Lipscomb alumnus receives $525K grant from NIMH
Chris pepple |
Lipscomb alumnus Jeremy Pettit (’98) works to stop the cycle of depression in teens and families. He realizes that too often teen depression goes unnoticed or untreated. As a result, this disorder often lingers into adulthood having a critical impact on one’s life and family. Pettit, now an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Houston, received a $525,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study factors that predict depression in teens, as well as study the transmission of parental depression to their children.
With the help of this grant, Pettit will be reviewing data that was collected as part of the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project (OADP), which interviewed and surveyed 1,700 Oregon teens for depression and tracked them for approximately 20 years. Pettit will be using the participants’ responses to study possible factors that predict depression as teens progress through adulthood.
“Depression predictors might be emotional, social or based on one’s physical well-being. They can even be related to one’s weight or school performance,” Pettit said. “Predictors can help psychologists recognize teenagers who need treatment and prevent depression from affecting their lives as adults.”
Pettit became interested in psychology as an undergraduate student at Lipscomb. “Courses and interactions with psychology professors such as Drs. Paul Turner, Roy Hamley, Robert Sturgeon and Ralph Samples were influential in my development. I also had the opportunity to participate in a research project with Dr. Turner that helped foster my interest in psychological research. In graduate school, I realized how well my professors at Lipscomb had prepared me for advanced study,” Pettit states.
Pettit graduated from Lipscomb with a major in psychology and a minor in Spanish. During his studies at Lipscomb, he knew he wanted to continue his psychological studies, but was unsure of what specific area to pursue further. “My professors at Lipscomb advised me to browse through psychology journals in the library and identify articles that piqued my interest. I came across several articles written by Dr. Thomas Joiner at Florida State University in which he studied how patterns of thoughts and behaviors in interpersonal relationships increased people's risk for depression. That is, he studied how the way we think and behave in social relationships relates to depression. I was fascinated by his research, and to make a long story short, received a fellowship from the Pew Charitable Trusts to attend graduate school at FSU and work under Dr. Joiner's direction for 4 years,” Pettit adds.
Pettit obtained his master's and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology at Florida State University and completed a residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School. He then joined the faculty of the psychology department of the University of Houston in August 2003 as an assistant professor. He is also currently the director of the Mood Disorder and Suicide Research Program and the Mood Disorder Clinic. He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications and two books (Chronic Depression: Interpersonal Sources, Therapeutic Solutions and The Interpersonal Solution to Depression: A Workbook for Changing How You Feel by Changing How Your Relate).
While at FSU, Pettit began to follow research and publications on depression. During that time, he met a distinguished depression researcher from the Oregon Research Institute, Dr. Peter Lewinsohn, whose most recognized work comes from the OADP. Through this project, Lewinsohn tracked adolescents for close to 20 years. He collected data about these individuals' mental health, social relationships, academic/occupational functioning and physical health and information from these individuals' parents, siblings, spouses and children.
Pettit applied for funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to analyze data from the OADP. “I believe that we are in a unique position to answer important questions about depression using existing data from the OADP in a way that is much more cost-efficient than conducting another 20-year study,” Pettit concludes. “Fortunately, the National Institute of Mental Health agreed and is funding the project for the next three years.”
If data from these assessments suggest that generational transmission of depression exists, Pettit said, treatment can then be designed that would teach different parenting skills or encourage behavior modification. “I am focusing on identifying mechanisms in which parental depression can be passed on to children and perhaps even grandchildren,” Pettit said. “These include parents’ behavioral problems, mental illness and substance abuse. If treatment is introduced during parenthood’s early stages, then we can possibly stop the cycle of depression.”
At one point, Pettit may have been unsure about which path in his field to follow, but he now has a clear sense of direction about what he hopes to accomplish.
Jeremy Pettit’s parents are John and Linda Pettit. John Pettit is a faculty member in Lipscomb’s electrical and computer engineering department. Jeremy Pettit has a wonderful wife, Dolores, and two sons, Alex and Chris.
--Chris Pepple