The Effect of 6 weeks Physical Activity on Cognitive Control and Trait Impulsivity in Multi-problem Young Adults: First Findings of an RCT-study.

This study aimed to report the effect of a 6-week light-active versus moderate-active physical activity intervention embedded in a multimodal day treatment program on selected measures of cognitive control (i.e., response inhibition, error processing, and cognitive interference) and trait impulsivity.

Brief report: Free-living physical activity levels and cognitive control in multi-problem young adults.

Previous studies indicate a positive association between physical activity and cognitive control in sedentary but healthy adults, yet not much is known about physical activity levels in multi-problem young adults. We examined the level of self-reported free-living physical activity (i.e.

White matter integrity in delinquent emerging adults and non-delinquent controls, and its relationship with aggression, psychopathic traits, and cannabis use.

Background: Atypical white matter integrity may be one of the biological factors related to delinquency. In adults, decreased white matter integrity has been related to antisocial behavior, but findings from research in adolescent and young adult populations are either mixed or lacking. Here we investigated this association within a naturalistic sample of delinquent young adults (age 18-27).

Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression.

Neurobiological measures underlying aggressive behavior have gained attention due to their potential to inform risk assessment and treatment interventions. Aberrations in responsivity of the autonomic nervous system and electrophysiological responses to arousal-inducing stimuli have been related to emotional dysregulation and aggressive behavior. However, studies have often been performed in community samples, using tasks that induce arousal but not specifically depict aggression.

The Longitudinal Interplay Between Social Network and Psychopathology in Multi-Problem Young Adult Men; Separating Within-and Between-Person Effects.

Young adulthood is characterized by many life changes. Especially for young men with problems across different life domains (i.e.

Effect of Methylphenidate on Resting-State Connectivity in Adolescents With a Disruptive Behavior Disorder: A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled fMRI Study.

Some studies suggest that methylphenidate (MPH) might be an effective treatment for antisocial and aggressive behavior in adolescence. However, little is known about the mechanism of action of MPH in adolescents with this kind of psychopathology. MPH is a dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and thus it is likely to affect dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic pathways.

The predictive value of neurobiological measures for recidivism in delinquent male young adults.

Background: Neurobiological measures have been associated with delinquent behaviour, but little is known about the predictive power of these measures for criminal recidivism and whether they have incremental value over and above demographic and behavioural measures. This study examined whether selected measures of autonomic functioning, functional neuroimaging and electroencephalography predict overall and serious recidivism in a sample of 127 delinquent young adults.

Methods: We assessed demographics; education and intelligence; previous delinquency and drug use; behavioural traits, including aggression and psychopathy; and neurobiological measures, including heart rate, heart rate variability, functional brain activity during an inhibition task and 2 electroencephalographic measures of error-processing.

No Association Between Autonomic Functioning and Psychopathy and Aggression in Multi-Problem Young Adults.

Background: Aberrant functioning of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is an important factor in the occurrence of antisocial behavior. Baseline autonomic functioning and the responsivity of the ANS have been related to psychopathic traits and aggression. Here we investigated whether a naturalistic sample of male multi-problem young adults (age 18-27) present with similar autonomic deficits in relation to their psychopathy and aggression as previous studies observed in clinical samples.

Disentangling multiproblem behavior in male young adults: A cluster analysis.

Multiproblem young adults present with major problems across key life domains, but empirical studies investigating the nature of multiproblem behavior in accordance to ecobiodevelopmental theory are scarce. To address this gap, we performed a cluster analysis on indicators spanning the key life domains addiction, mental health, social network, and justice. In a large sample (N = 680) of multiproblem young adults, we identified five subgroups labeled "severe with alcohol and cannabis problems" (4.

The role of adverse childhood experiences and mental health care use in psychological dysfunction of male multi-problem young adults.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with severe problems later in life. This study examines how eleven types of ACEs and mental health care use history are related to current psychological dysfunction among multi-problem young adults. A sample of 643 multi-problem young adult men (age 18-27) gave informed consent for us to collect retrospective regional psychiatric case register data and filled out questionnaires.

