Guide to Navigating this Research Archive
Here you will find research articles published by IDHP researchers that are related to our primary scientific foci: the interconnected mental health of children and their caregivers, the intergenerational impact of stressful experiences on mental and physical health, and interventions and other buffers that support family wellness.
In the right sidebar, you can search this archive by research topic, as well as by research study (you can read about each study on the Current Projects page). Each archive entry has a simple summary, the full scientific abstract, and a link to the full article. Most of the articles in this research archive are available open access (i.e., you can access it without a subscription). If you are trying to access an article and aren't able to see the full version, please email us at idhp@ucsf.edu, and we would be happy to assist.
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March 19, 2025
This editorial looks at how researchers study the ways poverty and race/ethnicity affect children’s brain development. It warns that, if done without care, such studies can be misunderstood as suggesting that group differences are biological instead of shaped by social and historical factors like racism. The authors explain that race should not be used as just another research variable, but instead studied in ways that acknowledge history, social context, and the strengths of communities. They recommend involving experts in racism science and people with lived experience to make research more accurate and to guide fair programs and policies.
October 4, 2024
CANDLE Study
Caregiving behaviors
Child mental & behavioral health
This study shows that children's behavior problems and parenting practices are related to each other in a back-and-forth manner over development, starting as early as age 1! Sensitive and responsive parenting early on reduces child behavior problems later but, simultaneously, higher levels of early childhood behavior problems are related to reduced parenting quality later. These findings in a large socioeconomically diverse sample highlight the need for early screening and support for families to promote responsive parenting and address child behavior challenges early, in order to help prevent more serious problems in the future. In particular, the research emphasizes the potentially high-value of policies that make dyadic (parent-child) therapy more accessible for all families.
October 4, 2024
CANDLE Study
Caregiving behaviors
Child mental & behavioral health
Maternal mental health
This study explored how young children’s behavior challenges and family interactions influence each other over time. Researchers followed more than 1,200 families from infancy through age six. They found that positive parenting early on was linked with fewer behavior challenges later, while children’s behavior struggles could also make family life more stressful. These results highlight the need for programs and policies that provide families with early resources and supports to strengthen parent–child relationships and promote healthy development.
August 14, 2024
Biomarkers
Caregiving behaviors
Childhood adversity
CTRP-Health Study
Intervention effects
Protective factors
SEED Study
More TopicsThis study explored whether a psychosocial treatment to promote safe and responsive parenting in trauma-affected families could reduce epigenetic age acceleration, a health-risk biomarker. Before the treatment, both the intervention and community comparison groups had similar age acceleration levels. After the treatment, the intervention group showed lower age acceleration, suggesting that interventions designed to promote better parent-child relationships may reduce children's biological stress and improve future health.
March 14, 2024
Child mental & behavioral health
Child physical health
Interconnected maternal-child health
Intervention effects
Protective factors
Stress during pregnancy
This article summarizes the science of how stress during pregnancy affects child mental and physical health. It discusses lessons learned from conducting this work and offers suggestions for future research poised to further the field in important areas, including: leveraging pregnancy interventions, identifying resilience promotion factors, and enhancing policy relevance.
February 16, 2024
Biomarkers
Child mental & behavioral health
ECHO PATHWAYS Study
Placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH) is a hormone that plays a critical role in various aspects of pregnancy and fetal development. In this study, exposure to increased levels of pCRH during mid-late gestation seemed to confer little risk for children’s future neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, some of the analyses suggested that links between pCRH exposure and child mental health may depend upon fetal sex - increasing levels of pCRH was associated with more problem behaviors for boys but fewer problems for girls. These results require replication and follow-up at later stages of child development.
February 6, 2024
Biomarkers
Caregiving behaviors
Child mental & behavioral health
Childhood adversity
Intervention effects
Protective factors
This paper reviews the impacts of psychological dyadic (parent-child) interventions on biomarkers of child health, across multiple biological systems. Overall, published findings to date suggest that dyadic interventions have positive impacts on child biomarkers, especially for families exposed to adversity. While more research is needed, these results suggest that investment in programs and policies that nurture caregiving bonds are meaningful for healthy child development.
December 27, 2023
Caregiving behaviors
Child mental & behavioral health
Interconnected maternal-child health
Intervention effects
Maternal mental health
This paper discusses the value of a two generation-intervention approach, specifically the combination an evidence-based parenting intervention with depression treatment to improve both maternal and child mental health outcomes. The authors also describe the development of a new study testing the impact of such an intergenerational, holistic program.
October 9, 2023
Biomarkers
Caregiving behaviors
Child mental & behavioral health
MAMAS/SEED Study
Protective factors
SEED Study
Stress during pregnancy
More TopicsThis study found that average or higher levels of sensitive parenting behaviors buffered the effects of prenatal stress exposures on child cardiometabolic functioning and temperament, at 6 months of age. Findings also showed that sensitive parenting behaviors were related with lower cardiometabolic reactivity and greater recovery when infants were exposed to stress. Together, these results suggest that parental sensitivity (and interventions that promote it) may shape healthy child development and stress resilience.
September 21, 2023
Biomarkers
Caregiving behaviors
Childhood adversity
Intervention effects
Protective factors
This study looked at whether parenting improvements would lead to slower biological aging in children exposed to adversity. Results showed that, indeed, children exposed to more adversity displayed lower biological aging when parents increased positive and decreased negative parenting practices. These findings underscore the powerful role of parenting in children's resilience when facing adversity. It's a reminder that positive parenting practices (like praising), and using fewer negative practices, can act as a shield against effects of early-life hardships.