Project Grant F32HD123894

MATERNAL EARLY LIFE ADVERSITY, MOTHER-INFANT PHYSIOLOGICAL COREGULATION, AND INFANT SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT - PROJECT SUMMARY EARLY LIFE ADVERSITY (ELA) IS EXTREMELY PREVALENT AND HAS ENDURING CONSEQUENCES FOR INTERGENERATIONAL HEALTH. EMERGING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT MATERNAL EXPERIENCES OF ELA CAN BECOME BIOLOGICALLY EMBEDDED TO ALTER MOTHERS' PHYSIOLOGICAL SELF-REGULATION CAPACITIES AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY COREGULATE WITH THEIR INFANTS, WHICH MAY HAVE NEGATIVE DOWNSTREAM EFFECTS ON CHILDREN'S SELF-REGULATION AND SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, EXISTING RESEARCH ON THIS PATHWAY IS LIMITED TO EFFECTS OF MATERNAL CUMULATIVE ELA OR GENERAL MALTREATMENT HISTORY AND DOES NOT FORMALLY LINK MOTHER-INFANT PHYSIOLOGICAL COREGULATION PROCESSES TO CHILD OUTCOMES. TO ADDRESS THESE LIMITATIONS, THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL EXAMINE HOW SPECIFIC TYPES OF MATERNAL ELA (ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND THE NOVEL ASPECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL UNPREDICTABILITY) SHAPE DYNAMIC, MOMENT-TO-MOMENT PATTERNS OF MATERNAL PHYSIOLOGICAL SELF-REGULATION AND MOTHER-INFANT PHYSIOLOGICAL COREGULATION (AIM 1), AND HOW MOTHER-INFANT PHYSIOLOGICAL COREGULATION RELATES TO INFANT SOCIOEMOTIONAL OUTCOMES ACROSS VARYING MATERNAL ELA CONTEXTS (AIM 2). THIS STUDY WILL LEVERAGE DATA FROM A HIGH-RISK SAMPLE OF 300 MOTHER-INFANT DYADS PARTICIPATING IN A LARGER LONGITUDINAL STUDY (R01HD111437). MEASURES WILL INCLUDE MATERNAL SELF-REPORTS OF THEIR ELA EXPERIENCES, MATERNAL AND INFANT PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY COLLECTED DURING A SOCIAL CHALLENGE AT 6 MONTHS POSTPARTUM, AND MATERNAL REPORT OF INFANT SOCIOEMOTIONAL OUTCOMES AT 12 MONTHS POSTPARTUM. FINDINGS FROM THIS STUDY WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF DISTINCT PHYSIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS THROUGH WHICH CONSEQUENCES OF ELA ARE PASSED DOWN FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT AND INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE PRECISE INTERVENTION STRATEGIES THAT CAN DISRUPT THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF RISK. WHILE COMPLETING THE PROPOSED STUDY, THE APPLICANT WILL DEEPEN HER EXPERTISE IN ELA THEORY AND MEASUREMENT, GAIN NEW SKILLS IN ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS OF DYADIC PARASYMPATHETIC PROCESSES, AND ENHANCE HER TRAINING IN TRANSLATIONAL AND APPLIED SCIENCE. THE COMPLETION OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES UNDER THE MENTORSHIP OF DRS. BROWN (SPONSOR), DUNCAN (CO-SPONSOR), AND TALMI (CO-SPONSOR) WILL SUPPORT THE APPLICANT'S CAREER GOAL OF BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER FOCUSED ON RISK AND RESILIENCE PROCESSES FOR INTERGENERATIONAL HEALTH.