Description:
Prevention Science and Research in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Volume 61 highlights the WHOs emphasis on the importance of adopting a public health approach. Chapters in the book include A Prevention Science Approach to Promoting Health for Those with Developmental Disabilities, From Surviving to Thriving: A New Conceptual Model to Advance Interventions to Support People with FASD Across the Lifespan, Disability-related Abuse in People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Considerations Across the Lifespan, Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Qualitative Study of Multiple Stakeholder Perspectives on Factors Affecting Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices for Children with Autism in Elementary Schools, and more.
Other topics discussed include Family-Focused Interventions as Prevention and Early Intervention of Behavioral Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Body weight improvements associated with nutritional intervention for adults with IDD living in group homes: A randomized controlled trial, Lifestyle Intervention Adaptation to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity of Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Cultural Adaptations of the Parents Taking Action Program for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and more.
Brief description: Dr. Nathaniel R. Riggs is a professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Director of the Prevention Research Center at Colorado State University. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Prevention Research and as associate editor for the journal, Prevention Science. It is through these experiences and his collaborations with colleagues in the Colorado State University Developmental Disabilities Lab that he has recognized the timely opportunity that is bridging the fields of prevention science and intellectual and developmental disabilities research. Dr. Riggs' research focuses on translating basic science in neurocognitive development to the development of preventive interventions that promote child and adolescent social-emotional, behavioral, and physical health. Of primary interest is the development of executive function, the set of neurocognitive skills mediated by the prefrontal cortex that encompass self-regulated decision-making and goal-oriented problem-solving. His research has demonstrated that disruptions in the development of executive function can be an important contributor to patterns of childhood and adolescent aggressive and depressive symptomatology, substance use, and obesity.
Importantly, Dr. Riggs takes a social-ecological approach that views neurocognitive development within the context of important family, peer, and educational influences. It is these important contexts that set the stage for healthy neurocognitive development. Dr. Riggs' research has demonstrated that supporting these contexts with preventive interventions can significantly improve youth behavioral health due, in part, to the ability of preventive interventions to promote neurocognitive development.