Research Publications

Abstract

School shooting events and lockdowns have increased in the United States, raising concerns about their impact on youth mental health.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Analysis of resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) typically excludes images substantially degraded by subject motion. However, data quality, including degree of motion, relates to a broad set of participant characteristics, particularly in pediatric neuroimaging. Consequently, when planning quality control (QC) procedures researchers must balance data quality concerns against the possibility of biasing results by eliminating data. In order to explore how researcher QC decisions might bias rs-fMRI findings and inform future research design, we investigated how a broad spectrum of participant characteristics in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were related to participant inclusion/exclusion across versions of the dataset (the ABCD Community Collection and ABCD Release 4) and QC choices (specifically, motion scrubbing thresholds). Across all these conditions, we found that the odds of a participant’s exclusion related to a broad spectrum of behavioral, demographic, and health-related variables, with the consequence that rs-fMRI analyses using these variables are likely to produce biased results. Consequently, we recommend that missing data be formally accounted for when analyzing rs-fMRI data and interpreting results. Our findings demonstrate the urgent need for better data acquisition and analysis techniques which minimize the impact of motion on data quality. Additionally, we strongly recommend including detailed information about quality control in open datasets such as ABCD.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 3928), we examined how police contact relates to sleep problems, anxiety, and depressive symptoms during middle adolescence (M age = 14.09; SD = 0.68). Consistent with racialized disparities in the presence of police in schools and communities, descriptive data revealed that Black children, particularly boys, reported more positive and negative contact with police than other children. Results of regression analyses that adjusted for potential selection factors further revealed that negative interactions with police were associated with increased risk for sleep disturbances and/or internalizing symptoms among White boys, Black girls, and Hispanic youth. Contact with police was not, however, associated with outcomes assessed here for White girls or Black boys, findings that likely reflect fundamentally different lived experiences with police, gendered racial socialization processes, and access to social support that warrant continued investigation in future research.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Recent years have seen a shift toward alternative nosologies of psychopathology, which frequently include a dimension of externalizing psychopathology. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology is one such framework. Research using data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study has identified a broad-based externalizing dimension, but no research to date has sought to empirically identify finer-grained externalizing subdimensions despite the research benefits associated with the use of homogenous dimensions. Furthermore, no work to date has examined whether externalizing dimensions are invariant over time. Thus, the current study had two primary aims: Aim 1-identify the hierarchical structure of externalizing psychopathology and examine evidence of discriminant validity of identified dimensions and Aim 2-assess the longitudinal measurement invariance of a broad externalizing dimension in the ABCD Study, as well as specific underlying subdimensions. The results for Aim 1 analyses identified a coherent factor structure comprising a broad externalizing dimension and three subdimensions (conduct problems, irritability, and neurodevelopmental problems), and these factors showed important similarities and differences in relation to external correlates. Aim 2 analyses showed that strong invariance was supported for the conduct problems and irritability dimensions, while partial strong invariance was supported for broad externalizing and neurodevelopmental problems. Quantification of measurement (non)invariance revealed small effect sizes. The results highlight important directions for future research on externalizing psychopathology in the ABCD Study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

This editorial focuses on the issue of data misuse that is increasingly evidenced in social media as well as some premiere scientific journals. This issue is of critical importance to open science projects in general, and ABCD in particular, given the broad array of biological, behavioural and environmental information collected on this American sample of 12,000 youth and parents. ABCD data are already widely used with over 1,200 publications and twice as many citations per year as expected (relative citation index based on year, field and journal). However, the adverse consequences of misuse of data and inaccurate interpretation of emergent findings from this precedent setting study may have a profound impact on disadvantaged populations and perpetuate biases and societal injustices.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Black adolescents in the United States face disproportionate poor nutrition and obesity risk due to racism. Intersections of larger structural contexts that pose differential access to Black adolescents’ health resources, such as state-level racism and neighborhood-level disadvantage, may govern these risks. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the associations between state-level racism, neighborhood disadvantage, and their intersection with nutrition and obesity for Black adolescents in a longitudinal study.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Online social interactions increase into adolescence. Although cross-sectional studies have positively associated online social activity (OSA) time and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems, the directionality remains unclear. Therefore, we examined longitudinal associations between OSA time and ADHD problems using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Four waves of ABCD data from 11,819 youth participants (52.1% boys; Baseline: M = 9.92 years, SD = 0.62) were utilized. Random-intercepts cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) adjusting for potential confounds were employed to estimate longitudinal bidirectional associations. Multiple-group RI-CLPM analyses examined potential moderation effects of OSA content type and child’s sex. The results revealed that greater OSA time was associated with more ADHD problems in early adolescence, while more ADHD problems did not predict greater OSA time. In moderation analyses, the cross-lagged effects of OSA time on ADHD problems were only significant for girls, and boys showed an inverse relation between ADHD problems and subsequent OSA time. No moderation effect of OSA content type was observed. These findings highlight the potential detrimental effect of OSA time on the development of attentional processes, especially for girls, thereby offering insights that could guide the development and targeting of interventions to mitigate future risks for ADHD problems during adolescence.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Low socioeconomic status is associated with lower cognitive performance and long-term disparities in achievement and success. However, not all children from low-income backgrounds exhibit lower cognitive performance. Characterizing the factors that promote such resilience in youth from low-income households is of crucial importance.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Setting rules about alcohol use and minimizing its availability in the home are known effective parent-level strategies for reducing underage drinking risk. However, parents’ restrictions and their perceptions of their child’s alcohol access have rarely been considered in combination (e.g., determining if rule-setting consistently accompanies perceived easy access), despite the potential to inform targeted prevention. The current study identified patterns in six parent-reported indicators of their child’s alcohol restrictions and access and characterized them with respect to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, community type (urban, suburban, or rural), and neighborhood (dis)advantage.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Psychiatric disorders are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. However, their study is hindered by limitations on precisely characterizing human behavior. New technologies such as wearable sensors show promise in surmounting these limitations in that they measure heterogeneous behavior in a quantitative and unbiased fashion. Here, we analyze wearable and genetic data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Leveraging >250 wearable-derived features as digital phenotypes, we show that an interpretable AI framework can objectively classify adolescents with psychiatric disorders more accurately than previously possible. To relate digital phenotypes to the underlying genetics, we show how they can be employed in univariate and multivariate genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Doing so, we identify 16 significant genetic loci and 37 psychiatric-associated genes, including ELFN1 and ADORA3, demonstrating that continuous, wearable-derived features give greater detection power than traditional case-control GWASs. Overall, we show how wearable technology can help uncover new linkages between behavior and genetics.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is the largest longitudinal study on brain development and adolescent health in the United States. The study includes a sociodemographically diverse cohort of nearly 12,000 youth born 2005-2009, with an open science model of making data rapidly available to the scientific community. The ABCD Study® data has been used in over 1100 peer-reviewed publications since its first data release in 2018. The dataset contains a broad scope and comprehensive set of measures of youths’ behavioral, health, and brain outcomes, as well as extensive contextual and environmental measures that map onto the social determinants of health (SDOH). Understanding the impact of SDOH on the developmental trajectories of youth will help to address early lifecourse health inequities that lead to disparities later in life. However, the open science model and extensive use of ABCD data highlight the need for guidance on appropriate, responsible, and equitable use of the data.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

