Adult Lifespan Psychopathology – ALP

Topics

• Diagnosis, etiology, comorbidity, clinical course, and outcomes in mental health disorders in adulthood, including but not limited to schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and personality disorders.  
• Psychopathology emerging later in life, including forms secondary to neurological or neurodegenerative disorders. 
• Environmental (social determinant of health, stress), biological, genetic, and neural factors underlying adult psychopathology with emphasis on the relationship between these factors and clinical or functional behavioral profile over time.  
• Disorders in adulthood affecting behavioral outcome including studies of deficits and disorders due to infections/immune factors, traumatic brain injury or substance abuse (e.g., autoimmune psychosis, amphetamine induced psychosis). 
• Intervention studies: Research addressing identification, treatment and/or rehabilitation methods for adults with psychopathology across the adult lifespan. 
• Research using computational approaches, consortium generated datasets, or data integration across studies to create large scale datasets to address ALP relevant topics. 
• Studies using the RDoC framework or other dimensional or hybrid approaches to investigate topics are within the domain of ALP. 

Shared Interests and Overlaps

There are shared interests in psychopathology with Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities (CPDD). Applications that emphasize adult psychopathology and psychopathology and/or mental health problems in adulthood or those that are most prevalent in late adolescence and spanning into adulthood are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize child and adolescent psychopathology and studies of adults with neurodevelopmental disorders originating in early development (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, Down Syndrome, etc.) or studies of caregivers of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., caregivers with the Fragile X (FMR1) gene, adult caregivers of individuals with Down syndrome or autism) are reviewed in CPDD 

There are shared interests in adult psychopathology with Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions, and Sleep Disorders (NPAS). Applications that emphasize the behavioral phenotypes of these disorders are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize understanding brain structures and mechanisms of psychopathology in humans are reviewed in NPAS.  

There are shared interests in adult psychopathology with Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress, and Health (MESH). Applications that emphasize adult psychopathology that do not involve stress mechanisms or outcomes are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize stress-responsive biological systems are involved as mechanisms or outcome measures are reviewed in MESH. Applications that emphasize sleep or circadian rhythms and their disorders in humans and their relation to physical or mental health are also reviewed in MESH.  

There are shared interests in substance use disorders with Addiction Risks and Mechanisms (ARM). Applications that emphasize both substance use disorders and psychopathology are reviewed in ALP if the emphasis is on understanding the etiology and clinical course of mental health/psychopathologies. Applications that emphasize risks and mechanisms of addiction and substance use disorders are reviewed in ARM.  

There are shared interests in the impact of neurodegenerative disorders with Cognitive Disorders and Brain Aging (CDBA). Applications that focus on psychopathology emerging later in life, including forms secondary to neurological or neurodegenerative disorders are reviewed in ALP. Applications that focus on aging and neurodegenerative disorders are reviewed in CDBA. Applications dealing with neuropsychiatric symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders that combine with cognitive impairment are reviewed in CDBA, whereas those that emphasize psychiatric symptoms are reviewed in ALP. 

There are shared interests in aging and the associated neurodegenerative disorders with Aging Systems and Geriatrics (ASG). Applications that emphasize observational and predominantly behavioral studies, and/or neuropsychological manifestations secondary to aging or the impact of neurodegenerative disorders are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize mechanistic studies on aging-related brain degenerations in the context of geoscience are reviewed in ASG.  

There are shared interests in clinical symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders with Clinical Neurodegeneration Translational Neuroscience (CNTN). Applications that emphasize observational studies in neuropsychological/neuropsychiatric manifestations of neurodegenerative disorders are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize disease risks, mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment are reviewed in CNTN.