Environmental Stressors and Early Childhood Development

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1023841 PI: Florencia Torche Institution: New York University This study examines the effect of prenatal exposure to environmental stressors on birth weight and on early childhood development. The environmental stressors include the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in California, the 2005 Tarapaca earthquake in Chile, and the 2006 Lebanon War in Israel. The study addresses such questions as: Is exposure to environmental stressors detrimental for birth outcomes? When is prenatal stress more detrimental? Is the effect of stress unequally distributed along demographic and socioeconomic lines? The investigator also conducts a longitudinal survey of children exposed to the Chilean 2005 Tarapaca earthquake and a group of comparable control children. The researcher examines such questions as: What are the effects of in-utero exposure to stress on health, cognitive, and non-cognitive outcomes in early childhood? How do contextual socioeconomic, family, and neighborhood factors compensate for or exacerbate early disadvantage? Broader impacts: This project has direct policy implications in the areas of support and assistance to pregnant women, particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and on early child development. It also offers an interdisciplinary analytical approach including sociology, neuroscience, perinatology, and developmental psychology and builds an interdisciplinary network of collaborators.