Differential gray matter correlates and machine learning prediction of abuse and internalizing psychopathology in adolescent females.

Childhood abuse represents one of the most potent risk factors for the development of psychopathology during childhood, accounting for 30-60% of the risk for onset. While previous studies have separately associated reductions in gray matter volume (GMV) with childhood abuse and internalizing psychopathology (IP), it is unclear whether abuse and IP differ in their structural abnormalities, and which GMV features are related to abuse and IP at the individual level. In a pooled multisite, multi-investigator sample, 246 child and adolescent females between the ages of 8-18 were recruited into studies of interpersonal violence (IPV) and/or IP (i.

Within-Person Fluctuations in Objective Smartphone Use and Emotional Processes During Adolescence: An Intensive Longitudinal Study.

Unlabelled: Since the advent of smartphones, peer interactions over digital platforms have become a primary mode of socializing among adolescents. Despite the rapid rise in digital social activity, it remains unclear how this dramatic shift has impacted adolescent social and emotional experiences. In an intensive, longitudinal design ( = 26,  = 206 monthly observations for up to 12 months, 12-17 years), we used digital phenotyping methods to objectively measure within-person fluctuations in smartphone use (screen time, pickups, notifications) across different categories (social media, communication, entertainment, games) and examined their prospective, bidirectional associations with positive and negative mood.

Associations of socioeconomic status with cognitive function, language ability, and academic achievement in youth: a systematic review of mechanisms and protective factors.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) is negatively associated with children's cognitive and academic performance, leading to long-term educational and economic disparities. In particular, SES is a powerful predictor of executive function (EF), language ability, and academic achievement. Despite extensive research documenting SES-related differences in these domains, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying these associations and factors that may mitigate these relationships is limited.

Identifying cognitive, affective, and developmental mechanisms linking threat and deprivation with adolescent psychopathology.

Background: The mechanisms linking early-life adversity with psychopathology over the life-course are complex. In this prospective study, we collectively examined cognitive, affective, and developmental mediators previously found to individually link childhood threat and deprivation experiences to adolescent psychopathology to identify the most potent mechanisms.

Methods: Data came from a community sample of 227 children (mean child age 11.

Early-life threat and deprivation: Are children similarly affected by exposure to each?

Extensive evidence documents negative consequences of adversity for children's development. Here, we extend such work by looking beyond average effects to consider variation in susceptibility to both threat and deprivation in terms of cognitive and social-emotional development, using an influence-statistic methodology. Data come from the ongoing Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 14,541, 49.

Perceptual sensitivity to labeling stereotyped emotion expressions: Associations with age and subclinical psychopathology symptoms from childhood through early adulthood.

This study investigates (a) age-related differences in how the intensity of stereotyped facial expressions influence the emotion label children, adolescents, and adults assign to that face and (b) how this perceptual sensitivity relates to subclinical symptoms of psychopathology. In 2015-2016, 184 participants aged 4-25 years viewed posed stereotypes of angry, fearful, sad, and happy expressions morphed with neutral expressions at 10%-90% intensity. Thin plate regression smoothing splines were used to chart nonlinear associations between age and the perceptual threshold participants needed to assign the emotion label expected based on cultural consensus.

Developmental Differences in a Hippocampal-Cingulate Pathway Involved in Learned Safety Following Interpersonal Trauma Exposure.

Objective: Nearly 65% of youth experience trauma, and up to one-third of youth with trauma exposure face profound mental health sequelae. There remains a need to elucidate factors that contribute to psychopathology following trauma exposure, and to optimize interventions for youth who do not benefit sufficiently from existing treatments. Here, we probe safety signal learning (SSL), which is a mechanism of fear reduction that leverages learned safety to inhibit fear in the presence of threat-associated stimuli and has been shown to attenuate fear via a hippocampal-cingulate--specifically, a dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC)--pathway.

Brain structures with stronger genetic associations are not less associated with family- and state-level economic contexts.

We investigate whether neural, cognitive, and psychopathology phenotypes that are more strongly related to genetic differences are less strongly associated with family- and state-level economic contexts (N = 5374 individuals with 1KG-EUR-like genotypes with 870 twins, from the Adolescent Behavior and Cognitive Development study). We estimated the twin- and SNP-based heritability of each phenotype, as well as its association with an educational attainment polygenic index (EA PGI). We further examined associations with family socioeconomic status (SES) and tested whether SES-related differences were moderated by state cost of living and social safety net programs (Medicaid expansion and cash assistance).

The role of caregiver emotion regulation in youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented youth and families with a broad spectrum of unique stressors. Given that adolescents are at increased risk for mental health and emotional difficulties, it is critical to explore family processes that confer resilience for youth in the face of stress. The current study investigated caregiver emotion regulation (ER) as a familial factor contributing to youth ER and risk for psychopathology following stressful life events.

