Grant: Project Grant

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, and affects 4% of individuals in Canada. Key features of FASD are learning, growth and behaviour problems, and most people with FASD (>90%) also have mental health problems. Depression and anxiety are among the most common. However, treatments for depression and anxiety are much less likely to be effective in individuals with FASD. This is, in part, because we do not understand the brain differences in youth FASD, and how these underlie symptoms of anxiety and depression. A better knowledge of brain development in children and youth with FASD, and how the brain is related to mental health symptoms, would enable us to target treatments to the right time, place, and individual. We will recruit youth with FASD and unexposed controls aged 7-15 years in Calgary and Edmonton. Using longitudinal neuroimaging and mental health assessments, we will (1) measure patterns of brain development in children and youth with FASD, (2) test whether brain abnormalities underlie the increased risk of depression and anxiety in youth with FASD, and (3) evaluate baseline brain factors that predict mental health outcomes in these children and youth. We will use structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine brain connectivity, and caregiver and child reports of mental health symptoms to measure anxiety and depression. Measurements will be done at baseline, and again two years later. This study will provide new knowledge of brain alterations that underlie anxiety and depression in children and youth with FASD, and identify predictors of mental health outcomes. Ultimately, this will help improve the lives of children and youth with FASD and their families, as well as reduce the negative consequences and costs for society.