Experimental therapeutics is a model for clarifying the mechanisms of change for a behavioral intervention. Basic research is a critical aspect of this model, as it can identify the causal mechanisms leading to the onset of specific clinical outcomes in a particular population. Such research serves a key translational purpose where explanatory mechanisms in basic research become the precise mechanisms to change with behavioral interventions. This presentation will review recent research on child maltreatment, identifying causal mechanisms for several psychiatric disorders in this population. It will also review research targeting these mechanisms in experimental paradigms as part of a program of research to develop a secondary prevention program for maltreated children at risk for specific clinical outcomes.
- Shenk Presentationfor Prc2014