Testing a Conceptual Model of Early Adversity, Neural Function, and Psychopathology: Protocol for a Retrospective Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Early adversity, broadly defined as a set of negative exposures during childhood, is extremely common and increases risk for psychopathology across the life span. Previous research suggests that separate dimensions of adversity increase risk through developmental plasticity mechanisms shaping unique neurobiological pathways. Specifically, research suggests that deprivation is associated with deficits in higher order cognition, while threat is associated with atypicality in fear learning and emotion dysregulation.

Alterations in fear learning as a mechanism linking childhood exposure to violence with PTSD symptoms: a longitudinal study.

Background: Fear learning is a core component of conceptual models of how adverse experiences may influence psychopathology. Specifically, existing theories posit that childhood experiences involving childhood trauma are associated with altered fear learning processes, while experiences involving deprivation are not. Several studies have found altered fear acquisition in youth exposed to trauma, but not deprivation, although the specific patterns have varied across studies.

Altered associations between white matter structure and psychopathology in previously institutionalized adolescents.

Previously institutionalized adolescents show increased risk for psychopathology, though placement into high-quality foster care can partially mitigate this risk. White matter (WM) structure is associated with early institutional rearing and psychopathology in youth. Here we investigate associations between WM structure and psychopathology in previously institutionalized youth.

Fluctuations in emotion regulation as a mechanism linking stress and internalizing psychopathology among adolescents: An intensive longitudinal study.

Stressful life events (SLEs) are tightly coupled with the emergence of anxiety and depression symptoms among adolescents, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. We investigated within-person fluctuations in emotion regulation as a mechanism linking SLEs and internalizing psychopathology in an intensive longitudinal study. We examined how monthly fluctuations in SLEs were related to engagement in three emotion regulation strategies-acceptance, reappraisal, and rumination-and whether these strategies were associated with changes in internalizing symptoms in adolescents followed for one year (N = 30; n = 355 monthly observations).

Bringing home the benefits: do pro-family employee benefits mitigate the risk of depression from competing workplace and domestic labor roles?

Despite significant historical progress toward sex/gender parity in employment status in the United States, women remain more likely to provide domestic labor, creating role competition which may increase depression symptoms. Pro-family employee benefits may minimize the stress of competing roles. We tested whether depressive symptoms were higher among women with competing roles versus without competing roles and whether this effect was greater among women without (vs with) pro-family benefits.

Is respiratory sinus arrhythmia a modifiable index of symptom change in cognitive behavioral therapy for youth? A pooled-data analysis of a randomized trial.

Objective: We evaluated whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity and resting RSA-physiological markers reflecting the increase in heart rate with inspiration and decrease during expiration related to parasympathetic influence on the heart-are modifiable and predict symptom change during youth psychotherapy. Diverse youth (= 158; ages 7-15; 48.1% female) received the and completed pre-treatment (pre), post-treatment (post), and 18-months postbaseline (18Mo) assessments.

Cognitive stimulation as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status and neural function supporting working memory: a longitudinal fMRI study.

Childhood experiences of low socioeconomic status are associated with alterations in neural function in the frontoparietal network and ventral visual stream, which may drive differences in working memory. However, the specific features of low socioeconomic status environments that contribute to these disparities remain poorly understood. Here, we examined experiences of cognitive deprivation (i.

A precision neuroscience approach to estimating reliability of neural responses during emotion processing: Implications for task-fMRI.

Recent work demonstrating low test-retest reliability of neural activation during fMRI tasks raises questions about the utility of task-based fMRI for the study of individual variation in brain function. Two possible sources of the instability in task-based BOLD signal over time are noise or measurement error in the instrument, and meaningful variation across time within-individuals in the construct itself-brain activation elicited during fMRI tasks. Examining the contribution of these two sources of test-retest unreliability in task-evoked brain activity has far-reaching implications for cognitive neuroscience.

Substance use among rural adolescents with incarcerated parents: Evidence from a state-wide sample.

Purpose: Incarceration rates are highest in rural communities, disproportionately exposing rural children to parental incarceration (PI). Substance use is a pressing public health issue-and a key driver of incarceration-in rural areas, yet limited research has examined PI as a social determinant of health for adolescent alcohol and drug use. This study links exposure to PI with rural adolescent substance use and examines the role of coresidence with parents in these associations.

Associations Between Structural Stigma and Psychopathology Among Early Adolescents.

Objective: Ample evidence demonstrates that structural stigma - defined as societal-level conditions, cultural norms, and institutional policies and practices that constrain opportunities, resources, and well-being of stigmatized populations - is associated with psychopathology in adults from marginalized groups. Yet there is limited research on whether structural stigma is similarly associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms among youth.

Method: Structural stigma related to sex, sexual orientation, race, and Latinx ethnicity was measured using indicators of state-level policy and aggregated attitudes.