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Children’s health and child development

Highlighting the role of psychological science in promoting child health and human development

From preconception care to menopause, APA calls on the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to ensure that behavioral health continues to play a critical role in the institute’s future research plans

By Krysta Jones Date created: November 13, 2024 1 min read
APA Style leaf logo Cite This Article in APA Style
Jones, K. (2024, November 13). Highlighting the role of psychological science in promoting child health and human development. https://www.apaservices.org/advocacy/news/psychological-science-child-health

Child psychologist engaging with an adolescent boy

APA recently submitted comments to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (PDF, 117KB)opens in new window as the institute updated its strategic plan for 2025 through 2029. The mission of NICHD is to lead research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. The institute supports research on behavior and psychological growth as fundamental to understanding both normal development, as well as a myriad of diseases.

APA called on NICHD to:

  • continue to address various forms of psychosocial adversity, such as child maltreatment and economic hardship, and understand how they can lead to changes in brain architecture and other organ systems which in turn impact child development;
  • prioritize research that identifies the psychological and behavioral aspects of infertility and menopause to better understand reproductive stages across the life cycle;
  • use psychological data to inform interventions for adverse maternal health conditions and complications of pregnancy including disparities in preconception care, psychological distress, and pregnancy loss, and better understand the impacts of these complications on children and diverse populations;
  • create standard global research tools and questionnaires for children ages 10-18 as few measures currently exist for this population;
  • develop greater understanding of the cultural and psychological factors that apply to the community models that we use to eliminate health disparities.

APA Advocacy staff will chair the executive committee of the Friends of NICHDopens in new window coalition and will continue to advocate for behavioral science in the institute’s research portfolio as well as increased funding for the National Institutes of Health. APA Services will continue to work with Congress and the incoming Trump administration to protect and advance federally funded psychological science in 2025.

For more information, contact Krysta Jones.

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