This study examined the relative impact of earlier versus proximal childhood exposures to family adversities (parental health problems, family conflict, financial hardship, abuse, violence) and supportive caregiving (warm and supportive parenting behaviors) on youths’ symptom trajectories across early adolescence. We used parent-reported survey data to differentiate co-occurring Pain, Psychological, and Somatic Symptom (Pain-PSS) trajectories among youth in the longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study® (2016-2022). Family adversities and supportive caregiving were derived from youth and parent surveys and coded as occurring earlier (by age 9-11yrs; baseline) or proximally (occurring during study follow-up years 1-4; by age 11-15yrs). Sequential modeling determined whether proximal exposures mediated the effects of earlier exposures on youths’ Pain-PSS trajectories (data reflect adjusted relative risk ratios (adj. RRR [95% confidence interval]). Four Pain-PSS trajectories were differentiated among 7,546 youth, 14.3% of whom were classified with High Pain/High PSS. Earlier exposure to any family adversity increased the risk for higher Pain-PSS relative to the lowest symptom trajectory (e.g., parental mental health or somatic problems increased the relative risk for a High Pain/High PSS trajectory to 3.85 [2.84, 5.22] and 5.75 [4.36, 7.58], respectively). Most proximal exposures increased the risk for higher symptom trajectories, fully or partially mediating effects of earlier exposures. Higher proximal supportive caregiving lowered the risk for the High Pain/High PSS trajectory by 80%, fully mediating the impact of earlier caregiving. Findings suggest that family adversities and supportive caregiving may be important interventional targets to lower the risk for co-occurring symptom persistence across early adolescence.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Various psychosocial factors like collaboration inherent to team sports might provide a more dynamic environment for cognitive challenges that could foster enhanced neurocognitive development compared to individual sports. We investigated the impact of different organised sports on neurocognitive development in children (N = 11,878; aged 9-11) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Participants were classified into four categories based on their sports involvement at baseline and two years later: none, individual-based, team-based, or both. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted on 11 cognitive tests and neuroimaging metrics (i.e., resting-state functional connectivity and various grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) measurements) between sport groups. A comparison between team and individual sports yielded no significant differences in cognitive measures at baseline and follow-up. Similarly, although WM microstructural differences were significant, the effect size was small. However, participation in any sport at baseline was associated with superior performance in various cognitive domains (i.e. inhibition, processing speed, and others), greater subcortical GM volume (i.e. cerebellum cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and others), and whole-brain WM integrity compared to non-participants. Results suggest a positive association between organised sports participation, specifically individual and team-based sports, and neurocognitive development. However, further investigation is warranted to determine the nuanced effects of different sports on neurocognitive development.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

To determine the association between transgender or gender-questioning identity and cyberbullying victimization in a diverse national sample of early adolescents in the US.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

There is not yet a consensus on the best way to conceptualise adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We used data-driven methods across two populations to examine (a) if there were meaningful dimensions underlying ACEs and (b) whether dimensions were differentially associated with increased risk of adolescent psychopathology.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) is a powerful tool for investigating the relationship between brain function and cognitive processes as it allows for the functional organization of the brain to be captured without relying on a specific task or stimuli. In this paper, we present a novel modeling architecture called BrainRGIN for predicting intelligence (fluid, crystallized and total intelligence) using graph neural networks on rsfMRI derived static functional network connectivity matrices. Extending from the existing graph convolution networks, our approach incorporates a clustering-based embedding and graph isomorphism network in the graph convolutional layer to reflect the nature of the brain sub-network organization and efficient network expression, in combination with TopK pooling and attention-based readout functions. We evaluated our proposed architecture on a large dataset, specifically the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Dataset, and demonstrated its effectiveness in predicting individual differences in intelligence. Our model achieved lower mean squared errors and higher correlation scores than existing relevant graph architectures and other traditional machine learning models for all of the intelligence prediction tasks. The middle frontal gyrus exhibited a significant contribution to both fluid and crystallized intelligence, suggesting their pivotal role in these cognitive processes. Total composite scores identified a diverse set of brain regions to be relevant which underscores the complex nature of total intelligence. Our GitHub implementation is publicly available on https://github.com/bishalth01/BrainRGIN/.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Pubertal trends, wherein adolescents today are experiencing puberty earlier than prior generations, have coincided with the expansion of the criminal legal system, which is disproportionately impacting communities of color. However, whether pubertal development and criminal legal system exposure among adolescents are inter-related is unknown. We tested whether family members’ criminal legal system exposure predicted adolescents’ pubertal development, whether family strain explained the relation between criminal legal system exposure and pubertal development, and whether race/ethnicity moderated our results. We used three yearly waves of longitudinal data among a national sample of 9,518 adolescents. Results illustrated that 40% of Black, 20% of Latinx, 16% of Other, and 10% of White adolescents experienced one or more family criminal legal system exposures. In structural equation models within a case-crossover design controlling for measured confounders and unmeasured confounders that do not change over time, including neighborhood-level socioeconomic status and crime, family criminal legal system exposure predicted adolescents’ advanced pubertal development, and family strain explained this relation between family criminal legal system exposure and pubertal development. The United States’ approach to law and order has public health implications that may be perpetuating health inequities, as accelerated pubertal development can have downstream consequences across the life course.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Major efforts in human neuroimaging strive to understand individual differences and find biomarkers for clinical applications by predicting behavioural phenotypes from brain imaging data. To identify generalisable and replicable brain-behaviour prediction models, sufficient measurement reliability is essential. However, the selection of prediction targets is predominantly guided by scientific interest or data availability rather than psychometric considerations. Here, we demonstrate the impact of low reliability in behavioural phenotypes on out-of-sample prediction performance. Using simulated and empirical data from four large-scale datasets, we find that reliability levels common across many phenotypes can markedly limit the ability to link brain and behaviour. Next, using 5000 participants from the UK Biobank, we show that only highly reliable data can fully benefit from increasing sample sizes from hundreds to thousands of participants. Our findings highlight the importance of measurement reliability for identifying meaningful brain-behaviour associations from individual differences and underscore the need for greater emphasis on psychometrics in future research.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Cognition Battery is increasingly being used as a standardized test to examine cognitive functioning in multicentric studies. This study examines the associations between the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery composite scores with neuroimaging metrics using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to elucidate the neurobiological and neuroanatomical correlates of these cognitive scores.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Quantitative global or regional brain imaging measurements, known as imaging-specific or -derived phenotypes (IDPs), are commonly used in genotype-phenotype association studies to explore the genomic architecture of the brain and how it may be affected by neurological diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease), mental health (e.g., depression), and neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]). For this purpose, medical images have been used as IDPs using a voxel-wise or global approach via principal component analysis. However, these methods have limitations related to multiple testing or the inability to isolate high variation regions, respectively.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

High-resolution (HR) 3D MR images provide detailed soft-tissue information that is useful in assessing long-term side-effects after treatment in childhood cancer survivors, such as morphological changes in brain structures. However, these images require long acquisition times, so routinely acquired follow-up images after treatment often consist of 2D low-resolution (LR) images (with thick slices in multiple planes).

