Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinical Program
Clinic : Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic
Supervisor : Amy E. West, Ph.D. and Sally M. Weinstein, Ph.D.
Description : The Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic (PMDC) at UIC is the premier specialty clinic for pediatric mood disorders in the greater Chicago area and in the state of Illinois. The clinic treats children and adolescents aged 3-18 with mood spectrum disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, severe mood dysregulation, adjustment disorder with mood symptoms, bereavement, and traumatized children with mood symptoms. Many of the children treated in our clinic have complex symptoms presentations, with comorbid disorders such as ADHD, ODD, generalized anxiety, and
PTSD. Children and families are offered a range of services, including comprehensive diagnostic assessment, individual and family therapy, manual-based group therapy, and medication evaluation and monitoring. The clinic is comprised of an interdisciplinary team – a child psychologist, child psychiatrists, a doctoral-level psychiatric nurse, a clinical social worker, psychology externs, psychology interns, and psychiatric fellows.
Intern’s Role : For a clinical rotation, interns will conduct diagnostic assessments, carry a therapy caseload (usually from 2-7 patients depending on the complexity of cases and intern’s time commitment), and participate in our manual-based 12-session group treatment, called RAINBOW, for pediatric bipolar disorder. Interns will be trained on the
RAINBOW manual and deliver the treatment with individual/family patients and in a group therapy setting. There are also opportunities to facilitate an adolescent girls’ depression group. Interns have weekly supervision and participate in didactics and team meetings.
Clinical Research Opportunity
1.
Project Title : Randomized Clinical Trial of Child and Family-Focused Cognitive-
Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
Supervisor : Amy E. West, Ph.D.
Description : We recently completed a randomized trial (N=72) of child-and familyfocused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CFF-CBT) program (also called RAINBOW therapy) vs. psychosocial treatment as usual for children with bipolar disorder and their parents. This program integrates psychoeducation, CBT, and interpersonal therapy techniques to address the psychosocial and interpersonal aspects of PBD. It is a 12session intervention designed to be used adjunctive to pharmacotherapy. This NIMHfunded study recruited children 7-13 with a bipolar spectrum and their families. Families were randomized to either CFF-CBT or treatment-as-usual in our General Clinic and received 12 weeks of weekly therapy and 6 months of monthly follow-up sessions. They were assessed at baseline, every four weeks during treatment, and a 6-month follow-up

for symptoms, global functioning, and a range of psychosocial outcomes, parent functioning, and family functioning.
Interns Role : Enrollment is closed but the database is available for secondary data analyses and manuscript preparation.
2.
Project title : A Neurodevelopmental Perspective on Inflammation, Loss, and
Neurocognition
Supervisor : Amy West
Description : Immune system response, triggered by stress, is thought to interact with multiple systems (e.g neurotransmitter metabolism, neuroendocrine function) to predispose towards depression and neurocognitive dysfunction. Therefore, markers of this response may represent a key advance in understanding biomarkers of stress, loss, and cognitive control in mood disorders, as few studies have linked peripheral markers with dimensions of mood and cognition . Further, studies of these markers are strikingly rare among children and adolescents, despite significant methodological obstacles to generalizing findings from adults to youth. Therefore, Aim 1 of the proposed study is to demonstrate differences between youth with any mood disorder (AMD spectrum) and healthy controls in loss and evaluate the association between peripheral inflammatory markers and the loss sub-domain. Aim 2 is to demonstrate differences between AMD spectrum and HC in cognitive control and evaluate the association between peripheral inflammatory markers and the cognitive control sub-domain. Aim 3 is to test the impact of life stress on the association of inflammatory makers with loss and cognitive control.
Data will be collected from 30 individuals with a range of negative mood disturbance
(AMD spectrum, inclusive of sub-threshold and unspecified conditions) and 30 healthy controls ages 10-17. This study will be the first to utilize a dimensional modeling perspective to understanding the associations of inflammation, loss, cognitive control, and stress among youth, as well as one of the first to relate immune system response with measures of neurocognitive function.
Interns Role : Training as study assessor, which would include administering
WASH-U-KSADS and neuropsych battery with 12-17 year olds with mood disorders.
Neuropsych battery includes brief IQ, Rey, dkefs, pegs, attention testing and facial emotion processing tasks on computer. Interns would get experience with eprime. Intern could also help with data management and beginning write up next spring.
3.
Project Title : Identifying Risk Factors and Intervention Methods to Prevent Suicide in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
Supervisor : Sally M. Weinstein, Ph.D.
Description : This study, funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
(AFSP), expands on an NIH-funded randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of psychosocial treatment for pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) to focus on the assessment of

suicidal behavior across treatment. Data collection is now complete, and we are in the process of exploring mediators and moderators of suicide outcomes in response to an evidence -based manualized psychosocial therapy for PBD (Child- and Family-Focused
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; CFF-CBT), as compared to a control treatment-as-usual condition. Participants include youth ages 7-13 with a PBD diagnosis enrolled in the clinical trial examining CFF-CBT as compared to a control treatment-as-usual condition.
Data are collected from youth and parents at pre- and post-treatment and a six-month follow-up on a) suicidal events, including lifetime events, current (past month) events, and changes across treatment; b) theorized family, child cognitive, and affective risk factors for suicidal events; and c) PBD symptoms. Findings will be used to develop a targeted su icidal event re duction (SURE) intervention module designed to optimize suicide prevention within this at-risk population.
Interns Role : Interns doing a clinical research rotation on this project may be involved in conducting data analyses and assisting with the development of a targeted suicide prevention module to be implemented in the CFF-CBT protocol.