Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome in Young Autistic Children, Children with ADHD, and Autistic Children with ADHD.

Objective: Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS; previously called Sluggish Cognitive Tempo) refers to a constellation of cognitive and motor behaviors characterized by a predisposition toward mind wandering (cognitive subdomain) and slowed motor behavior (hypoactive). While there are a number of studies linking CDS traits to greater global impairment in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistic children, there are few studies examining the prevalence and impact of CDS traits in autistic children with co-occurring ADHD (Autistic+ADHD). The current study explored CDS traits in autistic children with and without co-occurring ADHD, children with ADHD, and neurotypical children.

Prenatal and Childhood Smoke Exposure Associations with Cognition, Language, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Objective: To assess the relationships of prenatal and childhood smoke exposure with specific neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems during early childhood.

Study Design: A subsample (n = 386) of mother-child dyads from the Newborn Epigenetic Study (NEST) prebirth cohort participated in the study. Cotinine concentrations were used to objectively measure prenatal and childhood smoke exposure when youth were aged 3-13 years.

Sleep onset, duration, or regularity: which matters most for child adiposity outcomes?

Background/objectives: Sleep measures, such as duration and onset timing, are associated with adiposity outcomes among children. Recent research among adults has considered variability in sleep and wake onset times, with the Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) as a comprehensive metric to measure shifts in sleep and wake onset times between days. However, little research has examined regularity and adiposity outcomes among children.

Shuffle the Decks: Children Are Sensitive to Incidental Nonrandom Structure in a Sequential-Choice Task.

As children age, they can learn increasingly complex features of environmental structure-a key prerequisite for adaptive decision-making. Yet when we tested children ( = 304, 4-13 years old) in the Children's Gambling Task, an age-appropriate variant of the Iowa Gambling Task, we found that age was negatively associated with performance. However, this paradoxical effect of age was found only in children who exhibited a maladaptive , a tendency to shift choices after positive outcomes and repeat choices after negative outcomes.

Parenting Stress, Child Weight-Related Behaviors, and Child Weight Status.

There has been limited examination of the association between parenting stress and child weight-related behaviors. We aimed to determine whether parenting stress is associated with child weight-related behaviors, including physical activity, screen time, diet, sedentary time, and eating in the absence of hunger (EAH). Secondarily, we assessed association between parenting stress and child weight status.

Smoke-Free Home Rules and Association with Child Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Mother-Child Dyad Relationships.

Smoke-free home rules restrict smoking in the home, but biomarkers of secondhand smoke exposure are needed to help understand the association between smoke-free homes and child secondhand smoke exposure. Participants ( = 346) were majority Black/African American mother-child dyads from a longitudinal study in North Carolina. Mothers completed questionnaires on household smoking behaviors and rules, and child saliva samples were assayed for secondhand smoke exposure.

Identifying the Best Questions for Rapid Screening of Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Children.

Introduction: Many children suffer from secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe), which leads to a variety of negative health consequences. However, there is no consensus on how clinicians can best query parents for possible SHSe among children. We employed a data-driven approach to create an efficient screening tool for clinicians to quickly and correctly identify children at risk for SHSe.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the explore/exploit trade-off.

The ability to maximize rewards and minimize the costs of obtaining them is vital to making advantageous explore/exploit decisions. Exploratory decisions are theorized to be greater among individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), potentially due to deficient catecholamine transmission. Here, we examined the effects of ADHD status and methylphenidate, a common ADHD medication, on explore/exploit decisions using a 6-armed bandit task.

Impact of a Rapid-Access Ambulatory Psychiatry Encounter on Subsequent Emergency Department Utilization.

The authors sought to determine whether providing a rapid-access ambulatory psychiatry encounter correlated with emergency department utilization during a 6-month follow-up period. Electronic medical records of patients who accessed ambulatory psychiatric care through an urgent care psychiatry clinic that offers treatment exclusively on a walk-in basis over a 1-year period (N = 157) were reviewed retrospectively to track emergency department encounters with and without a psychiatric chief complaint in the 6 months before and after the initial psychiatry evaluation. Among patients who had not previously received ambulatory psychiatric care (N = 88), emergency department utilization decreased from 0.

Associations between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and eating behaviors in early childhood.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms have been linked with eating behaviors and obesity adolescence and young adulthood. Yet, little is known about whether these associations occur during early childhood and few studies have examined these associations prospectively.

Objectives: To assess magnitude and direction of associations between childhood ADHD symptoms and eating behaviors.

Methylphenidate increases willingness to perform effort in adults with ADHD.

Background: A reduced willingness to perform effort based on the magnitude and probability of potential rewards has been associated with diminished dopamine function and may be relevant to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here, we investigated the influence of ADHD status and methylphenidate on effort-based decisions. We hypothesized that ADHD participants would make fewer high-effort selections than non-ADHD subjects, and that methylphenidate would increase the number of high-effort selections.

An Automated Text-Messaging Platform for Enhanced Retention and Data Collection in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort: Cohort Management Platform Analysis.

