# Temperamental emotionality in preschoolers and depression risk

> **NIH NIH R01** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2020 · $789,472

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Depressive disorders (DD) are one of the most prevalent forms of mental disorders, and are associated with
significant mortality, morbidity, and economic costs. The incidence of DD begins to increase in early-mid
adolescence and peaks in emerging adulthood. The Stony Brook Temperament Study is a longitudinal study
that seeks to identify early behavioral and neural precursors and risk factors for DD and understand the
neurobiological and psychosocial processes through which these early manifestations develop into clinically
significant psychopathology. We initially assessed a large community sample of 3-year old children, and have
followed them at 3-year intervals through age 15. This competing renewal application seeks to re-evaluate the
sample at ages 18 and 21. Specifically, we propose to trace pathways from laboratory observations of
temperamental low positive emotionality and high negative emotionality at age 3 to neural indices of emotional
and social information processing and DD symptoms and onsets from middle childhood through emerging
adulthood. In addition, we seek to understand how life stress over the lifespan and the developmental
challenges of emerging adulthood contribute to risk for DD, and to examine the specificity of these risk
pathways in comparison with anxiety and substance use disorders. Finally, we will use cutting-edge machine
learning techniques to maximize prediction of DD and understand which domains and developmental periods
contribute most to prediction. This information about risk pathways and processes should contribute to
understanding when and how to intervene in order to prevent DD and limit their progression.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9981825
- **Project number:** 5R01MH069942-16
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel N Klein
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $789,472
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2004-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9981825

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9981825, Temperamental emotionality in preschoolers and depression risk (5R01MH069942-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9981825. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*