Emotion Regulation, Aging and Mental Disorder (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | PA 19 094

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 19 094

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Emotion Regulation, Aging and Mental Disorder (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" (Funding Opportunity Number PA-19-094) supports investigator-initiated, mechanistic research that explains how emotion regulation changes with age and how those changes may increase risk for, maintain, or shape mental disorders in middle-aged and older adults. The focus is on understanding underlying mechanisms rather than testing an intervention in a clinical trial, which is why the announcement specifies that clinical trials are not allowed under this FOA. Projects are expected to dig into how emotion regulation works across adulthood and what goes wrong in disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders, using approaches that connect brain function with observable behavior and emotional responses.

A central scientific aim of the announcement is to clarify whether emotion dysregulation seen in older adults with mental disorders reflects the same developmental or maturational trajectories observed in typical aging, or whether it follows a different, atypical path. In many studies of normative aging, older adults often show patterns that look like improved emotional well-being or better emotion regulation compared with younger adults, such as greater emotional stability, changes in attention toward positive information, or more effective use of certain regulatory strategies. This FOA encourages research that directly tests whether older adults who experience episodes of affective dysregulation (for example, intense or poorly controlled negative emotion associated with depression or anxiety) still show those typical age-related improvements, or whether their emotion processing and regulation trajectories diverge in meaningful ways. The reasoning is that these are not small theoretical distinctions: if dysregulated older adults share typical age-related emotion benefits, the mechanisms behind their symptoms may be different than if they show disrupted or delayed maturation of emotion regulation systems. Understanding which pattern is true can reshape how researchers conceptualize the disorder and where they look for causes.

The types of studies envisioned are mechanistic and integrative, meaning they should connect neural systems to behavior in a way that clarifies how emotion regulation is implemented and how it breaks down in psychopathology during midlife and late life. This can include work that examines brain-behavior relationships, identifies irregularities in neural circuits involved in emotion generation and regulation, and links those irregularities to measurable emotion regulation outcomes. The emphasis on "integrative neural-behavioral mechanisms" signals interest in research that does more than describe symptoms or outcomes, instead identifying the processes and pathways that explain why those outcomes occur and how they vary by age. Applicants are encouraged to explicitly consider how emotion processing develops across adulthood, and whether observed abnormalities are best understood as deviations from typical aging patterns versus entirely different regulatory dynamics.

The public health and practical payoff expected from this portfolio is the identification of targets for prevention or intervention, even though intervention trials themselves are not supported through this particular mechanism. By pinpointing which mechanisms are disrupted at which stages of adulthood, these studies can suggest where to intervene, what to intervene on (for example, specific regulatory processes or neural systems), and which existing strategies might be best matched to a person based on age and developmental stage. In other words, the FOA is designed to generate the foundational mechanistic knowledge that can inform later development of treatments, tailoring of current therapeutic approaches, or timing of prevention efforts to strengthen emotional resilience over the adult life course.

This is an NIH discretionary grant using the R01 activity code, categorized under health research (CFDA 93.242). Eligible applicants are broad and include a wide range of U.S. entities such as state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; independent school districts; special district governments; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicant types, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, and non-U.S. (foreign) entities. The original closing date listed for the opportunity was 2022-01-07, and no award ceiling or expected number of awards is specified in the provided data, which is common in NIH announcements where budgets and award counts can vary by proposal scope and available appropriations.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Emotion Regulation, Aging and Mental Disorder (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-11-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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