Longitudinal Family/Molecular Genetic Study to Validate Research Domain Criteria

Overview

The purpose of this research is to study new ways of classifying mental disorders in children based on observable behavior and genetics to ultimately diagnose these disorders better.

The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative seeks to further a long-range goal of contributing to diagnostic systems as informed by research on genetics, neuroscience, and behavior. The RDoC approach is based on identifying the most elemental units of analysis relevant to psychiatric disorders (such as genes and molecules) and using this matrix as a framework for investigation. In this case-control family study, the investigators will be using self-report questionnaires and computer-based tests to develop diagnostic methods for neuropsychiatric disorders in children, their siblings, and their parents. They will do this by recruiting "normal" and "affected" children, their siblings, and their parents. They will look at the subject, sibling, and parents to determine if psychiatric disorders are inherited. "Affected" children, ages 6-12, are those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Participants will undergo a battery of questionnaires/evaluations and a blood draw. The investigators will determine if the questionnaires and tests that reflect the constructs (such as reward prediction and willingness to work) predict psychopathology and impairment. The blood draw will be genotyped to determine if the measured constructs are associated with neuropsychiatric candidate genes, cross-disorder candidate gens and a cross-disorder polygenic score.

Conditions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes