Time of acquisition and network stability in pediatric resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has been shown to elucidate reliable patterns of brain networks in both children and adults. Studies in adults have shown that rs-fMRI acquisition times of ∼5 to 6 min provide adequate sampling to produce stable spatial maps of a number of different brain networks. However, it is unclear whether the acquisition time directly translates to studies of children.

Maternal use of antidepressant or anxiolytic medication during pregnancy and childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes: a systematic review.

Antidepressant and anxiolytic medications are widely prescribed and used by pregnant women for acute and maintenance therapy. These drugs are able to pass the placental barrier, and may potentially influence fetal and brain development. It is possible that exposure to prenatal antidepressants or anxiolytic medication may disturb neurotransmitter systems in the brain and have long-lasting consequences on neurodevelopment in the offspring.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis of preschool internalizing problems.

Objective: Preschool internalizing problems (INT) are highly heritable and moderately genetically stable from childhood into adulthood. Gene-finding studies are scarce. In this study, the influence of genome-wide measured single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was investigated in 3 cohorts (total N = 4,596 children) in which INT was assessed with the same instrument, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Formal thought disorder in autism spectrum disorder predicts future symptom severity, but not psychosis prodrome.

Formal thought disorder (FTD) is a disruption in the flow of thought, which is inferred from disorganisation of spoken language. FTD in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) might be a precursor of psychotic disorders or a manifestation of ASD symptom severity. The current longitudinal study is a seven-year follow-up of 91 individuals aged 5-12 years with ASD.

Nonverbal intelligence in young children with dysregulation: the Generation R Study.

Children meeting the Child Behavior Checklist Dysregulation Profile (CBCL-DP) suffer from high levels of co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems. Little is known about the cognitive abilities of these children with CBCL-DP. We examined the relationship between CBCL-DP and nonverbal intelligence.

A prospective study of heart rate and externalising behaviours in young children.

Background: Low heart rate predicts externalising and delinquent behaviour in adults, adolescents and school-age children. In younger children the evidence is less clear. Moreover, the specificity of the relation between the autonomic nervous system and different forms of externalising behaviour is uncertain.

Parent-teacher agreement on children's problems in 21 societies.

Parent-teacher cross-informant agreement, although usually modest, may provide important clinical information. Using data for 27,962 children from 21 societies, we asked the following: (a) Do parents report more problems than teachers, and does this vary by society, age, gender, or type of problem? (b) Does parent-teacher agreement vary across different problem scales or across societies? (c) How well do parents and teachers in different societies agree on problem item ratings? (d) How much do parent-teacher dyads in different societies vary in within-dyad agreement on problem items? (e) How well do parents and teachers in 21 societies agree on whether the child's problem level exceeds a deviance threshold? We used five methods to test agreement for Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher's Report Form (TRF) ratings. CBCL scores were higher than TRF scores on most scales, but the informant differences varied in magnitude across the societies studied.

From positive emotionality to internalizing problems: the role of executive functioning in preschoolers.

Temperament and psychopathology are intimately related; however, research on the prospective associations between positive emotionality, defined as a child's positive mood states and high engagement with the environment, and psychopathology is inconclusive. We examined the longitudinal relation between positive emotionality and internalizing problems in young children from the general population. Furthermore, we explored whether executive functioning mediates any observed association.

Glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) methylation following stressful events between birth and adolescence. The TRAILS study.

Stress early in life is a known risk factor for the development of affective disorders later in life. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, may have an important role in mediating that risk. Recent epigenetic research reported on the long-term relationship between traumatic stress in childhood and DNA methylation in adulthood.

Adolescents' use of care for behavioral and emotional problems: types, trends, and determinants.

Objective: While adolescents use various types of care for behavioral and emotional problems, evidence on age trends and determinants per type is scarce. We aimed to assess use of care by adolescents because of behavioral and emotional problems, overall and by type, and its determinants, for ages 10-19 years.

Methods: We obtained longitudinal data on 2,230 adolescents during ages 10-19 from four measurements regarding use of general care and specialized care (youth social care and mental healthcare) in the preceding 6 months, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report, and child and family characteristics.

Downstream effects of maternal hypothyroxinemia in early pregnancy: nonverbal IQ and brain morphology in school-age children.

Context: Although maternal hypothyroxinemia is suggested to be related to various adverse consequences in a child's neurodevelopment, the underlying neurobiology is largely unknown.

Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between maternal hypothyroxinemia in early pregnancy and children's nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ). Furthermore, we explored whether global brain volumes, cortical thickness, and brain surface area differed between children exposed prenatally to hypothyroxinemia and healthy controls.

Classes of oppositional-defiant behavior: concurrent and predictive validity.

Background: Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) has components of both irritability and defiance. It remains unclear whether children with variation in these domains have different adult outcomes. This study examined the concurrent and predictive validity of classes of oppositional defiant behavior.

Maternal Childhood Maltreatment and Offspring Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Maternal and Paternal Mechanisms of Risk Transmission.

