Irritability, Reward Processing and Adolescent Depression (360G-Wellcome-211163_Z_18_Z)

Depression is a common mental health problem and a leading cause of disability. Rates of depression increase throughout adolescence, with most adult disorders beginning during this time. Despite this, we do not fully understand why depression increases during adolescence or why some people are more vulnerable than others. Depressed adults show changes in processing of reward related information, which potentially contribute to their risk of depression. Children who are more irritable (i.e. more prone to anger in response to frustration e.g. omission of an expected reward) are more likely to develop depression when older. Such children also show changes in processing of reward. Adolescence is a time of significant social, emotional and cognitive development both biologically and environmentally. I hypothesise that irritability in childhood is a consequence of differences in reward processing that lead to depression in adolescence in the context of the developmental and environmental changes. This study aims to investigate these relationships by looking at childhood irritability, reward processing and depressive symptoms. Depression has a complex multi-factorial aetiology; studying childhood risks for depression will improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying depression, allowing development of more targeted interventions and preventive strategies.