This Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) will enable the candidate to independently conduct longitudinal high-risk research on emotion regulatory risk factors for child and adolescent depression. Early-onset depression is a disabling condition that is disturbingly common among adolescents of depressed parents. Research suggests that both neurobehavioral systems and social-interactional processes involved in emotional reactivity and regulation play a role in the transmission of risk for depression from parents to adolescents. Understanding the pathways by which these factors interact to contribute to depression onset is crucial for developing prevention and intervention approaches for this population. To address this need, the candidate will pursue training in developmental affective neuroscience, the assessment of dyadic affective behavior, and longitudinal statistical modeling. Training will be accomplished via (a) meetings and guided readings with mentor Ronald Dahl, M.D., co-mentor Daniel Shaw, Ph.D., and an expert team of internal and external consultants; (b) formal coursework; (c) supervised hands-on experience in the collection and analysis of data using behavioral observation and psychophysiological methodologies; and (d) attendance at local and national conferences, journal clubs, and research network meetings. The proposed research will utilize observational, psychophysiological (task-evoked pupillary responses, event- """"""""elated potentials), and questionnaire measures to examine maternal socialization of emotion regulation and adolescent emotional reactivity among depressed and nondepressed mothers and their early adolescent offspring. The research will also examine the interplay of these factors in contributing to adolescents' depressive symptomatology over time. These training activities will complement the candidate's background in clinical/developmental psychology and place the candidate in a position to conduct integrative research on social and neurobehavioral factors in the etiology of child and adolescent depression.
