Preconference Workshops

SPR provides training opportunities in prevention science during pre-conference workshops scheduled for Tuesday, May 27, 2008. All workshops require registration.

Pre-Conference #1
DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Hyatt Regency San Francisco
TIME: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Advocacy #1 Understanding the Legislative Process and the Role of Science
Presenters: Annie Toro, American Psychological Association

Annie Toro, J.D., M.P.H. is the Associate Executive Director for Public Interest Government Relations and Director, Congressional Fellowship Program at the American Psychological Association. This half-day training session will provide participants with an overview of the federal legislative process and effective strategies for informing and influencing federal policy makers. The workshop will include an opportunity for hands-on experience delivering scientific information to policymakers using an example of a detailed briefing regarding a timely federal policy issue.

Pre-Conference Workshop #1 (PDF)

Pre-Conference #2
DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Hyatt Regency San Francisco
TIME: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Advocacy #2 Strategies and Opportunities for Impact
Presenters: Brian Wilcox, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jon Baron, Coalition for Evidenced-Based Policy

Jon Baron, J.D. is Executive Director of the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, a non-profit non-partisan organization in Washington D.C. Brian Wilcox is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska and Director of the University’s Center on Children, Families and the Law and chair of UNL’s Family Research and Policy Initiative. This half-day training will build from the morning session to provide participants with information regarding the multiple opportunities available, including those beyond the legislative process, for researchers and prevention scientists to be involved in affecting policy and practice. The workshop will focus on how research can be used to have a meaningful impact on policy and factors that relate to successful (and unsuccessful) use of research in guiding policy. The stages of policy making, from problem definition to the regulatory process and implementation and evaluation will be discussed. Workshop participants will have the opportunity for hands on experience in developing effective communication strategies.

Pre-Conference Workshop #2 (PDF)

For those who are registering for one or both Advocacy sessions the registration rate is the same.

Pre-Conference #3
DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Hyatt Regency San Francisco
TIME: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Lunch on your own)

Survival Analysis in a Latent Variable Modeling Framework
Presenters: Kathryn Masyn, University of California at Davis and Hanno Petras, University of Maryland

This workshop will present the principals of survival analysis conducted in a general latent variable modeling framework. The workshop will provide attendees with a conceptional basis for survival analysis in the discrete-time setting along with practical knowledge about basic model specification in the Mplus V5 software. Methods for including time-invariant and time-varying predictors of event time will be discussed along with extensions to multivariate event histories such as recurring events and competing risks. Issues related to modeling unobserved heterogeneity and underlying individual frailty will be explored. During the second half of the workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to translate the modeling matters above into a continuous-time setting while remaining in the same latent variable framework. The workshop will conclude with an overview of modeling extensions facilitated by conducting survival analysis in this more general framework.

Pre-Conference Workshop #3 (PDF)

Pre-Conference #4
DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Hyatt Regency San Francisco
TIME: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Lunch on your own)

Antisocial Behavior: A Clinical and Social Problem Considered from Evolutionary Perspectives
Chairs: Ralph Tarter, University of Pittsburgh and Diana Fishbein, RTI
Presenters: Ralph Tarter, University of Pittsburgh, Tony Biglan, Oregon Research Institute, Tom Dishion, University of Oregon, S. Alexandra Burt, University of Michigan, Michael Vanyukov, University of Pittsburgh, and David Newlin, RTI International

This workshop will examine the evolutionary process of humanization; that is, where and how our apelike ancestors evolved into the modern human form. One evolutionary outcome is massive neocortex and functional capacity for symbolic communication. Thus, for instance, whereas violence/aggressive behavior and threat display are established in the repertoire of other apes, it is useful to consider how these socially defined behaviors in humans (e.g. CD/ASPD, criminality) is manifest in humans, whether similar environmental conditions foster this adaptational style, and how the cognitive apparatus by the neocortex impacts on expression. Thus, one topic bears on the role of humanization as part of our evolutionary history that impacts on the expression of behaviors shared by other apes. A second agenda involves comparisons of social organization between apes species to determine whether common factors are associated with particular behaviors that promote survival and reproduction. Three classes of behavior are important for a conference on conduct problems: aggression, mate (selection and competition) and cooperation.

Pre-Conference Workshop #4 (PDF)