Adversities and resilience in young adults: a long-term study in Malawi and its effects on health and families
Official title: Adversities, Health and Resilience in Early Adulthood: An intergenerational, low-income country study
Funded at State University New York Stony Brook · NIH-11474353 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This grant funds a long-term study of how difficult childhood experiences affect health, relationships, and parenting in young adults in Malawi and how these effects may pass to the next generation.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University New York Stony Brook NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stony Brook, United States) |
| Project start | September 18, 2024 |
| Project end | May 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $249,116 |
| NIH project number | 3R01HD114246-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11474353 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are young adults in Malawi who were part of the MLSFH-ACE cohort and their partners and children.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals not connected to the MLSFH-ACE cohort or not in Malawi may not directly benefit from this specific study.
What this research studies
Researchers will follow an existing cohort in Malawi to track how adverse childhood experiences influence sexual, reproductive, and mental health as people move into early adulthood, and how these effects may ripple to their children. The study will collect new data on the MLSFH-ACE participants, their partners, and their children over time. By linking past adversity with later health and parenting outcomes, it aims to identify pathways that could be targeted to improve health and family well-being. The work builds on a well-established longitudinal study to understand long-term and intergenerational consequences of adversity in a low-income country context.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: A better understanding of how early adversity shapes adult health and parenting could inform programs to reduce intergenerational risk and improve health outcomes for families in Sub-Saharan Africa.
How similar studies have gone: Prior longitudinal studies have shown meaningful links between early adversity and later health and parenting, supporting the value of this approach.
Where this research is happening
-
State University New York Stony Brook
Stony Brook, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kidman, Rachel — State University New York Stony Brook
- Study coordinator: Kidman, Rachel
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.