Importance: Peer victimization and perpetration often co-occur and are associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes, but whether their joint temporal patterns are associated with adolescent brain development is unknown. Objective: To examine whether joint developmental trajectories of peer victimization and perpetration are associated with cortical thinning in social-affective brain regions during early adolescence. Design: Longitudinal cohort study using 2 years of follow-up data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, collected from 2018 to 2022 and analyzed from 2024 to 2026. Setting: The ABCD Study across 21 US research sites. Participants: Trajectory analyses included 8792 adolescents with peer experience data from at least 2 assessments; cortical thickness analyses included 2308 adolescents with MRI data at both visits. Exposures: Joint trajectories of self-reported peer victimization and perpetration assessed at the 2-, 3-, and 4-year follow-ups, spanning ages 11 to 14 years. Main Outcomes and Measures: Two-year change in MRI-derived cortical thickness across 7 prespecified social-affective brain regions between the 2- and 4-year follow-ups. Results: Longitudinal clustering (mean [SD] age, 12.08 [0.66] years; 4250 girls [48.3%]) identified 4 joint trajectories: stably low (62%), increasing (24%), decreasing (10%), and persistently high (4%) in both victimization and perpetration. In cortical thickness analyses (mean [SD] age, 11.98 [0.64] years; 1067 girls [46.2%]), no trajectory-group differences survived correction. Exploratory sex-moderation analyses identified persistently high versus stably low differences in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Compared with the stably low group, the persistently high group showed little to no dorsal anterior cingulate cortex thinning among boys (β = 0.030; 95% CI, 0.012 to 0.048; P = .001) and greater lateral orbitofrontal cortex thinning among girls (β = −0.029; 95% CI, −0.055 to −0.002; P = .033). Conclusions and Relevance: Peer victimization and perpetration generally co-occurred and changed together over time in this US adolescent cohort. Exploratory findings suggested that persistently high, co-occurring victimization and perpetration may be neurodevelopmentally relevant, with sex-specific patterns in cortical regions implicated in threat detection, behavioral adaptation, and learning from negative consequences. These findings may inform prevention and early intervention efforts for adolescents persistently embedded in negative peer environments.

Childhood behavioral problems are associated with significant long-term consequences, yet the underlying cognitive mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed computational modeling alongside traditional reaction time (RT) measures to investigate cognitive control during a flanker task. We evaluated the predictive utility of these methods in explaining variance across eight transdiagnostic symptom domains in late childhood (mean age = 10.0 years; n = 10,343) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. We compared simultaneous regression models across congruent and incongruent conditions using an RT-only model and a drift–diffusion model (DDM) that incorporated boundary separation, bias, drift rate, and non-decision time parameters. Results from the RT-only models indicated that slower reaction times across both task conditions were associated with higher scores on most symptom subscales, suggesting more behavioral problems. For both task conditions, DDM regressions accounted for more total variance across symptom domains compared to RT models. Additionally, DDM regressions demonstrated that impoverished evidence accumulation emerged as a shared feature of both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while reductions in non-decision time, indicative of increased impulsiveness, were unique to rule-breaking and aggressive behaviors. These findings suggest that different aspects of cognitive control are associated with specific behavioral problems in children, rather than just overall response speed. Present results provide new insights into cognitive control dynamics and suggest that targeting ineffective cognitive control could be crucial for the prevention and intervention of childhood psychopathology.

OBJECTIVE:Childhood inhibited temperament (cIT) is associated with an increased risk for developing internalizing psychopathology. Neurobiological characteristics identified by structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may elucidate the neural substrates for cIT, but studies are scarce and often focus on particular regions of interest. Moreover, current findings lack replication. This preregistered analysis from the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group examined structural brain characteristics associated with cIT using a comprehensive whole-brain approach. METHOD:Temperament assessments (behavioral observations, parent/teacher reports or self-reports on cIT before age 13 years) and MRI data (age at scan, 6-25 years) from international research sites (Europe, North America, South America) were pooled for mega-analysis. Following image processing and quality control, associations between cIT and brain structure were examined in 3,803 participants. Subcortical volumes, cortical thickness, and surface area (main analyses) and detailed subcortical characteristics (eg, subnuclei, subfields, partial volume effects; exploratory analyses) were considered. RESULTS:In the full sample, cIT showed no relation with brain structure, either as a main effect or in interactions with sex or age. Subgroup analyses (based on cIT assessment type) revealed cIT by sex interactions on mean cortical thickness (pMC-FWER = .037) and thickness of the right superior parietal region (pMC-FWER = .029) in youth with parent/teacher reports on cIT levels. Exploratory analyses revealed findings in the hippocampus, putamen, and caudate, but most did not survive statistical correction for multiple testing. CONCLUSION:This mega-analysis found no consistent associations between cIT and regional brain structure, although the role of parietal regions warrants further investigation. Future studies should consider brain function in cIT, preferably using longitudinal designs. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY:Inhibited temperament during childhood is a risk factor for the development of anxiety and depression later in life. A preregistered study from the international ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group investigated whether characteristics of brain structure are associated with the level of childhood inhibited temperament, using brain scans and data on temperamental traits from participants aged 6 to 25 years, which have been previously acquired at research sites worldwide (total sample > 3,800 subjects). Analyses revealed no consistent correlations between brain structure and inhibited temperament. STUDY REGISTRATION INFORMATION:Structural Brain Correlates of Childhood Inhibited Temperament: An ENIGMA-Anxiety Mega-analysis. https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(22)00299-4/fulltext.

