# Project 1:  Childhood threat vs deprivation adversity:  Impact of executive function, affective processing, and "real time" regulatory strategies on mental health symptoms

> **NIH NIH P20** · MIRIAM HOSPITAL · 2021 · $230,117

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
 COBRE Research Project 1 will enable Project Leader Vergara-Lopez to collect pilot data in support of a
competitive R01 application investigating distinct “pathways” by which childhood adversity impacts emerging
adult mental health. Childhood maltreatment is highly prevalent and predicts a broad range of mental health
problems. Models from neuroscience suggest that distinct forms of maltreatment have different “developmental
cascades” towards the emergence of mental health problems. Experiences of maltreatment characterized by
deprivation (an absence of expected cognitive and social inputs from the environment) are thought to be
particularly relevant in the development of “top-down” emotion regulation systems (i.e., executive functioning);
whereas experiences of maltreatment characterized by threat (physical or psychological harm or threat of
harm) are thought to be particularly relevant in the development of “bottom-up” emotion regulation systems
(i.e., reinforcement sensitivity, associative memory, attentional bias). Yet no studies have examined the
downstream effects of deprivation and threat assessed in “real-time,” nor have any studies
comprehensively examined these effects in relation to mental health symptoms in young adulthood.
This project will provide the first comprehensive test of the differential effects of deprivation and threat
and examine links to real-world emotion regulation and mental health. A sample of emerging adults (ages
18-25) varying in level of exposure to childhood maltreatment (n=150; 50% female) will be recruited.
Participants will complete a baseline laboratory session assessing “top-down” and “bottom-up” processes and
mental health symptoms. “Top-down” and “bottom up” processes will be assessed by a state-of-the-field
battery of laboratory tasks including assessment of multiple components of executive functioning (that
differentiate between cognitive abilities in the presence vs absence of emotional information), individual
differences in reaction time contingent on reward and punishment, a novel self-referential Single-Category
Implicit Association Test (that indexes both positive and negative self-referential memory), and a free-viewing
eye tracking paradigm capturing orientation and duration of attention to threat. Leveraging Ilumivu technology
from the Technology, Assessment, Data, and Analysis (TADA) Core, participants will then complete a 30-day
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) protocol assessing “real-time” emotion regulation strategies
(repetitive negative thinking and reappraisal) and hallmark mental health symptoms. A final laboratory session
will re-assess a full spectrum of mental health functioning. Results from this study will reveal downstream
effects of childhood maltreatment on emotion regulation (as it unfolds in daily life) and mental health outcomes.
This study has the potential to elucidate distinct and clinically relevant etiological pathways by which adversity...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10090779
- **Project number:** 1P20GM139767-01
- **Recipient organization:** MIRIAM HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Chrystal Vergara-Lopez
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $230,117
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-15 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10090779

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10090779, Project 1:  Childhood threat vs deprivation adversity:  Impact of executive function, affective processing, and "real time" regulatory strategies on mental health symptoms (1P20GM139767-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10090779. Licensed CC0.

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