Randy P. Auerbach, PhD

Adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious public health problem associated with significant emotional and socioeconomic burden. By the age of 18, approximately 11% of adolescents will have experienced a depressive episode, and around the age of 15, gender differences in MDD begin to emerge, with girls reporting twice as many depressive episodes as compared to boys—a difference that persists throughout adulthood. These episodes are linked to negative outcomes in adolescence (e.g., academic difficulties, substance use) as well as adulthood (e.g., lower income levels, greater marital conflict, higher incidence of substance use disorders), and approximately 75% of suicide attempters report a history of adolescent depression. Despite these alarming statistics and the subsequent negative sequelae, the etiological mechanisms contributing to the onset of adolescent MDD remain unclear.

To address this critical gap, my research program focuses on identifying psychosocial, behavioral, and neurobiological factors that render certain children, adolescents, and young adults vulnerable to depression. Additionally, my work aims to learn from etiological findings to improve our understanding of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescent MDD, particularly as this may prove helpful for predicting treatment response and understanding why depressive symptoms attenuate in treatment responders. The research is multidisciplinary and utilizes a multimodal approach (e.g., laboratory-based experiments, electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) to address essential, yet unanswered questions. These include: (1) What behavioral and neural mechanisms underlie adolescent depression? (2) Why do certain individuals who develop depression engage in risky (e.g., substance use, rule-breaking), self-injurious, and/or suicidal behaviors? and (3) What are the factors (e.g., therapeutic relationship, changes in the brain) that contribute to successful CBT interventions? My overarching goal is to improve early identification of and treatment for depression in youth by identifying key underlying mechanisms.