3-032 - Identification of Targeted Mechanisms in Youth Psychopathology: Implications for Experimental Therapeutics

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

A recent announcement from the NIMH outlined future directions for intervention research under the rubric of “experimental therapeutics”. Two features of this new research approach are salient. First, there is an emphasis on core mechanisms (i.e., endophenotypes) that contribute to diverse forms of psychopathology. Second, a full account of core mechanisms requires research at multiple levels of analysis, spanning genetics, cellular biology, brain circuitry, and cognitive/behavioral performance. The goal of this approach is to identify target core mechanisms that can be modified through “active therapeutics”, thereby enhancing treatments, such as CBT.

The aim of this symposium is to present research that identifies potential core mechanisms of youth psychopathology at multiple levels of analysis. The first paper will present on associations among genetics, attention to emotion via eye-tracking, and depression. The second paper will present on relationships among physiological arousal, as well as attention and interpretation bias, in anxiety. The third paper will present on links among cognitive processes, such as executive functioning, and depressive symptoms and cognitive reappraisal. Collectively, these studies utilize methodologies at different levels of analysis, including molecular genetics, heart rate and skin conductance, information processing and eye-tracking, as well as self-report, to identify potential core mechanisms underlying youth depression and anxiety. The discussant is a leading researcher in neuroscience-informed interventions with youth, and will place these papers in the context of “active therapeutics” and will discuss implications for targeting new mechanisms in youth CBT.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Lauren Gulley, Univ of Denver

Discussant

• Dana McMakin, University of Pittsburgh

Individual Presentations

• Attentional Bias for Emotional Faces, Genetics, and Cognitive Self-Regulation: Mechanisms of Depression Risk and Resilience - Presenting Author: Lauren Gulley, Univ of Denver; Jessica Jenness, University of Denver; Hannah Snyder, University of Denver; Robert J Roberts, University of Denver; Benjamin L Hankin, University of Denver

• Cognitive and Physiological Correlates of Anxiety in Youth - Presenting Author: Michelle Rozenman, Univ of California-Los Angeles; Alison Vreeland, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior; John Piacentini, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior

• Mediators of Cognitive Reappraisal in Youth with Depression - Presenting Author: Emma L. Peterson, University of Denver; Stephen R Shirk, University of Denver