Welcome to 2012

Happy New Year! Having celebrated our 30^th Anniversary last November, this is the first issue of Volume 31 of the newsletter of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). Our goal remains to inform the social and behavioral science community about activities in Washington, DC and elsewhere that have important implications for the conduct of research and its dissemination to policy makers. We appear for the most part biweekly (with the exception of February, August, and December). In early March, we will present a special issue that will analyze President Obama's proposed Fiscal Year 2013 federal budget for over 50 agencies important to the production of social and behavioral science research. We hope you will appreciate our coverage and if you have any questions or comments please let us know at cossa@cossa.org. May your New Year be productive and enjoyable!

This year brings many historic anniversaries: 200 years since the War of 1812; 150 years from what is still the bloodiest battle in American history-Antietam; and 50 years since one of the seminal events of the nuclear age-the Cuban Missile Crisis.   It is also a presidential and congressional election year and between now and November 6 we will receive millions of messages on behalf of and against various candidates. Election years always make for expedited congressional sessions and the expectation is that 2012 will be no exception. How that will affect outcomes on spending and other issues is still unclear.

We do know that the budget deal of 2011 set the parameters for overall spending for FY 2013. We also know that the failure of the Super Committee to reach an agreement to reduce the debt leaves in place, for the moment, the sequestration or across-the-board cuts scheduled for implementation in 2013. Early in 2012, the President and Congress are forced to focus again on extending the social security tax cut and other leftover items from their December 2011 confrontation.

Many bills like the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Institute of Education Sciences are still awaiting action. With the announced resignation of Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson, the attempt to codify actions to ensure the independence of the National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics will intensify.

Members will return on January 17 for the second session of the 112^th Congress. There is some hope that the confrontations that signified the first session last year may have peaked and the election year may temper the conflict somewhat. With public approval of Congress at all-time lows, the focus may turn to getting things done. The emphasis here is on the word may.

FY 2012 Appropriations Process Completed

Showing improvement over the FY 2011 appropriations process which was completed in April 2011, seven months after the start of the Fiscal Year, Congress completed the FY 2012 spending season on December 17, 2011 only two and half months after the commencement of the new fiscal year.

For FY 2012, Congress wrapped the twelve funding bills into two: a Minibus that passed on November 17 and contained three of the bills (see Update, November 21, 2011); and an Omnibus that was signed into law on December 23 and consisted of the nine remaining bills.

The chart below provides the numbers for the agencies that affect social and behavioral science research and data. For descriptions of the funding and related congressional directives for the agencies in the Minibus see the Update referenced above. What follows are descriptions, including some conference report language, for those agencies in the Omnibus. The results demonstrate the impact of an emphasis on reducing spending and in some cases eliminating small programs.

Annual MTF Report Examines Teens' Drug and Alcohol Use

On December 14, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey which was administered in classrooms earlier this year. This survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, with a grant from NIDA, polls eighth, 10^th, and 12^th-graders. The MTF first began surveying students in 1975. Since then questions have expanded as have the age groups monitored, but it remains a vital source of information about drug, cigarette and alcohol abuse among teens.

This year's report revealed that cigarette and alcohol use by 8^th, 10^th and 12^th-graders are at their lowest point since the MTF began in 1975. Unfortunately, it also revealed that the rate of decline in teen smoking is slowing and abuse of other tobacco products, marijuana, and prescription drugs remains high. More of today's teens abuse marijuana than cigarettes and alcohol is still the drug of choice among all three age groups monitored by the survey.

The 2011 results showed that 18.7 percent of 12^th-graders reported current (past month) cigarette use, which is a very low number compared to the recent peak rate of 36.5 percent in 1997 and 21.6 percent five years ago. However, Howard K. Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, declared that "while it is good news that cigarette use has declined to historically low rates, we can and must do more to accelerate that decline...the actual decline is relatively small compared to the sharp declines we witnessed in the late nineties."

