Psychosocial Influences on Healthy Development – PIHD
NOTE: Starts with the October 2026 Council round submission dates (Cycle I due dates). This study section was evaluated as part of CSR’s ENQUIRE process to align study sections with advances in science. Learn more about ENQUIRE.
Psychosocial Influences on Healthy Development (PIHD) reviews applications that examine the interplay among proximal/micro-level psychological, interpersonal, social, cultural, and behavioral risk and protective factors and processes and their influence on health and human development among individuals across the life course. Applications can explore these risk and protective factors in the context of social, family, and close relationships that could result in heterogenous outcomes or differences across groups. This study section involves human studies that emphasize bio-behavioral or psychosocial processes rather than neurocognitive or related processes at the biological level. Studies may test a theoretical framework or propose a theory-based intervention targeting the factors that optimize healthy development.
Review Dates
Topics
- Adaptive vs. maladaptive behaviors that affect developmental outcomes across the lifecourse (from childhood to old age)
- Social, cultural, personality, cognitive, or emotional aspects of a health condition
- Role of family, peers, intimate partners, and social networks, either as risk or protective factors or outcomes, from a developmental outcomes or risk development perspective.
- Observational, experimental, clinical trials with a mechanistic focus or seek to identify a target for future intervention development
- Methodological studies proposing to develop or test new measures
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There are shared interests in the interpersonal and psychosocial processes that shape development across the lifespan with Social and Interpersonal Processes of Health Disparities (SIPH). Applications that focus on factors that impact normative processes in development are reviewed in PIHD. Applications that focus on processes or conditions that can result in differences in health between population groups are reviewed in SIPH.
There are shared interests in social/environmental and emotion regulation processes that affect bio-behavioral outcomes with Biological Processes and Social Factors (BPSF). Applications that study these factors and processes from primarily an interpersonal, social, family, and close relationship perspective are reviewed in PIHD. Applications that study these processes from primarily a neurocognitive or biological perspective are reviewed in BPSF.
There are shared interests in individual or group level interventions that promote health behaviors to prevent negative outcomes and promote health and well-being with study sections in the Healthcare, Health Promotion and Implementation review branch (Health Promotion and Interventions at the Individual Level (HPII), Health Promotion for Mental Health and Substance Misuse (HPMS), and Lifestyle Change and Behavioral Health (LCBH)). Applications that propose an intervention designed to improve interpersonal skills (e.g., parenting/caregiving skills), developmental outcomes (e.g., self-efficacy, resilience, emotional skills), or social processes (e.g., social engagement, behavioral challenges) are reviewed in PIHD. Applications that propose an intervention where the goal is to prevent or manage a chronic or physical health condition, substance misuse, or serious mental health concern are reviewed in HPII, HPMS, or LCBH.
There are shared interests in the study of contextual and cultural influences on health with Population Dynamics and Health (PDAH) and Social Determinants of Behavioral, Cognitive, and Psychological Health (SBCP). Applications that focus on individual-level, psychosocial, or relationship dynamics to better understand developmental processes or mechanisms are reviewed in PIHD. Applications that examine similar predictors but that emphasize a broader scope of economic conditions, policies, and other social factors and their impact on health on a large-scale, population level are reviewed in PDAH or SBCP.
