Chad Shenk, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies,
Penn State
“Translating Basic Science on Child Maltreatment into
Optimized Prevention and Intervention Technologies”
Presentation Abstract
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.