How school and community supports influence psychosocial outcomes of children experiencing emotional maltreatment.

Background: Research has shown that experiences of emotional maltreatment (i.e., emotional abuse and neglect) can compromise children's development.

The Impact of Early Life Adversity on Peripubertal Accelerated Epigenetic Aging and Psychopathology.

Objective: To examine longitudinal associations between early life threat and deprivation on epigenetic age acceleration at ages 9 and 15 years, and to examine associations of age acceleration on later internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Method: The study examines a large (n = 2,039) and racially diverse (Black/African American = 44%, Latino = 18%, White = 5%) sample from a national dataset. Epigenetic age acceleration was estimated using the pediatric buccal epigenetic clock.

Negative versus withdrawn maternal behavior: Differential associations with infant gray and white matter during the first 2 years of life.

Distinct neural effects of threat versus deprivation emerge by childhood, but little data are available in infancy. Withdrawn versus negative parenting may represent dimensionalized indices of early deprivation versus early threat, but no studies have assessed neural correlates of withdrawn versus negative parenting in infancy. The objective of this study was to separately assess the links of maternal withdrawal and maternal negative/inappropriate interaction with infant gray matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), amygdala, and hippocampal volume.

Development of the Nighttime Parenting Scale: Differentiating nighttime versus general parenting practices and their impact on youth sleep health.

Objectives: The current study provides a novel method of assessing the impact of nighttime parenting practices on youth sleep health during the sensitive transition from childhood to adolescence (ie., peri-puberty). Specifically, we aimed to advance the measurement of nighttime parenting by developing a conceptually driven questionnaire for use in research and clinical settings.

Associations Between Early Life Adversity and Youth Psychobiological Outcomes: Dimensional and Person-Centered Approaches.

Exposure to early life adversity (ELA) is associated with increased externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression and oppositionality), internalizing symptoms (e.

Maternal Childhood Abuse Versus Neglect Associated with Differential Patterns of Infant Brain Development.

Severity of maternal childhood maltreatment has been associated with lower infant grey matter volume and amygdala volume during the first two years of life. A developing literature argues that effects of threat (abuse) and of deprivation (neglect) should be assessed separately because these distinct aspects of adversity may have different impacts on developmental outcomes. However, distinct effects of threat versus deprivation have not been assessed in relation to intergenerational effects of child maltreatment.

Assessing parenting in racially and ethnically diverse families: A lack of measurement equivalence.

The present study explored measurement invariance of the Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS; Parent & Forehand, 2017) across White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian American parents. Participants included 2,734 parents, 58% of whom were mothers. On average, parents were 36.

Maternal Childhood Maltreatment Is Associated With Lower Infant Gray Matter Volume and Amygdala Volume During the First Two Years of Life.

Background: Childhood maltreatment affects approximately 25% of the world's population. Importantly, the children of mothers who have been maltreated are at increased risk of behavioral problems. Thus, one important priority is to identify child neurobiological processes associated with maternal childhood maltreatment (MCM) that might contribute to such intergenerational transmission.

A Role for Data Science in Precision Nutrition and Early Brain Development.

Multimodal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide biomarkers of early influences on neurodevelopment such as nutrition, environmental and genetic factors. As the exposure to early influences can be separated from neurodevelopmental outcomes by many months or years, MRI markers can serve as an important intermediate outcome in multivariate analyses of neurodevelopmental determinants. Key to the success of such work are recent advances in data science as well as the growth of relevant data resources.

Assessment of Maternal Macular Pigment Optical Density (MPOD) as a Potential Marker for Dietary Carotenoid Intake during Lactation in Humans.

Pregnancy and lactation can change the maternal nutrient reserve. Non-invasive, quantitative markers of maternal nutrient intake could enable personalized dietary recommendations that improve health outcomes in mothers and infants. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) is a candidate marker, as MPOD values generally reflect carotenoid intake.