Up to 20 percent of children in the United States suffer from a mental disorder, some due to abuse and neglect, and animal studies are among the critical building blocks that allow researchers to design interventions to help these children and others.
That's the message that speakers relayed at a March 27 congressional briefing on animal research, sponsored by APA and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Society of Primatologists, the International Study Group Investigating Drugs as Reinforcers and the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society.
"Animal research, ethically and responsibly conducted, is very important for animal and human health," said moderator Allyson Bennett, PhD, chair of APA's Committee on Animal Research and Ethics and a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. "In the realm of child health, there's hardly an area that hasn't been informed by it."
At the briefing, two researchers described their work:
- Megan Gunnar, PhD, of the University of Minnesota, works with children in the U.S. foster care system and those adopted from overseas orphanages, two groups at risk for anxiety, depression, ADHD and other problems. She discussed how work with rats has led to a greater understanding of how early neglect and mistreatment affects the developing brain on a cellular level.
"I often feel like I'm looking through a glass dimly, then I look to my friends doing animal research to get clarity," she says. - Mary Dozier, PhD, of the University of Delaware, has developed an intervention called Attachment and Biobehavioral Catchup to teach caregivers how to help children who experienced early adversity or neglect. She discussed how research with nonhuman primates helped decipher the connection between early adversity, cortisol levels and behavior.
"The intervention is greatly informed by the findings from nonhuman primate work," she said.
— Lea Winerman