# Neurocognitive Predictors of Anxiety Risk Among Behaviorally Inhibited Children

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2024 · $193,817

## Abstract

The temperament of behavioral inhibition (BI) is seen in approximately 10-15% of infants and it is among the
earliest and strongest predictors of later anxiety. Nevertheless, around 50% of toddlers with high BI do not
manifest anxiety problems in childhood or adolescence. Preliminary evidence suggests that cognitive control
moderates BI-related anxiety risk, with higher risk among youth who rely more on reactive control strategies
than on proactive control strategies. To date, work examining BI youth has largely measured cognitive control
and anxiety concurrently, limiting the ability to predict future clinical outcomes. Moreover, the neural
mechanisms underlying proactive and reactive control remain underspecified, partly because these two types
of control may involve overlapping brain regions. This K23 application presents a research and training
program that will support the applicant on a path toward becoming an NIH-funded independent investigator
focused on neurocognitive mechanisms that moderate the early-life risk for emotional difficulties such as
anxiety. The activities in this application build on the candidate’s prior training and are set in a resource-rich
environment that will foster the development of expertise in 1) advanced neuroimaging analytic methods such
as fMRI-constrained source localization of EEG, and 2) design, statistical analysis, and interpretation of
longitudinal research to study changes in functioning over time. The current research proposal uses an
accelerated longitudinal design and combines EEG and fMRI measures in a sample of 100 9- to 11-year-olds
with and without a history of high BI. Proactive control, reactive control, and anxiety will each be assessed
twice, 1 year apart. This design will allow the candidate to 1) test cross-sectional associations between neural
measures of proactive/reactive control and child anxiety at baseline, 2) identify commonalities in neural
substrates of cognitive control as measured across EEG and fMRI, and 3) test for temporal precedence of
proactive and reactive control over anxiety. The overarching hypothesis is that, specifically among children with
high BI, high reliance on reactive control and low reliance on proactive control prospectively predict worsening
anxiety difficulties. This training and research program will facilitate the candidate’s transition to an
independent research career, will inform the assessment and identification of youth at particularly high risk for
future anxiety problems, and provide viable target mechanisms for early prevention efforts.
RELEVANCE: The novel combined application of fMRI and EEG to the study of cognitive control will shed light
on the unique contributions of proactive and reactive control on anxiety risk among youth with BI. This, coupled
with a prospective longitudinal design, will help enhance prediction of anxiety outcomes among BI youth. In the
long term, results may be used to inform: 1) the identification of BI youth at partic...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10890643
- **Project number:** 5K23MH130751-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Emilio Alejandro Valadez
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $193,817
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10890643

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10890643, Neurocognitive Predictors of Anxiety Risk Among Behaviorally Inhibited Children (5K23MH130751-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10890643. Licensed CC0.

---

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