# Family Characteristics and Health: Select Populations

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2020 · $132,508

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 More than 25 million international migrants today, including 13 million children, have fled their country of
origin because of conflict, generalized violence, a fear of persecution, or other severe disturbances to public
order. The conditions under which these migrants in need of international protection (MNP) depart their country
of origin—under duress and with little anticipation—and the conditions with which they experience life abroad—
under a high degree of uncertainty, often for prolonged periods of time—may affect their incorporation, family
dynamics, and health and wellbeing once abroad. Despite this possibility, little is known about the pathways by
which displacement affects MNP health outcomes. Focusing on MNP in Costa Rica, a country that has
experienced a six-fold increase in the number of asylum-seekers over the last five years and that boasts a
well-established program for receiving and integrating MNP, the proposed study will provide one of the first
investigations into how the events precipitating displacement and the incorporative experiences following it
shape MNP family life, and in turn, women and children's wellbeing. The specific aims of this study are that the
PI will (1) gain extensive training on international survey data collection, migration, and human development;
which will allow her to (2) adapt existing survey methods to collect high-quality panel data among MNP; and to
(3) assess how pre- and post-flight experiences shape MNP family dynamics, and in turn, women and
children's wellbeing. To achieve these aims, this award will equip Dr. Abigail Weitzman, a sociologist and
family demographer at the University of Texas at Austin, with training and mentorship that extend her areas of
expertise into three new domains: international survey data collection, migration studies, and developmental
science. Combined with her current expertise in quantitative data analysis, family violence, and reproductive
health, the proficiencies and research experiences she gains through this award will allow her to expand her
interdisciplinary areas of expertise to produce a program of innovative, high-impact research on the
determinants of MNP health and wellbeing. Results will provide new insights into the forces shaping family life
following displacement and the familial pathways by which pre- and post-flight experiences affect the wellbeing
of internationally displaced MNP women and children in the Americas. Training and insights gleaned from this
project will lead to the development of a large-scale R01 study extending this line of research and will further
aid in the development of policies that promote family cohesion, stability, and the health and wellbeing of
internationally displaced migrant populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10013278
- **Project number:** 5K01HD099313-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Abigail Mae Weitzman
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $132,508
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-15 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10013278

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10013278, Family Characteristics and Health: Select Populations (5K01HD099313-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10013278. Licensed CC0.

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