# Reducing maternal prenatal depression to improve child cardiovascular health

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY) · 2021 · $23,665

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
It is critical to understand risk and protective factors for health to optimize developmental outcomes and inform
prevention of poor health behaviors across the lifespan. Research using longitudinal designs, multiple levels of
analysis, and experimental clinical trials are needed. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death
worldwide. The origins of adult CVD begin prenatally: High prenatal maternal depressive symptoms robustly
predict offspring CVD risk. However, knowledge on risk and protective factors for CVD for offspring of mothers
with high depressive symptoms has been correlational. There is a lack of experimental work using a randomized
controlled trial (RCT) design to understand potential mechanisms that contribute to children’s CVD risk following
exposure to high maternal prenatal depressive symptoms across multiple levels (e.g., maternal and child
behaviors, physiology) over time. Although efficacious interventions to diminish depressive symptoms among
pregnant women exist, research has not investigated whether reducing prenatal maternal depressive symptoms
can reduce offspring cardiovascular risk. The current study proposes to leverage a RCT of an effective
psychosocial intervention for prenatal maternal depression to test whether reducing prenatal maternal
depressive symptoms improves offspring cardiovascular health at ages 3-4 years. We hypothesize that the
prenatal intervention operates by reducing both prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms to improve child
outcomes. This study will identify intervention targets for offspring of mothers with high prenatal depressive
symptoms to reduce cardiovascular risk. These goals will be accomplished by building on a RCT
(R01MH109662) of an established psychosocial intervention that effectively reduces maternal prenatal
depressive symptoms. We propose to leverage this unique opportunity to follow up mothers and children who
participated in this RCT to test whether this intervention improves offspring cardiovascular health. This project
increases rigor of the existing correlational research by using an experimental RCT design. The following 3 aims
will be addressed. Aim 1: To test whether reducing prenatal maternal depressive symptoms improves the quality
of food the mother feeds her child, maternal feeding behaviors, and modeling of eating behaviors at 3 years.
Aim 2: To test whether reducing prenatal maternal depressive symptoms improves child diet, eating behaviors,
sleep, and physical activity at 3 years. Aim 3: To test whether reducing prenatal maternal depressive symptoms
reduces child CVD risk at 3 and 4 years, including BMI, waist circumference, body fat, blood pressure, and
arterial stiffness. This project will provide the strongest evidence to date for a mechanistic model of prenatal
maternal depressive symptoms’ influence on child cardiovascular health. Importantly, the project will also provide
evidence for whether effective psychosocial i...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10406803
- **Project number:** 3R01HL155744-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY)
- **Principal Investigator:** Elysia Poggi Davis
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $23,665
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-01-15 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10406803

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10406803, Reducing maternal prenatal depression to improve child cardiovascular health (3R01HL155744-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10406803. Licensed CC0.

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