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 [email protected], and we would be happy to assist.
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.
July 5, 2023
CANDLE Study
Child physical health
Childhood adversity
Stress during pregnancy
This study investigated how women's exposure to different types of violence during childhood and pregnancy can affect their children's body mass index (BMI) over time. Findings showed that children whose mothers experienced more intimate partner violence during pregnancy, or lived in higher crime neighborhoods, were more likely to have a high-rising trajectory of BMI from birth to 8 years old. The results emphasize the intergenerational transmission of social adversity and its impact on children's physical health.
May 30, 2023
Child mental & behavioral health
Child physical health
Childhood adversity
ECHO-wide Study
This study examined the connection between mothers who experienced childhood maltreatment and the physical and mental health problems in their children. The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from 69 cohorts (4,337 families) across the USA. They found that children of mothers who experienced childhood maltreatment were more likely to have internalizing problems, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and asthma. Female offspring of maltreated mothers also had a higher prevalence of obesity. The study highlights the importance of addressing the intergenerational transmission of adversity and implementing policies to break this cycle.
October 21, 2022
Child mental & behavioral health
Child physical health
ECHO PATHWAYS Study
Stress during pregnancy
This paper profiles the ECHO-PATHWAYS cohort, which harmonizes data from three pregnancy studies in various regions of the U.S. with the goal of studying how chemical and psychosocial stress exposures impact child neurodevelopment and airway health.
September 15, 2021
Child physical health
Stress during pregnancy
TIDES Study
This study looked at how stressful life events (SLEs) experienced by mothers during pregnancy are associated with atopic dermatitis in their children. The study followed 426 mother-child pairs from pregnancy to middle childhood and found that there was no significant association between SLEs and atopic dermatitis in children. The study suggests that larger studies with more diverse experiences of SLEs may provide more information on this area of research.
November 17, 2020
Biomarkers
Child physical health
MAMAS/SEED Study
SEED Study
This study investigated the relationship between early weight gain in infants and the development of their autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation. The results showed that greater than average weight-for-length gain during the first 6 months of life was associated with ANS dysregulation at 6 months. These findings suggest that early adiposity gain is a risk factor for ANS dysregulation, which can inform early intervention programs for obesity prevention and promoting self-regulation in infancy.
August 19, 2020
Child physical health
MAMAS/SEED Study
SEED Study
Stress during pregnancy
This study looked at how stress during pregnancy affects the health of infants in their first year of life. The researchers found that when mothers experienced more stress during pregnancy, their babies were more likely to get sick. This means that it is important to try and reduce stress during pregnancy in order to keep both the mother and the baby healthy.
June 19, 2020
Child mental & behavioral health
Child physical health
ECHO-wide Study
This review article discusses how various aspects of the family environment, such as socioeconomic status, parenting behaviors, and parental mental health, can affect children's neurodevelopmental outcomes, particularly their mental health. The article also introduces the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, a new initiative by the National Institutes of Health that aims to advance our understanding of the impact of family environment on children's mental health. The article concludes by highlighting some unresolved questions and controversies in this field, and how ECHO can help address them.
May 14, 2020
Child physical health
MAMAS/SEED Study
SEED Study
Stress during pregnancy
This study looked at how stress during pregnancy can affect a baby's weight gain. Authors found that moms who experienced more stressful events during pregnancy were more likely to have babies who gained weight too quickly in the first six months of life. These findings suggest that supporting pregnant people around stress may help prevent rapid weight gain in babies.
February 4, 2019
Child mental & behavioral health
Child physical health
Protective factors
This commentary discusses a study by Qureshi & colleagues (2018) that focuses on the relationship between positive psychological assets in childhood and cardiometabolic health, which is a largely unexplored area of research. The four domains examined in the study showed potential for investment, including early childhood executive function, prosocial behaviors, positive relationships, and neighborhood opportunities. The authors highlight the need to both document associations and to rigorously study methods to enhance these positive psychological assets. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the study for researchers and clinical practitioners, emphasizing the need for a life course approach to cardiometabolic health with particular emphasis on the pediatric period.