Longitudinal Family/Molecular Genetic Study to Validate Research Domain Criteria

描述（由申请人提供）：NIMH研究领域标准（RDoC）项目旨在进一步实现通过遗传学、神经科学和行为研究为诊断系统做出贡献的长期目标。我们正在响应的应用程序请求鼓励应用程序研究跨越传统诊断类别的RDoC构造。由于RDoC结构是由行为和神经生物学评估实例化的理论实体，因此它们的验证（在缺乏已知金标准的情况下）需要一个经验框架。本提案试图将这样一个框架应用于正价体系的RDoC结构。我们将采用由Robins和Guze提出的验证系统的更新版本，该系统已被用作验证精神病学构念的工具数十年。我们将重点关注该方法提出的五个问题中的四个：结构是否连贯？是家族性的吗？它是否与神经生物学测量有关？随着时间的推移是否稳定？我们的工作将回答前三个问题，并为未来的发展奠定基础

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project is intended to further a long-range goal of contributing to diagnostic systems as informed by research on genetics, neuroscience, and behavior. The Request for Applications to which we are responding encourages applications to study RDoC Constructs that cut across traditional diagnostic categories. Because RDoC Constructs are theoretical entities instantiated by behavioral and neurobiologic assessments, their validation (in the absence of a known gold standard) requires an empirical framework. This proposal seeks to apply such a framework to RDoC Constructs of the Positive Valence Systems. We will apply an updated version of the validation system proposed by Robins and Guze, which has been used for many decades as a tool for validating psychiatric constructs. We will focus on four of the five questions asked by ths method: Is the Construct coherent? Is it familial? Is it associated with neurobiologic measures? Is it stable over time? Our work will answer the first three questions and will set the stage for a longitudinal study to answer the fourth. In the RDoC spirit, we will take an agnostic approach regarding nosology by ascertaining families having a child with any psychiatric disorder through referrals to our general child psychiatry clinic. We will also sample non-psychiatric comparison subjects from the community to assure that we have a wide range of scores on the RDoC Constructs represented in our study and to assess the clinical significance of Construct measures. We are adopting a clinic-based approach with appropriately matched community controls because, although the RDoC Domains are not intended to define particular disorders, any study of these domains should be more powerful when studying a sample enriched for individuals with extreme values on these traits (i.e., those with or without psychiatric disorders)2 As a consequence, we can simultaneously evaluate RDoC constructs and the predominant traditionally defined childhood psychiatric disorders in one study. Our approach is also clearly relevant to the target population of NIMH and the RDoC initiative; i.e., children and adults exhibiting impairing psychiatric symptoms. Using this sample, we will accomplish the following Specific Aims: 1) Determine if Constructs in the Positive Valence System Domains proposed by the NIMH Working Groups are homogenous theoretical Constructs; 2) Determine if Positive Valence System Constructs are familial; 3) Determine if Positive Valence System Constructs predict psychopathology and impairment; 4) Determine if Positive Valence System Constructs are associated with Construct candidate genes, with recently identified genome-wide significant cross-disorder candidate genes, and with cross-disorder polygenic scores; and 5) Establish a database of enrolled families and maintain annual contact with them to ensure the viability of longitudinal follow-up analyses.