This study examined hostility and harsh discipline of both mothers and fathers as potential mechanisms explaining the association between a maternal maltreatment history and her offspring's internalizing and externalizing problems. Prospective data from fetal life to age 6 were collected from a total of 4,438 families participating in the Generation R Study. Maternal maltreatment was assessed during pregnancy using a self-administered questionnaire.

Anxiety and disruptive behavior mediate pathways from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to depression.

Objective: The progression to depression in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not clearly understood. To clarify this relationship, we tested the following hypotheses in a population-based study: (1) children with ADHD have a higher risk of developing depression than children without ADHD; (2) the pathway from ADHD to depression is mediated (partly) through anxiety and disruptive behavior disorders; and (3) mediation through anxiety is more prevalent in girls, and mediation through disruptive behavior disorders is more prevalent in boys.

Method: From October 2008 to September 2010, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to assess ADHD, major depressive episodes, anxiety disorders, and disruptive behavior disorders in 1,584 participants from the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) cohort.

Television viewing through ages 2-5 years and bullying involvement in early elementary school.

Background: High television exposure time at young age has been described as a potential risk factor for developing behavioral problems. However, less is known about the effects of preschool television on subsequent bullying involvement. We examined the association between television viewing time through ages 2-5 and bullying involvement in the first grades of elementary school.

Aerobic exercise influences quality of life of children and youngsters with congenital heart disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To evaluate effects of an exercise program on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) or a Fontan circulation.

Methods: Stratified, randomized, controlled intervention study conducted in five participating centers of pediatric cardiology in The Netherlands. In total, 93 patients, aged 10-25 years, with surgical repair for tetralogy of Fallot or with a Fontan circulation for single-ventricle physiology were included.

Detecting bullying in early elementary school with a computerized peer-nomination instrument.

In this study we describe the PEERS Measure, a computerized assessment instrument that takes an innovative approach to using the peer-nomination method to identify bullying among elementary school children in Grades 1-2. Its psychometric characteristics were measured in 4,017 children from 190 school classes. The intercorrelations between the peer-nomination scores showed congruence of the data (e.

Variations in maternal 5-HTTLPR affect observed sensitive parenting.

Background: Little is known about the genetic determinants of sensitive parenting. Two earlier studies examined the effect of the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) on sensitive parenting, but reported opposite results. In a large cohort we further examined whether 5-HTTLPR is a predictor of observed maternal sensitivity and whether observed child social fearfulness moderates the effect of 5-HTTLPR on maternal sensitivity.

Maternal depressive symptoms and sensitivity are related to young children's facial expression recognition: the Generation R Study.

A vast body of literature shows that maternal depression has long-term adverse consequences for children. However, only very few studies have documented the effect of maternal depression on children's ability to process emotional expressions and even fewer incorporated measures of observed maternal sensitivity to further tease apart whether it is the symptoms per se or the associated impact via maternal sensitivity that affects children's developing emotion-processing abilities. In a large community sample of Dutch preschoolers (N = 770), we examined independent and mediated effects of maternal depressive symptoms and sensitivity on children's ability to recognize emotional expressions using a nonverbal and a verbal task paradigm.

Maternal depressive symptoms are associated with low fearfulness in preschoolers.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether maternal depressive symptoms predict low positive emotionality and high temperamental fearfulness in preschool children. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed prenatally and at 2, 6, and 36 months postnatally. Positive emotionality and temperamental fearfulness were assessed using laboratory observations in a large cohort of typically developing Dutch preschoolers (N = 799; 404 boys) at age 36 months (M = 37.

Executive functioning and non-verbal intelligence as predictors of bullying in early elementary school.

Executive function and intelligence are negatively associated with aggression, yet the role of executive function has rarely been examined in the context of school bullying. We studied whether different domains of executive function and non-verbal intelligence are associated with bullying involvement in early elementary school. The association was examined in a population-based sample of 1,377 children.

Effect of exercise training on sports enjoyment and leisure-time spending in adolescents with complex congenital heart disease: the moderating effect of health behavior and disease knowledge.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a standardized exercise program on sports enjoyment and leisure-time spending in adolescents with congenital heart disease and to know what the moderating impact of their baseline health behavior and disease knowledge is.

Methods: Included were 93 patients, aged 10 to 25, with surgical repair for tetralogy of Fallot or with a Fontan circulation for single-ventricle physiology, of 5 participating centers of pediatric cardiology in The Netherlands. They were randomly allocated, stratified for age, gender, and type of congenital heart disease to a 12-week period with either: (1) three times per week standardized exercise training or (2) care as usual (randomization ratio 2:1).

DNA methylation profiles at birth and child ADHD symptoms.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common and highly heritable psychiatric disorder. In addition, early life environmental factors contribute to the occurrence of ADHD. Recently, DNA methylation has emerged as a mechanism potentially mediating genetic and environmental effects.