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Video games are a common form of entertainment in adolescents, which may result in gaming habits characterized by impairment to reward-related decision-making. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between reward processing and symptoms of gaming addiction in adolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disturbance during childhood and can result in extensively detrimental effects. Children’s insomnia involves a complex interplay of biological, neurodevelopmental, social-environmental, and behavioral variables, yet remains insufficiently addressed. This study aimed to investigate the multifactorial etiology of childhood insomnia from its genetic architecture and social-environmental variables to its neural instantiation and the relationship to mental health. This cohort study uses 4340 participants at baseline and 2717 participants at 2-year follow-up from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. We assessed the joint effects of polygenic risk score (PRS) and socioeconomic status (SES) on insomnia symptoms and then investigated the underlying neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Structural equation model (SEM) was applied to investigate the directional relationships among these variables. SES and PRS affected children’s insomnia symptoms independently and additively (SES: β = -0.089, P = 1.91 × 10; PRS: β = 0.041, P = 0.008), which was further indirectly mediated by the deviation of inferior precentral sulcus (β = 0.0027, P = 0.0071). SEM revealed that insomnia (β = 0.457, P < 0.001) and precentral development (β = -0.039, P = 0.009) significantly mediated the effect of SES_PRS (accumulated risks of PRS and SES) on psychopathology symptoms. Furthermore, baseline insomnia symptoms, SES_PRS, and precentral deviation significantly predicted individual total psychopathology syndromes (r = 0.346, P < 0.001). These findings suggest the additive effects of genetic and socioenvironmental factors on childhood insomnia via precentral development and highlight potential targets in early detection and intervention for childhood insomnia.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to assess and adjust for measurement non-equivalence (bias) by sex, race/ethnicity, and co-occurring social identities (sex x race/ethnicity) for the Marijuana Effect Expectancies Questionnaire-Brief (MEEQ-B) among Black, Latinx, and Non-Latinx white youth. The second aim was to determine how group comparisons change after accounting for possible measurement bias.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Converging evidence indicates that the heterogeneity of cognitive profiles may arise through detectable alternations in brain functional connectivity. Despite an unprecedented opportunity to uncover neurobiological subtypes through clustering or subtyping analyses on multi-state functional connectivity, few existing approaches are applicable to accommodate the network topology and unique biological architecture. To address this issue, we propose an innovative Bayesian nonparametric network-variate clustering analysis to uncover subgroups of individuals with homogeneous brain functional network patterns under multiple cognitive states. In light of the existing neuroscience literature, we assume there are unknown state-specific modular structures within functional connectivity. Concurrently, we identify informative network features essential for defining subtypes. To further facilitate practical use, we develop a computationally efficient variational inference algorithm to approximate posterior inference with satisfactory estimation accuracy. Extensive simulations show the superiority of our method. We apply the method to the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, and identify neurodevelopmental subtypes and brain sub-network phenotypes under each state to signal neurobiological heterogeneity, suggesting promising directions for further exploration and investigation in neuroscience.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

To examine the association between multiple dimensions of gender diversity and physical activity (daily steps) in a diverse national sample of early adolescents in the United States.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Depression and pain co-occur, even during adolescence. However, there is limited knowledge on the association between pain and lifetime depression, and which biopsychosocial measures are associated with this co-occurrence.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Complex structural and functional changes occurring in typical and atypical development necessitate multidimensional approaches to better understand the risk of developing psychopathology. Here, we simultaneously examined structural and functional brain network patterns in relation to dimensions of psychopathology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development dataset. Several components were identified, recapitulating the psychopathology hierarchy, with the general psychopathology () factor explaining most covariance with multimodal imaging features, while the internalizing, externalizing, and neurodevelopmental dimensions were each associated with distinct morphological and functional connectivity signatures. Connectivity signatures associated with the factor and neurodevelopmental dimensions followed the sensory-to-transmodal axis of cortical organization, which is related to the emergence of complex cognition and risk for psychopathology. Results were consistent in two separate data subsamples and robust to variations in analytical parameters. Although model parameters yielded statistically significant brain-behavior associations in unseen data, generalizability of the model was rather limited for all three latent components ( change from within- to out-of-sample statistics: LC1=0.36, LC1=0.03; LC2=0.34, LC2=0.05; LC3=0.35, LC3=0.07). Our findings help in better understanding biological mechanisms underpinning dimensions of psychopathology, and could provide brain-based vulnerability markers.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Human craniofacial shape is highly variable yet highly heritable with numerous genetic variants interacting through multiple layers of development. Here, we hypothesize that Mendelian phenotypes represent the extremes of a phenotypic spectrum and, using achondroplasia as an example, we introduce a syndrome-informed phenotyping approach to identify genomic loci associated with achondroplasia-like facial variation in the general population. We compare three-dimensional facial scans from 43 individuals with achondroplasia and 8246 controls to calculate achondroplasia-like facial scores. Multivariate GWAS of the control scores reveals a polygenic basis for facial variation along an achondroplasia-specific shape axis, identifying genes primarily involved in skeletal development. Jointly modeling these genes in two independent control samples, both human and mouse, shows craniofacial effects approximating the characteristic achondroplasia phenotype. These findings suggest that both complex and Mendelian genetic variation act on the same developmentally determined axes of facial variation, providing insights into the genetic intersection of complex traits and Mendelian disorders.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Maternal tobacco use during pregnancy (MTDP) remains a major public health challenge. However, the complete spectrum of effects of MTDP is not fully understood.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Although racial and ethnic disparities are well documented in children’s mean levels of sleep, particularly duration, evidence is mixed for sleep variability, an important sleep dimension of growing interest. Most research has also focused on comparisons of Black and White children, with limited attention to sleep variability disparities among other racially and ethnically minoritized groups such as Asian, Latinx, and multiracial children.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The extent to which neuroanatomical variability associated with early substance involvement, which is associated with subsequent risk for substance use disorder development, reflects preexisting risk and/or consequences of substance exposure remains poorly understood.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Recent studies using the diffusion decision model find that performance across many cognitive control tasks can be largely attributed to a task-general efficiency of evidence accumulation (EEA) factor that reflects individuals’ ability to selectively gather evidence relevant to task goals. However, estimates of EEA from an n-back “conflict recognition” paradigm in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large, diverse sample of youth, appear to contradict these findings. EEA estimates from “lure” trials-which present stimuli that are familiar (i.e., presented previously) but do not meet formal criteria for being a target-show inconsistent relations with EEA estimates from other trials and display atypical v-shaped bivariate distributions, suggesting many individuals are responding based largely on stimulus familiarity rather than goal-relevant stimulus features. We present a new formal model of evidence integration in conflict recognition tasks that distinguishes individuals’ EEA for goal-relevant evidence from their use of goal-irrelevant familiarity. We then investigate developmental, cognitive, and clinical correlates of these novel parameters. Parameters for EEA and goal-irrelevant familiarity-based processing showed strong correlations across levels of n-back load, suggesting they are task-general dimensions that influence individuals’ performance regardless of working memory demands. Only EEA showed large, robust developmental differences in the ABCD sample and an independent age-diverse sample. EEA also exhibited higher test-retest reliability and uniquely meaningful associations with clinically relevant dimensions. These findings establish a principled modeling framework for characterizing conflict recognition mechanisms and have several broader implications for research on individual and developmental differences in cognitive control.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Mapping differential brain structures for psychiatric problems has been challenging due to a lack of regional convergence and poor replicability in previous brain-behavior association studies. By leveraging two independent large cohorts of neurodevelopment, the ABCD and Generation R Studies (total N = 11271), we implemented an unsupervised machine learning technique with a highly stringent generalizability test to identify reliable brain-behavior associations across diverse domains of child psychiatric problems. Across all psychiatric symptoms measured, one multivariate brain-behavior association was found, reflecting a widespread reduction of cortical surface area correlated with higher child attention problems. Crucially, this association showed marked generalizability across different populations and study protocols, demonstrating potential clinical utility. Moreover, the derived brain dimension score predicted child cognitive and academic functioning three years later and was also associated with polygenic scores for ADHD. Our results indicated that attention problems could be a phenotype for establishing promising multivariate neurobiological prediction models for children across populations. Future studies could extend this investigation into different development periods and examine the predictive values for assessment of functioning, diagnosis, and disease trajectory in clinical samples.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Sexual orientation discrimination increases the risks of negative health outcomes for sexual minorities. Previous studies have found increased rates of eating disorder symptoms in sexual minority individuals, which is attributable to minority stress and discrimination that they experience. Emerging research suggests relationships between sexual orientation discrimination and eating disorder symptoms. However, there is a lack of studies focusing on early adolescents. The objective of this study was to determine prospective associations between discrimination based on sexual orientation and eating disorder symptoms in a national sample of 10-13-year-old early adolescents in the U.S.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Decades of research show a clear link between family factors and psychopathology. Family functioning varies across cultures, suggesting potential cultural differences in the association between family factors and psychopathology. In addition, assessing family functioning generally involves tools not systematically validated for diverse cultural backgrounds. Using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development data ( = 11,864), this study found: (a) full scalar invariance was tenable for the Children’s Reports of Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) and Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Child Version (PQ-BC) across race/ethnicity, but not for the Family Environment Scale (FES) and Parental Monitoring Survey (PMQ); (b) the CRPBI and PMQ were significantly associated with the PQ-BC, and (c) all three family scales had equivalent relations with the PQ-BC across groups. This highlights the importance of evaluating scales for measurement invariance across race/ethnicity. Results also help to connect specific family factors to the etiology of psychosis risk among U.S. children and adolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Brain-wide association studies (BWAS) are a fundamental tool in discovering brain-behaviour associations. Several recent studies have shown that thousands of study participants are required for good replicability of BWAS. Here we performed analyses and meta-analyses of a robust effect size index using 63 longitudinal and cross-sectional MRI studies from the Lifespan Brain Chart Consortium (77,695 total scans) to demonstrate that optimizing study design is critical for increasing standardized effect sizes and replicability in BWAS. A meta-analysis of brain volume associations with age indicates that BWAS with larger variability of the covariate and longitudinal studies have larger reported standardized effect size. Analysing age effects on global and regional brain measures from the UK Biobank and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, we showed that modifying study design through sampling schemes improves standardized effect sizes and replicability. To ensure that our results are generalizable, we further evaluated the longitudinal sampling schemes on cognitive, psychopathology and demographic associations with structural and functional brain outcome measures in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development dataset. We demonstrated that commonly used longitudinal models, which assume equal between-subject and within-subject changes can, counterintuitively, reduce standardized effect sizes and replicability. Explicitly modelling the between-subject and within-subject effects avoids conflating them and enables optimizing the standardized effect sizes for each separately. Together, these results provide guidance for study designs that improve the replicability of BWAS.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

