# The intergenerational transmission of parenting and self-regulation following a universal preventive intervention in childhood

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $636,070

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The proposed three-generation study seeks to determine whether self-regulation in childhood is a foundation
for parenting in adulthood and whether a successful universal preventive intervention to improve self-regulation
in childhood also improves self-regulation in the next generation. Poor self-regulation in childhood is a common
antecedent of outcomes with high public health and societal burden including lower educational and
occupational attainment, problem substance use, obesity, and antisocial behavior. Research has suggested
that children often resemble their parents – for better or for worse. This generation-to-generation cascade fuels
health disparities, limiting upward mobility. Despite the potential public health benefits of optimizing self-
regulation, critical gaps in our knowledge remain, including whether better self-regulation in childhood
facilitates better parenting in adulthood. Few longitudinal studies have investigated self-regulation in the same
individuals over more than a few years, and cross-generational studies of self-regulation are lacking. The
proposed study leverages a randomized controlled trial of a successful universal school-based intervention in
Baltimore in a sample of predominately low-/middle-income African American children and their parents
(generations 1 and 2). We propose to re-contact the original study children, now parents themselves, and to
recruit their offspring, generation 3, to investigate the cross-generational impact of early intervention. The goals
of the project are two-fold; first, to examine mechanisms of life course continuity and intergenerational
transmission of parenting and self-regulation, from the first to second generations and from the second to third
generations, respectively. Second, to evaluate how early intervention in childhood may modify parenting
behavior and optimize self-regulation in the next generation. The primary study hypotheses are: 1) Better self-
regulation in childhood will be associated with better parenting, mediated by better psychosocial adjustment
during the transition to adulthood; 2) Both parenting and self-regulation will demonstrate intergenerational
continuity; 3) Intergenerational and life course continuity in parenting and self-regulation can be interrupted by
early intervention, resulting in discontinuity within and across generations; and 4) Offspring of participants
randomized to the intervention group will show better self-regulation compared to offspring of participants
randomized to the control group. This would be the first study to evaluate the cross-generational impact of a
randomized universal prevention trial. Findings from the proposed study will provide key insight into strategies
to scaffold self-regulatory development and parenting in communities where generational disparities take a
disproportionate toll on health and opportunity, including Baltimore. If the impact of early intervention conveys
to participants’ offspring,...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10165764
- **Project number:** 5R01HD093643-04
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sara B. Johnson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $636,070
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-11 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10165764

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10165764, The intergenerational transmission of parenting and self-regulation following a universal preventive intervention in childhood (5R01HD093643-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10165764. Licensed CC0.

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