# Optimizing Multi-level Interventions to Improve Child Mental Health in Azerbaijan

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2024 · $728,145

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Adversity, economic deprivation, poverty-induced stress, prolonged exposure to trauma and parental
distress increase the risk of child maltreatment and may severely undermine the mental health functioning of
children. While there are efficacious interventions targeting individual, family, and structural-level factors
associated with children’s emotional and behavioral well-being, it is unknown how these interventions interact
and complement each other and whether their effects can be synergistic (i.e., if the interventions’ combined
effects are greater than the sum of the individual effects).
 To improve mental health outcomes among children aged 7–14 from low-income families in Azerbaijan, the
proposed study will refine and test three evidence-based intervention approaches: (a) family-strengthening
intervention; b) trauma-focused mental health care for parents; and c) economic empowerment in the form of
Child Savings Accounts. These interventions have been adapted to the context of Azerbaijan. The adapted
interventions will be tested with 600 child-caregiver dyads in a trial using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy
(MOST) to compare different intervention components and identify the most optimal combination. Given the
limited human and financial resources in the LMICs, it will be important to identify whether each of these
interventions is necessary and/or sufficient for improving the mental health of children. The study will test the effects
of each intervention component on children’s clinical mental health outcomes (symptoms of depression,
anxiety; disruptive behaviors; post-traumatic symptoms;) and on cognitive and social processes associated
with these outcomes (e.g., attention, inhibitory control, working memory, emotion recognition bias). The study
will also examine the mediating pathways associated with each intervention component. If successful, the
study results could inform the National Mental Health Care reforms implemented by the Ministry of Health,
WHO, UNICEF and other organizations in Azerbaijan and other post-Soviet countries. The proposed study
addresses the NIMH’s Strategic Plan Objective 3.2.A by tailoring existing interventions to optimize outcomes,
and targets two top challenges within the NIMH Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health Goal B (Advance
prevention and implementation of early interventions): 1) to develop locally appropriate strategies to eliminate
childhood abuse and enhance child protection and 2) to develop interventions to reduce the long-term negative
impact of low childhood socioeconomic status on mental health. Through training, mentoring and collaborative
research, the project also aims to strengthen local research expertise in: 1) the core components and
mechanisms of change of psychosocial mental health interventions for children and families living in conditions
of chronic adversity; 2) the adaptation of multilevel evidence-based interventions and measurement tools to the
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10792230
- **Project number:** 1R01MH135095-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Leyla Ismayilova
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $728,145
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-01 → 2029-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10792230

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10792230, Optimizing Multi-level Interventions to Improve Child Mental Health in Azerbaijan (1R01MH135095-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10792230. Licensed CC0.

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