This study investigated longitudinal relationships between social media usage and binge eating (BE) in early adolescence and explored potential moderating effects of sex and BMI.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The spatial layout of large-scale functional brain networks exhibits considerable inter-individual variability, especially in the association cortex. Research has demonstrated a link between early socioeconomic status (SES) and variations in both brain structure and function, which are further associated with cognitive and mental health outcomes. However, the extent to which SES is associated with individual differences in personalized functional network topography during childhood remains largely unexplored.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Adolescence is marked by hormonal, physical, neural, and behavioral changes, including in sleep patterns and, in females, the onset of menarche. Menstrual problems, such as painful menses, are common and contribute to school absences, and could indicate gynecological conditions impacting reproductive health. While studies in adults have shown associations between sleep disturbances and menstrual problems, this relationship is less understood in adolescents. Our study explores the association between sleep, menstrual problems, and menarche in a diverse sample of early adolescent girls in the U.S.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between identifying as transgender and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in US early adolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Though caffeine use during pregnancy is common, its longitudinal associations with child behavioral and physical health outcomes remain poorly understood. Here, we estimated associations between prenatal caffeine exposure, body mass index (BMI), and behavior as children enter adolescence.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Longitudinal studies of the effects of adversity on human brain development are complicated by the association of stressful events with confounding variables. To counter this bias, we apply a propensity-weighted analysis of the first two years of The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® data, employing a machine learning analysis weighted by individuals’ propensity to experience adversity. Data included 338 resting-state functional connections from 7190 youth (46% female), divided into a training group (80%) and an independent testing group (20%). Propensity scores were computed using 390 variables to balance across two-year adverse life event exposures. Using elastic net regularization with and without inverse propensity weighting, we developed linear models in which changes in functional connectivity of brain connections during the two-year period served as predictors of the number of adverse events experienced during that same period. Haufe’s method was applied to forward-transform the backward prediction models. We also tested whether brain changes associated with adverse events correlated with concomitant changes in internalizing or externalizing behaviors or to academic achievement. In the propensity-weighted analysis, brain development significantly predicted the number of adverse events experienced during that period in both the training group (ρ = 0.14, p < 0.001) and the independent testing group (ρ = 0.10, p < 0.001). The predictor indicated a general pattern of decreased functional connectivity between large-scale networks and subcortical brain regions, particularly for cingulo-opercular and sensorimotor networks. These network-to-subcortical functional connectivity decreases inversely associated with the development of internalizing symptoms, suggesting adverse events promoted adaptive brain changes that may buffer against stress-related psychopathology. However, these same functional connections were also associated with poorer grades at the two-year follow-up. Although cortical-subcortical brain developmental responses to adversity potentially shield against stress-induced mood and anxiety disorders, they may be detrimental to other domains such as academic success.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Impulsivity has been recognized as an important factor in suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). However, previous research linking impulsivity to STBs has largely relied on cross-sectional designs, considered only a subset of impulsivity measures, and typically focused on middle-to-older adolescents. Here, we explored multiple measures of impulsivity and assessed their predictive relation to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Human adolescence marks a crucial phase of extensive brain development, highly susceptible to environmental influences. Employing brain age estimation to assess individual brain aging, we categorized individuals ( = 7,435, aged 9-10 years old) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort into groups exhibiting either accelerated or delayed brain maturation, where the accelerated group also displayed increased cognitive performance compared to their delayed counterparts. A 4-way multi-set canonical correlation analysis integrating three modalities of brain metrics (gray matter density, brain morphological measures, and functional network connectivity) with nine environmental factors unveiled a significant 4-way canonical correlation between linked patterns of neural features, air pollution, area crime, and population density. Correlations among the three brain modalities were notably strong (ranging from 0.65 to 0.77), linking reduced gray matter density in the middle temporal gyrus and precuneus to decreased volumes in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex paired with increased cortical thickness in the right supramarginal and bilateral occipital regions, as well as increased functional connectivity in occipital sub-regions. These specific brain characteristics were significantly more pronounced in the accelerated brain aging group compared to the delayed group. Additionally, these brain regions exhibited significant associations with air pollution, area crime, and population density, where lower air pollution and higher area crime and population density were correlated to brain variations more prominently in the accelerated brain aging group.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Unpredictability is a core but understudied dimension of adversities and has been receiving increasing attention recently. The effects of unpredictability on psychopathology and the underlying neural mechanisms, however, remain unclear. It is also unknown how unpredictability interacts with other dimensions of adversities in predicting brain development and psychopathology of youth.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Adolescence is a time of increased risk for the onset of internalising problems, particularly in females. However, how individual differences in brain maturation relate to the increased vulnerability for internalising problems in adolescence remains poorly understood due to a scarcity of longitudinal studies.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Adolescent depression is a growing public health concern, and neuroimaging offers a promising approach to its pathology. We focused on the functional connectivity of the amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), which is theoretically important in major depressive disorder (MDD), but empirical evidence has remained inconsistent. This discrepancy is likely due to the limited statistical power of small sample sizes.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Maternal education was strongly correlated with adolescent brain morphology, cognitive performances, and mental health. However, the molecular basis for the effects of maternal education on the structural neurodevelopment remains unknown. Here, we conducted gene-environment-wide interaction study using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort. Seven genomic loci with significant gene-environment interactions (G×E) on regional gray matter volumes were identified, with enriched biological functions related to metabolic process, inflammatory process, and synaptic plasticity. Additionally, genetic overlapping results with behavioral and disease-related phenotypes indicated shared biological mechanism between maternal education modified neurodevelopment and related behavioral traits. Finally, by decomposing the multidimensional components of maternal education, we found that socioeconomic status, rather than family environment, played a more important role in modifying the genetic effects on neurodevelopment. In summary, our study provided analytical evidence for G×E effects regarding adolescent neurodevelopment and explored potential biological mechanisms as well as social mechanisms through which maternal education could modify the genetic effects on regional brain development.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

There are limited large-scale, prospective analyses examining contemporary screen use and substance use experimentation in early adolescents. The current study aimed to determine associations between eight forms of contemporary screen modalities and substance use experimentation one year later in a national cohort of 11-12-year-olds in the United States.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk for poor adolescent mental health, yet mediational pathways that connect ACEs with mental health problems remain unaddressed. Our study investigates whether school involvement and disengagement mediate the longitudinal associations between ACEs and adolescent mental health problems.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Parental mental health is associated with children’s emotion regulation (ER) and risk for psychopathology. The relationship between parental psychopathology and children’s functional ER networks and whether connectivity patterns mediate the relationship between parent and youth psychopathology remains unexplored. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 4202, mean age = 10.0) and a multilevel approach, we analyzed the relationship between self-reported parental psychopathology and their offsprings’ connectivity of four ER networks, as well as associations with self-reported youth psychopathology at a 3-year follow-up. Parental internalizing and total problems were associated with 1) higher connectivity between a subcortical-cortical integrative and ventrolateral prefrontal cortical (PFC) network, 2) lower connectivity between dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC networks involved in cognitive aspects of ER, and 3) lower connectivity within a subcortical ER network (β = -0.05-0.04). Parental externalizing and total problems were associated with lower connectivity within the integrative network (β = -0.05; β = -0.04). Mediation analyses yielded direct effects of parental to youth psychopathology, but no mediation effect of ER network connectivity. Overall, our results show that ER network connectivity in youth is related to parental psychopathology, yet do not explain intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Pediatric hypertension is linked to environmental factors like neighborhood noise disrupting sleep, which is crucial for health. The specific interaction between noise and sleep health in causing hypertension still needs to be explored.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

To assess associations between multiple dimensions of gender diversity with eating disorder symptoms in a national cohort of U.S. early adolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Adolescents with disrupted rest-activity rhythms (RAR) including shorter sleep duration, later sleep timing and low physical activity levels are at a greater risk for mental and behavioral problems. However, it remains unclear whether the same associations can be observed for within-subject changes in RAR.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Adolescent cannabis use has been consistently posited to contribute to the onset and progression of psychosis. However, alternative causal models may account for observed associations between cannabis use and psychosis risk, including shared vulnerability for both cannabis use and psychosis or efforts to self-medicate distress from psychosis spectrum symptomology.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Widely prescribed for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), stimulants (e.g., methylphenidate) have been studied for their chronic effects on the brain in prospective designs controlling dosage and adherence. While controlled approaches are essential, they do not approximate real-world stimulant exposure contexts where medication interruptions, dosage non-compliance, and polypharmacy are common. Brain changes in real-world conditions are largely unexplored. To fill this gap, we capitalized on the observational design of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to examine effects of stimulants on large-scale bilateral cortical networks’ resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) with 6 striatal regions (left and right caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens) across two years in children with ADHD. Bayesian hierarchical regressions revealed associations between stimulant exposure and change in rs-FC of multiple striatal-cortical networks, affiliated with executive and visuo-motor control, which were not driven by general psychotropic medication. Of these connections, three were selective to stimulants versus stimulant naive: reduced rs-FC between caudate and frontoparietal network, and between putamen and frontoparietal and visual networks. Comparison with typically developing children in the ABCD sample revealed stronger rs-FC reduction in stimulant-exposed children for putamen and frontoparietal and visual networks, suggesting a normalizing effect of stimulants. 14% of stimulant-exposed children demonstrated reliable reduction in ADHD symptoms, and were distinguished by stronger rs-FC reduction between right putamen and visual network. Thus, stimulant exposure for a two-year period under real-world conditions modulated striatal-cortical functional networks broadly, had a normalizing effect on a subset of networks, and was associated with potential therapeutic effects involving visual attentional control.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

