# Timing of prenatal stress and early markers of child psychopathology

> **NIH NIH R01** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $622,083

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Psychopathology is a very serious public health burden that not only affects adults, but also many children and
adolescents. To better understand this devastating problem, the scientific community has focused its efforts on
pinpointing the earliest developmental origins of psychopathology. A considerable literature now implicates
prenatal stress as a critical determinant of poor psychological functioning in childhood and beyond. However,
knowledge about whether the timing of prenatal stress differentially influences the development of child
psychopathology is virtually unknown. Gaining such knowledge is the long-term goal of our research. This
proposed project “piggybacks” on our current RO1-funded project (NICHD grant # R01HD085990) that is
following a cohort of 335 women oversampled for life stress, with data collection starting at pregnancy week 15
until 6 months postpartum. We are conducting a granular assessment of pregnancy stress (measured weekly
by maternal report) with the goal of understanding critical periods during fetal life when stress derails later
infant behavioral and physiological stress responsivity. The overall objective of this new RO1 project is
to follow this cohort into the child's preschool years. Specifically, in Aim 1 we will determine how the differential
timing of prenatal stress influences behavior problems and psychopathology measured at age 4, how
differences in self-regulation (an important precursor of mental health functioning) mediates the relationship
between prenatal stress and psychopathology at age 4, and how these relationships differ between boys and
girls. Aim 2 will test a host of postnatal risk factors (e.g., poor maternal mental health, poverty, intimate partner
violence) and resilience factors (e.g., sensitive parenting, coping skills) as moderators of the effects of timing of
prenatal stress on behavior problems and psychopathology at age 4. Importantly and uniquely, postnatal stress
(mother and child) is assessed also in a fine-grained manner by every 3 month assessments from age 6 mos
to 4 years. Finally, in Aim 3 we will use an exploratory statistical approach, machine learning, to detect which
relatively small epochs of stress in postnatal life (measured every 3 months) interact with small epochs of
prenatal stress to maximally influence child behavior problems and psychopathology. This project is
innovative in its highly multimethod approach (e.g., behavioral observation, salivary analytes, laboratory
tasks), its granular assessment of chronic and episodic prenatal and postnatal stressors, and the novel
statistical approaches used to determine which epochs of stress are most relevant for psychopathology. This
highly significant research will be the first longitudinal, prospective, multi-method study of how differential
timing of prenatal stress influences the development of psychopathology, as mediated by child self-regulation
and moderated by postnatal environmental factors. Th...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10480751
- **Project number:** 5R01HD100469-03
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gloria Anne Bogat
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $622,083
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10480751

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10480751, Timing of prenatal stress and early markers of child psychopathology (5R01HD100469-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10480751. Licensed CC0.

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