Depression is common, devastating, disabling, and a major risk factor for suicide. About a third of individuals with depression are unresponsive to antidepressant treatment, suggesting that other mechanisms are involved in the onset and progression of the disorder. Emerging evidence implicates inflammation as a risk factor for depression and suicidal behaviour. However, little is known about the role inflammation plays in causing or worsening these mental health outcomes. As such, we aim to investigate whether inflammation represents a relevant and therapeutically targetable mechanism for depression and suicidal behaviour in young people.

Using repeated measures of inflammation (taken from blood samples collected over time), we will first define robust patterns of inflammation during childhood and adolescence in ALSPAC. Second, we will test whether early-life risk factors associated with both depression and suicidal behaviour, specifically adversity during childhood, infection, and timing of puberty, relate to patterns of inflammation during adolescence. Third, we will investigate if inflammation mediates the relationship between these early-life risk factors and depression, self-harm and suicide in young people.

Findings from this research will inform whether inflammation could be a target for treatment, prediction and prevention of depression, self-harm and suicidal behaviour in young people.