# A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Biobehavioral Regulation Among High-Adversity Mothers and Young Children > **NIH NIH K23** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2020 · $126,023 ## Abstract Project Summary This Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) will support the candidate to de- velop skills to launch an independent research career as a translational clinical researcher focused on parent- child interventions to address intergenerational transmission of mental illness in contexts of adversity. The physical and intellectual research environments at Tulane University are supportive of professional develop- ment in the areas of intergenerational stress and adversity, mechanistic measurement, and clinical research. Training goals include: 1) Develop clinical trials research design skills; 2) Integrate mechanistic approaches into clinical trials research with high-risk families; and 3) Develop basic competencies in deployment-focused interventions. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are significant risk factors for psychopathology across the lifespan – risks that extend to the next generation, likely transmitted through both biological and behavioral pathways. Biobehavioral self-regulation and parenting are key candidates for transmission and potential points of intervention. However, nearly all intervention research takes a one-generation approach, measuring out- comes in the individual adult or child in treatment. Additionally, very little research has examined biomarkers of self-regulation in parents or children following treatment, and no known research has examined these pro- cesses in parents and young children simultaneously across treatment to explore bidirectional effects. There is a critical need to specify targets of two-generation interventions among high-adversity families to decrease in- tergenerational transmission of mental illness. The objective for this K23 application is to determine whether Mom Power, an evidence-based two generation intervention for mothers with histories of trauma, enhances physiological and behavioral self-regulation in mothers and young children, testing mechanisms and examining bidirectional effects. The central hypothesis is that the intervention will shift behavioral and physiological (Res- piratory Sinus Arrhythmia) self-regulation in mothers, children, and dyads to mitigate psychopathology risk. Three specific aims are proposed: 1) I will examine intervention effects on children's biobehavioral self-regula- tion and psychopathology; 2) I will examine intervention effects on mothers' biobehavioral self-regulation, psy- chopathology, and parenting behavior; and 3) I will examine intergenerational change processes, including shifts in dyadic physiological and behavioral synchrony as well as bidirectional influences between mother and child self-regulation. Consistent with a Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) perspective, self-regulation will be assessed via self-report, behavior, and physiology in mothers and children. Findings will be used to support an R01 application. The proposed award is significant because it is expected to provide an evidence-based, tar- get-d... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 9873096 - **Project number:** 5K23MH119047-02 - **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA - **Principal Investigator:** Sarah AltaOlivia Gray - **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2020 - **Award amount:** $126,023 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2023-04-30 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9873096 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9873096, A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Biobehavioral Regulation Among High-Adversity Mothers and Young Children (5K23MH119047-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9873096. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*