This Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (MCSDA) application outlines a program of career development and research to study the interaction between psychobiological and psychosocial factors associated with adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD). The application is aimed, ultimately, at the development of more specific treatment interventions for juvenile depression. The candidate has received preliminary training in EEG sleep in studies with depressed youngsters. The career development and research plans are designed to enable the candidate to develop greater expertise in the area of sleep polysomnography, and to incorporate psychosocial measures in future biological research paradigms. The career development plan includes didactic instruction in sleep physiology, developmental and psychosocial theories of depression, and biostatistical methods for multivariate and longitudinal data. Also included are laboratory experience in quantitative EEG analysis, and the application of sleep and stress paradigms in animal models of depression. A controlled longitudinal investigation is proposed to examine the develop-mental trajectories of adolescents with MDD during the transition to adulthood.
The aim of the project is to test a model of two possible pathways to adolescent depression: (1) primarily by means of biological vulnerability (namely, sleep dysregulation); and (2) through susceptibility to psychosocial processes (including life stress). Further, individual differences in inter-action of biological and psychosocial liabilities that may result in their own unique prognostic status in young adulthood will be explored. A better understanding of the role of each of these factors has the potential to lead to more specific treatment and prophylactic interventions with depressed adolescents. The proposed research is unusual in three respects: (1) a community sample of (in contrast to clinically referred) depressed adolescents will be studied; (2) investigator-determined (as opposed to self-report) assessment of life stress will be used, and (3) biological and psychosocial variables will be combined into models tested for their ability to explain differing outcomes among depressed and control adolescents. In addition to furthering the candidate's transition to independent research, the knowledge gained from this study should advance our understanding of this important developmental period as well as etiological factors associated with adolescent depression.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
5K08MH001419-02
Application #
2415814
Study Section
Child Psychopathology and Treatment Review Committee (CPT)
Project Start
1996-09-01
Project End
2001-04-30
Budget Start
1997-05-01
Budget End
1998-04-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1997
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
119132785
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Rao, Uma; Poland, Russell E; Lin, Keh-Ming (2012) Comparison of symptoms in African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American and Non-Hispanic White patients with major depressive disorder. Asian J Psychiatr 5:28-33
Rao, Uma (2010) COMORBIDITY BETWEEN DEPRESSIVE AND ADDICTIVE DISORDERS IN ADOLESCENTS: ROLE OF STRESS AND HPA ACTIVITY. US Psyc 3:39-43
Rao, Uma; Chen, Li-Ann; Bidesi, Anup S et al. (2010) Hippocampal changes associated with early-life adversity and vulnerability to depression. Biol Psychiatry 67:357-64
Rao, Uma; Hammen, Constance L; Poland, Russell E (2010) Longitudinal course of adolescent depression: neuroendocrine and psychosocial predictors. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 49:141-51
Rao, Uma; Hammen, Constance L; London, Edythe D et al. (2009) Contribution of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity and environmental stress to vulnerability for smoking in adolescents. Neuropsychopharmacology 34:2721-32
Rao, Uma; Hammen, Constance L; Poland, Russell E (2009) Risk markers for depression in adolescents: sleep and HPA measures. Neuropsychopharmacology 34:1936-45
Rao, Uma; Hammen, Constance L; Poland, Russell E (2009) Mechanisms underlying the comorbidity between depressive and addictive disorders in adolescents: interactions between stress and HPA activity. Am J Psychiatry 166:361-9
Rao, Uma; Hammen, Constance L; Poland, Russell E (2009) Ethnic differences in electroencephalographic sleep patterns in adolescents. Asian J Psychiatr 2:17-24
Rao, Uma; Hammen, Constance; Ortiz, Luis R et al. (2008) Effects of early and recent adverse experiences on adrenal response to psychosocial stress in depressed adolescents. Biol Psychiatry 64:521-6
Rao, Uma; Poland, Russell E (2008) Electroencephalographic sleep and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal changes from episode to recovery in depressed adolescents. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 18:607-13

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