DROYD

Join Detecting Risk of Youth Depression (DROYD) Project

Parents and Teens Needed for Research Study!

UPDATE: DROYD is no longer accepting new participants into the study. 

For more information about this study please email us at DROYD@michiganpal.org

About the study:

In our Detecting Risk of Youth Depression Project, we are examining the early signs that occur before the onset of depression in children and adolescents who are at familial-risk for depression. Children of parents with a history of depression have a high risk for developing depression before the end of their adolescence. For example, studies have found that up to 40% of children of depressed parents will develop depression by the time they are 20 years old. In addition, depression in adolescence is not always a “transitional” or “temporary” phase, since many children and adolescents who experience depression will continue to experience this condition as adults. For these reasons, it is extremely important to understand how depression develops in children who are at familial-risk. We hope that this research will help us learn how to identify depression as early as possible and create more effective prevention and treatment interventions.

Who can participate?

  • Boys and girls 12 to 16 years of age who have at least one biological parent with a history of depression.

What are the benefits and risks of participating?

  • Participation in an intensive program designed to identify depression as early as possible.
  • Up to $150 for completing the 1 year study
  • Risks may include minor psychological discomfort during the laboratory visits.

What will I be asked to do, and what are the risks?

  • Visits to our laboratory twice in one year.
  • Home measures of saliva and hair samples every 3 months.
  • Completion of brief questionnaires every 3 months.

Please note:

  • This is not a treatment study. Information gathered will only be used for research purposes.