# Prenatal and Early Life Predictors of Child Psychopathology

> **NIH NIH K01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $183,179

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Substantial theoretical work suggests that mental health disorders have their roots in early childhood
development, and that symptoms of psychopathology are in part the result of breakdowns in self-regulatory skills that
emerge early in life. Yet early predictors of emergent psychopathology, and/or trans-diagnostic phenotypes such as self-
regulation, are poorly understood. Utilizing prospective data from a large sample (N=270) of mothers and their children,
the current study aims to address this gap by: a) testing the hypothesis that infant negative affect (NA) undermines
children's emerging executive functioning (EF), and that NA-associated deficits in EF are one mechanism through which
early emotion-regulatory difficulties convey risk for psychopathology at 3 years of age (Aim 1); b) examining whether
prenatal stress moderates associations among NA, EF, and psychopathology at age 3 (Aim 2); c) testing whether maternal
immune activation during pregnancy and/or child immune activation in infancy mediate the association between maternal
prenatal stress and child symptomatology (Aim 3). The results of this research will inform early identification and
intervention.
 The execution of this research plan, in conjunction with the training activities described, will provide the
applicant with the skills for an independent, innovative research program aimed at understanding the earliest origins of
psychopathology. The training plan assists in enriching her strong background in development with more independence
and more training in assessment and observation of psychopathology in childhood. Additionally, it includes strong
training in psychoneuroimmunology, including the role of the immune system in psychopathology (in both the mother and
child) as well as the mechanisms through which maternal immune activation during pregnancy may influence child risk
for psychopathology. Thetraining objectives include:a) learning theory and methods related to the etiology, nosology,
and pathogenesis of childhood psychopathology, b) becoming acquainted with clinical assessment issues and diagnostic
assignment as it pertains to research application throughout childhood, c) translating her developmental expertise to
clinical populations including conceptualizing developmental findings in relation to psychopathology theory and practice,
d) gaining hands-on experience conducting research with clinical measures and clinically at risk populations, e) learning
theory and methods related to studying the immune system and inflammation-psychopathology associations, f) better
understanding the mechanisms through which maternal immune activation during pregnancy may influence the
developing brain and, by extension, child risk for psychopathology, g) gaining hands-on experience collecting and
analyzing relevant biological samples and learning about contemporary molecular and immunological methods for
analyzing inflammatory signaling networks, and h) further trainin...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10229581
- **Project number:** 5K01MH120507-03
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hanna C Gustafsson
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $183,179
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10229581

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10229581, Prenatal and Early Life Predictors of Child Psychopathology (5K01MH120507-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10229581. Licensed CC0.

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