Document text
Principal Investigator: Justin Parent
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $358,407
Funding agency: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Project Summary
Hispanic youth are nearly three times more likely to be at high risk for developmental, behavioral, or social
delays compared to white non-Hispanic children. Contributing to this risk disparity is disproportionate rates of
Hispanic children living in poverty and heightened risk for exposure to early-life environmental adversity, all of
which confers substantial risk for the development of psychopathology and a lifelong risk for chronic diseases.
A critical process by which disproportionate experiences of early adversity might influence risk for the
development of later psychopathology is through the biological embedding of adversity exposure via epigenetic
changes in genes involved in neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses to stress response. Despite
promise and progress of social epigenomic research on risk processes, a significant limitation of the extant
literature is that a basic understanding of how biological embedding of adversity can be prevented or reversed
has yet to be achieved, with little knowledge of the role of protective factors that impact these developmental
trajectories. In fact, prior work in humans has been almost exclusively cross-sectional and focused on
detrimental environmental impacts, greatly constraining our understanding of epigenomic processes over time
and its positive malleability to interventions. The proposed research will leverage an on-going NIH-funded R01
(#HD084497) to evaluate, via a randomized controlled trial of a home-based behavioral parent training
intervention, how changing social context (i.e., dysfunctional parenting) alters the epigenome among at-risk
Hispanic preschoolers and potentially establishes a biological foundation that promotes resiliency and
potentially ameliorates the biological embedding of adversity. In the current proposal, we propose to use a
balanced analytical approach that includes (1) a hypothesis-driven pathway analyses for genes involved in
neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses to stress, (2) a targeted design that pulls sites previously
identified in well-powered EWAS studies to create poly-epigenetic risk scores, and (3) a hypothesis-free
epigenome-wide association study. In addition to examining trajectories of change in child DNA methylation,
we will determine if exposure to a protective factor (positive parenting) buffers the impact of adversity on
biomarkers of accelerated aging during a sensitive developmental stage. Lastly, we will explore epigenomic
biosignatures of response to early intervention based on both child and parent DNA methylation. For all aims,
we will use a multi-informant, multi-method design that includes observations of parenting, task-based
measures of child self-regulation, standardized assessments of child developmental and clinical outcomes,
independent clinical evaluators, and both child and parent DNA methylation. This research will facilitate the
application of precision medicine and prevention approaches by identifying epigenomic biomarkers of early
intervention response patterns that will allow for innovative strategies in risk identification and personalized
prevention, together resulting in a new understanding of effective approaches to reducing health disparities.
Terms: <0-11 years old><Accounting><Active Follow-up><After Care><After-Treatment><Aftercare><Age><Aging><Approaches to prevention><Attenuated><Behavioral><Bio-Informatics><Bioinformatics><Biological><Biological Markers><Buffers><Cell Communication and Signaling><Cell Signaling><Child><Child Behavior><Child Rearing><Child Youth><Children (0-21)><Chronic Disease><Chronic Illness><Clinical><Clinical Trials><DNA Methylation><DNA Molecular Biology><Data><Decrease health disparities><Development><Developmental Delay><Developmental Delay Disorders><Disparities><Disparity><EWAS><Early Intervention><Ecological impact><Economically Deprived><Education for Intervention><Educational Intervention><Environmental Impact><Epigenetic><Epigenetic Change><Epigenetic Mechanism><Epigenetic Process><Exposure to><Foundations><Funding><Future><Genes><Glucocorticoids><GrimAge clock><Hannum clock><Health disparity mitigation><Health disparity reduction><Hispanic><Home><Horvath clock><Human><Impoverished><Inflammatory><Inflammatory Response><Informal Social Control><Instruction Intervention><Interdisciplinary Research><Interdisciplinary Study><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Intracellular Communication and Signaling><Knowledge><Latine><Latinx><Life><Literature><Lower health disparities><Maintenance><Measures><Methods><Mitigate health disparities><Modern Man><Molecular Biology><Multidisciplinary Collaboration><Multidisciplinary Research><NIH><National Institutes of Health><Network Analysis><Neuroendocrine><Neuroendocrine System><Neurosecretory Systems><Non-Hispanic><Nonhispanic><Not Hispanic or Latino><Outcome><Parenting><Parenting behavior><Parents><Pathway Analysis><Pathway interactions><Pattern><PhenoAge clocks><Poverty><Precision care><Preventative intervention><Prevention><Prevention approach><Prevention program><Process><Psychopathology><Public Health><Randomized><Randomized, Controlled Trials><Reduce health disparities><Research><Risk><Role><Scientist><Self Regulation><Signal Transduction><Signal Transduction Systems><Signaling><Signaling Factor Proto-Oncogene><Signaling Pathway Gene><Signaling Protein><Site><Social Change><Social Environment><Social modification><Social transformation><Specific Child Development Disorders><Standardization><Stress><Time><Training Intervention><Training Programs><Trauma><United States National Institutes of Health><Work><Youth><Youth 10-21><abnormal psychology><accelerated aging><accelerated biological age><accelerated biological aging><accelerated epigenetic age><accelerated epigenetic aging><accelerated pace of epigenetic aging><acceleration in epigenetic age><active followup><age acceleration><ages><attenuate><attenuates><behavior outcome><behavioral outcome><bio-markers><biologic><biologic marker><biological adaptation to stress><biological signal transduction><biological systems><biomarker><biosignature><build resilience><build resiliency><childrearing><chronic disorder><design><designing><develop resilience><develop resiliency><developmental><disadvantaged background><early adversity><early biomarkers><early childhood adversity><early detection biomarkers><early detection markers><early experience><early life adversity><economic disparity><economically disadvantaged><enhance resilience><enhance resiliency><epigenetic age clocks><epigenetic clock><epigenetic molecular clocks><epigenetically><epigenome><epigenome wide association analysis><epigenome-wide association studies><epigenomics><evidence base><faster epigenetic aging><faster rates of epigenetic aging><follow up><follow-up><followed up><followup><group intervention><high risk><homes><improve resilience><improve resiliency><improved><increase resilience><increase resiliency><increased epigenetic age><increased epigenetic aging><increased rates of epigenetic aging><individualized care><individualized patient care><individualized prevention><informant><innovate><innovation><innovative><instructional intervention><intervention for prevention><intervention program><interventional strategy><kids><marginalized background><methylation clock><methylomics><mood regulation><parent><parent role><parental role><parenting education intervention><parenting education programs><parenting intervention><parenting program><parenting skill training><parenting training><pathway><personalization of treatment><personalized care><personalized health intervention><personalized intervention><personalized medicine><personalized patient care><personalized prevention><personalized therapy><personalized treatment><post treatment><precision interventions><precision medicine><precision prevention><precision-based medicine><prevent><preventing><prevention intervention><preventional intervention strategy><preventive intervention><promote resilience><promote resiliency><protective factors><public health relevance><randomisation><randomization><randomized control trial><randomly assigned><rapid epigenetic aging><reaction; crisis><resilience><resilience development><resilient><response><response biomarker><response markers><response to therapy><response to treatment><service intervention><social><social climate><social context><social role><socioenvironment><socioenvironmental><stress response><stress; reaction><stressor><therapeutic response><therapy response><treatment response><treatment responsiveness><youngster>