Cohort profile: BioMD-Y (biopsychosocial factors of major depression in youth) - a biobank study on the molecular genetics and environmental factors of depression in children and adolescents in Munich.

Purpose: BioMD-Y is a comprehensive biobank study of children and adolescents with major depression (MD) and their healthy peers in Germany, collecting a host of both biological and psychosocial information from the participants and their parents with the aim of exploring genetic and environmental risk and protective factors for MD in children and adolescents.

Participants: Children and adolescents aged 8-18 years are recruited to either the clinical case group (MD, diagnosis of MD disorder) or the typically developing control group (absence of any psychiatric condition).

Findings To Date: To date, four publications on both genetic and environmental risk and resilience factors (including , glucocorticoid receptor activation, polygenic risk scores, psychosocial and sociodemographic risk and resilience factors) have been published based on the BioMD-Y sample.

Evaluation of a web-based information platform on youth depression and mental health in parents of adolescents with a history of depression.

Research shows the important role of parents' mental health literacy in detecting depressive symptoms and supporting their children to seek professional help. Improving mental health literacy in parents has recently gained even greater importance due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents' mental health. The aim of the present experimental pre-post-follow-up study was to examine knowledge change after the reception of contents from an innovative web-based platform ( www.

Emotion regulation training for adolescents with major depression: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) are thought to contribute to the development and maintenance of major depression (MD) in adolescents. In healthy adults, a task-based training of ER has previously proven effective to reduce stress, but no such studies are available for MD. It is also unclear whether findings can be generalized onto adolescent populations.

Evaluation of a Web-based Information Platform for Youths on Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the corona pandemic, youths were confronted with substantial challenges and in urgent need of information on how to prevent mental health problems. This experimental pre-post-follow-up study examined the efficacy and reception of an innovative website ( www.corona-und-du.

Visual attention during cognitive reappraisal in adolescent major depression: Evidence from two eye-tracking studies.

Adolescent major depression (MD) is associated with impaired emotion regulation. However, results on cognitive reappraisal (CR) are mixed. Investigation of gaze behavior during CR allows a more thorough understanding of intact and deviant CR processes in MD.

Emotion Regulation Deficits in Adolescent Girls with Major Depression, Anorexia Nervosa and Comorbid Major Depression and Anorexia Nervosa.

In adolescence, both major depression (MD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) are associated with deficits in emotion regulation (ER). However, studies have yet to compare ER profiles within the disorders and the effect of comorbid MD+AN is unclear. This study examined the habitual use of ER in 229 girls, aged 12-18 years, with MD (n = 84), AN (n = 37), comorbid MD+AN (n = 25), and healthy girls (n = 83).

Sex differences in the genetic regulation of the blood transcriptome response to glucocorticoid receptor activation.

Substantial sex differences have been reported in the physiological response to stress at multiple levels, including the release of the stress hormone, cortisol. Here, we explore the genomic variants in 93 females and 196 males regulating the initial transcriptional response to cortisol via glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activation. Gene expression levels in peripheral blood were obtained before and after GR-stimulation with the selective GR agonist dexamethasone to identify differential expression following GR-activation.

Psychosocial stressors and protective factors for major depression in youth: evidence from a case-control study.

Background: Severe adverse life events, such as traumatic experiences, are well-known stressors implicated in (youth) major depression (MD). However, to date, far less is known about the role of more common psychosocial stressors in the context of MD, which are part of everyday life during youth. In addition, it is not well-understood whether and how distinct stressors interact with protective factors in youths diagnosed with MD.

Interactions between FKBP5 variation and environmental stressors in adolescent Major Depression.

Objective: Major Depression (MD) results from a complex interplay between environmental stressors and biological factors. Previous studies in adults have shown that adverse life events interact with genetic variation in FKBP5, a gene implicated in the stress-response system, to predict depressive symptoms and MD. This is the first study to investigate interactions between FKBP5 variants and a range of environmental stressors in adolescents with a clinical diagnosis of MD.

Polygenic Risk: Predicting Depression Outcomes in Clinical and Epidemiological Cohorts of Youths.

Objective: Identifying risk factors for major depression and depressive symptoms in youths could have important implications for prevention efforts. This study examined the association of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for a broad depression phenotype derived from a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) in adults, and its interaction with childhood abuse, with clinically relevant depression outcomes in clinical and epidemiological youth cohorts.

Methods: The clinical cohort comprised 279 youths with major depression (mean age=14.

Resting frontal EEG asymmetry in adolescents with major depression: Impact of disease state and comorbid anxiety disorder.

Objective: Greater relative right- than left-frontal cortical activity has been frequently found in adults with major depression (MD). As the few studies in adolescents with MD have been inconclusive, the aim of this study was to assess frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) in an adolescent sample with MD whilst taking into account possible confounding variables such as disease state and comorbid anxiety disorder.

Methods: An 8-minute resting frontal EEG was assessed in 34 healthy controls (HCs), 16 adolescents with MD in remission without comorbid anxiety disorder (rMDa-), 22 adolescents with acute depression without comorbid anxiety disorder (MDa-), and 23 adolescents with acute depression and comorbid anxiety disorder (MDa+).

State or trait? Auditory event-related potentials in adolescents with current and remitted major depression.

Objective: Event-related potential (ERP) studies have revealed abnormal neurophysiological patterns underlying selective attention in patients with Major Depression (MD). Only few included both patients in acute and remitted state to address the question whether these abnormalities are state- or trait- dependent and none focused on adolescent MD. Thus, the aim of our study was to address this question in an adolescent sample.