# Childhood Risk Factors and Young Adult Competence

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $161,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
Using the most diverse, prospectively studied, multi-national sample to date, this study will generate empirical
findings to develop a model of child- and family-level mediators and culture-level moderators of the role of
childhood risk factors and young adult competence and maladaptation. Cross-cultural comparisons will inform
domestic models of young adult maladaptation. The proposed research builds on the ongoing Parenting Across
Cultures longitudinal study that began in 2008 with recruitment of a sample of 1,417 8-year-old children and their
mothers and fathers from 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand,
and the United States). We have since assessed families annually through interviews with mothers, fathers, and
children about the parent-child relationship, the child’s adjustment, attitudes and beliefs, and cultural values, with
90% retention of the original sample. During the next project period, the original child participants will be 17 to
21 years old, a crucial period for understanding family and cultural influences on decisions, risks, competencies,
and opportunities. We will conduct interviews annually with young adults, their parents, and a friend to assess
health-compromising and risky behaviors as well as competencies in important domains of education, work, and
intimate partnerships.
We address three aims: (1) We will test the hypothesis that parenting influences on impulsive risky behaviors
are indeed universal, but only when the construct of “risky behaviors” is identified in a culturally specific way. We
will create profiles of health-compromising and risky behaviors during the transition to adulthood that are situated
in cultural contexts that vary widely with respect to economic factors, norms about the acceptability of different
behaviors, and opportunities for engaging in risky behaviors. (2) We will test the hypothesis that cultural
contexts moderate associations between early parenting factors and the development of both competence and
maladaptation during the transition to adulthood. (3) We will use empirical findings to develop a broad model of
child-level and family-level mediators of links between childhood risk factors and young-adult competence
and maladaptation. Addressing these three aims in the most diverse, prospectively studied, multi-national
sample to date will have major public health implications because this knowledge will inform scientific
understanding of the etiology of health-compromising and risky behaviors during the transition to adulthood. This
new understanding will inform intervention practices to improve population health and well-being.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10169727
- **Project number:** 3R01HD054805-14S1
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer E Lansford
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $161,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2007-09-30 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10169727

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10169727, Childhood Risk Factors and Young Adult Competence (3R01HD054805-14S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10169727. Licensed CC0.

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