# The biodemography of early adversity: social behavioral processes in a wild animal model.

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $482,112

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Early adversity has powerful effects on development that reach far into adulthood to affect health and survival.
At the same time, social adversity in adulthood—particularly social isolation and low social status—is a strong
predictor of poor health and survival. These important discoveries, now major topics in social science and
medical research, highlight key questions about how early life adversity and adult social adversity are linked,
and whether both directly affect survival. Notably, no studies have yet been able to unambiguously link real-
time observations of early adversity to detailed data on adult social relationships, health, and survival in the
same individuals; the relevant data are exceptionally difficult to collect within any single human population
study. A nonhuman primate model is the most expedient way to overcome these barriers, and the time is ripe
to develop such a model. Just as primates have long been used as models for cellular, physiological, and
molecular mechanisms underlying human health and disease, they can serve as model systems for
understanding social and behavioral processes in humans: a number of key studies have demonstrated that
important social and behavioral processes are evolutionarily conserved between humans and nonhuman
primates. The proposed research will contribute a novel nonhuman primate model of early adversity and
lifespan. This proposed study population, a natural population of baboons, has been the subject on continuous
research for over four decades and offers prospective, full life-course data, with real-time, direct observations
of both early life adversity, adult sociality, and longevity. It sidesteps the complications of health habits and
health care access that complicate studies in human populations, and greatly accelerates the timescale for
collecting complete life history data, as the lifespans of wild baboons are about 1/3 the length of human
lifespans. Three important scientific contributions are expected. First, if the study reveals, as hypothesized, that
early adversity and adult sociality both exert independent effects on survival, the work will help shift current
research from whether each phase of the life course exerts an influence, to how social behavioral mechanisms
contribute to these influences (Aim 1). Second, the proposed study of adult relationships (Aim 2) will provide
fresh insight into sources of resilience in the face of early adversity. Third, the proposed model of ‘adversity
amplifiers’ (Aim 3) will formalize an idea that has just begun to crystallize in the adversity literature, stimulating
new research avenues. In the aggregate, the work will produce the first complete worked example, in any
study system, of the links between early life, adult life, and longevity. The results will help move the field
forward by refining critical hypotheses, providing prospective answers to crucial questions, and pointing to the
most fruitful avenues for research in diver...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10212909
- **Project number:** 5R01AG053308-04
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Susan C. Alberts
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $482,112
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10212909

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10212909, The biodemography of early adversity: social behavioral processes in a wild animal model. (5R01AG053308-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10212909. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*