Neurobehavioral markers of positive valence systems in mothers with depression and young offspring

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PROJECT SUMMARY Depression is prevalent, debilitating, and costly, and derives from complex combinations of genetic and environmental factors. Maternal depression is one of the most established risk factors of depression in offspring, yet the genetic and environmental risk factors tied to intergenerational risk are complex and largely unspecified. Dyadic research examining mother–child neural and behavioral processes is critically needed to identify early pathways and mechanisms of increased depression risk. To this end, the current research strategy suggests a neurobehavioral pathway of early childhood risk development such that depression in mothers is characterized by dampened positive valence systems (PVS) neural activation, leading to decreased engagement in co-experienced positive affect with young offspring, and resulting in dampened PVS neural activation in the young children of mothers with depression. I will assess 125 mother−child (age=18months) dyads. In the first laboratory visit, diagnostic interviews will assess mothers’ lifetime depression history. In the second laboratory visit, dyads will complete a series of tasks to examine neural indicators of PVS activation and mother−child co-experienced positive affect. Electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) neural indicators, particularly frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) and the late positive potential (LPP), reliable measures of approach motivation and motivated attention, respectively, will be used to measure PVS activation at the neural level for both mothers and young children. Co-experienced positive affect will be coded via the Dyadic Interaction Coding System. This project will allow me to examine a potential neurobehavioral pathway from depression in mothers to the development of increased depression risk in offspring. First, I will examine the association between mothers’ depressive symptoms and neural PVS activation in the context of interactions with offspring (Specific Aim 1). Then, I will examine the association between mothers’ depressive symptoms, prenatally and postpartum, and observed co-experienced positive affect in mother–child interactions and test the moderating role of individual differences in mothers’ neural PVS activation on this association (Specific Aim 2). Lastly, I will examine the cumulative and unique effects of co-experienced positive affect and mothers’ neural PVS function on children’s PVS function. These aims leverage a rigorous multimethod research design to provide foundational insight on dyadic neurobehavioral mechanisms of depression vulnerability, crucial for developing more targeted preventions for those at highest risk for depression. In addition, my proposed training goals are to develop advanced skills through rigorous training in: infant and early childhood mental health, dyadic behavioral paradigms and assessment of caregiver–child interactions, dyadic and early childhood neurophysiological assessments, and advanced quantitative methods.