There is ongoing concern about the impact of increasing use of social media and digital devices on unhealthy behaviors such as substance use in youth. Mobile phone and social media use have been associated with substance use in adolescent and young adult samples, but few studies have evaluated these relationships in younger samples.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The impact that companion animals may have on adolescent engagement in sports and other activities is currently unclear. This study included participant data gathered from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a longitudinal study of brain development and youth health outcomes in the United States ( = 8,489). This study aimed to clarify the extent to which companion animal type impacts family involvement in sports and other activities. Additionally, it is framed within the bioecological model of human development, which provides a useful framework for human-animal interaction researchers going forward. This study utilized multiple logistic and linear regressions in answering the research questions posed. The results indicate that, when adjusting for context- and person-level covariates, there does not appear to be a meaningful relationship between companion animal type and family involvement in sports and other activities, physical activity, or screen time. This study serves as a guidepost for human-animal interaction researchers as to the importance of including contextual variables in their studies before making claims regarding the impact of companion animals on youth, especially when details about the companion animal relationship are unavailable.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by deficits in social cognition, self-referential processing, and restricted repetitive behaviors. Despite the established clinical symptoms and neurofunctional alterations in ASD, definitive biomarkers for ASD features during neurodevelopment remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to explore if activation in brain regions of the default mode network (DMN), specifically the medial prefrontal cortex (MPC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), superior temporal sulcus (STS), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), angular gyrus (AG), and the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is associated with possible phenotypic features of autism (PPFA) in a large, diverse youth cohort.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Many studies show that both callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., low empathy, lack of guilt) and cognitive difficulties increase risk for externalizing psychopathology across development. However, other work suggests that some aggression (e.g., relational, proactive) may rely on intact cognitive function, which could vary based on the presence of CU traits. Moreover, no prior research has adequately accounted for common risk factors shared by CU traits, cognitive difficulties, and externalizing problems, which confounds conclusions that can be drawn about their purported relationships. The current study addressed these knowledge gaps by leveraging rigorous propensity matching methods to isolate associations between CU traits and different dimensions of cognitive function and externalizing problems.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Snoring is central to sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), which arises from nocturnal upper airway resistance. Habitual snoring is associated with cognitive and behavioral problems in young children, but less is known about these associations in adolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease affecting approximately 5 million children in the US. Rodent models of asthma indicate memory deficits, but little is known about whether asthma alters children’s memory development.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Simultaneous multi-slice (multiband) acceleration in fMRI has become widespread, but may be affected by novel forms of signal artifact. Here, we demonstrate a previously unreported artifact manifesting as a shared signal between simultaneously acquired slices in all resting-state and task-based multiband fMRI datasets we investigated, including publicly available consortium data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. We propose Multiband Artifact Regression in Simultaneous Slices (MARSS), a regression-based detection and correction technique that successfully mitigates this shared signal in unprocessed data. We demonstrate that the signal isolated by MARSS correction is likely nonneural, appearing stronger in neurovasculature than gray matter. Additionally, we evaluate MARSS both against and in tandem with sICA+FIX denoising, which is implemented in HCP resting-state data, to show that MARSS mitigates residual artifact signal that is not modeled by sICA+FIX. MARSS correction leads to study-wide increases in signal-to-noise ratio, decreases in cortical coefficient of variation, and mitigation of systematic artefactual spatial patterns in participant-level task betas. Finally, MARSS correction has substantive effects on second-level t-statistics in analyses of task-evoked activation. We recommend that investigators apply MARSS to multiband fMRI datasets with moderate or higher acceleration factors, in combination with established denoising methods.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) project is the largest study of adolescent brain development. ABCD longitudinally tracks 11,868 participants aged 9-10 years from 21 sites using standardized protocols for multi-site MRI data collection and analysis. While the multi-site and multi-scanner study design enhances the robustness and generalizability of analysis results, it may also introduce nonbiological variances including scanner-related variations, subject motion, and deviations from protocols. ABCD imaging data were collected biennially within a period of ongoing maturation in cortical thickness and integrity of cerebral white matter. These changes can bias the classical test-retest methodologies, such as intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). We developed a site-wise adaptive ICC (AICC) to evaluate the reliability of imaging-derived phenotypes while accounting for ongoing brain development. AICC iteratively estimates the population-level age-related brain development trajectory using a weighted mixed model and updates age-corrected site-wise reliability until convergence. We evaluated the test-retest reliability of regional fractional anisotropy (FA) measures from diffusion tensor imaging and cortical thickness (CT) from structural MRI data for each site. The mean AICC for 20 FA tracts across sites was 0.61 ± 0.19, lower than the mean AICC for CT in 34 regions across sites, 0.76 ± 0.12. Remarkably, sites using Siemens scanners consistently showed significantly higher AICC values compared with those using GE/Philips scanners for both FA (AICC = 0.71 ± 0.12 vs. 0.46 ± 0.17, p < 0.001) and CT (AICC = 0.80 ± 0.10 vs. 0.69 ± 0.11, p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate site-and-scanner related variations in data quality and underscore the necessity for meticulous data curation in subsequent association analyses.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Ethnically and racially underrepresented adolescents are experiencing pubertal development earlier in life than prior cohorts and their White American peers. This early onset of puberty is partly attributable to ethnic-racial discrimination. To contribute to adolescents’ resilience and posttraumatic growth in the face of ethnic-racial discrimination, parents’ ethnic-racial identities may spill over into their parenting beliefs and practices. Parents who have a sense of belonging with and commitment to their ethnic-racial identities may be aware of discrimination and actively and consistently engage in practices that build supportive home environments to support their children’s development in the context of ethnic-racial discrimination. To assess whether parents’ ethnic-racial identity commitment predicted adolescents’ resilience against ethnic-racial discrimination, we used multiple waves of survey data from adolescent siblings and their parents participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (N-adolescents = 1,651; N-families = 805; 35% Black, 37% Latinx, 3% Asian, 25% other ethnically and racially underrepresented youth; 49% boys, 50% girls, 1% gender nonconforming youth; Mage = 11.49, SD = 0.51). Results indicated that adolescents who experienced more frequent ethnic-racial discrimination than their siblings showed more advanced pubertal development. Parental ethnic-racial identity commitment reduced the relation between discrimination and pubertal development within a family. Results suggest that ethnic-racial identity commitment in parents can protect children when they experience ethnic-racial discrimination. Building on extant propositions related to resilience (Infurna & Luthar, 2018), the present study amplifies the depiction of resilience, yields recommendations for analysis of future research, and provides implications regarding the role of ethnicity-race in familial practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Objective
To estimate the prevalence of clinically meaningful youth mood, anxiety, behavioral, and attention symptoms across US states.

Method
Data are drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study baseline wave, which included 11,876 children ages 9–10. Statistical weighting strategies generated projected state-specific prevalence estimates for the 17 states where ABCD collected data based on state socio-demographics. Twenty dimensions of mental health were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist using recommended cut-scores to assess clinical and sub-threshold symptoms.

