# Targeted Intervention for Adolescents following Child Maltreatment: Examining Neural and Behavioral Mechanisms within the Positive Valence System

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $161,279

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 National data indicate over 650,000 children and adolescents are exposed to physical, sexual, or
emotional abuse or physical or emotional neglect each year. Moreover, youth with a history of childhood
maltreatment (CM) are at least twice as likely to develop depression and are at substantial risk for non-
response to current best practice depression interventions (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy and
antidepressants) compared to non-maltreated peers. Research suggests that CM increases risk for depression
through disruptions in the positive valence system, such as reward processing, and Behavioral Activation (BA)
may be an alternative depression intervention that targets these deficits. This proposal takes an innovative
approach integrating neural, behavioral, and novel mobile technologies to measure longitudinal change in
reward processing as a mechanism of BA intervention response among depressed adolescents with a history
of CM. This proposed K23 bridges the candidate's prior training in environmental, biological, and affective
etiological processes contributing to adolescent depression with new training in 1) target-focused intervention
research, 2) developmental affective neuroscience, and 3) technology-based assessment tools. This training
will uniquely position the candidate to investigate biomarkers of intervention response across multiple levels of
analysis, with an emphasis on vulnerable youth at risk for intervention non-response. Specifically, depressed
adolescents with a history of CM will complete pre- and post- BA intervention fMRI and behavioral measures of
reward processing along with daily passive mobile monitoring of physical (steps) and social (amount of texts,
calls, social media usage) activity to determine 1) how BA targets neural and behavioral reward processing
and real-world behavioral engagement (Specific Aim 1), and 2) whether change in neural and behavioral
reward processing predicts intervention response and maintenance (Specific Aim 2).
 To achieve these research and training goals, the candidate will receive training from an ideal
mentorship team within an optimal scientific training environment. Dr. McCauley is an expert in the etiology and
treatment of adolescent depression and developed a BA protocol targeting the increase of rewarding
experiences and decrease of avoidance specific to adolescents. Dr. McLaughlin has significant expertise in
developmental affective neuroscience and the use of fMRI methodology to study neural circuitry related to
affective and reward processing among youth exposed to maltreatment. Dr. Areán provides additional
expertise in target-focused depression intervention research as well as extensive experience in the use of
mobile technologies to assess real-time behavior, affect, and mental health. Training and research activities
will prepare the candidate to achieve the career objective of developing a larger program of research
contributing to Objective 3 of NIMH Str...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9999652
- **Project number:** 5K23MH112872-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Jessica Lynne Jenness
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $161,279
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9999652

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9999652, Targeted Intervention for Adolescents following Child Maltreatment: Examining Neural and Behavioral Mechanisms within the Positive Valence System (5K23MH112872-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9999652. Licensed CC0.

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