We will investigate genetic predisposition and problems in the regulation of dysphoric emotions as risk factors for childhood- onset depression, a serious and familial affective illness. We hypothesize that disruption in the early development of emotion regulation in multiple regulatory domains (biologic/social/cognitive) is necessary for the expression of childhood depression and that it occurs within a broad genetic predisposition to depressive illness. We will study high-risk families, i.e., those containing a clinically referred child proband who had a depressive disorder by age 14, and two control groups (as appropriate): referred probands who had childhood-onset anxiety disorder and probands who were free of childhood psychiatric illness. Three unique and valuable cohorts will be merged who were ascertained (as part of separate NIMH grants) while they were youngsters, are now young adults, and have offspring. Study 1 will seek to identify genes in childhood-onset depressive illness by using a strategy that combines affected relative pair and haplotype relative risk methods, screen probands and parents for expanded trinucleotide repeats and perform a genome scan; Study 2 will examine patterning of frontal EEG, autonomic nervous system reactivity, and facial expression as markers of emotion dysregulation in probands, juvenile offspring and adult siblings, of probands; Study 3 will use observational method to explore emotion, regulation in the young, offspring of grown probands and interactions, and related parent-child interactions, and their developmental unfolding: The studies will be supported by the Administrative, Scheduling & Psychiatric Evaluation, and Data Management & Statistical Cores and external consultants. By eventually integrating results of the 3 studies, we will derive a multifaceted characterization of risk factors in depressive illness and identify processes that may be protective. Such findings will facilitate primary prevention with our target population.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
1P01MH056193-01A1
Application #
2034963
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-CRB-O (06))
Project Start
1997-08-01
Project End
2002-07-31
Budget Start
1997-08-01
Budget End
1998-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1997
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
053785812
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Nusslock, Robin; Shackman, Alexander J; McMenamin, Brenton W et al. (2018) Comorbid anxiety moderates the relationship between depression history and prefrontal EEG asymmetry. Psychophysiology 55:
Panaite, Vanessa; Bylsma, Lauren M; Kovacs, Maria et al. (2018) Dysregulated behavioral responses to hedonic probes among youth with depression histories and their high-risk siblings. Emotion :
Daches, Shimrit; Kovacs, Maria; George, Charles J et al. (2017) Childhood adversity predicts reduced physiological flexibility during the processing of negative affect among adolescents with major depression histories. Int J Psychophysiol 121:22-28
Kovacs, Maria; Lopez-Duran, Nestor L; George, Charles et al. (2017) The Development of Mood Repair Response Repertories: I. Age-Related Changes Among 7- to 14-Year-Old Depressed and Control Children and Adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol :1-10
Kovacs, Maria; Obrosky, Scott; George, Charles (2016) The course of major depressive disorder from childhood to young adulthood: Recovery and recurrence in a longitudinal observational study. J Affect Disord 203:374-381
Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Rottenberg, Jonathan; Bylsma, Lauren M et al. (2016) Parasympathetic nervous system activity predicts mood repair use and its effectiveness among adolescents with and without histories of major depression. J Abnorm Psychol 125:323-36
Kovacs, Maria; Bylsma, Lauren M; Yaroslavsky, Ilya et al. (2016) Positive Affectivity is Dampened in Youths with Histories of Major Depression and Their Never-Depressed Adolescent Siblings. Clin Psychol Sci 4:661-674
Bylsma, Lauren M; Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Rottenberg, Jonathan et al. (2016) Familiality of mood repair responses among youth with and without histories of depression. Cogn Emot 30:807-16
Kovacs, Maria; Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Rottenberg, Jonathan et al. (2015) Mood repair via attention refocusing or recall of positive autobiographical memories by adolescents with pediatric-onset major depression. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 56:1108-17
Rimay, Timea; Benak, Istvan; Kiss, Eniko et al. (2015) BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and stressful life events in melancholic childhood-onset depression. Psychiatr Genet 25:249-55

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