Psychology professors W. LaVome Robinson and Leonard A. Jason have received a $6.6 million grant to fund research to reduce African American youth violence. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
The National Institute of Mental Health highlighted DePaul psychology Professor W. LaVome Robinson's work in its spring newsletter. Along with colleague Professor Leonard Jason, Robinson was awarded a $6.6 million grant from the NIMH, part of the National Institutes of Health in fall 2019. It is the largest research grant in DePaul's history.
Robinson leads the Success Over Stress project, a culturally adapted, school-based violence and suicide prevention intervention for low-resourced, urban, African American ninth grade students. “This project is viewed as potentially serving as a model for others across the country," said Robinson.
The program has gone through two efficacy trials with clinical researchers and yielded strong results: 80% of participants reported the course helped them meet their stress-reduction goals. The NIMH is now funding this 5-year effectiveness or “real world" trial, which will train school social workers to deliver the curriculum, as well as a train-the-trainer component.
The newsletter features a selection of the institute's most recently funded projects that exemplify its efforts to accelerate research on mental illnesses, and to advance the NIMH Strategic Plan for Research. Read at https://bit.ly/LR_DPU_NIMH.