Neural Correlates of Moral Evaluation and Psychopathic Traits in Male Multi-Problem Young Adults.

Multi-problem young adults (18-27 years) present with a plethora of problems, including varying degrees of psychopathic traits. The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) have been implicated in moral dysfunction in psychopathy in adolescents and adults, but no studies have been performed in populations in the transitional period to adulthood. We tested in multi-problem young adults the hypothesis that psychopathic traits are related to amygdala and vmPFC activity during moral evaluation.

Child Protection Service interference in childhood and the relation with mental health problems and delinquency in young adulthood: a latent class analysis study.

Background: Most multi-problem young adults (18-27 years old) have been exposed to childhood maltreatment and/or have been involved in juvenile delinquency and, therefore, could have had Child Protection Service (CPS) interference during childhood. The extent to which their childhood problems persist and evolve into young adulthood may differ substantially among cases. This might indicate heterogeneous profiles of CPS risk factors.

Children with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomology in the General Population: Different Subtypes?

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a moderately prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder, and many children suffer from subclinical obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. The disorder is heterogeneous and has high comorbidity rates. In early disease stages of psychiatric disorders, symptoms are typically hard to attribute exclusively to specific disorders.

A multimodal day treatment program for multi-problem young adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Effective interventions for young adults with severe, multiple problems - such as psychosocial and psychiatric problems, delinquency, unemployment and substance use - are scarce but urgently needed in order to support an adequate transition to adulthood. A multimodal day treatment program called "New Opportunities" (in Dutch: "De Nieuwe Kans"; DNK) was specifically developed to target multi-problem young adults in The Netherlands. The aim of this study protocol is to describe the design of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in clinical practice to examine the effectiveness of DNK in comparison with care as usual (CAU).

The clinical relevance of neurocognitive measures in addiction.

One of the major challenges in addiction treatment is relapse prevention, as rates of relapse following treatment remain very high across the main classes of drugs of abuse. Relapse prevention could be improved by a better understanding of the factors that influence treatment outcomes, including better predictors of risk of relapse following treatment. Recent developments in cognitive neuroscience point to neurocognitive measures (i.

The clinical relevance of attentional bias in substance use disorders.

Individuals with substance use disorders typically show an "attentional bias" for substance-related cues: Those cues are able to grab and hold the attention, in preference to other cues in the environment. We discuss the theoretical context for this work before reviewing the measurement of attentional bias, and its relationship to motivational state and relapse to substance use after a period of abstinence. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research for the treatment of substance use disorders.

Error-related brain activity predicts cocaine use after treatment at 3-month follow-up.

Background: Relapse after treatment is one of the most important problems in drug dependency. Several studies suggest that lack of cognitive control is one of the causes of relapse. In this study, a relative new electrophysiologic index of cognitive control, the error-related negativity, is investigated to examine its suitability as a predictor of relapse.

Individual differences in anterior cingulate activation associated with attentional bias predict cocaine use after treatment.

Drug-dependent patients often relapse into drug use after treatment. Behavioral studies show that enhanced attentional bias to drug cues is a precursor of relapse. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined whether brain regions involved in attentional bias are predictive of cocaine use after treatment.

Implicit and explicit drug-related cognitions during detoxification treatment are associated with drug relapse: an ecological momentary assessment study.

Objective: Relapse is a major problem in drug addiction treatment. Both drug craving and drug-related cognitions (e.g.

Attentional bias to drug cues is elevated before and during temptations to use heroin and cocaine.

Rationale: Relapse is an important problem in substance dependence treatment. When drug users try to abstain from drug use, they often report strong temptations to use drugs. Temptation episodes have commonalities with relapse episodes, and assessment of temptation episodes may help to identify individuals at risk of relapse.