Research Grants (APNA) is sponsored by American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA). The APNA Research Grants program provides funding to enhance scientific contributions that advance the knowledge and practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing.

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APNA Memorial Scholarship Application Walkthrough APNA Research Grants Application Checklist APNA Research Grant Proposal Submission Walkthrough Research Grant Recipients Research Grant Review Committee 2020 APNA Psychiatric Nurse of the Year 2020 APNA Award for Distinguished Service 2020 APNA Award for Excellence in Practice – RN 2020 APNA Award for Excellence in Research 2020 Award for Innovation – Chapter APNA Board of Directors Student Scholars Recipients APNA Board of Directors Student Scholars Application Walkthrough APNA Research Grant Recipients Ensuring the Future: Since 2008, the APNA Research Grants program has aided scientific research and contributions which add to the knowledge and practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing.

The call for proposals opens each year in March with a deadline in May. Recipients are generally notified in June and funding commences in July. Announcing the 2025 APNA Research Grant Recipient The APNA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s APNA Research Grants.

2025 APNA Research Grant Recipient Multilevel Determinants of Health in Adults with ADHD: A Mixed Methods Study Taylor Bellfield, DNP, PMHNP-BC PhD student at Boston College Taylor Bellfield is a PhD candidate at Boston College, Jonas Scholar (2024-2026), and a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. His research examines the factors that shape health outcomes in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Specifically, he aims to uncover key differences between subgroups of adults with ADHD and explore how these differences drive outcome heterogeneity – from success and well-being to chronic illness and early death.

Grounded in a conceptual framework integrating salutogenesis, intersectionality, and self-care theory, Bellfield’s work explores how the intersections of identity, biopsychosocial context, and self-care behaviors influence health outcomes among adults with ADHD.

By employing an intersectional lens and centering a population that is largely underrepresented in ADHD and nursing research, this work has the potential to inform innovative approaches to PMH nursing that reduce long-term morbidity and mortality, while fostering resilience, adaptive coping, and sustainable well-being.

As a future PhD-DNP-prepared nurse scientist, Bellfield aims to design and implement innovative interventional strategies that promote healthy development and more equitable outcomes for people with ADHD.

He aims to broaden ADHD and mental health treatment by moving beyond a narrow focus on medication and deficits, instead promoting holistic, strengths-based approaches that help individuals use their internal and external resources to manage life stress.

Past APNA Grant Recipients 2024 APNA Research Grant Recipients Wonkyung Chang, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC PhD student at the University of Rochester The impact of discrimination and stress on unhealthy alcohol and other forms of substance use among ethnoracial minority gay, bisexual men, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) Olajumoke Ojeleye, PhD(c), MSN, BSN, RN, RM, RPHN PhD candidate at the University of South Florida Understanding The Lived Experiences of Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents With Perinatal Depression and Perinatal Anxiety in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida 2023 APNA Research Grant Recipients Angel Johann Solorzano Martinez, PhD (c), DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, CNS, PMNHP-BC Florida Atlantic University The Lived Experience of Latino Farmworkers Who Use Alcohol Towson University College of Health Professions The Impact of Maryland Nurse Practitioner Full Practice Authority on Psychotropic Medication Initiation and Adherence among Medicaid Beneficiaries with Serious Mental Illness 2022 APNA Research Grant Recipients The Ohio State University College of Nursing Polyvictimization and Associated Substance Use in College Students Valery Seney, PhD, MA, LMHC, PMHNP-BC College of Nursing and Health Sciences University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Examining Shame as a Barrier to Seeking Care in Patients with Substance Use Disorder 2021 APNA Research Grant Recipient Nasreen Lalani, PhD, MScN, RN Purdue University School of Nursing WINGS: Wellness Intervention for Nurses Post Traumatic Growth and Self Care 2019 APNA Research Grants Recipients Chrissy Agenor, MPH, RN-BC University of Central Florida A Proposal for a Grounded Theory Study of Flourishing in Recent Gulf War Era Veterans Elizabeth DePalma, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; United States Air Force Implementation of a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training Intervention to Support College Student Mental Health by Improving Peers’ Readiness to Offer Help Hyunhwa “Henna” Lee, PhD, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC University of Nevada, Las Vegas Epigenetic Effects of Preinjury Adversity on Functional Disparities after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Asian and Pacific Islanders 2018 APNA Research Grants Recipients Nadia Ali Muhammad Ali Charania, Ph.

D.

