Award
NIH Reporter #5R01HD099296-07
Do Hair Cortisol and Hair Oxytocin represent the Stressful and Supportive Experiences of Preschool Children?
Recipient
Stanford University, Department of Pediatrics
Award Amount
$963,797.00
Ceiling
$963,797.00
Awarded
April 27, 2026
Identifier
5R01HD099296-07
NIH awarded a grant to Stanford University to study the relationship between childhood stress and support experiences using hair cortisol and oxytocin biomarkers in preschool children, aiming to understand the impact of early adversity and resilience factors on health outcomes.
Description
This NIH grant project aims to assess the interactions of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), positive childhood experiences (PCEs), parenting, and poverty on the social psychology of childhood and develop objective measures for stress dysregulation using hair cortisol as a chronic stress biomarker. The study will investigate how ACEs relate to hair cortisol concentrations and how PCEs relate to hair oxytocin concentrations, among other objectives, to understand long-term effects of early childhood adversity and protective caregiving.