This Career Development Award (K01) will provide the candidate with the necessary skills to develop an independent research program focused on using population-based data to identify the psychological, physiological, and environmental mechanisms underlying the association between childhood adversity and the later onset of mood and anxiety disorders and to examine the role of genetic factors in altering developmental trajectories among children exposed to adversity. Although adverse childhood experiences, such as maltreatment and exposure to family violence, account for a substantial proportion of mental disorders in the population, the complex developmental pathways that underlie these associations remain poorly characterized. The overall aim of the current application is to test a developmental epidemiologic model that posits a central role of emotional and physiological reactivity as a mechanism linking childhood adversity to the subsequent onset of mood and anxiety disorders. The model predicts that childhood adversity is more likely to trigger heightened emotional reactivity among individuals with specific genetic polymorphisms that increase vulnerability to stress. The training plan is designed to provide the candidate with skills in developmental psychopathology, stress biology and psychophysiology, and genetic epidemiology. Specifically, the candidate will acquire the knowledge and skills to: a) conduct developmentally informed studies to identify psychological and physiological mechanisms linking childhood adversity to mood and anxiety disorders;b) design, conduct, and analyze genetically informative studies;c) identify biologically plausible phenotypes that link genotype, childhood adversity, and mood and anxiety disorders;and d) conduct prospective epidemiologic studies of individuals exposed to childhood adversities, which assess both genetic and environmental risk factors. These skills will be developed through a combination of didactic training, guided readings, and mentored research projects. The proposed research program involves a combination of original data collection and analysis of existing epidemiologic data. The candidate will collect psychopathology, psychophysiology, experience sampling, and genetic data from a community sample of adolescents to examine the central hypotheses of the conceptual model. Psychophysiology methods and a candidate gene approach will be used to define a potential phenotype involving heightened emotional and physiological reactivity that links genetic vulnerability, childhood adversity exposure, and mood and anxiety disorders. The conceptual model also will be tested through analysis of three longitudinal epidemiologic data sets: the National Comorbidity Survey II, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Children and Parents, and the Nurses'Health Study II, two of which measure both genetic and environmental risk factors. Training activities and results will be used to develop an R01 application for a prospective epidemiologic study that assesses both genetic and environmental risk factors and aims to identify developmental pathways linking childhood adversity to the onset of mood and anxiety disorders.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed research aims to identify psychological and physiological mechanisms underlying the association between childhood adversity and the later onset of mood and anxiety disorders and to determine whether genetic polymorphisms associated with the stress response system modify developmental trajectories among individuals exposed to childhood adversity, including maltreatment and family violence. Elucidation of these mechanisms, and the role of genetic vulnerability in altering mediating pathways, is critical to inform the development of preventive interventions targeting children exposed to adversity. Given that a substantial proportion of mental disorders in the population are directly attributable to childhood adversity, the development of such interventions represents an important public health priority.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
7K01MH092526-04
Application #
8722141
Study Section
Behavioral Genetics and Epidemiology Study Section (BGES)
Program Officer
Sarampote, Christopher S
Project Start
2011-02-01
Project End
2015-11-30
Budget Start
2013-07-16
Budget End
2013-11-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$99,513
Indirect Cost
$7,371
Name
University of Washington
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
605799469
City
Seattle
State
WA
Country
United States
Zip Code
98195
Galbraith, Todd; Carliner, Hannah; Keyes, Katherine M et al. (2018) The co-occurrence and correlates of anxiety disorders among adolescents with intermittent explosive disorder. Aggress Behav 44:581-590
King, Kevin M; McLaughlin, Katie A; Silk, Jennifer et al. (2018) Peer effects on self-regulation in adolescence depend on the nature and quality of the peer interaction. Dev Psychopathol 30:1389-1401
Sheridan, Margaret A; McLaughlin, Katie A; Winter, Warren et al. (2018) Early deprivation disruption of associative learning is a developmental pathway to depression and social problems. Nat Commun 9:2216
Logue, Mark W; van Rooij, Sanne J H; Dennis, Emily L et al. (2018) Smaller Hippocampal Volume in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Multisite ENIGMA-PGC Study: Subcortical Volumetry Results From Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Consortia. Biol Psychiatry 83:244-253
Jenness, Jessica L; Rosen, Maya L; Sambrook, Kelly A et al. (2018) Violence exposure and neural systems underlying working memory for emotional stimuli in youth. Dev Psychopathol 30:1517-1528
Miller, Adam Bryant; McLaughlin, Katie A; Busso, Daniel S et al. (2018) Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation and Adolescent Suicidal Ideation. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging 3:125-132
Walsh, Kate; McLaughlin, Katie A; Hamilton, Ava et al. (2017) Trauma exposure, incident psychiatric disorders, and disorder transitions in a longitudinal population representative sample. J Psychiatr Res 92:212-218
Busso, Daniel S; McLaughlin, Katie A; Sheridan, Margaret A (2017) Dimensions of Adversity, Physiological Reactivity, and Externalizing Psychopathology in Adolescence: Deprivation and Threat. Psychosom Med 79:162-171
Busso, Daniel S; McLaughlin, Katie A; Brueck, Stephanie et al. (2017) Child Abuse, Neural Structure, and Adolescent Psychopathology: A Longitudinal Study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 56:321-328.e1
Dorsey, Shannon; McLaughlin, Katie A; Kerns, Suzanne E U et al. (2017) Evidence Base Update for Psychosocial Treatments for Children and Adolescents Exposed to Traumatic Events. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 46:303-330

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