# Testing cross-generational effects of the Raising Healthy Children intervention

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2022 · $310,369

## Abstract

In recent decades, researchers have developed an array of tested-effective and promising universal,
school- and family-based preventive interventions, such as Raising Healthy Children (RHC), that reduce
substance use and other problem behaviors and promote positive youth development. The Seattle Social
Development Project (SSDP) is a quasi-experimental test of RHC, a school-based, universal preventive
intervention delivered in elementary school (Grades 1 – 6). SSDP has followed participants (n = 808) from
elementary school through age 39 (1985 – 2014; 15 data collections; 88% retention). Follow-up data show that
the RHC intervention demonstrated long-term benefits for participants' health and well-being into adulthood,
including lowered rates of mental health problems, heavy alcohol use, antisocial behavior, and early
pregnancy, as well as higher educational attainment. Many youth who experienced the RHC preventive
intervention as part of the SSDP later became parents. Known associations exist between parental mental
health, substance use, antisocial behavior, and academic attainment and their children's functioning. The fact
that RHC showed long-term benefits in these areas raises the exciting possibility that benefits experienced by
intervention participants may echo into the next generation. This three year R01 project will analyze existing
prospective data linking 2 generations from SSDP and SSDP-The Intergenerational Project (SSDP-TIP), which
followed up SSDP participants and their children. SSDP-TIP began in 2002 when SSDP participants were
about 27 years old, and included those SSDP participants who had become parents, the oldest biological child
with whom they had regular contact, and a second caregiver who shared responsibility for raising the child,
when present. New families were enrolled in the study as SSDP participants became parents for the first time.
SSDP-TIP data were collected repeatedly between 2002 and 2018 (10 data collections, n = 426 families).
Offspring ranged between ages 4 and 29 years (M = 17.2, SD = 6.1) in 2018. Of the SSDP parents
participating in TIP, 79 received the RHC intervention in grades 1-6 (full intervention), 141 received the
intervention in grades 5-6 only (late intervention), and 121 were in the control group. Prior analyses published
in JAMA: Pediatrics demonstrated cross-generational intervention effects. The offspring of RHC intervention
participants in the full intervention group were less likely to exhibit a range of developmental delays at ages 1-
5, had lower levels of teacher-rated behavior problems and higher levels of teacher-rated academic skills and
performance (ages 6-18), and were less likely to report substance use by age 18. The proposed project will
expand on these groundbreaking findings by (Aim 1) testing long-term effects of the RHC intervention on
parenting practices and mate selection, (Aim 2) testing cross-generational effects of the intervention among
young adult offspring (ages 1...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10448447
- **Project number:** 5R01DA053203-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** JENNIFER A BAILEY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $310,369
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10448447

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10448447, Testing cross-generational effects of the Raising Healthy Children intervention (5R01DA053203-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10448447. Licensed CC0.

---

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