Biological Underpinnings of Maternal Attachment in High Risk Populations

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This K23 application prepares the candidate, Jeanne Alhusen, PhD, for a research-intensive career leading multidisciplinary efforts to improve early childhood outcomes in children targeted by early intervention programs in community settings. Specifically, I aim to become an expert in the biological and psychological underpinnings of maternal attachment and its influence on maternal-child physiological attunement, and ultimately early childhood outcomes. Understanding these relations is critical in understanding, from a biological perspective, how secure maternal attachment may confer developmental advantages in young children living in poverty and how maternal biology can impact the effectiveness of early interventions. The overall aims of this proposal are to (a) examine the relations among maternal cortisol, oxytocin, attachment style, sensitivity, (b) examine the moderating role of maternal-child cortisol attunement on the association between maternal attachment style and maternal sensitivity and (c) examine the associations between maternal-child cortisol attunement and early childhood outcomes in 75 mother-child dyads living in urban poverty. In the short-term, the current proposal will allow me to gain the skills and expertise to conduct mentored research on the biological and psychological underpinnings of maternal attachment and their relation to maternal sensitivity, maternal-child physiological attunement, and ultimately early childhood outcomes. To accomplish this, I need to acquire a fundamentally different skill set. My training plan is explicitly designed to address gaps in my knowledge of maternal attachment and its related biological processes (i.e., cortisol, oxytocin) that may compromise early childhood outcomes. Short-term training objectives include training in 1) biological measures of attachment and stress, 2) parent-child interaction assessment, 3) advanced training in treatment outcome research and related statistical analyses and, 4) skills requisite for a successful academic career (i.e., responsible conduct of research, grantsmanship, leading interdisciplinary teams). These training goals, together with the specific aims of the research plan, will lead to an R01 application, the theme of which will be incorporating the biological underpinnings of attachment into developing interventions to improve maternal attachment which will ultimately improve caregiving quality and early childhood outcomes. Throughout the mentored award period, the candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Gayle Page, Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Linda Bullock, the University of Virginia, experts in biobehavioral and maternal mental health research, respectively. The candidate will also receive mentorship from three senior consultants (Dr. Lane Strathearn, Dr. Lisa Berlin, Dr. Sharon Ghazarian) with complementary areas of expertise, carefully selected to address each of her training goals.