Enhancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Mental Health Research: American Psychopathological Association Annual Meetings - From both NIMH and NIDA, we are requesting R13 funds to support attendance of early-career and underrepre- sented scientists at the 2024, 2025, and 2026 annual conferences of the American Psychopathological Associ- ation (APPA); exclusively from NIDA, we also request support to help cover meeting costs. Since its founding in 1910, the APPA has sought to promote (1) investigation of disorders of mind and behavior, including their bio- logical and psychosocial substrates, and (2) mentoring of junior scientists. This R13’s specific aims entail a significant expansion of our efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in the mental health workforce of scientists underrepresented in psychopathology research. The themes of our annual meetings are closely aligned with the aims of the R13. In the 2024-2025 conferences, we focus on population-wide diversity and inequity in mental health and addiction, addressing variability in prevalence, symptom expression and severity, coping and resili- ence, illness models, and measurement factors (diversity); we will also address preventable and unjust social practices toward oppressed groups that lead to worse mental health outcomes, greater burden of disease, and poorer availability and quality of care (inequities). We intend to generate new mental health research goals via state-of-the-art discussion of timely topics and methods in multi-level mechanisms of diversity and inequity (2024) and in prevention/treatment interventions and strategies (2025). The 2026 conference will address the fruits of the “affect revolution” on how we understand and intervene in psychopathology: it will focus on emotion regulation/ dysregulation as a cross-cutting process underlying multiple forms of psychopathology and highlight the role of context in the experience and regulation of emotions. Because key factors enumerated in the 2023- 2024 meetings on diversity and social inequity are contributors to mental illness/addictions and reflect part of individuals’ context (e.g., marginalization, reduced access to care), the themes of all three APPA meetings will be linked. The all-plenary format and inclusive environment of the meetings will stimulate vigorous exchanges of information on concepts, methods, findings, controversies, and gaps in knowledge to identify new research di- rections, foster collaborations, and – especially for junior scientists and individuals from underrepresented groups – develop new connections and career opportunities. Activities specifically designed for junior scientists (stu- dents, fellows, early-career investigators) include a half-day pre-conference workshop, breakfast roundtables with senior scientists, opportunities for trainees to give oral poster presentations to the entire APPA audience, and a structured mentorship program of junior attendees led by senior APPA members, including from the Di- versity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging Committee. Funds are requested to cover travel/hotel/reg- istration costs for junior scientists and investigators from underrepresented groups who would otherwise not be able to attend APPA and enhance their engagement in the field of psychopathology research. Additional funds are requested from NIDA to partially cover meeting-related costs related to the aims of the R13.
