# Phenotyping irritability in young children using complex, naturalistic emotion processing

> **NIH NIH F31** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $32,687

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Irritability during preschool is predictive of later developing psychopathology, however the mechanism
conferring this increased risk is not well-understood. Discerning temperamental irritable behaviors from
clinically-concerning irritability during the preschool years is complicated by the common and developmentally-
expected occurrence of negative affect and temper tantrums during this age. A potential mechanism through
which preschool irritability may confer risk for psychopathology is through shaping how children process
emotional information—preschoolers are both developing a rich lexicon of emotional expression and the ability
to label and interpret emotions in others. Further, there is evidence in adolescent and adult populations that
clinical irritability is associated with disruptions in emotion processing. Thus, this project posits that how
children process emotional information can further differentiate normative versus clinically-concerning
irritability. Understanding irritability in the context of emotion processing during these critical foundational
years would provide insight into the etiology of mood and disruptive disorders. Further, there is evidence that
the co-occurrence of unprovoked aggression, noncompliance, and callous behavior can differentiate children
who develop internalizing versus externalizing psychopathology. This project will characterize irritability
behavior contextualized within these other symptoms and test if these co-occurring behaviors are
associated with distinct emotion processing. In Aim 1, we test if specific activation or connectivity patterns
during dynamic positive and negative emotional contexts shift across age. In Aim 2, we test if 1) the individual
differences in this emotional processing map to irritability behaviors and 2) if they are further differentiated by
co-occurring aggression, noncompliance, or callous behaviors. During this process, the candidate will gain
valuable skills in fMRI network analyses, clinical neuroscience, and written and oral presentation of this work.
This valuable study will not only significantly add to our understanding of foundation emotional development in
preschool—an area of study that lacks a strong neuroscientific understanding as of now—but also add to our
ability to understand risk and resilience to psychopathology during a plastic period in development. Altogether,
this project will help the candidate accomplish her goal of becoming an independent principle investigator at a
research university significantly contributing to mapping affective neurodevelopmental risk for
psychopathology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10381456
- **Project number:** 5F31HD102156-02
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Maria Catalina Camacho
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $32,687
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-12-01 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10381456

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10381456, Phenotyping irritability in young children using complex, naturalistic emotion processing (5F31HD102156-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10381456. Licensed CC0.

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