The goal of the HERO study is to empower parents, providers, and communities with new tools to measure child stress and resilience.
Every child deserves a strong start. Positive experiences in the early years, like high-quality early education, promote healthy development. Even stressful events, like the arrival of a new sibling or moving, can help kids grow. However, too much stress for too long can be harmful. Some children are more strongly affected by stress than others, but how can we tell how stressed a child really is? Watching how they act can give us a clue, but it doesn’t tell us everything. What we really need to know is how the child’s body is dealing with the stress they’re experiencing.
Thousands of families from all over the US are joining the HERO study to help learn about typical stress levels for kids of different ages living in different environments.
In the future, these measures could:
- Enable parents and providers to check how a child is responding to the stress in their life.
- Help providers connect families to better and more effective services, such as home visiting, support groups, or financial assistance programs.
- Show how different programs and initiatives affect children during their important early years.
Get Involved!
Questionnaire
Click the link below to join the study and complete an online survey about your family, and the sources of stress and support in your child’s life.
Samples
Once enough families in your area enroll, the HERO study team will visit your child’s center and collect samples from your child, including a cheek swab, saliva, and a small snippet of hair. Sample collection is quick and painless. Click here to learn more.
Activity
Children aged 2.5 and up will also do an activity on a tablet to check skills like planning, focus, and memory.
Your privacy is our priority
Information collected during this study will be kept confidential and stored securely. Your data will be de-identified with a unique code to protect your privacy and study results will be published using aggregated data in a way that does not identify you. Click here to learn more.
Why Participate?
Make a difference for kids and families
Your participation will help develop better support and services for children and families in the future.
Help to advance knowledge about child development
Help us learn about how stress affects young children.
Thank You Gift
As a thank-you for joining, you will receive two gift cards totaling $50 per enrolled child ($25 after completing the survey and another $25 after the HERO team meets with your child to collect the samples). You may also be invited to participate in a focus group for an additional $50 electronic gift card. Each participating child will receive a small, age-appropriate prize (e.g., a sticker or small toy).
Ready to take the next step?
The measures used in the HERO study were developed as part of the Pediatric Innovation Initiative (PII) , an initiative of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Started in 2015, the PII brings together community leaders, parents, healthcare providers, and scientists. The goal of the PII is to develop new ways to measure stress and resilience in young children. This will help parents, providers, and communities support child health better. Click here to learn more about the Pediatric Innovation Initiative.
The HERO Study is led by a team of researchers from several universities, including Harvard University, McGill University, and the University of Minnesota, who are working in collaboration with multiple sites across the country. The project is overseen by a committee that includes community leaders, healthcare providers, and scientists who are part of the PII (see above for more information on the PII).