How and why does ADHD lead to depression in young people?

抑郁症是一种常见的心理健康状况，通常发生在青春期或青年期。患有注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）的年轻人患抑郁症的可能性是正常人的五倍左右。多动症患者的抑郁症尤其严重，例如，与多动症或抑郁症相比，自杀的风险更高。然而，典型的抑郁症干预措施似乎对患有多动症的年轻人并不有效。为了更好地帮助这些年轻人，我们首先需要了解多动症是如何以及为什么会导致抑郁症。该项目将使用来自英国普通人群的两个大型现有数据集。这些数据包含童年、青春期和青年时期收集的详细信息，包括多动症、抑郁症的测量，以及可能将两者联系起来的因素。我们将对这些数据集使用先进的统计方法来帮助理解：-多动症如何以及为什么会导致抑郁症。多动症和抑郁症之间的联系从童年到青春期，再到青年期是如何变化的。该项目有四个主要目标。首先，我将研究多动症和抑郁症状之间的联系是如何在童年、青春期和成年早期发展起来的。我将研究患有多动症的年轻人是否抑郁开始得更早或持续时间更长，这是否取决于多动症开始的时间和持续的时间。我还将研究不同类型的抑郁症状是否与不同年龄段的多动症有关。其次，为了帮助告知患有多动症的年轻人抑郁症干预的未来潜在目标，我将研究与人们如何思考和学习相关的特征（例如与冲动有关的问题，个人如何看待负面事件）以及与情绪或行为相关的因素（易怒和焦虑）是否是多动症和抑郁症之间的重要联系。第三，由于一些针对年轻人的抑郁症治疗旨在改善他们与朋友和家人的关系，我将研究与父母、朋友和恋人的关系问题在多大程度上促成了ADHD与童年、青春期和青年期抑郁症之间的联系。最后，我将检查基因和环境对多动症和抑郁症之间联系的相对贡献。然后，我将测试多动症和抑郁症之间的联系以及这些联系的确定因素是否由基因驱动，或者它们是否可能导致患有多动症的年轻人抑郁。这很重要，因为如果它们引起抑郁症，那么在干预中针对这些因素可能更有可能减少抑郁症。

Depression is a common mental health condition that typically develops during adolescence or young adulthood. Young people with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are around five-times more likely to experience depression than those without. Depression in those with ADHD is especially serious - for example, with a higher risk of suicide compared to either ADHD or depression alone. However, the typical interventions for depression do not appear to be as effective for young people with ADHD. To better help these young people, we first need to understand how and why ADHD can lead to depression.This project will use two large existing datasets from the UK general population. These contain detailed information collected across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, including measures of ADHD, depression, and factors that may link the two. We will use advanced statistical methods on these datasets to help understand:- How and why ADHD can lead to depression.- How links between ADHD and depression change from childhood, to adolescence, and into young adulthood.The project has four main aims.First, I will examine how the link between ADHD and depression symptoms develops across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. I will look at whether depression starts earlier or lasts longer for young people with ADHD, and whether this is different depending on when ADHD starts and how long ADHD lasts. I will also look at whether different types of depression symptoms are associated with ADHD at different ages.Second, to help inform future potential targets for depression interventions for young people with ADHD, I will examine whether characteristics that relate to how people think and learn (e.g. problems relating to impulsivity, how individuals think about negative events) and factors relating to emotions or behaviours (irritability and anxiety) are important links between ADHD and depression.Third, because some therapies for depression in young people aim to improve their relationships with friends and families, I will examine the extent to which relationship problems with parents, friends and romantic partners contribute to the link between ADHD and depression across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.Finally, I will examine the relative contributions of genes and environment to the link between ADHD and depression. I will then test whether the associations between ADHD, depression and the identified factors that link these are driven by genes, or if they might cause depression in young people with ADHD. This is important because if they cause depression, then targeting these factors in interventions may be more likely to reduce depression.