Stress, brain, and body responses in teenage girls with or without a family history of depression
Official title: Tracking the dynamic trajectory of behavioral, physiological, and neurobiological stress responses in female adolescents at high and low familial risk for depression.
Funded at Mclean Hospital · NIH-11319792 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project compares how stress changes the brain, body, and behavior of teenage girls who do or do not have a parent with depression.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mclean Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Belmont, United States) |
| Project start | April 15, 2025 |
| Project end | March 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $705,959 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH137441-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11319792 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Girls in early-to-mid adolescence (roughly ages 12–20) who do or do not have a parent with a history of Major Depressive Disorder and who can complete MRI scans and follow-up visits.
✕Less likely to help
People who already have active major depression, are outside the adolescent age range, are male, or cannot undergo MRI (for example due to metal implants or claustrophobia) are unlikely to be eligible or to benefit directly.
What this research studies
You'll join visits where researchers collect brain scans while you do a short stress task, along with measures such as heart rate, breathing, and mood questionnaires. The team will compare girls with a parent who has had Major Depressive Disorder to girls without that family history to see how two brain networks (the Default Mode Network and Central Executive Network) respond to stress. They will link those brain patterns to physical and behavioral stress responses and follow participants over time to observe who develops depression. The work aims to find early brain and body signs of risk that could guide earlier support for teens.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could help identify early brain and body signs that spot teens at higher risk for depression so they can receive preventive support sooner.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research has linked these brain networks and stress responses to depression risk, but using dynamic network patterns in adolescents to predict future depression is a newer and developing approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Mclean Hospital
Belmont, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Belleau, Emily — Mclean Hospital
- Study coordinator: Belleau, Emily
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.