Chiara Caserini

Profile

Project Title: Genetic, environmental and life-style risk factors underling the link between childhood 
neurodiversity and later mental health outcomes. 

Summary: Neurodivergent individuals (i.e., those with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and learning-specific disorders) are at increased risk for mental health problems as well as associated negative life outcomes compared to their neurotypical peers.

Identifying the risk factors and mechanisms underlying the link between neurodiversity and mental health outcomes across development is crucial to providing early interventions and promoting mental well-being in neurodivergent individuals. Previous studies tried to understand which risk factors may contribute to this association but generally considered individual neurodevelopmental conditions in isolation. This is in contrast with recent evidence showing that neurodevelopmental conditions are highly co-occurring with one another and belong to a broad transdiagnostic neurodevelopmental dimension, suggesting the need to examine them together. Moreover, very few studies have examined the association between neurodiversity and mental health outcomes using longitudinal and genetic approaches.

My PhD project aims to identify the psychopathological trajectories of youth with neurodevelopmental conditions across development using dimensional, longitudinal and genetic approaches. Genomic data will be used to generate polygenic risk scores (PRS) that will be investigated alongside environmental and lifestyle measures to understand their contribution to the association between neurodiversity and later mental health outcomes.

Supervisor:

• Dr Giorgia Michelini

Research