Danella M. Hafeman, M.D., Ph.D.

Fellow in Child & Adolescent Depression

Project Details

PROJECT TITLE

Mindfulness-Based Intervention to Target Mood Lability in Youth at Risk for Bipolar Disorder

PROJECT SUMMARY

Adolescents with a family history of bipolar disorder (BD) are at risk for developing a wide range of psychopathology. Many have frequent and severe fluctuations in mood (i.e. mood lability) that impair functioning and predict later onset of BD. This study aims to test the feasibility and neural mechanisms of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) targeting mood lability in at-risk youth. We will recruit youth who have a first-degree relative with BD and high mood lability to participate in a group-based MBI, designed to increase non-judgmental awareness of internal experience. MBIs have been found to improve emotion regulation and decrease mood lability, impacting neural circuitry found to be abnormal in individuals with and at-risk for BD. We will scan all participants (pre- and post-MBI) during a voluntary emotion regulation task, where they will be shown emotional picture stimuli and asked to downregulate emotions through reappraisal; age-matched healthy youth will also be scanned. The results from this study will provide pilot data that a MBI is a feasible way to target mood lability in these youth. Neuroimaging data will allow us to assess the neural underpinnings of mood lability in at-risk youth, and investigate the mechanistic targets of the MBI. We have recently identified mood lability as an important factor that predicts the onset of mood disorders in youth at familial risk of BD, but there are limited strategies for safely addressing these symptoms. Thus outcomes from this study could provide valuable guidance regarding prevention in this ultra-high risk group.

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