|
Principal Investigator: Alan
Litrownik
Co-Principal Investigator: John Landsverk
Funding: National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect
(10/90-9/05)
LONGSCAN is a consortium of research studies operating under
common by-laws and procedures. It was initiated in 1990 with
grants from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect
to a coordinating center at
the University of North Carolina and five satellite sites
. Each site is conducting a separate and unique research project
on the etiology and impact of child maltreatment. While each
project can stand alone on its
own merits, through the use of common assessment measures,
similar data collection methods and schedules, and pooled
analyses, LONGSCAN is a collaborative effort that is truly
greater than the sum of its parts.
In addition to the specific focus of the individual sites,
the coordinated LONGSCAN design permits a comprehensive exploration
of many critical issues in child abuse and neglect on a combined
sample of sufficient size for unprecedented statistical power
and flexibility. Built into the LONGSCAN design is also the
ability to replicate and extend findings across a variety
of ethnic, social and economic subgroups.
LONGSCAN is a cost-effective research initiative because
it has built on pre-existing research programs (in North Carolina,
Baltimore, San Diego). Because families have already been
recruited into a long-term study, it is also possible to piggyback
other important studies onto the LONGSCAN effort. For example,
the Centers for Disease Control have been able to begin a
low-cost study on the precursors of violent behavior in children,
using the LONGSCAN sample.
The goal of LONGSCAN is to follow the children and their
families until the children themselves become young adults.
Comprehensive assessments of children, their parents, and
their teachers are scheduled to occur at child ages 4, 6,
8, 12, 16, and 20. Maltreatment data is collected from multiple
sources, including record reviews, at least every two years.
Yearly telephone interviews allow the sites to track families
and assess yearly service utilization and important life events.
You may also want to link to the main
LONGSCAN website.
|
2007
CASRC