Results
Psychopathology symptom prevalence varied by state and outcome. Projected prevalence of internalizing problems ranged from 11.0% [95% CI: 9.8%, 12.2%; Oklahoma] to 7.9% [95% CI: 6.9%, 9.0%; Maryland] across states. Projected prevalence of externalizing problems ranged from 6.9% [95% CI: 6.1%, 7.8%; South Carolina] to 4.5% [95% CI: 3.7%, 5.4%; California]. Regions with high symptoms included sections of the South (e.g., Oklahoma, South Carolina) and Vermont. Conduct problems had the most variability across states (i.e., greatest state-level prevalence 91% higher than the lowest). Attention problems had the least variability across states (greatest state-level prevalence 26% higher than the lowest).

Conclusions
Clinically meaningful psychopathology symptoms are common in children across the US, with substantial state-level variability in prevalence. Understanding variability in the prevalence of psychopathology symptoms across the US can help to inform resource allocation to increase the availability of youth mental health services.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Elevated youth irritability is characterized by increased proneness to frustration relative to peers when rewards are blocked, and is a transdiagnostic symptom that predicts multiple forms of psychopathology and poorer socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. Although mechanistic models propose that irritability is the result of aberrant reward-related brain function, youth irritability as it relates to multiple components of reward processes, including reward anticipation, gain, and loss, has yet to be examined in large, population-based samples. Data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) baseline sample (N = 5923) was used to examine associations between youth irritability (measured by parent-report) and reward-related brain activation and connectivity in a large, preadolescent sample. Preadolescents (M age = 9.96 years, SD = 0.63) performed the Monetary Incentive Delay task during functional MRI acquisition. In the task, during the anticipation period, participants were informed of the upcoming trial type (win money, lose money, no money at stake) and waited to hit a target; during the feedback period, participants were informed of their success. Whole brain and region of interest (ROI) analyses evaluated task conditions in relation to irritability level. Preadolescents with higher compared to lower levels of irritability demonstrated blunted prefrontal cortex activation in the anticipation period and exaggerated striatum-prefrontal connectivity differences among reward conditions during the feedback period. These effects persisted after adjusting for co-occurring anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. These findings provide evidence for the role of reward salience in pathophysiological models of youth irritability, suggesting a mechanism that may contribute to exaggerated behavioral responses.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Early alcohol initiation is associated with negative, alcohol-related outcomes. While previous work identifies numerous risk factors for early use, the relative contributions of known predictors remains understudied. The current project addresses this gap by 1) prospectively predicting early alcohol initiation using measures of inhibition control, reward sensitivity, and contextual risk factors and 2) interrogating the relative importance of each domain.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Emerging literature suggests that fine particulate matter [with aerodynamic diameter ()] air pollution and its components are linked to various neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, few studies have evaluated how component mixtures from distinct sources relate to cognitive outcomes in children.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The flow of functional connectivity (FC) is thought to be supported by white matter structural connectivity (SC). While research on the correlations between SC and FC (SC-FC coupling) has progressed, the genetic implications of SC-FC coupling have not been thoroughly examined. Traditionally, SC-FC coupling investigations utilize predefined atlases. Here, we adopted an atlas-free SC-FC coupling built on the high-resolution white surface (the interface of white matter and gray matter) to uncover common genetic variations. Leveraging data from the Human Connectome Project, we demonstrated considerable heritability in areas within the early and intermediate visual cortex and across dorsal-attention, language, and somatomotor functional networks. We detected 334 genetic loci (spanning 234 cytogenetic bands) linked to SC-FC coupling (P < 1.26 × 10), notably in cingulo-opercular, somatomotor, and default mode networks. Using an external dataset from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, we confirmed 187 cytogenetic bands associated with SC-FC coupling across 22 brain regions (P < 1 × 10). Genetic correlation analyses revealed high genetic interrelatedness for SC-FC coupling in neighboring regions. Furthermore, it showed genetic correlations with a spectrum of complex traits, encompassing various neurological and psychiatric conditions. In essence, our study paves the way towards deciphering the genetic interplay between structural and functional connectivity of the brain.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Gender diversity, encompassing gender identity beyond traditional binary frameworks, has been associated with substance use during adolescence. However, there is a paucity of studies that consider different dimensions of gender diversity. This study investigates associations between multiple dimensions of gender diversity and substance experimentation in early adolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Early substance use initiation (SUI) places youth at substantially higher risk for later substance use disorders. Furthermore, adolescence is a critical period for the maturation of brain networks, the pace and magnitude of which are susceptible to environmental influences and may shape risk for SUI.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

While adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to impart significant risk for negative mental health and cognitive outcomes in youth, translation of ACE scores into clinical intervention is limited by poor specificity in predicting negative outcomes. This work expands on the ACE framework using a data-driven approach to identify 8 different forms of traumatic and adverse childhood experiences (TRACEs) and reveal their differential associations with psychiatric risk and cognition across development.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Educational attainment (EduA) is correlated with life outcomes, and EduA itself is influenced by both cognitive and non-cognitive factors. A recent study performed a ‘genome-wide association study (GWAS) by subtraction,’ subtracting genetic effects for cognitive performance from an educational attainment GWAS to create orthogonal ‘cognitive’ and ‘non-cognitive’ factors. These cognitive and non-cognitive factors showed associations with behavioral health outcomes in adults; however, whether these correlations are present during childhood is unclear.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the prospective associations between four types of perceived discrimination (country of origin, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and weight) and the development of manic symptoms in a diverse, nationwide sample of adolescents aged 9-14 years in the U.S.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Burgeoning neuroimaging research documents the associations between working memory (WM)-associated neural and behavioral responses. However, these associations have yielded small and inconsistent effect sizes. We hypothesize that one reason for the weakened brain-behavior associations stems from different environmental contexts. Specifically, little research has examined how exposure to adverse rearing environments accounts for variability in brain-behavior relations. Deprivation, characterized by an absence of cognitive and positive social stimulation, has been shown to compromise children’s neurocognitive development. Hence, informed by an ecological approach to developmental neuroscience, the present study aims to investigate if psychosocial and socioeconomic deprivation serves as moderators in the associations between neural responses and behaviors during a WM task. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (N = 11, 878, M = 9.48, 47.8% female, 52.0% White), we found that psychosocial, but not socioeconomic deprivation, significantly attenuated the positive association between WM-related neural activation within the frontoparietal network and attendant behavioral performance. Specifically, children exposed to higher levels of psychosocial deprivation exhibited weaker brain-behavior relations during a WM task. This finding suggests that a certain level of neural response during cognitive tasks may correspond to different levels of behavioral performance depending on children’s rearing environment, highlighting the importance of contextual factors in understanding the brain and cognitive development.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Limited information about school outcomes among children (especially early childhood) with lifetime history of head injury, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), may inhibit efforts to support their academics and physical and mental health.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Subcortical brain structures are involved in developmental, psychiatric and neurological disorders. Here we performed genome-wide association studies meta-analyses of intracranial and nine subcortical brain volumes (brainstem, caudate nucleus, putamen, hippocampus, globus pallidus, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and the ventral diencephalon) in 74,898 participants of European ancestry. We identified 254 independent loci associated with these brain volumes, explaining up to 35% of phenotypic variance. We observed gene expression in specific neural cell types across differentiation time points, including genes involved in intracellular signaling and brain aging-related processes. Polygenic scores for brain volumes showed predictive ability when applied to individuals of diverse ancestries. We observed causal genetic effects of brain volumes with Parkinson’s disease and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Findings implicate specific gene expression patterns in brain development and genetic variants in comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders, which could point to a brain substrate and region of action for risk genes implicated in brain diseases.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

