Report Language of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research for FY 02

Introduction

The reports that accompany the House and Senate Appropriations bills are very influential.  Although report language lacks the force of law, federal agencies do pay attention to these congressional suggestions when targeting resources.  Report language can raise the profile of a program of research.  

APA Science Policy staff successfully encouraged House and Senate Appropriations Committee members to highlight the areas of behavioral research that appear in the paragraphs below. Not all of our suggestions make it all the way through the process to appear in print; some are changed, and others never appear at all.  Keep in mind that it is not a simple process to determine precisely where one organization's advocacy made a difference. 

House Language:

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

Club Drugs- The landscape of the drug abuse problem is constantly changing and new drugs of abuse are continually emerging in local communities across the country. The Committee commends NIDA for having rapidly identified club drugs, particularly MDMA or ecstasy, as a serious threat and for quickly launching a research and information dissemination effort to inform communities about this and other emerging drugs. The Committee urges NIDA to enhance research to determine the consequences of abusing these drugs, to work toward the development of both behavioral and pharmacological treatments that may be used to treat individuals who abuse these drugs and develop targeted prevention efforts.

Senate Language:

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

Collaboration with the CDC- The Committee urges the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) to develop a working group or groups in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control in order to speed translation of behavioral research to practice. The Committee recognizes that without dedicated resources it is difficult for staff in different agencies to collaborate as closely as may be needed. NIH is urged to use its increased funding to intensify collaboration, as well as facilitate communication and the transfer of information.

NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

Population Health- The Committee congratulates the NCI for building and nurturing an infrastructure to support rigorous community-based research. Community-based research makes it possible for interventions developed at taxpayer expense to reach the greatest number of people. The National Research Council has called attention to the need for additional research at multiple levels of analysis (individual, family, community) that integrates population health dynamics with behavioral, psychosocial, and environmental factors. One challenge is the development of methodologies that can enable such multilevel analyses. The Committee encourages NCI to continue its leadership in this area.

Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers- The Committee commends the Institute for its collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and private foundations in establishing seven new Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers. These Centers establish critical links across diverse scientific disciplines in order to evaluate new models of nicotine addiction; heredity factors in vulnerability, treatment success, and deleterious consequences of tobacco use; cultural determinants of successful prevention efforts; treatment-resistant populations; and determinants of relapse. 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: The Committee is pleased to learn that NICHD is undertaking a strategic planning process strongly emphasizing a collaborative process between the biomedical and behavioral sciences to successfully accomplish the goals of the Institute.  The Committee is interested to know more about NICHD’s behavioral and social sciences agenda within the context of longitudinal research focused on the interplay of environmental factors, biology, sociology and psychology affecting child development. 

Environmental Effects on Child Health and Development: The Committee applauds NICHD in its efforts to work collaboratively with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on long-range plans to develop a major national longitudinal study to quantify the effects of environmental exposures and biological and social factors on child health and development.  The Committee places a high priority on including research that investigates the relationship between behavior and exposure to harmful environmental influences such as the extent to which behavior drives exposure to low-level contaminants during key developmental phases of a child’s life.  The Committee also will be interested to see the results of research that measures traditional cognitive, social and emotional developmental outcomes within the framework of this study.

Child Development and Literacy: The Committee recognizes NICHD’s leading role in identifying factors affecting how children learn generally, both with and without formal instruction, and for normal children as well as children for whom learning is a challenge. NICHD research on early child development, reading development and disorders has contributed to converging evidence about how children must be taught in order to read and how children who are likely to have difficulty learning may be identified early in their education.  The Committee strongly supports NICHD’s efforts to translate this research to improve literacy and academic performance.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

Alzheimer's Research- NIA is commended for its innovative research on effective management of Alzheimer's disease patients (special care units) and the needs of Alzheimer's caregivers. The Committee commends NIA for its efforts to plan and map promising topics in cognitive research. The Committee also commends NIA for its excellent public information materials on encouraging older adults to exercise and stay physically active. NIA is encouraged to expand its research on health promotion interventions in aging populations.

