Collaborative Research: Developmental origins of emotional and epigenetic resilience among children

该项目旨在了解面临心理，社会和文化压力的母亲及其子女在情绪弹性和心理健康方面的差异。该研究采用生物文化和发展框架，通过研究儿童唾液中测量的激素和分子变化，推进关于母亲的各种压力和弹性因素如何塑造儿童压力生物学特征的基本知识。该项目的成果有助于改善预防和干预工作，以减少心理健康方面的差距。该项目通过对研究生和本科生以及社区成员的指导和培训，扩大了代表性不足的群体对STEM的参与。结果在学术和社区网点共享，支持公共科学教育和engagement.This研究探讨了各种生物学途径，通过这些途径，母亲的社会文化和情感保护因素和压力源可以改变孩子的发展压力生物学。该项目利用来自以前NSF资助的儿童出生队列的现有数据，研究与皮质醇对压力任务的反应以及儿童时期两个时间点（6个月和3-5岁）压力相关基因的DNA甲基化变化有关的压力和弹性因素。结果解决了产前早期与产后后期暴露的相对重要性，这是人类压力生物学可能首先改变的最早时间，以及压力反应的改变是否意味着交易该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This project aims to understand disparities in emotional resilience and mental health among mothers and their children who face a high burden of psychological, social, and cultural stress. The research employs biocultural and developmental frameworks to advance fundamental knowledge about how various stress and resilience factors in mothers can shape the stress biology profile of their children, through study of hormonal and molecular changes measured in children’s saliva. The results of the project can contribute to efforts to improve prevention and interventions to reduce disparities in psychological well-being. The project broadens participation of under-represented groups in STEM through mentoring and training of graduate and undergraduate students and community members. Results are shared in both academic and community outlets, supporting public science education and engagement.This study explores various biological pathways through which maternal sociocultural and emotional protective factors and stressors can alter the developing stress biology of a child. The project leverages existing data from a previously NSF-funded birth cohort of children to examine stress and resilience factors in relation to cortisol reactivity to stress tasks and changes in DNA methylation at stress-related genes at two points in childhood (6 months and 3-5 years). Results address the relative importance of early prenatal versus later postnatal exposures, the earliest timing at which stress biology may first be altered in humans, and whether altered stress reactivity signifies a trade-off that ultimately places children at higher risk for emotional or behavioral problems or impaired cognition.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.