Active and seeking participants

Pilot Attention and Error Processing in Youth and Adolescents

Participants, 8 to 12 years of age, are needed for a research study. The purpose of this study is to understand how children with and without anxiety disorders pay attention to stimuli in their environment. Participants must be 8 to 12 years old, with or without anxiety disorder. There are up to 3 study visits with an MRI scan and EEG visit. Up to $175 is provided.

Contact: 314-286-2697 or jenniferharper@wustl.edu Ask for Jennifer.

Peer Experiences in Puberty (PEP)

‎We are seeking 12- to 14-year-old girls and their biological mothers to participate in a study investigating how mood sensitivity to hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle impact girls’ emotional development. 

Contact 314-273-5780 or maywood@wustl.edu. Ask for Caroline.

Suicidal Thoughts and Actions Research in Kids (STARK)

This study is examining what young children know about the concept of suicide, along with risk factors for experiencing suicidality early in life. We are looking for 4-7 year old children who have experienced suicidal thoughts and behaviors, along with 4-7 year old children who have not experienced suicidal thoughts and behaviors. For more information, please visit our website at https://sites.wustl.edu/stark/ or contact us.

Contact: 314-286-2705 and STARKstudy@wustl.edu. Ask for Christina.

Neural Correlates of Excitability and Irritability (NeuCORE)

The Neural Correlates of Excitability and Irritability Study (NeuCORE) is designed to help understand how children’s emotional intensity relates to brain activations while experiencing and regulating emotions. From this study, we hope to learn more about how children with big emotions experience their emotional response and how they regulate this response. By learning more about the brain activations of children with big emotions, we hope to create better interventions to help children and families manage their emotions and behaviors.

This study is recruiting new participants ages 7-10 years old.

Contact Morgan at 314-273-5268 or morgan.hartman@wustl.edu.

Neurodevelopment of Overcontrol and Anxiety (NOA)

The purpose of this study is designed to help understand how the development of a characteristic of “overcontrol” is related to social relationships, moods, behaviors, and anxiety.

We are looking for children who are shy, obedient, perfectionistic, and sometimes self-critical and rigid in their ways of thinking and behaving.  If your child exhibits any of these traits and is 4-7 years old, you and your child may be eligible to participate in this research study.  We are also looking for 4-7 year old children who don’t show these characteristics and are healthy. If this is the case, you and your child might also be eligible.

Contact: 314-273-5560 and bgoing@wustl.edu. Ask for Berklea.

eLABE Study 

The EEDP and WUNDER Lab have recruited mothers enrolled in the March of Dimes 1000 Women Cohort study to participate in the eLABE study. Through eLABE, we hope to better understand how experiences during pregnancy and early infant life affect both mothers’ and children’s well-being. Mothers in this study will soon deliver or have delivered recently.

Contact: 314-747-2160, ask for Lori Ingram.


Active but not seeking participants

Preschool Depression Study

The School-Age Children’s Moods and Emotions study is a continuation of the Preschool Children’s Moods and Emotions study, also known as the Preschool Depression Study (PDS). This longitudinal study seeks to help doctors learn to differentiate children with normal mood, from children experiencing more serious emotional trouble that warrants professional help.

Preschool Depression Imaging Study 

The goal of this project is to identify structural and functional differences in the brains of healthy and depressed children. In other words, we are looking to see if symptoms of depression are related to changes in the size and shape of brain structures, or to the connections within the brain. We attempt to measure this information by taking pictures of children’s brains while they think about happy and sad events.

Children’s Health in Lab and Life (CHiLL)

This study is designed to investigate how physical activity during the preschool age can affect mental health later in life. We are looking for kids ages 3-5 and parents who are willing to visit the lab for 2 hours, and have the child wear an activity tracker for a week while the parent answers questions on a free app on their phone.

Attention in Anxiety and Depression 

The purpose of this study is to understand how attention is related to symptoms of anxiety and depression. We are looking for children between the ages of 7-12 years to visit our lab for 1-2 assessments, where we will be interested in their feelings and behaviors.


Completed, in data analysis

Family Well-Being Study

The goal of this study was to help us better understand how the brain works in preschoolers who are generally happy and those who are often sad or irritable. We were also interested in how family relationships and having a family history of depression might influence brain function in these young children.

Brain Development Study 

We conducted a study of brain development in 4- to 6-year-old children to better understand brain development in children who often feel sad and/or irritable and those who don’t feel this way.

Neurobehavioral Study 

This study examined both healthy and depressed children and their reactions to emotional situations.

NARSAD Genetic Study 

We collected genetic information from children who previously participated in our longitudinal study of children’s moods and emotions.

Child Brain Study 

We studied brain development in 7- to 10-year-old children to learn how kids think and act, how their brains develop, and how these factors compare in children whose mothers do or don’t have a history of depression.

Parent Child Interaction Therapy – Emotion Development (PCIT-ED)

The goal of this study is to help 3-6 year old children who are experiencing symptoms of sadness, irritability, guilt or inability to enjoy activities and play. All participants in this study will receive treatment. The assessments mainly focus on children’s moods, behaviors and development. Families will be compensated for their time and effort at each assessment wave. We are no longer recruiting participants for this study.

Early Development of Overcontrol (eDOC)

This study is designed to help understand how the development of a characteristic of ‘overcontrol’ is related to social relationships, moods, behaviors and symptoms of anxiety. Children ages of 5-6 years and their parents attended a visit to the EEDP, where parents were interviewed and filled out questionnaires and children completed activities, played computer games while having an EEG and did parent-child activities. Then participants came back two years later for a follow-up session where we did parent-child tasks, an EEG, and completed interviews and questionnaires. We are no longer recruiting participants (although if you are interested in a similar study, NOA is recruiting participants!) as we are currently analyzing data to write up in manuscripts.

Optimism Study 

The purpose of this study is to understand the development of optimism in young children, with a specific focus on children growing up in St. Louis. Children enrolled in this study through a participating school.