, RN University of Michigan School of Nursing Arab American Women with Recurrent Depression: Self-management Strategies and Elizabeth Hutson, MS, RN, PMHNP-BC #mindstrong to Combat Bullying a Cognitive Behavior Skills Building Intervention for Adolescents Krista Scorsone MS, RN, PMPNP-BC University of New Mexico College of Nursing Exploring Perspectives of Medication Assisted Therapy 2017 APNA Research Grants Recipients Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Perceptions, Use, and Impact of Digital Technologies for Strengthening Parenting Brenda C.

Fore, MHA, BSN, RN-BC, PMHN Trauma Informed Care: Using Evidence-Based Education to Combat a Population Crisis Indiana University School of Nursing The Unfolding of Depressive Symptoms, Disease Self-Management, and Treatment Utilization for Latina Adolescents 2016 APNA Research Grant Recipient Nicholas Guenzel, PhD, APRN University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Relationships between Historical Trauma and Mental Health among Adult Urban American Indians 2015 APNA Research Grant Recipient Kosuke Niitsu, MSN, APRN-NP, PMHNP-BC/PhD Student University of Nebraska Medical Center Genetic Influence on Resilience to Potentially Traumatic Events 2014 APNA Research Grants Recipients Robin Osterman, PhD, RNC-OB, CNS University of Cincinnati College of Nursing Alcohol Use Biomarkers in Pregnant Methadone Users Choochart Wong-Anuchit, PhD(c), RN Saint Louis University School of Nursing A Meta-analysis of Motivational Interviewing in People with Severe Mental Illness 2013 APNA Research Grants Recipients Marian J.

Hardwick, MS, RN University of South Florida, School of Nursing Accelerated Resolution Therapy for PTSD and Sleep Disturbance Kerry Peterson, DNP, PMHCNS, PMHNP Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing Evaluation of Two Dating Violence Prevention Programs on a College Campus 2012 APNA Research Grants Recipients Esther Meerwijk, PhD(c), RN University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing Heart rate variability and frontal EEG asymmetry as markers of psychological pain.

Andrea Warner Stidham, PhD, RN The Relationship of PostTraumatic Growth to Depressive Symptoms and Physical Health in Spouses of U.S. Service Members Deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. 2011 APNA Research Grants Recipients Abir Bekhet, PhD, RN, H. S.

M. I. Effects of Positive Cognitions and Resourcefulness on Autism Spectrum Disorder Caregiver’s Burden Nutchanart Bunthumporn, RN Case Western Reserve University – PhD candidate Effects of Biofeedback Training on Negative Emotions, Depressive Cognition, and Resourcefulness in Thai Elders Carrie M.

Carretta, PhD(c), APN, AHN-BC Vanderbilt University – PhD candidate Rape Trauma: A Study of Preferred Rape Disclosure Methods and Factors Influencing Psychological Outcomes in Rape Victims University of Cincinnati – PhD candidate The Protective Effects of Social Support on Postpartum Depression: Does Emotional Intelligence Matter? Kimberly A.

Williams, RN, DNSc, PMHNP-BC, ANP-BC University of South Alabama School Nurse Feasibility, Reliability and Validity Test of the SARA and SLICE® Tools for Self-Harm 2010 APNA Research Grants Recipients Andrea N. Kwasky, DNP, PMHNP-BC, PMHCNS-BC University of Detroit Mercy Vitamin D and Depression: Is There a Relationship in Young African American Women? Betty D.

Morgan, PhD, PMHCNS, BC University of Massachusetts Lowell Nursing Educational Needs for Caring for People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) at End-of-Life Mary Rosedale, PhD, PMHNP-BC, NEA-BC College of Nursing, New York University The structure of the lived experience of the expert electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) nurse and their meaning of expertise 2009 APNA Research Grants Recipients How Parents Make Decisions about Medication to Treat Their Child’s ADHD Symptoms Kimberly O.

Hemphill, APRN-BC Doctoral Student, University of Virginia Determinants of Health Risk Behavior in Male Juvenile Offenders in Rural Arizona Linda C.

Lewin, PhD, APRN-BC Case Western Reserve University Parenting Among Women in Substance Abuse Treatment 2008 APNA Research Grants Recipients Florida International University Factors Affecting Health Promoting Screening, Treatment, Couple Relationships and Depression during Breast Cancer: Identifying Couple Risks, Needs, and Solutions from Ethnically Diverse Couples University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Group Interventions for PTSD symptoms in immigrant Latina women exposed to Intimate Partner Violence The structure of the lived experience for persons having undergone rTMS for depression treatment Improving mood in Long-term Care: A Psychiatric Nurse Enhanced Model Understand the Meaning of Mental Health and Illness in an Urban Nicaraguan Community: An Ethnography Your dynamic community of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses.

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