Preliminary examination of the effects of an early parenting intervention on amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex resting-state functional connectivity among high-risk children: A randomized clinical trial.

We examined the long-term causal effects of an evidence-based parenting program delivered in infancy on children's emotion regulation and resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) during middle childhood. Families were referred to the study by Child Protective Services (CPS) as part of a diversion from a foster care program. A low-risk group of families was also recruited.

Development of Neural Mechanisms Underlying Threat Processing: Associations With Childhood Social Reticence and Adolescent Anxiety.

Background: Social reticence in early childhood is characterized by shy and anxiously avoidant behavior, and it confers risk for pediatric anxiety disorders later in development. Aberrant threat processing may play a critical role in this association between early reticent behavior and later psychopathology. The goal of this longitudinal study is to characterize developmental trajectories of neural mechanisms underlying threat processing and relate these trajectories to associations between early-childhood social reticence and adolescent anxiety.

Associations between cortical thickness and parasympathetic nervous system functioning during middle childhood.

Positive associations have been found between cortical thickness and measures of parasympathetic cardiac control (e.g., respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) in adults, which may indicate mechanistic integration between neural and physiological indicators of stress regulation.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Parenting Intervention During Infancy Alters Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuitry in Middle Childhood.

Objective: Early adverse parenting predicts various negative outcomes, including psychopathology and altered development. Animal work suggests that adverse parenting might change amygdala-prefrontal cortex (PFC) circuitry, but work in humans remains correlational. The present study leveraged data from a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of an early parenting intervention targeting parental nurturance and sensitivity (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up [ABC]) to test whether early parenting quality causally affects amygdala-PFC connectivity later in life.

Multimodal study of the neural sources of error monitoring in adolescents and adults.

The ability to monitor performance during a goal-directed behavior differs among children and adults in ways that can be measured with several tasks and techniques. As well, recent work has shown that individual differences in error monitoring moderate temperamental risk for anxiety and that this moderation changes with age. We investigated age differences in neural responses linked to performance monitoring using a multimodal approach.

A Comprehensive Multilevel Analysis of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project: Causal Effects on Recovery From Early Severe Deprivation.

Objective: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is the first randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care. The authors synthesized data from nearly 20 years of assessments of the trial to determine the overall intervention effect size across time points and developmental domains. The goal was to quantify the overall effect of the foster care intervention on children's outcomes and examine sources of variation in this effect, including domain, age, and sex assigned at birth.

Age-related trends in aperiodic EEG activity and alpha oscillations during early- to middle-childhood.

Age-related structural and functional changes that occur during brain development are critical for cortical development and functioning. Previous electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies have highlighted the utility of power spectra analyses and have uncovered age-related trends that reflect perceptual, cognitive, and behavioural states as well as their underlying neurophysiology. The aim of the current study was to investigate age-related change in aperiodic and periodic alpha activity across a large sample of pre- and school-aged children (N = 502, age range 4 -11-years-of-age).

Attentional biases in human anxiety.

Across clinical and subclinical samples, anxiety has been associated with increased attentional capture by cues signaling danger. Various cognitive models attribute the onset and maintenance of anxiety symptoms to maladaptive selective information processing. In this brief review, we 1) describe the evidence for the relations between anxiety and attention bias toward threat, 2) discuss the neurobiology of anxiety-related differences in threat bias, 3) summarize work investigating the developmental origins of attention bias toward threat, and 4) examine efforts to translate threat bias research into clinical intervention.

Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Associations of Anxiety and Irritability With Adolescents' Neural Responses to Cognitive Conflict.

Background: Psychiatric symptoms are commonly comorbid in childhood. The ability to disentangle unique and shared correlates of comorbid symptoms facilitates personalized medicine. Cognitive control is implicated broadly in psychopathology, including in pediatric disorders characterized by anxiety and irritability.

Temperamental risk for anxiety: emerging work on the infant brain and later neurocognitive development.

Behavioral inhibition (BI), an infant temperament characterized by distress to novelty, is amongst the strongest early risk markers for future anxiety. In this review, we highlight three ways that recent research elucidates key details about the pathophysiology of anxiety in individuals with BI. First, atypical amygdala connectivity during infancy may be related to BI.

Associations between cortical thickness and anxious/depressive symptoms differ by the quality of early care.