Cognitive Changes During Aging- The Committee understands that research on cognitive changes during aging is an important focus of the Institute, and that maintaining mental acuity is an important concern of aging adults. It is generally recognized that research on higher-order mental processing is underdeveloped in the field of aging. NIA is working to expand is portfolio in this area, and the Committee encourages those efforts. The Committee is pleased to learn that a study now underway at the Institute of Medicine is examining the current knowledge base in the area of cognition and aging. The Committee urges NIA to use the IOM recommendations as a guide for expanding its portfolio in this critical area of research.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES

Behavioral and Social Science Research- The Committee notes that the portion of the NIAMS research portfolio devoted to behavioral and social sciences research is significantly lower than the NIH average. Therefore, the Committee urges the NIAMS to fund promising behavioral social sciences research. Additionally, the Committee urges favorable consideration of research in the area of behavioral and social science factors relating to the adherence to medical recovery regimes, exercise and weight-reduction programs.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM

Behavioral Research to Identify High-Risk Youth- Studies show that people who begin drinking early in life have a dramatically higher risk of later becoming alcoholic than do those who begin later. Other studies show that personality characteristics that are evident as early as age 3 predict alcoholism in adulthood. Given these data, developing effective methods for identifying high-risk youth, as well as appropriate prevention strategies, is particularly important. The Committee urges NIAAA to expand efforts on this promising line of research.

College Drinking- The Committee continues its strong support of the NIAAA Advisory Council's Subcommittee on College Drinking and its efforts to create a unique dialogue among college presidents, administrators and alcohol researchers. The Committee appreciates the progress made by NIAAA in building community partnerships to help expand the research on college drinking and in developing research-based interventions for preventing the harm caused by misuse of alcohol. Further, the Committee understands that NIAAA will soon begin the first national, longitudinal survey to assess alcohol consumption and contributing characteristics of adolescents and college-age youth. The Committee encourages NIAAA to continue and expand these activities.

Prevention and Treatment of Violence- The Committee is supportive of NIAAA's efforts to understand the relationships between alcohol use and violence. The Committee encourages NIAAA to consider supporting more research in this area, particularly to understand individual characteristics and environmental conditions, situations, and circumstances under which alcohol use and violent behavior are connected. The Committee also encourages the NIAAA to consider supporting additional research on the prevention and treatment of violence by persons with alcohol problems.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

Prescription Drug Abuse- Certain segments of the population, including adolescents, women, and the elderly, appear to be particularly vulnerable to the problem of prescription drug abuse. The Committee is particularly pleased that NIDA has taken a proactive leadership role in informing the public, health care professionals and others about the misuse and abuse of certain medications, particularly opiates. The Committee recognizes the importance of both behavioral and pharmacological interventions in treating prescription drug abuse and the critical role that primary care providers and mental health specialists play in identifying abuse and addiction.

Transdisciplinary Tobacco Research Centers- The use of tobacco products remains one of the Nation's deadliest addictions. The Committee strongly supports NIDA's continuing efforts to address this major public health problem through its comprehensive research portfolio. The Committee is pleased that NIDA has teamed with the National Cancer Institute and an outside foundation to establish the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC). This multifaceted approach should lead to an increased understanding of how nicotine acts in the brain and body, and to new strategies for treating nicotine addiction and preventing tobacco use, particularly by teens and younger children.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

Children's Mental Health- The Committee is aware that NIMH's National Advisory Mental Health Council established a Workgroup on Child and Adolescent Mental Health that is charged with charting a new, more rational course for the future of child and adolescent mental health research. The Committee supports this effort in light of the continuing evidence of high prevalence of mental illnesses in children and adolescents, and the difficulty many children encounter in accessing effective treatments, preventive strategies, and services. The Committee endorses the further direction of targeted research programs specifically for children and adolescents.

Families and School Together Track Program- The Committee commends NIMH for building science-based programs, such as the Families and School Together (FAST) Track program, designed to improve school-based mental health delivery systems. The Committee encourages NIMH to continue to support research on multi-year, multi-component interventions at the family, school, and community levels. The Committee also urges NIMH to further develop research on early interventions in children, with a particular emphasis on problems of mood, anxiety and conduct, taking into account informational deficits, attitudinal factors, and cultural barriers that inhibit use of these services.

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