The Peter F. McManus Trust awarded a $13,000+ grant to Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Demography and Population Health John Taylor, Ph.D., to analyze pre-intervention risk factors associated with substance use.
The grant will fund a secondary analysis of data collected from the Nashville Stress and Health Study, for which Dr. Taylor served as a consultant alongside the study’s principal investigator, Florida State University Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Epidemiology R. Jay Turner, Ph.D.
“The Nashville Health and Stress Study provides a largely untapped source of rich data that can provide valuable information on racial contrasts in substance abuse,” Dr. Taylor said. “Our findings associated with substance use can inform public health workers and policymakers in their decision-making and intervention efforts.”
Dr. Taylor will serve as the principal investigator for the secondary analysis titled, “Racial Contrasts in Substance Use Trajectories: An Analysis of Data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study.”
The McManus Grant will fund a Florida State University Master of Science in Demography student who will serve as a co-author. The graduate student analyst will be responsible for the summation of data.
“I’m very pleased to be able to conduct this research,” Dr. Taylor said. “The previous research was an ambitious effort and employed a cross-sectional examination of linkages between exposure to social stress and health disparities. Our continued investigation will attempt to identify the social and interpersonal factors that underlie racial/ethnic patterns of use.”
The analysis aims to develop improved epidemiological data, including:
- Collection of data from those who may benefit or need intervention efforts to reduce the risk of substance use;
- Identify personal and social characteristics of those at an increased/decreased risk;
- Extend consideration to the familial, cultural, and socioeconomic significance;
- Assess differential exposure to social stress influence and the impact of discrimination stress across gender and race.
If you’re interested in applying for the Master of Science in Demography program, click here to learn more.