# Neural pathways linking early adversity and preschool psychopathology to adolescent mental health

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $77,610

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Preschool anxiety, while prevalent and impairing, is an imperfect predictor of future outcomes. For example,
longitudinal data suggest that anxiety disorders in preschool predict not just future anxiety but also other
internalizing disorders and comorbid disruptive behavior in adolescence. Similarly, early adversity increases
risk for many forms of adolescent psychopathology. Using our current methods we cannot identify which
preschool children will go on to acquire which disorders in adolescence. This is in part because most models
focus primarily on continuity within diagnoses as opposed to transdiagnostic risk factors and in the case of
adversity, on the number rather than character of adverse childhood experiences. The current proposal tests a
novel conceptual model focused on the type of adverse exposure, which differentiates two primary dimensions
of experience underlying multiple forms of adversity: deprivation and threat. Interpersonal violence or threat
and decreased cognitive and social inputs or deprivation are differentiated by the kind of experiences children
have and by the impact of those experiences on neural and cognitive function. Thus, this model of adversity
allows a focus on transdiagnostic risk factors. Importantly, the neural pathways linked to deprivation and threat
are the same neural circuits known to be disrupted in early anxiety disorders. Given this shared neural risk we
expect that early adversity and anxiety will interact to increase risk for psychopathology in adolescence. We
also expect further moderation by other preschool diagnoses (e.g., ODD, ADHD). These neural pathways may
be the ‘missing link’ between preschool anxiety and adolescent psychopathology. To address this knowledge
gap, we propose following a group of adolescents (now aged 15-17 years; N=502) who were first assessed in
preschool (ages 2–5 years). A subsample of these children (N=93) underwent structural and functional imaging
up to 3 times between 5-10 years of age. This innovative, cost-effective proposal will provide an unparalleled
opportunity to answer central questions about the trajectory of neurodevelopmental processes linking early risk
to specific forms of adolescent psychopathology in a highly vulnerable population. The proposed research
directly addresses Objectives 1 and 2 of the NIMH strategic plan.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11064276
- **Project number:** 3R01MH120314-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kimberly L H Carpenter
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $77,610
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11064276

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11064276, Neural pathways linking early adversity and preschool psychopathology to adolescent mental health (3R01MH120314-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11064276. Licensed CC0.

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