Resilience in Adolescent Development

The primary objective of this initiative is 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 of the RAD Study: 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. Aim 4 - Evaluate psychological, social, and physiological correlates, from mobile based data, of mood changes to construct a model of risk and resilience to depression and mood disorders among adolescents and young adults.