25 Years of Breakthroughs: Progress in Predicting Mental Illness in Children

Beginning in 1992, a longitudinal investigation known as the Great Smoky Mountain Study was conducted with approximately 1,400 children ages 9 - 16. The study, lead by NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grantee, E. Jane Costello, Ph.D. identified key factors related to children and brain and behavior disorders. Specifically, the findings continue to help reveal which young people tend to get mental illness, who gets treated, who needs treatment and doesn’t get it, how effective current treatments are and what might be promising directions for future research and treatment. In 2007, Costello received her NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grant to further explore one of the key findings of the Great Smoky Mountains Study: the startlingly high percentage of depression occurring at puberty in girls who had had low birth weights.

Read article from our Breakthroughs magazine for more information on Dr. Costello's word.

The Archives of General Psychiatry also feature a summary of the Great Smoky Mountain Study