This study aims to advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying psychiatric vulnerability, chronicity, and resilience by identifying biological signatures and modifiable factors associated with mental health outcomes across the lifespan.
To support this objective, we will use the anonymised UK Biobank data to validate findings from an independently collected external cohort and to conduct cross-cohort analyses. By using fully anonymised, entirely distinct datasets – with no individual-level linkage or participant overlap – we aim to facilitate population-level insights that will inform the development of personalised and stratified models of care.
The research will address the following questions:
How do genetic and environmental risk factors interact to shape trajectories of PTSD, depression, and anxiety?
Which biological pathways and psychosocial characteristics moderate these trajectories or confer resilience?
Scientific rationale:
Mental health conditions are highly prevalent and often co-occur with somatic health issues such as cardiometabolic disease, immune dysregulation, and premature aging. Despite progress in identifying polygenic risk loci through genome-wide association studies, much remains unknown about the mechanisms through which genetic liability and environmental adversity jointly influence psychiatric outcomes.
To address this gap, the study will examine mental health not as isolated symptom clusters, but as complex, multidimensional processes influenced by interacting biological, psychosocial, and environmental systems. Attention will be given to transdiagnostic risk patterns, comorbidity structures, longitudinal change, and protective traits such as cognitive flexibility, social support, and adaptive coping.
The findings aim to inform biologically guided, precision-oriented approaches to mental health prediction, prevention, and treatment.
