Virtual Assessments to Understand Developmental Trajectories of Substance Use Exposure

Overview

The Research Need

Children’s brains and behavior develop rapidly over the first few years of life. During this time, they are especially susceptible to outside influences and experiences. Use of opioids and/or other drugs during pregnancy can affect infant behavior and other health outcomes. Assessing infant outcomes in response to these influences is difficult in typical clinical research settings, particularly for infants and families from historically underserved communities, such as those living in rural areas.

About the Program

This program supports technology-guided research to monitor cognitive development during infancy and childhood in a naturalistic, family setting. This research employs use of one or more remote technologies (including wearable devices) and real-time or near real-time data collection to measure multiple factors that contribute to infant outcomes. These include infant cognition, physiology, and environmental condition, and caregiver interactions. The research evaluates developmental outcomes related to sociocultural, biobehavioral, and environmental influences.