# Emotional Awareness: An integrative neural mechanism linking childhood trauma with psychopathology

> **NIH NIH K99** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $122,769

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Childhood trauma is common and increases risk for multiple forms of psychopathology emerging in
adolescence. Enhanced threat detection, heightened emotional reactivity, altered physiological responses, and
difficulties with emotion regulation have all been identified as emotion processes linking childhood trauma with
psychopathology. However, existing knowledge on mechanisms linking childhood trauma and
psychopathology—including altered perceptions, cognitions, and neural mechanisms—is poorly integrated and
has yet to contribute to effective preclinical interventions. The proposed project tests the hypothesis that
emotional awareness and the associated neural circuitry is an integrative mechanism linking childhood trauma
with transdiagnostic psychopathology risk in adolescence. Emotional awareness is an aspect of self-
knowledge, which reflects an individual’s subjective understanding of their emotional state. In the K99 phase
study, the role of emotional awareness in the association between childhood trauma and psychopathology will
be investigated in a sample of 80 adolescents aged 13-18 years, half with exposure to childhood trauma.
Emotional awareness and related emotion processes will be assessed at multiple levels of analysis including
self-report, behavioral tasks, and neural function. Multiple forms of psychopathology will be assessed and used
to construct a general psychopathology (“p”) factor. Analyses will evaluate the relation between childhood
trauma and low emotional awareness and whether low emotional awareness explains the link between
childhood trauma and general psychopathology (Aim 1). The K99 study will also identify aspects of neural
function during emotion labelling and interoception that correspond with behavioral measures of emotion
differentiation and interoceptive accuracy (Aim 2). The R00 phase aims to expand on the K99 findings using a
larger sample size that is more appropriate for individual differences analyses and a longitudinal design. This
study will recruit 120 adolescents aged 13-18 to investigate how childhood trauma influences emotional
awareness across adolescence and will include a behavioral and mental health follow-up assessment 18
months later. Analyses will investigate whether that association is mediated by enhanced threat detection,
heightened emotional reactivity, and low interoceptive accuracy (Aim 3). Associations between CT, emotion
differentiation, emotion regulation, and psychopathology in adolescents’ daily lives will be investigated using
ecological momentary assessments (EMA) (Aim 4). Analyses will also evaluate whether neural mechanisms
related to emotional awareness, identified in the K99 study link CT with psychopathology (Aim 5). The
proposed research tests an integrative model of the affective mechanisms linking childhood trauma with
psychopathology, with the potential to identify novel targets for early interventions. The project ties together the
candidate’s diverse rese...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10449625
- **Project number:** 1K99MH127248-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** David G Weissman
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $122,769
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10449625

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10449625, Emotional Awareness: An integrative neural mechanism linking childhood trauma with psychopathology (1K99MH127248-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10449625. Licensed CC0.

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