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Experimental evidence of the impact of parental income on child mental health and neuroimmune function

Award Number: R01MH139198
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2025
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2029

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Experimental evidence of the impact of parental income on child mental health and neuroimmune function - Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section Growing up in a lower-income family robustly predicts worse mental health in adolescence and early adulthood. How does variability in family income “get under the skin” of the developing child and via what mechanisms does it increase risk for mental illness? Moreover, could supplements to family income at critical developmental periods help to prevent later youth mental illness? To address these questions, we leverage an innovative existing double blind randomized controlled trial of 3-years of substantial ($1,000/month vs. $50/month) income supplements to parents. By experimentally studying the impacts of these income supplements on families and subsequent youth development, we can examine causal pathways from family income to risk for mental illness via family stress and neuroimmune mechanisms in ways never done before. Moreover, by measuring the longer-term impact of 3 years of income supplements to parents on their child’s neuroimmune signaling and risk for mental illness, we can examine the policy implications for child development of unconditional cash transfers to parents and identify how and for whom these supplements help. We will test these basic and translational questions in a sample of 1,200 youth with lower-income parents randomly assigned to receive either a substantial monthly income supplement ($1,000/month, intervention group) or a minimal monthly supplement ($50/month, control group) for 3 years, starting when youth were between age 5 – 14 years old. We will follow up with youth and their parent 1 – 2 and 3 – 4 years after the intervention (youth will be age 10 – 18 at first follow-up) and examine whether income supplements predict better youth mental health during adolescence, as well as whether factors like child age and neighborhood quality modulate intervention effects. Additionally, we explore family stress mechanisms through which the intervention may impact child mental health. Finally, we will measure peripheral inflammation (inflammatory biomarkers and classical monocytes) and use MRI to assess threat, reward, and regulatory neural activity and connectivity among 500 of these youth. Our central hypothesis is that income supplements will decrease family and youth stress and improve parenting, which will improve neuroimmune signaling and decrease risk for psychopathology. Moreover, these effects will remain years after termination of the transfers and be strongest among families who received the intervention earlier in the child’s life. This research will provide timely, relevant public health knowledge that will clarify whether cash transfers to parents have longer-term effects on brain, immune, and mental health, while also advancing the science of the sociocontextual and neuroimmune pathways through which variability in family income impacts risk for mental illness.


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: 2026 ( Subtotal = $1,050,375 )
2026	2026	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	2/25/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,050,375
														Subtotal = $1,050,375

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $1,142,518 )
2025	2025	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	12/30/2024	NEW	$1,142,518
2025	2025	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	4/4/2025	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $1,142,518

Grand Total All Awards = $2,192,893

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Experimental evidence of the impact of parental income on child mental health and neuroimmune function

Award Number: R01MH139198

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2025

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2029

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