Targeting positive valence systems function in children of mothers with depressive symptoms: A pilot randomized trial...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Reduced positive valence systems (PVS) activation in high-risk (HR) children of depressed mothers predicts future psychopathology.
• Early intervention is crucial for preventing the development of mental health disorders in at-risk youth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a novel neuroscience-informed preventive intervention, Family Promoting Positive Emotions (FPPE).
• To assess FPPE's impact on PVS-related targets, perceived stress, and emotional distress symptoms in HR youth compared to written information (WI).

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 74 high-risk children (ages 8-12) and their mothers.
• Dyadic intervention comparing FPPE to WI psychoeducation, with pre-post assessments of child clinical symptoms, daily positive affect, and a reinforcement learning task.

Main Results:

• FPPE significantly increased child daily positive affect compared to WI.
• FPPE intervention led to medium-to-large reductions in mother-reported child perceived stress, anger, anxiety, and depression symptoms.
• No significant intervention effects were observed on reinforcement learning tasks or child-rated clinical symptoms.

Conclusions:

• The FPPE intervention shows promise in enhancing positive affect and mitigating the emergence of clinical symptoms in high-risk children.
• Neuroscience-informed, dyadic interventions targeting PVS processes may be effective for preventing psychopathology in at-risk youth.