Background: Traditional methods for recruiting and maintaining contact with participants in cohort studies include print-based correspondence, which can be unidirectional, labor intensive, and slow. Leveraging technology can substantially enhance communication, maintain engagement of study participants in cohort studies, and facilitate data collection on a range of outcomes.

Objective: This paper provides an overview of the development process and design of a cohort management platform (CMP) used in the Newborn Epigenetic STudy (NEST), a large longitudinal birth cohort study.

Effect of Prenatal Smoke Exposure on Birth Weight: The Moderating Role of Maternal Depressive Symptoms.

Introduction: Both prenatal smoke exposure and depression have been linked to lower birth weight, a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. Few studies have looked at the interaction between these risk factors and none have used a biomarker to objectively measure prenatal smoke exposure. The current study sought to examine independent and interactive effects of cotinine and depression on birth weight.

Associations between maternal cytokine levels during gestation and measures of child cognitive abilities and executive functioning.

Preclinical studies demonstrate that environmentally-induced alterations in inflammatory cytokines generated by the maternal and fetal immune system can significantly impact fetal brain development. Yet, the relationship between maternal cytokines during gestation and later cognitive ability and executive function remains understudied. Children (n = 246) were born of mothers enrolled in the Newborn Epigenetic Study - a prospective pre-birth cohort in the Southeastern US.

Impact of Smoking Ban on Passive Smoke Exposure in Pregnant Non-Smokers in the Southeastern United States.

Prenatal passive smoke exposure raises risk for negative birth outcomes. Legislation regulating public smoking has been shown to impact exposure levels, though fewer studies involving pregnant women have been conducted within the U.S.

Adolescent Physiological and Behavioral Patterns of Emotion Dysregulation Predict Multisystemic Therapy Response.

This study examined whether physiological and behavioral indicators of emotion dysregulation assessed over the course of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) were related to treatment response. Participants were 180 ethnically diverse adolescents (=120 males), ranging in age from 12 to 17 years. Treatment response was assessed through therapist report and official arrest records.

Maternal Prenatal Psychological Distress and Preschool Cognitive Functioning: the Protective Role of Positive Parental Engagement.

Considerable animal research and available human studies suggest that psychological distress experienced by mothers during gestation is associated with later neurodevelopmental deficits in offspring; however, little research has examined potential protective factors that might mitigate this risk. The current study examined the impact of maternal prenatal psychological distress during pregnancy on cognitive outcomes in preschoolers (ages 2.5-5 years) and positive parenting as a potential protective factor.

Mouse IDGenes: a reference database for genetic interactions in the developing mouse brain.

Unlabelled: The study of developmental processes in the mouse and other vertebrates includes the understanding of patterning along the anterior-posterior, dorsal-ventral and medial- lateral axis. Specifically, neural development is also of great clinical relevance because several human neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism disorders or drug addiction and also brain malformations are thought to have neurodevelopmental origins, i.e.

Disrupted expected value signaling in youth with disruptive behavior disorders to environmental reinforcers.

Objective: Youth with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD), including conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), have difficulties in reinforcement-based decision making, the neural basis of which is poorly understood. Studies examining decision making in youth with DBD have revealed reduced reward responses within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex/orbitofrontal cortex (vmPFC/OFC), increased responses to unexpected punishment within the vmPFC and striatum, and reduced use of expected value information in the anterior insula cortex and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during the avoidance of suboptimal choices. Previous work has used only monetary reinforcement.

Empathic responsiveness in amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex in youths with psychopathic traits.

Background: Psychopathic traits are associated with increases in antisocial behaviors such as aggression and are characterized by reduced empathy for others' distress. This suggests that psychopathic traits may also impair empathic pain sensitivity. However, whether psychopathic traits affect responses to the pain of others versus the self has not been previously assessed.

Perinatal factors, parenting behavior, and reactive aggression: does cortisol reactivity mediate this developmental risk process?

Little is known about the mechanisms of action that link perinatal risk and the development of aggressive behavior. The aim of this study was to examine whether perinatal risk and parenting interacted to specifically predict reactive aggression, as opposed to general aggressive behavior, and to examine cortisol reactivity as a mediator of this developmental risk process. In a community sample of 99 elementary school-aged children, prenatal risk was measured by a count of minor physical anomalies (MPAs), reactive aggression was measured by laboratory observations of aggression in response to provocation, and general aggression was measured by parent report.

Reduced amygdala response in youths with disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits: decreased emotional response versus increased top-down attention to nonemotional features.

Objective: Amygdala dysfunction has been reported to exist in youths and adults with psychopathic traits. However, there has been disagreement as to whether this dysfunction reflects a primary emotional deficit or is secondary to atypical attentional control. The authors examined the validity of the contrasting predictions.

Stress, cortisol, and externalizing behavior in adolescent males: an examination in the context of multisystemic therapy.

Stress and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation have been associated with externalizing behavior in adolescence, but few studies have examined these factors in a treatment context. This study investigated the relationship between stress, cortisol, and externalizing behavior among 120 adolescent males (mean age = 15) receiving Multisystemic Therapy (MST). To examine the differential relationship of cortisol with various types of stressors, self-report measures assessed lifetime stress, current episodic stress, and daily hassles.