# A life course perspective on the effects of cumulative early adversity on health

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME · 2021 · $422,025

## Abstract

Summary
 The long arm of early life remains one of the most enduring puzzles in human health. To date, two classes
of evolutionary models have been proposed to address this puzzle. Developmental constraints models propose
that early adversity leads to tradeoffs with somatic investment during development, with long-term, negative
consequences for health. Predictive models propose that organisms use early adversity to predict future
circumstances, making developmental adjustments that optimize Darwinian fitness in adulthood. The relative
merits of these models have been difficult to establish, especially in humans and other long-lived species.
Resolving this debate is necessary to understand the developmental origins of health and disease and to
identify efficient methods to mitigate early life effects.
 The primary objective of this proposal is to test predictive and constraints frameworks by characterizing
diverse developmental, health, fitness, and aging-related outcomes arising from variation in early life adversity.
It accomplishes this objective in a non-human primate model that is offers an excellent comparative system to
understand the evolutionary pressures faced by early humans. This system also offers real-time data on
several forms of early adversity and multiple longitudinal developmental, behavioral, and health outcomes in
response to early adversity. This project tests the central hypotheses that: (i) responses to early adversity are
dominated by developmental constraints, leading to restricted somatic investment, delayed reproductive
schedules, lower fertility, and accelerated aging; but (ii) these responses can be mitigated by positive social
conditions in adulthood. Aim 1 distinguishes constraints and predictive responses in the juvenile period. Aim 2
contributes a strong test of predictive and constraints models by testing adult responses in both low and high
quality environments. Aim 3 tests the potential for social support to mitigate the negative effects of early
adversity, offering avenues to ameliorate these effects in adulthood.
 By spanning multiple sources of adversity and multiple aspects of somatic and reproductive health, this
project will contribute the most comprehensive test to distinguish predictive and constraints frameworks in any
species to date. Establishing which model dominates is critical to predict how environments in adulthood will
interact with early adversity to shape adult health, and how to best mitigate responses to early adversity.
Specifically, constraints models predict that mitigation should focus on early life. In contrast predictive models
posit that optimal mitigation strategies will differ depending on which sources of early adversity individuals
experienced. By disentangling responses to adversity, this project will improve basic understanding of the
developmental origins of health and disease and lend key insight into how different sources of adversity
interact with good and bad conditions i...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10198702
- **Project number:** 5R01AG053330-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Archie
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $422,025
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10198702

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10198702, A life course perspective on the effects of cumulative early adversity on health (5R01AG053330-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10198702. Licensed CC0.

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