How growing up poor in rural Georgia affects children's brains and risk for drug use
Official title: Early Adversity and Drug Use Vulnerability Among Low Income Rural Children: Testing a Neuro-ecological Model of Resilience
Funded at University of Georgia · NIH-11482288 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how early poverty and stress in rural Georgia change children's brain systems and their later chances of using drugs.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Georgia NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Athens, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $54,644 |
| NIH project number | 3R01DA055630-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11482288 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are low-income children living in rural Georgia, beginning around age 7, whose families can attend repeated in-person visits and testing sessions.
✕Less likely to help
This project is unlikely to directly help adults, children from urban areas, or people already in drug-treatment programs seeking immediate therapy.
What this research studies
If your child joins, researchers will follow low-income children in rural Georgia starting around age 7 and collect information over several years. They will combine brain scans, cognitive and behavioral tests, and surveys about family and community stressors and supports. The team will study how brain systems that control thinking and emotion respond to those experiences and whether those patterns relate to later drug-use risk. The approach mixes neuroscience with real-world community factors to understand what helps or harms children in rural settings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal early brain and environmental signs of drug-use risk so prevention and support can reach children sooner.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies link early adversity to brain changes and later substance use, but combining detailed brain scans with rural community measures in a long-term design is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Georgia
Athens, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Oshri, Assaf — University of Georgia
- Study coordinator: Oshri, Assaf
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Early hardship and drug-use risk in low-income rural children
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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.