Neighborhood environment, puberty, sleep quality, and trajectories of depression in adolescent girls: A longitudinal study of risk and resilience

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Depression continues to be a major source of disability and one of the most burdensome illnesses globally,
particularly for girls. Adolescence is a period of marked risk for the onset of depression. This vulnerability
coincides with new opportunities for more autonomy, community involvement, and social connections. The
availability and quality of these opportunities relies on one’s physical context. The neighborhood – with its parks,
sidewalks, community centers, and schools – acts on various biological and behavioral mechanisms to affect
adolescent mental health. However, it is as yet unclear not only the degree to which neighborhood factors affect
adolescent depression, but also how biological and behavioral processes mediate and/or moderate this
relationship. The overall objective of the proposed research is to identify structural and individual sources of risk
and resilience by longitudinally examining the linkages between the neighborhood environment and depressive
symptoms in adolescent girls and explore the roles of puberty and sleep quality in this relationship. Our main
aims are to 1) identify the direct effects of different facets of the neighborhood environment on depression; 2)
investigate the mediating and/or moderating role of pubertal development, composed of both biological and
psychosocial processes; and 3) characterize the mediating and/or moderating role of overall sleep quality, a
health-supportive behavior that both shifts during puberty and is also reciprocally associated with depression.
This proposal leverages the first five waves of the ongoing Transitions in Adolescent Girls (TAG) study (initial
N=174, age 10.0-13.0 years; R01/R56 MH107418; R01 MH127408), a prospective longitudinal investigation of
the connections between biological and psychosocial changes in adolescence. The proposed project takes an
interdisciplinary approach to effectively integrate across developmental psychology, endocrinology, clinical
science, behavioral health, and urban planning. With the applicant’s background in urban studies and spatial
analysis skills in combination with the training and expertise provided by the sponsors and consultants in pubertal
development, sleep, and adolescent mental health, this research team is uniquely positioned to carry out this
innovative F31 proposal. Fulfilling the training and research aims will also help advance the applicant’s career in
adolescent development and psychopathology research. Using longitudinal modeling techniques embedded
within sophisticated multiverse analyses, we intend to identify which features of the environment confer risk,
which build resilience, and how each feature together and separately acts on biological (i.e., pubertal timing) and
behavioral (i.e., sleep quality) processes to impact the onset of adolescent depression. The findings from the
proposed project will inform the design and implementation of well-timed strategies to address adolescent
depression at the systemic and individual levels.

Grant Number: 1F31MH140538-01
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Estelle Berger