The Transgenerational Influence of Discrimination on Mental Health

This Diversity Supplement to the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study will examine the influence of experiencing discrimination on mental health during the peripartum period and determine the potential transgenerational influence of discrimination by examining offspring neurobehavioral development. We will focus on infant amygdala volume at 1 month of age and infant negative affect at 3-9 months of age as these offspring outcomes are early emerging transdiagnostic indicators of risk for mental health problems, and have previously

demonstrated vulnerability to prenatal exposures. Prior research in animal models and in developmental work in humans has demonstrated the sensitivity of the fetal amygdala to stress in the prenatal environment due to stress sensitive biological systems, which also play critical roles in brain development. These early alterations in amygdala development have further been shown to predict increases in negative affect evident in early infancy and lower regulatory capacity as children get older.

This proposal will test the extent to which discrimination represents an important contributing factor to these previously observed neurobehavioral phenotypes involving

early alterations in the amygdala and heightened negative affect. With regard to the training aspect, this supplement provides a unique opportunity for the applicant to develop professional relationships with a network of national and international scientific and policy leader within her area of focus. The applicant will receive mentorship not only from the lead HBCD investigators at her institution, but also from senior investigators and leaders in the HBCD consortium at two other institutions across the country.

She will participate in consortium wide activities, such as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Work Group, to allow her to take full advantage of the collective expertise and career development opportunities afforded by the HBCD consortium. She will also gain training in the methods central to this application and her scientific career goals, including characterizing infant behavior (administration and coding of behavioral tasks) and early brain development (acquisition and basic processing of magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] data).

It further includes study of key theoretical and methodological aspects of research focused on prenatal programming, including assessment of perinatal mental health symptoms and social determinants of health with an emphasis on discrimination. These trainings will be supplemented by training in foundational statistics, skills for conducting research with high-risk populations, and

scientific writing (both for manuscripts and grants). These training experiences will position the applicant for her long-term career goal to conduct research investigating the mechanisms by which social-emotional adversity transmits intergenerationally, and influences child behavior, affect and development. This supplement will not only provide training that the applicant would not normally receive, but will also provide important information about the potential long-lasting transgenerational influence of discrimination and relevant risk and protective factors to inform public policy to improve the health and development of children across the nation.

This study is part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis. The NIH HEAL Initiative bolsters research across NIH to improve treatment for opioid misuse and addiction.