Emilia Cárdenas, Ph.D.

Fellow In Child & Adolescent Depression

Project Details

Project summary

This research aims to explore how mothers’ brain responses to rewards are connected to their parenting behaviors and their children’s emotional well-being. This study will examine 225 mother-child pairs, focusing on mothers who have experienced depression. By measuring brain activity while mothers engage in tasks involving rewards, this study will assess how these responses affect interactions with their children and parenting styles. Additionally, mothers will keep daily reports on their parenting experiences using smartphone surveys. This study hopes to understand whether positive parenting can help protect children of depressed mothers from developing emotional problems. By combining brain, behavioral, and daily-life assessments, the findings could lead to better support for mothers and future interventions to reduce the risk of mental health issues in children, contributing to healthier family dynamics and reducing depression as well as anxiety risk across generations.