Environmental Stressors and Early Childhood Development

SES-1023841PI：Florencia TorcheInstitution：纽约大学这项研究调查了产前暴露于环境应激源对出生体重和儿童早期发育的影响。环境应激源包括1994年加州北岭地震、2005年智利塔拉帕卡地震和2006年以色列黎巴嫩战争。这项研究解决了这样的问题：暴露在环境应激源下对生育结果有害吗？什么时候产前压力更有害？压力的影响是否在人口和社会经济方面分布不均？调查员还对受2005年智利塔拉帕卡地震影响的儿童和一组可比较的对照儿童进行了纵向调查。研究人员调查了这样的问题：宫内压力对儿童早期的健康、认知和非认知结果有什么影响？背景的社会经济、家庭和邻里因素如何弥补或加剧早期的不利因素？更广泛的影响：该项目对支持和援助孕妇，特别是社会经济上处于不利地位的孕妇，以及对儿童早期发展有直接的政策影响。它还提供了一种跨学科的分析方法，包括社会学、神经科学、围产学和发展心理学，并建立了一个跨学科的合作者网络。

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.