A culturally informed model linking physiological stress regulation and behavioral and academic adjustment in Latinx children

项目摘要/摘要 拉美裔儿童在发育早期经历了行为和身体健康差异，并持续到 成人期。在发育早期，拉美裔儿童在认知自我调节方面落后于他们的同龄人(例如，差 执行功能)和行为调整(例如，低入学准备)。目前还不知道孩子们是如何 生理应激调节(PSR)与拉丁裔儿童的差异或拉丁裔照顾者如何 可以缓冲他们的孩子免受这些负面后果的影响。这些都是发展科学中的关键空白。 因为拉美裔家庭面临持续的、无法控制的压力，这可能会导致压力的慢性激活 反应系统反过来会对行为和生物学产生负面的连锁效应。从一条生命历程 儿童早期拉丁裔家庭的可塑性风险和保护过程 对于确保庞大且不断增长的美国拉丁人的长期健康和生产力来说，几年是至关重要的 人口。为了解决这些严重的研究差距，我们使用了一种新的文化神经生物学方法来 前瞻性地检查积极育儿方式和父母自身生理压力的文化敏感指标 调节(PSR)作为儿童生理应激调节与关键发展之间联系的缓冲器 拉丁裔家庭的结果。为了增加作品的翻译影响力，我们考察了两种文化 拉丁裔母亲和父亲中与育儿相关的压力源和力量。我们专门评估行为 以及学业调整，因为这些发展指数在学龄儿童中处于前列 儿童和这些领域的困难可能预示着长期的结果。我们关注的是来自 学龄前年龄进入幼儿园，因为前者代表着一个关键时期的出现 压力调节技能和后者，因为学校环境的调整代表着一个关键 发展的关键时刻。我们提出了以下目标，这些目标与研究直接一致 美国国立卫生研究院认可的促进少数群体健康和缩小健康差距的建议：目标1： 确定拉美裔学龄前儿童PSR与行为和学习适应之间的关系 幼儿园；目标2：考察积极的父母教养和父母的PSR作为拉丁裔之间联系的调节变量 学龄前儿童PSR与行为和学业适应；目标3：找出影响儿童PSR和学业适应的背景压力源 拉丁裔父母积极的育儿方式、PSR和文化力量可以抵御这些压力。我们用 纵向设计和多方法评估(生理评估、行为观察、 自我报告)的关键结构。该项目的结果将提供有关Latinx儿童PSR如何 与后来的调整相关联，并确定可以利用的可塑性因素，以获得文化信息 制定干预方案，以缩小差距，改善拉丁裔家庭的健康和整体福祉。

Project Summary/Abstract Latinx children experience behavioral and physical health disparities early in development that persist into adulthood. Early in development, Latinx children are behind their peers in cognitive self-regulation (e.g., poor executive functions) and behavioral adjustment (e.g., low school readiness). It is not known how children’s physiological stress regulation (PSR) relates to disparities in young Latinx children or how Latinx caregivers can buffer their children from these negative outcomes. These are critical gaps in developmental science because Latinx families face persistent, uncontrollable stress that can lead to chronic activation of stress response systems that in turn, have negative cascading effects on behavior and biology. From a life course perspective, identifying malleable risk and protective processes in Latinx families during the early childhood years is critical for ensuring the long-term health and productivity of the large and growing U.S. Latinx population. To address these serious research gaps, we use a novel cultural neurobiological approach to prospectively examine culturally sensitive indicators of positive parenting and parents’ own physiological stress regulation (PSR) as buffers of the link between child physiological stress regulation and critical developmental outcomes in Latinx families. To increase the translational impact of the work we examine both cultural stressors and strengths related to parenting in Latinx mothers and fathers. We specifically assess behavioral and academic adjustment given that these developmental indices are at the forefront for young school age children and difficulties in these domains can presage long-term outcomes. We follow children from the preschool age into the kindergarten year because the former represents a critical time for the emergence of stress regulation skills and the latter because the adjustment to the school setting represents a critical developmental juncture. We put forth the following aims, which are directly in line with research recommendations endorsed by NIH for advancing minority health and reducing health disparities: Aim 1: Identify associations between PSR in Latinx preschoolers and behavioral and academic adjustment in kindergarten; Aim 2: Examine positive parenting and parent PSR as moderators of the link between Latinx preschoolers’ PSR and behavioral and academic adjustment; Aim 3: Identify contextual stressors that influence Latinx parents’ positive parenting and PSR and cultural strengths that protect against these stressors. We use a longitudinal design and a multimethod assessment (physiological assessments, behavioral observations, self-report) of key constructs. The results of this project will provide critical data on how Latinx children’s PSR is associated with later adjustment and identify malleable factors that can be leveraged into culturally informed intervention programming to reduce disparities and improve the health and overall well-being of Latinx families.