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

本项目旨在了解面临心理、社会和文化压力沉重负担的母亲及其子女在情绪恢复能力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，来推进关于母亲的各种压力和恢复力因素如何影响其孩子的压力生物学特征的基础知识。该项目的成果有助于努力改进预防和干预措施，以缩小心理健康方面的差距。该项目通过指导和培训研究生、本科生和社区成员，扩大代表性不足群体对STEM的参与。结果在学术和社区渠道上共享，支持公众科学教育和参与。本研究探讨了母亲的社会文化和情感保护因素和压力源可以改变儿童发育中的压力生物学的各种生物学途径。该项目利用了先前由美国国家科学基金会资助的儿童出生队列的现有数据，以检查压力和恢复力因素与皮质醇对压力任务的反应以及儿童时期（6个月和3-5岁）两个时间点（压力相关基因的DNA甲基化变化）有关。结果说明了产前早期与产后后期暴露的相对重要性，压力生物学最早可能在人类中发生改变的时间，以及改变的压力反应是否意味着一种权衡，最终使儿童面临更高的情绪或行为问题或认知受损的风险。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.