A major surprise in this year's results came from the first time inclusion of synthetic marijuana, known as K2 or spice. A startling 11.4 percent of 12^th graders reported using synthetic marijuana within the last year. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, declared that "we will continue to work with the public health and safety community to respond to this emerging threat but in the meantime, parents must take action....parents are the most powerful force in the lives of young people."

Also announced with the release of the survey results was NIDA's new PEERx section of their website. This section is meant to help educate teens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse using interactive videos and other tools. The survey results for non-medical use of prescription drugs were mixed this year, with the use of Vicodin down slightly among 12^th graders, but stable numbers for OxyContin and ADHD medicine abuse.

• Prioritize planning for the long-term humanitarian consequences of climate change and migration as a core national security issue. This planning should be done across agencies and then combined into a comprehensive plan.
• Create a unified national security budget. This should integrate defense, diplomacy and development funding.
• Address the development-security relationship. We must determine exactly how U.S. development and security policy should be combined to address the link between climate and security.
• The Global Development Policy needs to specifically address climate migration.  We must expand the debate on complex crisis scenarios to include the realities of climate migration as a threat to global security.
• Support USAID's analysis on the intersection of Adaption, Conflict, Management and Mitigation. The U.S. should establish a coordinating mechanism for discussions of how climate change's threat to food and water security can potentially lead to conflict.
• Develop strategies to strengthen intergovernmental cooperation on trans-boundary risks in different regions of the world.

Small Grants for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control

Research suggests that the U.S. cancer burden can be reduced by approximately 50 percent through modification of lifestyle behavior such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, poor eating habits, unsafe sexual practices, excessive alcohol consumption, and sun exposure. To date, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), discoveries in behavioral and social science have contributed to a reduction in cancer incidence via behavioral interventions (risk communication, smoking cessation, dietary modification, and physical activity) and early detection (screening and genetic testing). Discoveries related to the physiological, psychosocial and economic effects of treatment and survivorship have led to advances in practitioner-patient communication, amelioration of side effects, and health promotion.

To enhance basic and applied behavioral research in the context of cancer control, NCI is inviting investigator-initiated Small Research Grants (ROS) applications for research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources in behavioral research in cancer prevention and control. A secondary goal of the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) (PAR-12-035) is to attract new investigators to the field from a variety of biomedical, behavioral, and public health disciplines.

Research projects could include pilot or feasibility studies, secondary analysis of existing data, and meta analyses particularly in the areas of: (1) basic biobehavioral and psychological services; (2) behavioral genetic, (3) cancer survivorship and bereavement, (4) health behaviors, (5) health communication and informatics, (6) health disparities, (7) processes of cancer care including delivery and utilization, and (8) tobacco control.   Examples of research that priority research may include:

Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Services Research

• Basic research in social, cognitive, and psychological processes (e.g., social comparison, mechanisms underlying neurocognitive changes associated with cancer treatment, emotion, and motivation);
• Biological mechanisms of psychosocial or behavioral processes related to cancer control (e.g., stress/behavioral regulation of tumor biology);
• Medical decision making (e.g., role of numeracy in medical decision making, elucidating decision processes involved in maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviors);
• Methodology and measurement in behavioral science research (e.g., psychophysiological assessment, measurement of stress and other psychological constructs);
• Psychosocial and behavioral consequences of cancer risk assessment (e.g., risk perception);
• Integration of social psychology and personality constructs and theories to advance understanding of cancer related behavior;
• Basic processes of interpersonal communication;
• Ethical issues associated with cancer control behavioral research (e.g., informed consent, privacy, use and availability of data, and confidentiality).

Behavioral Genetics

• Genetic determinates of cancer risk factor reduction related health behaviors (e.g. diet, satiety, physical activity or sedentary behavior, smoking, decision-making and sun safety/exposure);
• Impact of gene interaction and health-related behaviors (e.g. diet, physical activity, smoking and sun safety/exposure) on cancer risk or disease progression;
• Impact of genetic testing on screening, psychological (e.g. emotion, stress) and cancer risk factor reduction related behaviors (e.g. dietary and physical activity) on obesity and/or cancer risk;
• Genetic and environmental influences on health behaviors related to cancer control mediators and moderators of adaptation and coping;
• Psychological and social environments as moderators of genetic susceptibility to cancer including research that links levels of analysis from broad social influences to biological mechanisms;
• Integration of genes, eating behaviors and correlates (e.g. taste preferences), and physical activity and sedentary behaviors as related to obesity risk and by extension cancer control.

