阿里安娜艾德里安 said research with a faculty mentor helped her step out of her academic comfort zone.
阿宾顿,爸爸. -- A research collaboration between a first-year 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 student and a faculty mentor yielded intriguing findings in the link between 母亲抑郁 and problem behaviors in teens. Their study claimed one of the top prizes at the 阿宾顿 College Undergraduate 研究 Activities (讴歌) annual poster fair on April 14.
Extensive lines of research show transmission of antisocial behavior and depression within generations of families and also suggest that the causes of depression are evenly split between genetic and environmental. A person with a parent or full sibling with major depressive disorder is two to three times more likely to develop depression than an individual with no family history.
阿里安娜艾德里安, a psychology major, and faculty mentor 埃里克J. 康诺利 said they wanted to control for genetic effects since not doing so leads to research that explains only about 50 percent of the depression puzzle.
康诺利 walked Adrian through a modeling strategy known as the sibling-comparison approach, and they agreed that it would offer the best test for their hypothesis.
"This approach enabled us to examine the impact of 母亲抑郁 on child behavior while controlling for genetic influences and exploring whether the depression operates as an important environmental influence on child problems,艾德里安说.
康诺利 and Adrian said two key findings emerged from the study. 第一个, the results suggest that early life exposure to high levels of 母亲抑郁 leads to an increased risk for females to develop symptoms of depression over and above the influence of shared genetic and common environmental influences.
"This underscores the importance of examining nonshared environments, which are different experiences between children from the same family that may lead one to develop symptoms of depression and the other to not,康诺利说, 刑事司法助理教授.
Examples of nonshared environments that have been tied to depression and anxiety in youth are differential exposure to bullying victimization, 父母的离婚, 亲子关系.
The second result involves the relationship between genetic and environmental factors.
"We interpret our findings as perhaps evidence for gene-environment interaction whereby differences in susceptibility to 母亲抑郁 early in life among female siblings may explain differences in the development of depression later in life,康诺利说.
"The results highlight the importance of using sibling-comparison methods or other genetically informative methods to control for genetic confounding,他接着说.
两人还没有讨论未来的合作, but they are likely to explore what types of nonshared environments mediate the association between 母亲抑郁 and depression in female offspring.
"Is it low levels of maternal warmth that are important for early childhood development?康诺利说. "Or is it something outside of the household such as an early life victimization experience or repeated bullying?"
埃里克J. 康诺利 is 刑事司法助理教授 at 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校. 他的研究重点是生物社会犯罪学, 哪一种会考虑基因等因素, 神经心理学, 以及研究人类行为的进化心理学.
Adrian first felt the draw of research as a high school senior when she attended the 阿宾顿 undergraduate poster fair.
"I remember being blown away that this level of research was conducted by undergraduates,这位心理与社会科学专业的学生说.
对青少年发展感兴趣, Adrian enrolled in 康诺利's 青少年犯罪 course her first semester and learned he was scouting for a research assistant. 康诺利, 谁的专业是生物社会犯罪学, said Adrian's curiosity to learn more about teen behavior was apparent.
"Arianna seemed really interested in going through the process and figuring out how to assess certain questions using the most rigorous research methodologies,他说.
Adrian said despite her enthusiasm she initially was apprehensive about participating.
“我以前从未参与过研究. 康诺利 was willing to take on a freshman who had no prior exposure," she said. "I learned the value of stepping outside of your comfort zone academically."
The Adrian/康诺利 project, "Does Maternal Depression Cause Adolescent Problem Behaviors?:纵向评价,” earned a first prize in the Division of Social Sciences at the poster fair. 了解更多关于阿宾顿大学的本科生研究: http://www.Abington.infographil.com/ACURA
