UPR/MSC CURRENT PROJECTS

AND ACTIVITIES

Selected Campus Projects Relevant to Women's Health

Behavioral Sciences Research Institute

The Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, a research unit under the Deanship for Academic Affairs of the Medical Sciences Campus, main goals are to carry out studies of mental disorders, behavioral problems, and their associated features in the adult, child, and adolescent population of Puerto Rico; to translate, adapt to the Puerto Rican culture, and test the psychometric properties of the various diagnostic instruments used in the research performed; to develop methodologies and theoretical models which are applicable to research with Hispanic and other minority populations within the United States; to promote collaborative research with other research centers and researchers within and outside the island, and to provide training to students in basic research skills, both within the University and outside, particularly in Latin America.

The Institute has been funded by various grants from the National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, and the McArthur Foundation. Current projects include: a methodological study of child assessment in Puerto Rico, the development and testing of the Spanish AUDADIS, testing of the substance abuse modules of the Spanish CIDI, and testing of the schedule for clinical assessment in Neuro-psychiatry (SCAN). Past research includes: Psychiatric Epidemiology/Mental Disorders in Puerto Rico, A Child Psychiatric Epidemiology Study in Puerto Rico, Correlates of Drug Dependence Symptoms in Puerto Rico, and McArthur Foundation Mental Health Network. Although the focus of these applications is not gender, the Institute analyzes the data by gender since the prevalence of disorders, risk factors, as well as service utilization patterns vary by gender. As little is known about the development of antisocial behavior and delinquency in girls, Institute researchers will be focusing on that issue as well.