A variety of childhood experiences can lead to anxious/depressed (A/D) symptoms. The aim of the present study was to explore the brain morphological (cortical thickness and surface area) correlates of A/D symptoms and the extent to which these phenotypes vary depending on the quality of the parenting context in which children develop. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired on 45 children with Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement due to risk of not receiving adequate care (high-risk group) and 25 children without CPS involvement (low-risk group) (range = 8.

Early exposure to parent-perpetrated intimate partner violence predicts hypervigilant error monitoring.

Early exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) places children at risk for ongoing emotional difficulties, including problems with self-regulation and high levels of internalizing symptoms. However, the impact of IPV exposure on children's error monitoring remains unknown. The present study utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the impact of exposure to IPV in infancy on error monitoring in middle childhood.

Longitudinal age- and sex-related change in background aperiodic activity during early adolescence.

Aperiodic activity contains important and meaningful physiological information that has been shown to dynamically change with age. However, no longitudinal studies have examined its development during early-to-mid adolescence. The current study closes this gap by investigating age- and sex-related longitudinal change in aperiodic activity across early-to-mid adolescence (N = 186; 54.

Behavioral inhibition and dual mechanisms of anxiety risk: Disentangling neural correlates of proactive and reactive control.

Background: Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament style characterized by heightened reactivity and negative affect in response to novel people and situations, and it predicts anxiety problems later in life. However, not all BI children develop anxiety problems, and mounting evidence suggests that how one manages their cognitive resources (cognitive control) influences anxiety risk. The present study tests whether more (proactive control) or less (reactive control) planful cognitive strategies moderate relations between early BI and later anxiety.

Neurocognitive Profiles in Adolescence Predict Subsequent Anxiety Trajectories During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created increased stress and anxiety for many; however, some individuals are particularly prone to heightened anxiety. It is unclear if and how prestress neurocognitive factors moderate risk for anxiety during high-stress situations. Enhanced error monitoring and a cognitive control strategy of more instantaneous (reactive) control have both been independently related to anxiety.

Racial Disparities in Elementary School Disciplinary Actions: Findings From the ABCD Study.

Objective: Detentions and suspensions are common practices of school discipline, despite evidence that they are largely ineffective and disproportionately affect children from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, particularly Black children, and children of lower socioeconomic status. However, few studies have examined suspension and detention rates among race, ethnicity, and family structure (single parent versus secondary caregiver) when controlling for typical behaviors associated with detention and suspension such as externalizing symptoms, age, sex, family income, family education, family conflict, and special education needs.

Method: Caregivers of 11,875 children between ages 9 and 10 years from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study completed a questionnaire assessing their child's demographics, family information, emotions and behaviors, and past-year school discipline history.

Understanding the Emergence of Social Anxiety in Children With Behavioral Inhibition.

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characterized in early childhood by distress to novelty and avoidance of unfamiliar people, and it is one of the best-known risk factors for the development of social anxiety. However, nearly 60% of children with BI do not go on to meet criteria for social anxiety disorder. In this review we present an approach to understanding differential developmental trajectories among children with BI.

Association of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure With Psychological, Behavioral, and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Children From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Objective: Data on the neurodevelopmental and associated behavioral effects of light to moderate in utero alcohol exposure are limited. This retrospective investigation tested for associations between reported maternal prenatal alcohol use and psychological, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in substance-naive youths.

Methods: Participants were 9,719 youths (ages 9.

Early Parenting Intervention Effects on Brain Responses to Maternal Cues Among High-Risk Children.

Objective: Early adversity is correlated with increased risk for negative outcomes, including psychopathology and atypical neurodevelopment. The authors aimed to test the causal impact of an early parenting intervention (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up; ABC) on children's neural processing of parent cues and on psychosocial functioning in a longitudinal randomized clinical trial.

Methods: Participants (N=68, mean age, 10.

Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: an Update on Evidence-Based Strategies.

Purpose Of Review: To examine the most recent published evidence (2016-2019) regarding the treatment of adolescent substance use disorders and to provide an update on evidence-based strategies, adjunctive interventions, and methods to improve currently established treatment approaches.

Recent Findings: Recent evidence suggests that psychosocial treatments such as family-based therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and multicomponent approaches remain the most effective methods of treatment; however, innovative ways of improving these treatment strategies may include digital and culturally based interventions. New advances in adjunctive treatments such as pharmacotherapy, exercise, mindfulness, and recovery-oriented educational centers may have some clinical utility.