Clinical and sociodemographic features of the Texas resilience against depression (T-RAD) study: Findings from the initial cohort

The burden of major depressive disorder is compounded by a limited understanding of its risk factors, the limited efficacy of treatments, and the lack of precision approaches to guide treatment selection. The Texas Resilience Against Depression (T-RAD) study was designed to explore the etiology of depression by collecting comprehensive socio-demographic, clinical, behavioral, neurophysiological/neuroimaging, and biological data from depressed individuals (D2K) and youth at risk for depression (RAD). This report details the baseline sociodemographic, clinical, and functional features from the initial cohort (D2K N = 1040, RAD N = 365). Of the total T-RAD sample, n = 1078 (76.73 %) attended ≥2 in-person visits, and n = 845 (60.14 %) attended ≥4 in-person visits. Most D2K (84.82 %) had a primary diagnosis of any depressive disorder, with a bipolar disorder diagnosis being prevalent (13.49 %). RAD participants (75.89 %) did not have a psychiatric diagnosis, but other non-depressive diagnoses were present. D2K participants had 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire scores at or near the moderate range (10.58 ± 6.42 > 24 yrs.; 9.73 ± 6.12 10–24 yrs). RAD participants were in the non-depressed range (2.19 ± 2.65). While the age ranges in D2K and RAD differ, the potential to conduct analyses that compare at-risk and depressed youth is a strength of the study. The opportunity to examine the trajectory of depressive symptoms in the D2K cohort over the lifespan is unique. As a longitudinal study, missing data were common. T-RAD will allow data to be collected from multiple modalities on a clinically well-characterized sample. These data will drive important discoveries on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of depression. •Heterogeneity in symptoms and treatment response hinders treatment of depression.•Longitudinal clinical and biological data are needed for Precision Psychiatry.•Texas Resilience Against Depression is a naturalistic observational cohort study.•The study is gathering longitudinal data in depressed adults and at-risk youth.•Data collected include self-report measures, EEG, MRI, blood, and stool samples.