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Social and Biological Mechanisms Driving the Intergenerational Impact of War on Child Mental Health: Implications for Developing Family-Based Interventions

Award Number: R01MH128928
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/10/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/25/2025

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Social and Biological Mechanisms Driving the Intergenerational Impact of War on Child Mental Health: Implications for Developing Family-Based Interventions - PROJECT SUMMARY Violence and humanitarian crises are common in the lives of children around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Exposure to war-related violence is detrimental to the mental health of parents and children, but research exploring mechanisms by which emotional and behavioral disruptions are transmitted to subsequent generations remains nascent, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. To help address this gap, a study of war-affected youth has been underway since 2002 following a cohort of war-affected children—many, both male and female, former child soldiers—in Sierra Leone into young adulthood, and now parenthood. A prior NICHD-funded R01 (R01HD073349) demonstrated how childhood war-related trauma and loss contributed to mental health problems in adulthood. In 2017, a cross-sectional sample of intimate partners and biological offspring was added to the sample to examine linkages between early trauma exposure and both intimate partner and parent-child relationships. Knowledge to date of how war-related stressors “get under the skin,” to become heritable biophysical traits and the implications for the mental health of the next generation remain limited. Of relevance are the Research Domain Criteria-related constructs of self-regulation and stress reactivity and how they influence emotional, cognitive and social functioning of children. The proposed research comprises a significant advance in the 20-year history of this study by advancing understanding of potential biological embedding of stress responses intergenerationally. Building on four prior waves of data collection, biological measures of stress reactivity and self-regulation (autonomic nervous system reactivity, inflammation, telomere length) will be collected in a sample of parents exposed to significant trauma in childhood and extended also to intimate partners and offspring. Strong capacity-building collaborations with Sierra Leone’s University of Makeni (UNIMAK) and Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) will support the ethical collection of new stress biomarker data and clinical assessments of parent-child synchrony, health, and anthropometric data in biological offspring aged 7–24. Key study innovations are (a) rare prospective data on parental trauma exposure and longitudinal information on risk and protective factors operating across the social ecology; (b) data on biological embedding of stress responses related to parental trauma; and (c) the opportunity to examine both mental health and physiological outcomes in biological offspring in war-affected families over time. Advanced statistical techniques (e.g., latent class growth models, structural equation models, lagged effects models) will articulate mechanistic pathways and priority targets for intervention. Collaborations between investigators, UNIMAK, KGH, as well as community advisory boards will inform study implementation, ensure strong retention of participants, and provide channels for dissemination. Analyses will inform screening tools to identify families for preventive interventions. Intervention targets identified have implications not just for war-affected settings, but also for assisting diverse populations affected by violence and trauma, including migrants and refugees.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $643,101 )
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	003	4	4/28/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$0
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	4	4/25/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	4	12/12/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$584,633
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	4	12/13/2024	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$58,468
														Subtotal = $643,101

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $768,768 )
2024	2024	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	12/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$585,944
2024	2024	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	3	12/19/2023	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$117,719
2024	2024	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	3	8/15/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$65,105
														Subtotal = $768,768

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $731,283 )
2023	2023	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	2	7/7/2023	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$63,946
2023	2023	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	003	2	7/19/2023	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$0
2023	2023	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	1/20/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$66,733
2023	2023	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	12/19/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$600,604
														Subtotal = $731,283

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $722,095 )
2022	2022	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	2/10/2022	NEW	$722,095
2022	2022	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE	140 COMMONWEALTH AVE	CHESTNUT HILL	MA	02467	MIDDLESEX	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	4/5/2022	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $722,095

Grand Total All Awards = $2,865,247

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Social and Biological Mechanisms Driving the Intergenerational Impact of War on Child Mental Health: Implications for Developing Family-Based Interventions

Award Number: R01MH128928

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/10/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/25/2025

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