Cancer Survivorship and Bereavement

• Examine adverse and/or positive effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment;
• Studies that have the potential to improve the physical and psychosocial outcomes of cancer survivors, their families, and caregivers including pilot investigations focusing on the development, delivery, and/or evaluation of interventions, as well as behavioral, clinical and/or epidemiologic research;
• Prevalence and control of post-cancer morbidity, second cancers, and chronic diseases other than cancer. Examples include: projects examining the prevalence of late effects, behavioral risk factors for second cancers and other chronic diseases, and interventions to reduce risk for iatrogenic morbidity;
• Analyses of the economic cost of cancer survivorship, including work and employment issues, financial hardship, and issues related to maintaining adequate health insurance coverage;
• Secondary data analysis of national data bases that elucidate survivorship needs and behaviors directed toward addressing treatment side effects, and work/employment issues;
• Health promotion of cancer survivors, their families, and caregivers, such as tobacco and alcohol control, exercise promotion, and dietary interventions;
• Survivorship studies of the health and psychosocial outcomes of older adults, including those with complex medical conditions. Studies could explore the intersection of cancer-related comorbidity, aging, and chronic illness. Studies could also test the feasibility of existing interventions or develop novel interventions for those age 65 and older;
• Delivery of follow-up care, including studies of care coordination, care planning, care plans, and systems and patterns of care and their impact on survivor, provider or healthcare system level outcomes and costs.

Health Behaviors Research

• Promote improvement or maintenance of cancer preventive behaviors and/or promote new behaviors, such as those that improve healthy diet, increase physical activity, decrease sedentary behavior, and ultimately, achieve optimal energy balance as it relates to obesity prevention (in both adults and children). Studies are also encouraged to examine the role of sleep behaviors as they relate to energy balance and obesity prevention;
• Examination of decreasing and preventing virus exposure (e.g., HPV) and skin cancer prevention (e.g. UV exposure, sun safety, indoor tanning);
• Improve understanding of psychosocial risk factors relevant to healthy behaviors and reducing incidence, morbidity, or mortality from cancer;
• Examination of multiple cancer preventive behaviors (i.e., 2 or more cancer preventive behaviors) to understand patterns of overall behavioral risk, and examine underlying mechanism of how: 1) behavior may be associated with or "spill over" to other cancer preventive behaviors; and 2) correlates associated with these patterns of risky behaviors to prevent cancer;
• Address social determinants (e.g. housing, employment/workplace, culture, discrimination, gender, literacy) of health behaviors in cancer risk and prevention as correlates of health behavior change and its relationship with psychosocial risk factors in application and testing of behavioral theories;
• Interpersonal contexts in which cancer risk factor reduction related health behaviors occur (e.g., romantic relationships, parents and children, families), including how close others positively or negatively impact behavior change attempts, how people negotiate health behavior change within a relational context, and the potential positive or negative impact of attempted behavior change on relationship quality.
• Generational influences on mechanisms of cancer preventive behavior change including intergenerational norms, behaviors, patterns and history of prior chronic diseases within families;
• Translation of recommended cancer risk factor reduction related health promotion guidelines into behavioral counseling and clinical practice more broadly (e.g., primary care);
• Methodology to test theory-driven models, cognitive-affective, motivational and other mechanisms of behavior change, or the use of innovative technology (e.g. mobile technology, sensors) to better understand individual or multiple cancer risk factor reduction related health behaviors. Studies that examine new methodologies, development of new measures or testing of theories in investigating multi-level influences (e.g., built environmental, neighborhood, policy, workplace, schools, and social relationships) on individual level behavior change in adults and children are also of interest. New methodologies may include development of policy evaluations and metrics of key policies targeting cancer risk behaviors or mixed methods studies examining policy development and implementation processes.

