TRACE: Tracing Developmental Pathways to Mental Health and Resiliens
How do biological, individual, and environmental factors interact across development to influence vulnerability to mental health problems and resilience?
TRACE aim to examine the interplay between biological pathways, environmental stress, child and adolescent psychopathology. The novel approach in TRACE integrates epidemiology, genetics, epigenetics, and developmental models to uncover potential pathways and processes in adolescent mental health.
Three main themes are integrated in our research; Early Life stress, sex differences and biological pathways to mental and social health.
In TRACE, we study developmental pathways to mental health and psychopathology from early life through childhood and adolescence. We are particularly interested in how biological susceptibility and environmental experiences interact over time, and why some children develop mental health difficulties while others show positive adaptation and resilience despite adversity.
Our research focuses on sensitive periods in development and on how early-life stress, genetic and epigenetic factors, sex differences, and social relationships contribute to individual differences in emotional and behavioural development.
We investigate the following questions:
• How do early-life stress and environmental adversity influence mental health across childhood and adolescence?
• How do genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors interact in shaping developmental pathways to psychopathology and resilience?
• What contributes to sex differences in mental health, particularly in the development of depression during adolescence?
• How can supportive social relationships, including family, friendships, and sibling relationships, promote resilience and positive development?
• Are there sensitive developmental periods when risk and protective factors have particularly strong or lasting effects on mental health?
How we work
To address these questions, we use large longitudinal studies that follow children and families across development. We combine methods and perspectives from developmental psychology, epidemiology, genetics, and epigenetics.
A central data source is the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). We use questionnaire data, genetic and epigenetic information, observational data, and information about family and social relationships to examine how risk and protective processes unfold over time.
By integrating biological and environmental perspectives, TRACE aims to identify developmental processes that may explain both vulnerability to mental health difficulties and resilience across childhood and adolescence. We collaborate with The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo Sequencing Centre, King’s College London, Manchester University and Carleton University, University of Ottawa and McGill University in Canada.
The Project is supported by RCN Grant: 301004 and Promenta Research Centre Grant: 288083. Stiftelsen DAM and Norwegian Women's Health Organisation (NKS).
Re-thinking the programming hypothesis
The aim of the project is to investigate how prenatal stress (Early Life Stress), genetic and epigenetic factors, and the postnatal environment contribute to developmental pathways from infancy through adolescence.
Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health problems during pregnancy, and expectant mothers are often warned about potential risks to the developing child.
Although associations between maternal anxiety and depression during pregnancy and later child development are well documented, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain poorly understood. It is particularly difficult to distinguish the effects of prenatal exposure from genetic influences and from environmental factors that continue after birth.
This project uses data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and genetically informed within-family designs to address these challenges. By comparing individuals within families and integrating genetic and epigenetic information, the project aims to better separate prenatal environmental influences from shared genetic and family factors.
The project may provide new knowledge about how prenatal stress relates to child development and mental health, with potential relevance for clinicians and health professionals working with pregnant women, mothers, and children.
The project is led by the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo, in collaboration with researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Manchester Metropolitan University and McGill University, Canada
Adolescent Resiliens: Growing up with a clinically depressed parent
Children of parents with mental health problems are at increased risk of developing mental health difficulties themselves, yet many maintain good mental health without intervention. Understanding what promotes resilience among adolescents growing up with this type of risk is therefore important for prevention.
Research and prevention strategies have traditionally focused on risk factors and negative outcomes. In this project, we shift the perspective towards resilience and ask what contributes to positive mental health among adolescents whose parents have experienced depression. These adolescents may be exposed to both genetic and environmental risks, but their developmental outcomes vary considerably.
The project uses a mixed-methods design combining qualitative interviews with quantitative analyses. The quantitative part draws on longitudinal data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), while the qualitative part explores adolescents’ own experiences of mental health, coping, and social relationships.
We are particularly interested in how relationships with family, friends, and others, both online and offline, may contribute to vulnerability or protection in everyday life. The project aims to identify pathways to resilience and better understand the factors that support good mental health among adolescents growing up with parental depression.
As part of the qualitative study, we seek collaboration with institutions and services that are in contact with parents experiencing mental health difficulties and who have children aged 12–18 years. This project is fully finansed by he Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association (N.K.S)
Tracing sex-specific pathways to adolescents depression
Depression is a common and disabling mental disorder worldwide. Many mental health problems emerge early in life, and the prevalence of depression among adolescents has increased markedly in recent decades, particularly among girls.
However, the mechanisms underlying girls’ heightened vulnerability to depression remain poorly understood. One possibility is that girls are more sensitive to certain environmental stressors, or that biological vulnerabilities increase risk only in the presence of later adversity. However, little is known about how genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors interact across development.
The aim of this PhD project is to examine whether biological susceptibility contributes to greater vulnerability to environmental stress among girls. Using data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), we will investigate interactions between genetic and epigenetic factors and environmental risks from early life through adolescence. We will combine longitudinal measures of depressive symptoms with diagnoses from national health registries (NPR and KPR) and compare developmental risk pathways in girls and boys from early adolescence to young adulthood.
The interdisciplinary research team brings expertise in developmental psychology, mental health, genetics, epigenetics, prevention, and register-based research. In collaboration with user groups, the project aims to improve understanding of sex-specific pathways to depression, identify targets for early prevention, and contribute to more effective strategies for reducing depression among adolescent girls and young women.