Science/Economics paper by Kiss, Eniko; Vetró, Ágnes and Kovács, Mária
University of Szeged and University of Pittsburgh

The Implementation and Results of a Hungarian-American Research Project on Childhood-Onset Depression

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The authors summarize their experiences about a joint research project supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, USA),which was implemented and carried out in Hungary. Scientific cooperation was started in 1999, aiming to find genetic and psychosocial risk factors of childhood-onset depression. The joint work included American, Canadian and Hungarian scientists. The collected sample included N=723 children with major depressive disorder and their families recruited from 23 clinical sites across Hungary. Examinations included detailed psychiatric history, developmental and life events of the child, self and parent-rated questionnaires. At peak intensity the study involved about 30 professionals (child psychiatrists and psychologists), had 3 centers and 23 research sites. There has not been such a scientific cooperation in Hungarian child psychiatry before. Beside the implementation of the American research standards in Hungary, child psychiatry professionals received training in several important areas (semi-structured interviewing, psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, scientific publication). Three Hungarian researchers received scientific training at Pittsburgh University. Scientific results of the study were published in leading international and Hungarian journals (17 publications in genetic research and 15 in psychosocial aspects of childhood-onset depression, as of today). The above described research project shows how bridges between Hungarians can lead to high quality scientific work and benefit all participants.


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