This editorial focuses on the issue of data misuse which is increasingly evidenced in social media as well as some premiere scientific journals. This issue is of critical importance to open science projects in general, and ABCD in particular, given the broad array of biological, behavioral and environmental information collected on this American sample of 12.000 youth and parents. ABCD data are already widely used with over 1000 publications and twice as many citations per year as expected (relative citation index based on year, field and journal). However, the adverse consequences of misuse of data, and inaccurate interpretation of emergent findings from this precedent setting study may have profound impact on disadvantaged populations and perpetuate biases and societal injustices.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

This study aimed to compare psychosocial outcomes and functional neuroimaging among youth with concussion, youth with anxiety, and age- and sex-matched controls.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Chronic use of nicotine and tobacco products (NTP) continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Uptake is most common among youth and young adults but knowledge about effective prevention and intervention approaches is insufficient. The goal of the present study was to examine the impact of social cognitive factors on NTP risk over time among youth in the national ABCD cohort.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Increasing rates of overdose among U.S. adolescents and young adults, along with rising rates of emotional distress in these groups, are renewing the urgency for developmentally targeted and personalized substance use and other mental health prevention interventions. Most prevention programs recognize the unique vulnerability of childhood and adolescence and target parents and youths, addressing modifiable environmental risk and protective factors that affect behavior during periods when the brain is most susceptible to change. Until recently, a scarcity of comprehensive studies has limited a full understanding of the complexity of factors that may affect neurodevelopment, including substance exposure in pregnancy and/or subsequent substance use in adolescence, alongside their dynamic interactions with environmental factors and genetics. Two large longitudinal cohort studies funded by National Institutes of Health-the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study-are collecting data on neurodevelopment and a wide range of environmental and biological factors across the first two decades of life to build databases that will allow researchers to study how individual neurodevelopmental trajectories are influenced by drugs, adverse childhood experiences, and genetics, among other factors. These studies are already deepening the understanding of risk and resilience factors that prevention programs could target and will identify critical windows where interventions can have the most impact on an individual’s neurodevelopmental trajectory. This article describes what is being learned from ABCD and expected from HBCD and how these studies might inform prevention as these children grow and more data are gathered.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unique stressors that posed significant threats to adolescent mental health. However, limited research has examined the impact of trauma exposure on vulnerability to subsequent stressor-related mental health outcomes in adolescents. Furthermore, it is unclear whether there are protective factors that promote resilience against the negative impacts of COVID-19 stressors in adolescents with prior trauma exposure. This preregistered study aimed to investigate the impact of trauma on COVID-19 stressor-related mental health difficulties in adolescents, in addition to the role of protective factors.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, and numerous functional and structural differences have been identified in the brains of individuals with ADHD compared to controls. This study uses data from the baseline sample of the large, epidemiologically informed Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study of children aged 9-10 years old ( = 7979). Cross-validated Poisson elastic net regression models were used to predict a dimensional measure of ADHD symptomatology from within- and between-network resting-state correlations and several known risk factors, such as biological sex, socioeconomic status, and parental history of problematic alcohol and drug use. We found parental history of drug use and biological sex to be the most important predictors of attention problems. The connection between the default mode network and the dorsal attention network was the only brain network identified as important for predicting attention problems. Specifically, we found that reduced magnitudes of the anticorrelation between the default mode and dorsal attention networks relate to increased attention problems in children. Our findings complement and extend recent studies that have connected individual differences in structural and task-based fMRI to ADHD symptomatology and individual differences in resting-state fMRI to ADHD diagnoses.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Early exposure to mature content is linked to high-risk behaviors. This study aims to prospectively investigate how sleep and sensation-seeking behaviors influence the consumption of mature video games and R-rated movies in early adolescents. A secondary analysis examines the bidirectional relationships between sleep patterns and mature screen usage.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Objective: The neurobiological mechanisms underpinning binge eating disorder (BED) in children remain largely unclear, as the alterations that have been identified to date may be attributable to BED, obesity, or compound effects. This study aimed to delineate functional connectivity (FC) patterns in inhibitory control and reward networks in preadolescent children with and without BED from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study according to BMI.

Methods: Resting-state FC was examined in the inhibitory control network by using seeds in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex, whereas the reward network included seeds in the orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala. Seed-to-voxel analyses characterized FC differences between preadolescent children with BED with a high BMI and those with BED with a low BMI.

Results: We identified that BED was characterized by reduced connectivity between the reward network and regions in the default mode network, irrespective of weight status. Participants with BED also presented with hypoconnectivity in fronto-amygdalar circuits, which has been consistently associated with impaired emotion regulation capacity.

Conclusions: Our findings support that FC alterations between the reward network and the default mode network may be specifically impacted by the presence of BED as opposed to weight status.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Rates of youth suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are rising, and younger age at onset increases vulnerability to negative outcomes. However, few studies have investigated STBs in early adolescence (ages 10-13), and accurate prediction of youth STBs remains poor. Network analyses that can examine pairwise associations between many theoretically relevant variables may identify complex pathways of risk for early adolescent STBs. The present study applied longitudinal network analysis to examine interrelations between STBs and several previously identified risk and protective factors. Data came from 9,854 youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study cohort ( = 9.90 ± .62 years, 63% white, 53% female at baseline). Youth and their caregivers completed an annual measurement battery between ages 9-10 through 11-12 years. Panel Graphical Vector Autoregressive models evaluated associations between STBs and several mental health symptoms, socioenvironmental factors, life stressors, and substance use. In the contemporaneous and between-subjects networks, direct associations were observed between STBs and internalizing symptoms, substance use, family conflict, lower parental monitoring, and lower school protective factors. Potential indirect pathways of risk for STBs were also observed. Age-specific interventions may benefit from prioritizing internalizing symptoms and early substance use, as well as promoting positive school and family support.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder with childhood onset, however, there is no clear correspondence established between clinical ADHD subtypes and primary medications. Identifying objective and reliable neuroimaging markers for categorizing ADHD biotypes may lead to more individualized, biotype-guided treatment.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI

Abstract

Gender diverse youth face higher risk of engaging in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) compared to cisgender youth. Limitations in past research include a focus on older adolescents, an emphasis on specific gender identity labels that may not be inclusive of the range of youth gender experiences, and reliance on cross-sectional data. Thus, the current study prospectively evaluated dimensions of experienced gender in relation to first-onset SITBs among preadolescents.

Journal

Published

Authors

Keywords

DOI