Research Themes

1) Youth Mental Health

We are interested in examining the causes and consequences of youth mental health, combining biological, psychological and social data alongside longitudinal data to identify critical periods of youth mental health.

Key work:

Edmondson-Stait et al., (2022). Early-life inflammatory markers and subsequent episodes of depression and psychotic experiences in the ALSPAC birth cohort. Brain, Behavior and Immunity - Health. Manuscript

Kwong et al., (2019). Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence to Young Adulthood. JAMA Network Open. Manuscript

2) Life course Mental Health

We are interested in examining how mental health changes across the life course and if there are specific determinants underlying mental health at key stages of development.

Key work:

Edmondson-Stait et al., (under review). Associations between IL-6 and trajectories of depressive symptoms across the life course: Evidence from ALSPAC and UK Biobank cohorts. Preprint

3) Methods Development

We are keen to develop methods that facilitate access, analysis and interpretation of longitudinal data. To that end, we have developed TIDAL, a free and easy to use tool that facilitates trajectory modelling.

Key work:

Kwong, Edmondson-Stait, Xu et al., (under review). TIDAL – Tool to Implement Developmental Analysis of Longitudinal data. Preprint

Kwong et al., (2019). Identifying Critical Points of Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms from Childhood to Young Adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Manuscript

4) Integrating Genetics and Longitudinal Data

We are interested in integrating genetic data into longitudinal models to examine when genetic effects may having their greatest effect of developmental traits.

Key work:

Grimes et al., (2024). Genetic Architectures of Adolescent Depression Trajectories Across Two Longitudinal Population Cohorts. JAMA Psychiatry. Manuscript

Kwong et al., (2021). Polygenic Risk for Depression, Anxiety and Neuroticism are Associated with the Severity and Rate of Change in Depressive Symptoms Across Adolescence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. Manuscript