# Supplement to Prenatal and Early Life Predictors of Child Psychopathology

> **NIH NIH K01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $18,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY from Parent Award (unchanged)
Substantial theoretical work suggests that mental health disorders have their roots in early childhood
development, and that symptoms of psychopathology are in part the result of breakdowns in self-regulatory
skills that emerge early in life. Yet early predictors of emergent psychopathology, and/or trans-diagnostic
phenotypes such as self-regulation, are poorly understood. Utilizing prospective data from a large sample
(N=270) of mothers and their children, the current study aims to address this gap by: a) testing the hypothesis
that infant negative affect (NA) undermines children's emerging executive functioning (EF), and that NA-
associated deficits in EF are one mechanism through which early emotion-regulatory difficulties convey risk for
psychopathology at 3 years of age (Aim 1); b) examining whether prenatal stress moderates associations
among NA, EF, and psychopathology at age 3 (Aim 2); c) testing whether maternal immune activation during
pregnancy and/or child immune activation in infancy mediate the association between maternal prenatal stress
and child symptomatology (Aim 3). The results of this research will inform early identification and intervention.
The execution of this research plan, in conjunction with the training activities described, will provide the
applicant with the skills for an independent, innovative research program aimed at understanding the earliest
origins of psychopathology. The training plan assists in enriching her strong background in development with
more independence and more training in assessment and observation of psychopathology in childhood.
Additionally, it includes strong training in psychoneuroimmunology, including the role of the immune system in
psychopathology (in both the mother and child) as well as the mechanisms through which maternal immune
activation during pregnancy may influence child risk for psychopathology. Thetraining objectives include:a)
learning theory and methods related to the etiology, nosology, and pathogenesis of childhood
psychopathology, b) becoming acquainted with clinical assessment issues and diagnostic assignment as it
pertains to research application throughout childhood, c) translating her developmental expertise to clinical
populations including conceptualizing developmental findings in relation to psychopathology theory and
practice, d) gaining hands-on experience conducting research with clinical measures and clinically at risk
populations, e) learning theory and methods related to studying the immune system and inflammation-
psychopathology associations, f) better understanding the mechanisms through which maternal immune
activation during pregnancy may influence the developing brain and, by extension, child risk for
psychopathology, g) gaining hands-on experience collecting and analyzing relevant biological samples and
learning about contemporary molecular and immunological methods for analyzing inflammatory signaling
net...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11044386
- **Project number:** 3K01MH120507-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hanna C Gustafsson
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $18,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2024-03-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11044386

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11044386, Supplement to Prenatal and Early Life Predictors of Child Psychopathology (3K01MH120507-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11044386. Licensed CC0.

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