# Investigating Mentalizing as a Cognitive Strength and Protective Factor Among Youth Impacted by Structural Inequality

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $40,572

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
More than 10 million youth in the United States live in poverty and experience structural inequality.
Experiences organized by structural inequality (e.g. adversity, income) are well known to confer risk for
adverse mental health outcomes in part by shaping neural structure and function. At the same time, brain
development is highly plastic and shifts to meet the needs of the environment. Despite emerging research
finding behavioral and neural differences between adversity and non-adversity exposed youth – differences
that reflect adaptive developmental processes – few research studies have explored the processes that
develop to support youth in navigating environments characterized by inequality. For individuals from
disadvantaged backgrounds (as a result of structural inequality), cognitive processes are likely to be shifted
towards meeting the environmental challenge of obtaining material resources needed for day-to-day survival.
One way in which individuals impacted by structural inequality achieve this is through forming, utilizing, and
maintaining social relationships. Social relationships provide a range of resources, including social capital and
social support. Underlying the maintenance of supportive social relationships is mentalizing– the ability to
understand and take the perspectives of others’ thoughts and emotions. Based on available evidence, we
hypothesize that increased engagement in mentalizing serves as a protective factor against psychopathology
for adolescents who experience structural inequality. The proposed project will leverage a multi-modal
longitudinal study to examine the impacts of structural inequality on mentalizing, cognitive empathy, and
associated neural correlates that may support the acquisition of social support and promote positive mental
health outcomes. Three aims guide this research: (1) exploring how structural inequality impacts mentalizing,
associated neural networks, and cognitive empathy, (2) examining how mentalizing supports the maintenance
of social support, and (3) evaluating mentalizing and cognitive empathy as an underlying protective mechanism
against psychopathology among youth who experience structural inequality. These aims will be addressed by
leveraging a large study of adolescent youth (expected n = 275) who will participate in a passive neuroimaging
task and complete behavioral and self-report measures. Resources that will support this research include
access to this longitudinal sample, multiple research facilities, and a strong mentorship team with expertise in
developmental neuroscience, resilience, and structural inequality. The proposed research will enrich theories
regarding how neurodevelopmental processes are shaped by the environmental experience and identify
protective factors that can be leveraged to inform mental health treatments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11070614
- **Project number:** 1F31MH136792-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Esmeralda Navarro
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $40,572
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-05 → 2026-09-04

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11070614

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11070614, Investigating Mentalizing as a Cognitive Strength and Protective Factor Among Youth Impacted by Structural Inequality (1F31MH136792-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11070614. Licensed CC0.

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