One Year Developmental Projects Awarded by CVIP 

Earlier this year, CVIP put out a call for applications for one-year developmental projects related to the center’s four focus areas.  Projects funded are intended to support the development of innovative approaches to prevention and intervention or the implementation of evidence-based approaches in new settings.  Through these seed projects, the CVIP hopes to help researchers grow ideas that can advance prevention of CM, IPV, SV, SA and/or related injuries in real world settings.  

Several innovative and relevant applications were received and reviewed by a subcommittee comprised of faculty from five disciplines across St Louis University, Washington University, and the University of Missouri St Louis. The CVIP  was able to provide funding to the projects with the top three scores.  “Assessing Receptivity to and Use of Evidence-Based Treatment in Rape Crisis Centers,” headed by Principal Investigator Tonya Edmond, PhD,  focuses on  sexual violence and will study the methods used within and effectiveness of rape crisis centers (RCC) in Texas for treating sexual trauma survivors.  This project will set the stage for a larger effort to integrate evidence-based approaches into this setting.

“Understanding the Trauma Treatment Needs of Justice-Involved Women,” headed by co-Principal Investigators Dr. Carrie Pettus-Davis and Dr. Tonya Edmond, is a qualitative exploratory study of interventions for justice-involved women with histories of interpersonal violence victimization.  Many of these women are within the young adult range and many are parents.  Learning how to address  trauma within this population will impact outcomes for the women and may be instrumental in improving parenting practices as well.

Finally, “PTSD and Stressful Social Relationships as Mediators of Child Abuse and Health Outcomes in Primary Care Patients with Chronic Pain,” is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Cynthia A. Loveland Cook and co-PI Dr. F. David Schneider.   While social support is often noted as a protective factor in research the mechanism for this effect is understudied.  Nor do we understand how this may function in a population with significant trauma history. Understanding the role of social support related to mental health and physical health will help us understand the relative import of targeting the development of positive social relationships in children to improve downstream outcomes.