHD ASSESSED EVERY 6 MONTHS FOR 2 YEARS, WITH A PRIMARY OUTCOME OF STB REPORTED BY CHILD OR PARENT. WE HAVE 3 AIMS: (1) QUANTITATIVELY EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL AND INTERPERSONAL RACISM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIOR (STB) AMONG SCHOOL-AGE BLACK CHILDREN WITH ADHD, STATISTICALLY CONTROLLING FOR PSYCHIATRIC COMORBIDITY, USING A RANDOM-INTERCEPT CROSS-LAGGED PANEL ANALYSIS (RI-CLPM). WE WILL USE THE CHILD OPPORTUNITY INDEX (COI) BASED ON CENSUS TRACT DATA AS A PROXY FOR ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES SHAPED BY STRUCTURAL RACISM, AND THE EVERYDAY DISCRIMINATION SCALE (EDS) AS A PARENT REPORT OF YOUTH DISCRIMINATION EXPERIENCES. (2) WE WILL QUANTITATIVELY EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF CLINICAL AND CONTEXTUAL PROTECTIVE FACTORS (ADHD MEDICATION TREATMENT, SCHOOL CLIMATE, AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS) ON FUTURE STB USING RI-CLPM. (3) WE WILL QUALITATIVELY IDENTIFY PARENT AND CHILD-REPORTED PERSPECTIVES ON AND EXPERIENCES WITH RACISM AND STB VIA THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF SEMI- STRUCTURED INTERVIEW DATA (COLUMBIA-SUICIDE SEVERITY RATING SCALE SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS AND SEPARATE IN- DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH PARENTS AND CHILDREN). OUR OVERARCHING HYPOTHESIS IS THAT BOTH STRUCTURAL AND INTERPERSONAL RACISM INCREASE RISK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF STB AMONG CHILDREN WITH ADHD BEYOND THE RISK CONFERRED BY CLINICAL SEVERITY, AND THAT PROTECTIVE FACTORS RELATED TO MEDICATION TREATMENT AND SOCIAL CONTEXT MAY REDUCE RISK FOR STB IN THIS POPULATION. THIS WORK WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUICIDE PREVENTION STRATEGIES FOR A HIGH-RISK GROUP OF CHILDREN.