Health Communication and Informatics Research

• Exploratory and intervention studies on communication campaigns, health communication messages and information dissemination. Topics may include but are not limited to: message design, framing and priming, effect on cancer prevention behaviors and cancer-related policy change;
• Mixed methods research to study the communication context and process in clinical encounters and public health communication, including descriptive content analyses to examine the communication and media environment for cancer control topics such as cancer prevention, screening, and survivorship, among others;
• Role of technologies and social media in communication about cancer prevention and control.  Particular topics may include mechanisms of information dissemination, social networks and social support that influence cancer prevention behavior, cancer treatment processes, and survivorship;
• Risk communication studies focused on the understanding of cancer risks, decision-making, and the use of online risk tools or other technology-based communication channels;
• Studies that design and test interventions from multiple levels to facilitate and improve patient-centered communication in a variety of health care settings;
• Media effects on media coverage of cancer topics and public health campaigns at the individual level, and cancer-related public health or health care policies at the macrosocial level;
• Transdisciplinary studies led by non-traditional behavioral science and cancer control investigators, such as investigators from communication, computer science, informatics, linguistics, journalism, marketing, demography, and anthropology, among others.

Health Disparities

• Behavioral, societal and environmental determinants of cancer health disparities;
• Interventions focused on the reduction and elimination of cancer health disparities. Studies may use a variety of research approaches (e.g. community-based participatory research);
• Health literacy, the digital divide, knowledge gap hypothesis, and other communication-related variables that may contribute to the unequal burden of cancer across populations.

Processes of Cancer Care

Process of care research seeks to understand and promote behaviors that improve health through health care delivery. Research with people from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds and intervention research in the clinical setting or the community setting where linkage to clinical care is part of the process are encouraged.  Screening is emphasized as a critical process in cancer control that requires linkage to primary care, but interventions into processes relevant to improving the quality of cancer care may be examined anywhere along the cancer care continuum. 

• Theory and methods development, effectiveness trials and related social, behavioral and health services research to promote the offering and appropriate uptake of effective cancer screening and detection tests, follow-up of abnormal findings and outreach to unscreened populations;
• Studies that evaluate how theory is used in screening promotion research and how to more actively test the value of theory in building interventions;
• Strategies for informed decision making regarding all cancer-screening technologies, diagnostic, and treatment options in clinical practice;
• Strategies that test approaches to actively incorporate people seeking care into the care process in non-traditional ways;
• Research to understand and influence how screening decisions are made throughout the lifespan, and especially in older adults (e.g. screening cessation in the context of clinical care, the roles of affect, values, preferences, multiple chronic medical conditions, social relationships, or contextual factors);
• Impact of personalized medicine on cancer screening, especially characteristics related to risk assessment (e.g., age, ethnicity, and genomics), uptake of screening or screening practice, adherence to guidelines, and screening outcomes;
• Studies that expand the foundational science necessary to test multilevel influences upon health care delivery,
• Multilevel intervention strategies in screening, diagnosis, treatment and long term survivorship that are efficacious in diverse settings & diverse populations;
• Interventions at multiple levels of a contextual model of individual behavior. Examples include:
  • interaction between individuals (patients) and their health care providers,
  • individuals (patients and providers) and the health care system,
  • individuals (patients, providers, health care administrators) and the community, and
  • incorporating applications associated with system science and social network.

Tobacco Control Research

• Tobacco use etiology, prevention, and cessation studies; may include, but are not limited to pilot studies, studies testing strategies for improving utilization of current technologies and studies that focus on high-risk individuals and populations; 
• Policies on tobacco initiation and use.

Applications may be submitted on or after January 17, 2012. For more information and/or to apply, see: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-035.html

University of Colorado Rejoins COSSA

After a hiatus, COSSA is delighted to welcome back the University of Colorado as its newest member. We look forward to working with the University to help support its social and behavioral scientists who benefit from COSSA's important work.