Understanding how teen stress affects a parent’s heart health
Official title: Examining the crossover effects of adolescent stress on parent cardiovascular health
Funded at Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill · NIH-11402542 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study following adolescents and their parents to see how daily stress in teens might influence heart-related risk in parents.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2025 |
| Project end | May 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $657,512 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL174680-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11402542 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Families with adolescents and at least one parent who is willing to participate.
✕Less likely to help
Families not experiencing significant adolescent stress or those unable to participate over the study period may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project looks at how everyday stress experienced by adolescents could be linked to markers of heart disease risk in their parents. Researchers will track stress events, mood, and physical symptoms in families and examine how these relate to parental cardiometabolic risk and inflammation over time. The study uses surveys, physiological measurements, and possibly wearable data to understand the crossover effects between teen stress and parent health. The goal is to identify pathways that could be targeted to protect both teen well-being and parental cardiovascular risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could inform family-based strategies to reduce stress-related cardiovascular risk for parents.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work suggests teen stress can affect parental well-being, but this crossover impact on long-term CVD risk is still being explored.
Where this research is happening
-
Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lippold, Melissa a. — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Lippold, Melissa a.
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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.