# RACE, COVID-19, and Health Outcomes Among Individuals Born Preterm

> **NIH NIH UH3** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $311,000

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This project addresses a critical gap in the understanding of potential links between race, the COVID-19
pandemic, and the well-being of children. We will evaluate these relationships by collaborating with other ECHO
cohorts, thus increasing the geographical variation of our study sample. Our cohort, derived from the Extremely
Low Gestational Age Newborn (ELGAN) study, provides the opportunity to evaluate relationships within subsets
defined in terms of gestational age at birth. Given the high prevalence of early life adversities among individuals
born extremely preterm, we anticipate finding increased vulnerability to the harmful effects of the COVID-19
pandemic. Although fewer children than adults have developed life-threatening infections due to COVID-19, the
public health policies implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19 have disrupted children’s lives through
economic depression, social distancing, and unprecedented educational disruptions. The shift to distance
learning has changed children’s home, school, and social environments, but we know very little about the impact
of these changes on children’s health and development. These disruptions may have stronger negative effects
on historically underserved groups, including lower income families, as well as racial and ethnic minorities. This
proposal seeks to evaluate the unintended psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 public health policies on children
and families, and to examine if these effects are more prominent within lower income communities and
communities of color. We examine if COVID-19 Health Policies impose more hardships on families within these
groups, and if these hardships adversely affect their positive health development, as indexed by academic
competence and well-being. By collaborating with cohorts comprised primarily of children born near or at term,
we will also evaluate whether COVID-19 related stressors have greater impact on a particularly vulnerable group
of children, i.e., those born extremely preterm. Further, we will examine if school practices related to distance
learning and supportive social networks are also associated with child outcomes, independent of COVID-19
hardships. This project will identify processes by which public health policies influence families and will identify
practices that promote children’s positive health development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10205631
- **Project number:** 3UH3OD023348-05S2
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebecca Fry
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $311,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-09-21 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10205631

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10205631, RACE, COVID-19, and Health Outcomes Among Individuals Born Preterm (3UH3OD023348-05S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10205631. Licensed CC0.

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