TRCNC Annual Meeting 2008

[trcnc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

HOLD THE DATE!!!
Second Annual Meeting of the
Translational Research on Child Neglect Consortium (TRCNC)
16-17 October 2008
Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York City, NY

The Translational Research on Child Neglect Consortium (TRCNC) was 
awarded a grant to continue the preliminary effort initiated by 
federal program staff to bring disparate fields together to tackle the 
public health issue of child neglect by advancing translational 
science as part of the Federal Child Neglect Research Consortium. (For 
more information about the preliminary efforts see: 
http://obssr.od.nih.gov/Content/Research/Request_for_Applications_
(RFAs)/Child_neglect_RFA.htm ).  Through this next generation of 
research collaborations, participants at the TRCNC meeting will 
include members of the original Federal Child Neglect Research 
Consortium, invited guest speakers, federal partners, diverse 
postdoctoral fellows, early career faculty and interested community 
partners. 

The goals of the annual TRCNC meetings are to: 
•serve as a catalyst for continued innovation in research on child 
neglect; 
•provide special mentoring opportunities for postdoctoral fellows and 
members from underrepresented groups (including women and 
racial/ethnic minorities) as well as opportunities for new 
investigators to attend the annual meetings and develop strong 
research career trajectories in research on child neglect; 
•stimulate the exchange of ideas and research findings, permitting 
cross-fertilization among researchers from different disciplines to 
decrease the well-documented risk for adverse mental and physical 
health outcomes and impairments affecting large numbers of neglected 
children and families across the developmental life span; 
•facilitate community outreach through dissemination activities 
including webcasts of invited speaker presentations and through 
community collaborations at local, state, and federal levels (where 
possible) to foster dissemination of research findings and translate 
science to "real world" settings. 


2008 Meeting Topic:  LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF NEGLECT ACROSS THE LIFE 
COURSE: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND MEDIATORS
•Dates:  16-17 October 2008
•Location:  The Graduate Center, The City University of New York 
(CUNY), 365 Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY 10016-4309
•Host:  Cathy Spatz Widom, Ph.D., John Jay College and Graduate 
Center, CUNY, NY 

The 2008 TRCNC meeting will focus on the results of longitudinal 
studies of neglect across the life course, with special emphasis on 
causes, consequences, and mediators. Studies of the consequences of 
childhood neglect have typically relied on cross-sectional designs 
and, thus, there has been considerable ambiguity in the meaning of the 
relationships or associations described in the literature.  For 
example, depressive disorder may be a direct or indirect consequence 
of childhood neglect.  Depressed children may be more likely to be 
targeted for neglect, or depression may be a function of other 
characteristics in the environment in which the neglected child lives 
(e.g., having a depressed mother). Furthermore, childhood neglect may 
result in direct effects, such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD, which 
in turn cause secondary reactions by disrupting the child’s progress 
through age-appropriate developmental tasks.  When these concerns are 
not addressed through appropriate research designs or statistical 
analysis, these ambiguities limit conclusions that may be drawn about 
the impact of child neglect. An advantage of prospective longitudinal 
studies is that it is possible to answer questions about temporal 
sequence. Understanding whether associations are a direct or indirect 
function of child maltreatment has implications for whether and how 
secondary prevention interventions are designed and implemented.

Results from prospective longitudinal studies have begun to shed light 
on the relationship between child neglect and subsequent outcomes.  
Retrospective designs may suggest possible risk factors for outcomes 
and permit scholars to identify certain psychological or health 
outcomes for which childhood neglect is a candidate risk factor. 
Nevertheless, the test of the validity of these hypothetical 
relationships lies in longitudinal studies, and only through 
prospective longitudinal designs will researchers be able to begin to 
tease out issues of etiology and, eventually, causality.  A new 
generation of prospective longitudinal studies is underway that 
includes assessments of child neglect using self-reports by children 
as well as official records of neglect. Findings from longitudinal 
studies on the consequences of childhood neglect across a number of 
domains of functioning will be presented at this conference.  

Byron Egeland, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, will be giving an 
invited talk about the results of his longitudinal study of the 
children of high risk mothers.  Members of the TRCNC will also make 
scientific presentations, since a number of the grants represent 
longitudinal studies looking at some aspect of importance to child 
neglect, including studies of the causes, consequences, and potential 
mediators of outcomes.   

To participate in the NYC meeting on Translational Research on Child 
Neglect
•Registration (Deadline:  1 September 2008)
•Hotel room reservation (Deadline:  15 September 2008).  We have 
reserved a block of rooms at a hotel convenient to the Graduate 
Center.  There is a firm cutoff date of 15 September 2008 to obtain 
conference rates for these rooms.   
   
For information about registration and hotel room reservations, 
contact Dr. Widom via email at cwidom@jjay.cuny.edu or visit the TRCNC 
website at TRCNConsortium.com.

Young Scholar Travel Awards:   One of the goals of this annual 
conference is to expand the population of child neglect scientists and 
improve the retention of young scientists trained in the field.  To 
this end, a Young Scholar Travel Grant program is available to support 
the participation of upcoming child neglect researchers (predoctoral, 
postdoctoral, and new investigators) who wish to attend the meeting.  
Special emphasis will be placed on support for young scientists from 
underrepresented groups, including women and racial and ethnic 
minorities.   Information about how to apply for one of the Young 
Scholar Travel Awards will be posted on the TRCNConsortium.com 
website.  Underrepresented groups, including women and ethnic 
minorities, are encouraged to apply. 

Funding for the Translational Research on Child Neglect Consortium 
conference is made possible (in part) by Grant # R13 MH07586 from 
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, DHHS; with co-funding from 
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, 
DHHS and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, NIH, 
DHHS and from the City University of New York doctoral programs in 
Criminal Justice and Psychology.  The views expressed in written 
conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do 
not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of 
Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial 
practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.