# An Investigation of the Effects of Food Scarcity on Reinforcement Pathology among Parents and Offspring.

> **NIH NIH F31** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2020 · $30,928

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 As obesity continues to rise in the United States, it is critically important to identify and understand
important risk factors for this condition. Experiences of poverty predict obesity in both adults and children and
childhood poverty independently increases one's risk for adult obesity. The proposed study will investigate the
effect of scarcity on the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of food, delay discounting (DD), and examine stress as
a potential mediator. A pilot study in our laboratory established that acute impressions of food scarcity increase
RRV of food among adults. This study also showed that males and females suffering from severe food
insecurity tended to work harder for the food when primed for limited resources. The study in the current
proposal will replicate and extend these findings with a particular focus on the development of obesity by
pursuing four specific aims. We will examine a cross section of children, adolescents, and their parents, with all
groups having a balanced number of minority participants and sexes. The study will investigate differential
reactions to scarcity in terms of food reinforcement at each age group and allow us to establish which period of
development is most sensitive to the paradigm as well as the impact of parents' reactions to scarcity on
offspring RRV and DD. We will examine the acute effects of financial scarcity on RRV of food and delay
discounting among participants with and without chronic financial scarcity (i.e. receiving government
assistance) in a laboratory study. Participants will be screened for receipt of government assistance by any
person in the household in the last year and recruited in a stratified sample. In the laboratory, they will undergo
a scarcity manipulation and complete tasks measuring RRV of food, and DD. It is predicted that when primed
for scarcity, participants with chronic financial scarcity will show a greater increase in RRV of food and DD.
This relationship is expected to strengthen across the lifespan. It is also predicted that adolescent-parent
dyads will be the most interrelated in terms of reactions to scarcity. Finally, we will explore stress as a
potential mechanism for these relationships. It is predicted that participants with chronic scarcity will be more
likely to have a higher stress response to scarcity and that those who do will show a corresponding increase in
DD. Overall, the proposed study is likely to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the childhood poverty-adult
obesity relationship and provide valuable information for interventions in this area.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9966982
- **Project number:** 5F31DK116426-03
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Amanda K Crandall
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $30,928
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9966982

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9966982, An Investigation of the Effects of Food Scarcity on Reinforcement Pathology among Parents and Offspring. (5F31DK116426-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9966982. Licensed CC0.

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