Networking event: The different faces of depression – Addressing the symptoms of adolescent depression

Aims of the networking event

This event aims primarily to open new research avenues and opportunities for collaboration by highlighting the issue of heterogeneity in adolescent depression. This will be achieved by focusing specifically on common symptoms of depression and how we can further improve on treatments to specifically address these. We are hoping that academics, postgraduate students and clinicians will attend. The objectives are:

• To establish what we currently know about specific symptoms in the context of depression.
• To share ideas and existing research programmes investigating potential avenues for targeting specific symptoms
• To identify steps towards designing a modular treatment, potentially using technology to deliver this remotely to make it scalable.

Content of the Event

The main 1-day event will be divided into 4 sessions will focus on specific symptoms of depression, most likely as follows.

• Session 1: Fatigue and sleep
• Session 2: Negative self-evaluation & cognitive effects of depression
• Session 3: Anhedonia/Lack of positive affect
• Session 4: sandpit discussions – to identify promising research collaborations and begin to work up emergent ideas together, including considering options for secondary data analysis.

Each session will be comprised of one or two longer invited talks, and all attendees will be given the opportunity to do quickfire presentation of their own research where it is relevant (3 minutes per presenter).

We will plan a smaller, follow-up event for August 2020 – further details in due course.

For PhD students from Bristol, UWE, Exeter and Plymouth who wish to attend, some funding to cover travel expenses is available – please register for the event via the booking link, and also send Maria Loades m.e.loades@bath.ac.uk an email requesting funding for travel expenses, including an estimate of what these will be.