# Breaking the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage: neurodevelopment among Puerto Rican children.

> **NIH NIH UH3** · NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC · 2022 · $3,607,992

## Abstract

Disadvantage can ensnare families for generations. Existing studies have identified the effects of 
childhood adversity on neurodevelopment in decrements in cognitive and social outcomes. This timeframe, 
however, may be too constricted, assiduously focusing on intra-generational effects, while ignoring inter-generational
determinants. Considering a child's own adverse exposures, without noting experiences of adversity in that
child's parents, may obscure intergenerational effects. Within an established, well-characterized, inter-
generational and disadvantaged cohort, we aim to determine key factors influencing the cycle of disadvantage
in which so many families get caught for generations. Our outcome of focus is neurodevelopment as indexed
by executive functions (EF) and MRI measures of related neural substrates. EF dysfunctions are key 
determinants of subsequent social and occupational challenges. We also examine protective factors that may 
contribute to breaking this cycle of disadvantage and yield favorable neurodevelopmental outcomes.
 We would bring to the ECHO consortium a multi-generation, population–based sample of 2,491 Puerto
Ricans living in the South Bronx, NY and San Juan, PR. The first generation of the cohort (G1) was assessed
prospectively at 3 times points in childhood/early adolescence (ages 5-13) and once in late adolescence/early
adulthood (ongoing). When ECHO is launched, G1 will be in early adulthood, and just beginning to have their
own children (Generation 2 or G2 Probands). Our cohort is thus optimally poised to examine the effects of 
adversity during early childhood using a prospective design. We will assess G2 Probands including all new births
during the study period (Prenatal/Birth Cohort, n~650) and all G2 Proband children born prior to the start of
ECHO (Child Cohort, ages 3-10, n~830). We will use neuroimaging and behavioral assessments to 
characterize the influence of many forms of adverse exposures (e.g., physical abuse, neglect, parental mental illness).
We will examine how one generation's experience of adversities may affect the development of the next, and
how different sources of exposure, those experienced by one's parents as well as those a child faces on his or
her own, impact neurodevelopmental outcomes.
 Our multidisciplinary team brings expertise in the epidemiology of disadvantaged populations (MPIs
Duarte & Canino), fetal origins of health and disease (MPI Monk), and developmental neuroscience 
(MPI Posner). In addition to our specific aims, our study will enrich the ECHO consortium by providing biospecimens
including DNA, placenta, cord blood, and deciduous teeth. These specimens will allow the ECHO consortium
to investigate the influence of genetic and epigenetic factors as well as chemical exposures during early 
development within a high-risk, but understudied, population. In sum, our investigative team, the uniqueness of our
cohort, and the novelty of our focus on intergenerational influenc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10475744
- **Project number:** 5UH3OD023328-07
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC
- **Principal Investigator:** GLORISA J CANINO
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $3,607,992
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-21 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10475744

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10475744, Breaking the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage: neurodevelopment among Puerto Rican children. (5UH3OD023328-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10475744. Licensed CC0.

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