PROJECT SUMMARY
The overarching goal of the Enriching ECHO with High-risk Pregnancies and Children with Disabilities (Enriching
ECHO) cohort is to advance disabilities inclusivity in ECHO research by studying children with a spectrum of
disability and by leveraging existing data from ECHO participants with disabilities. Our scientific premise is that
psychosocial environmental exposures (e.g., SDH, stress, social environment, discrimination) and modifiable
personal factors (e.g., parenting style, social supports, mental health) impact the physical and emotional health
of children with disabilities resulting in definable outcomes of function, well-being, and participation in community
and family life. Our hypothesis is that we can identify specific environmental factors associated with better -than-
expected positive health outcomes along the continuumof disability to typical development. The EnrichingECHO
cohort will address this hypothesis via the following specific aims:
Aim 1: Leveraging ECHO core data elements, we will (a) compare trajectories of children with and without
disabilities over time, from birth to school age (5-6 years), with positive health (child well-being) as the primary
outcome. We will evaluate the effect of (b) pre-natal environmental and psychosocial exposures and (c) post-
natal nutrition, sleep health, and physical activity on positive health trajectories in these child cohorts over time..
Aim 2: In the entire cohort (a) we will identify maternal pre- and peri-natal psychosocial exposures associated
with post-natal outcomes (e.g., birth defects, birthweight, prematurity, early life disabilities) in high -risk and
uncomplicated pregnancies. (b) We will test which pre-, peri-, and post-natal factors best predict the primary
outcome of child well-being (positive health) at school-age, adjusting for co-linearity effects. (c) Comparing the
cohorts of children with and without disability, we will examine whether parenting style and caregiver social
support are modifiable exposures associated with better-than-expected positive health.
Aim 3: To ensure significance and impact on ECHO science, the Enhancing ECHO cohort emphasizes diversity
and inclusion of underrepresented groups by engaging mothers and offspring with a range of disabilities. Our
approach will (a) recruit participants with high-risk pregnancies who are most likely to deliver children with
disabilities and include individuals with disabilities who are often excluded from research studies. We will ( b)
collaborate with community stakeholders with disabilities to design engagement, retention, and dissemination
strategies, and (c) standardize early ECHO surveillance for disabilities across cohorts.
Aim 4: In a cohort of ECHO participants with second pregnancies, we will explore whether the peri-natal
environmental exposures associated with positive child health in the older ECHO sibling (identified in Aim 2b)
are predictive of post-natal birth outcomes in the second ECHO pregnancy.