Resilience in Adolescent Development

Summary

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Description

The primary objective of this initiative is to implement a prospective study that will allow the investigators to identify and validate biosignatures of resilience. Specifically, the research will identify protective factors (socio-demographic, lifestyle, clinical and behavioral assessments, fluid-b...

The primary objective of this initiative is to implement a prospective study that will allow the investigators to identify and validate biosignatures of resilience. Specifically, the research will identify protective factors (socio-demographic, lifestyle, clinical and behavioral assessments, fluid-based biomarkers, genomics, neuroimaging, EEG and cell-based assays) that reduce risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders in adolescents and young adults at risk for these illnesses. Presence and severity of symptoms will be assessed over 10 years using questionnaires for symptom changes, social factors, and overall quality of life. Other outcomes generated from this study will include rate of change in quantitative measures of brain function, of depression relevant brain regions correlated with systems-levels behavior and other functional neuro-circuitry MRI measures. Rate of change of specified biochemical biomarkers will also be assessed. Integration of these measures will provide an unmatched understanding into the mechanisms of resilience and protection against depression and anxiety disorders, and holds tremendous promise for identifying targets for prevention strategies. Specific Aims: Aim 1 Examine baseline biosignatures and independent factors (demographic, social, environmental, genetic, EEG, and fMRI) associated with resilience in at-risk adolescents and young adults. Aim 2 Examine changes in the biomarker factors annually for 10 years to determine for plasticity of these biomarkers. Aim 3 Examine the interaction between psychiatric symptoms and changes in the biopsychosocial signature. The following variables will be evaluated: Based on this, the investigators determined that the most promising variables to evaluate are: Comprehensive clinical phenotype; Magnetic resonance imaging using MRI measures of cortical structure; Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to assess cortical white matter tract integrity; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using multiple tasks to assess brain activation patterns to both emotional conflict and reward-dependent learning tasks; Quantitative electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cortical and subcortical brain activation patterns, using advanced EEG processing techniques; Cortical evoked EEG potentials; Behavioral neuropsychological tasks to include reaction time, and motor processing speed; DNA, mRNA, and plasma, urine and saliva protein and metabolomics samples, collected at baseline and throughout the study Socio-economic, demographic and life habits parameters. Planned analyses include: Assessment of individual moderators/mediators: The first set of analyses will test an a priori list of individual variables for status as moderators and mediators. Depression symptom change from baseline will be measured using the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Clinician (IDS-C). Tolerability will be measured using the Frequency, Intensity, and Burden of Side Effects Rating (FIBSER) and the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS). Other measures (i.e., treatment response, remission) may also be used and correlated variables collected in the study.

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