Biological Underpinnings of Maternal Attachment in High Risk Populations

 描述（由申请人提供）：此K23应用程序准备候选人，珍妮Alhusen博士，为研究密集型职业生涯领导多学科的努力，以改善儿童的早期儿童的结果在社区环境中的早期干预计划为目标。具体来说，我的目标是成为一个专家在母性依恋的生物和心理基础及其对母婴生理协调的影响，并最终幼儿的结果。从生物学角度理解这些关系对于理解安全的母亲依恋如何为生活在贫困中的幼儿提供发展优势以及母亲生物学如何影响早期干预措施的有效性至关重要。本研究的总体目标是：（a）检验母亲皮质醇、催产素、依恋风格、敏感性之间的关系;（B）检验母子皮质醇协调对母亲依恋风格与母亲敏感性之间关系的调节作用;（c）检验75对城市贫困母子的母子皮质醇协调与幼儿期结局之间的关系。在短期内，目前的建议将使我能够获得技能和专业知识，对母亲依恋的生物学和心理学基础及其与母亲敏感性，母婴生理协调的关系进行指导性研究，并最终幼儿期的结果。要做到这一点，我需要获得一个根本不同的技能。我的培训计划明确旨在解决我对母亲依恋及其相关生物学过程（即，皮质醇，催产素），可能会损害幼儿的结果。短期培训目标包括以下方面的培训：1）依恋和压力的生物测量，2）亲子互动评估，3）治疗结果研究和相关统计分析的高级培训，以及4）成功学术生涯所需的技能（即，负责任地进行研究，研究，领导跨学科团队）。这些培训目标，再加上研究计划的具体目标，将导致R 01应用，其主题将是将依恋的生物学基础纳入制定干预措施，以改善孕产妇依恋，最终提高生育质量和幼儿结局。在整个指导奖期间，候选人将在约翰霍普金斯大学的盖勒佩奇博士和弗吉尼亚大学的琳达布洛克博士的监督下工作，他们分别是生物行为和孕产妇心理健康研究的专家。候选人还将接受三位高级顾问（Lane Strathearn博士、丽莎柏林博士和Sharon Ghazarian博士）的指导，他们的专业知识互补，经过精心挑选，以解决她的每一个培训目标。

 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.