# Development & Malleability from Childhood to Adulthood

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $677,347

## Abstract

Abstract
The central purpose of the proposed study is to extend through ages 31-35 an examination of normal and
pathogenic development and the impact of two, universal, first grade, preventive interventions on the distal
targets of: antisocial behavior, substance abuse/dependence, psychiatric symptoms/disorders, high risk sexual
behavior, and successful adaptation to the relevant developmental demands of the educational, work, romantic
relationships, and family (both family of procreation and origin/orientation) social fields/contexts. This study
capitalizes on the scientific value of 1) a prospective, developmental epidemiological prevention trial involving a
population (N = 798) of urban, predominately African-American young adults, who began first grade in the fall
of 1993 in 9 elementary schools in predominantly low to lower middle-income Baltimore areas96. Participants
and teachers were randomly assigned to one of two universal, elementary school-based, preventive
interventions, or a control condition. Both interventions—the Family School Partnership (FSP) and Classroom-
Centered (CC)--targeted aggressive-coercive behavior and poor academic achievement as antecedents of the
distal outcomes elaborated above. Annual data on these outcomes and their hypothesized phenotypic
moderators and mediators, including participant, family, peer group, school, and neighborhood characteristics,
have been collected from 1st grade through age 26. DNA was obtained in early adulthood, which has allowed
examination of the interplay between genetic and phenotypic factors in explaining variation in developmental
and intervention outcomes. The proposed annual assessments will allow a more precise assessment of the
timing and sequencing of the interplay of phenotypic and genetic influences, including the interventions, on
successful adaptation to the relevant developmental challenges between the ages of 31-35. Similarly, we will
continue to study the role of phenotypic and genetic factors and the impact of the interventions on the
development and course of substance use/abuse/dependence, psychiatric symptoms/disorders, antisocial
behavior/disorder, and high risk sexual behavior through young adulthood. Finally, we will also assess
potential epigenetic effects in terms of change in telomere length and telomerase activity as a function of
accumulative stress over time and the interventions as moderators of the stress/telomere relationship. The
knowledge accrued over the course of the proposed assessments should serve to inform the nature, targets,
and timing of our future preventive intervention efforts.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10161760
- **Project number:** 5R01DA044184-04
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** NICHOLAS S IALONGO
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $677,347
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10161760

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10161760, Development & Malleability from Childhood to Adulthood (5R01DA044184-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10161760. Licensed CC0.

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