Environmental Stressors and Early Childhood Development

SES-1023841PI：Florencia Torche 机构：纽约大学 这项研究探讨了产前暴露于环境压力因素对出生体重和儿童早期发育的影响。环境压力包括1994年加利福尼亚州北岭地震、2005年智利塔拉帕卡地震和2006年以色列黎巴嫩战争。该研究解决了以下问题：暴露于环境压力源是否对出生结果有害？产前压力什么时候危害更大？ 压力的影响在人口和社会经济方面是否分布不均？研究人员还对 2005 年智利塔拉帕卡地震中暴露的儿童和一组类似的对照组儿童进行了纵向调查。研究人员研究了以下问题：子宫内暴露于压力对幼儿期的健康、认知和非认知结果有何影响？背景社会经济、家庭和邻里因素如何弥补或加剧早期的劣势？更广泛的影响：该项目在支持和援助孕妇（特别是社会经济弱势群体）以及儿童早期发育领域具有直接的政策影响。它还提供跨学科分析方法，包括社会学、神经科学、围产期学和发展心理学，并建立跨学科合作者网络。

SES-1023841PI: Florencia TorcheInstitution: New York UniversityThis study examines the effect of prenatal exposure to environmental stressors on birth weight and on early childhood development. The environmental stressors include the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in California, the 2005 Tarapaca earthquake in Chile, and the 2006 Lebanon War in Israel. The study addresses such questions as: Is exposure to environmental stressors detrimental for birth outcomes? When is prenatal stress more detrimental? Is the effect of stress unequally distributed along demographic and socioeconomic lines? The investigator also conducts a longitudinal survey of children exposed to the Chilean 2005 Tarapaca earthquake and a group of comparable control children. The researcher examines such questions as: What are the effects of in-utero exposure to stress on health, cognitive, and non-cognitive outcomes in early childhood? How do contextual socioeconomic, family, and neighborhood factors compensate for or exacerbate early disadvantage? Broader impacts: This project has direct policy implications in the areas of support and assistance to pregnant women, particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and on early child development. It also offers an interdisciplinary analytical approach including sociology, neuroscience, perinatology, and developmental psychology and builds an interdisciplinary network of collaborators.