Childhood social withdrawal is linked to increased risk of depression and peer difficulties. While data suggest that some child temperaments are more likely to be socially withdrawn, empirical data investigating whether distinct child temperament profiles, characterized by different social approach and avoidance motivations, influence the development of depression into late adolescence are lacking. Additionally, it is unclear whether peer difficulties in mid-adolescence explain such associations. This study addressed these research gaps using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC: n = 9491). Based on parent reports of shyness and sociability across ages 3 to 6, four distinct temperament profiles were identified: introvert (29.6

ABSTRACT Aggression is commonly associated with increased experiences of peer rejection and maladaptive social information processing biases throughout development. Little is known about the neural correlates of peer rejection that might underlie social information processing biases, and whether these neural correlates are common or different across early‐ and mid‐adolescents on a continuum of aggression. Using the Cyberball task, we examined mediofrontal theta (4–7 Hz) event‐related EEG spectral power during conditions of explicit and ambiguous social exclusion in 117 participants (57 early adolescents, ages 10–12 years, and 60 mid‐adolescents, ages 14–16 years). Participants with at least 10 artifact‐free trials per condition were included in further EEG analysis. In total, 95 participants (42 early adolescents, 53 mid‐adolescents) were included for further analyses of EEG spectral theta power. Results examining moderation effects between aggression level and age groups showed that mid‐adolescents, but not early adolescents, with higher levels of aggression displayed enhanced theta power during the early processing (200–400 ms) of ambiguous (“not my turn”) exclusion events. The pattern of heightened neural sensitivity to ambiguous exclusion events reflects early detection and inclusion monitoring which might facilitate processing biases that are more prominent among mid‐adolescents with higher levels of aggression.

Although prior research has identified abnormal brain connectivity in remitted depressed adolescents, there is limited work associating these alterations with real-time affective dynamics, which may shed insight about specific biological markers that contribute to depression recurrence. Effective brain connectivity was estimated using renormalized partial directed coherence (rPDC) from resting-state EEG data collected in adolescents (N = 144; ages 13-18), including youth with remitted depression (n = 85) and healthy controls (n = 59). Additionally, over the course of 180 days, ~2.3 million messages from adolescents' smartphones were passively obtained, and sentiment (i.e., words connoting positive and negative emotion) was extracted using the Python tweetNLP package. At the baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments, clinical interviews were administered to assess depressive symptom severity. Compared to healthy adolescents, youth with remitted depression exhibited hyperconnectivity in theta and delta frequency bands as well as hypoconnectivity in alpha, beta, and gamma in occipito-temporal regions (ps < 0.05). Across all participants, lower connectivity between the precuneus and middle temporal gyrus within the beta and gamma frequency bands was associated with greater negative sentiment in smartphone-based language (beta: B = -0.019, p = 0.006; gamma: B = -0.180, p = 0.007) but not depressive symptoms (beta: B = 0.073, p = 0.415; gamma: B = 0.093, p = 0.289). Conversely, lower alpha band connectivity from the mid cingulate cortex to the precuneus is associated with greater depressive symptoms at follow-up relative to baseline (B = -0.239, p = 0.013). These findings suggest that resting-state effective connectivity may serve as a neural marker of vulnerability for elevated depressive symptoms and negative affective expression during adolescence, highlighting potentially separable neurophysiological targets that, if replicated, could inform future preventive interventions.

The Need-Threat Scale measures the threat to four distinct psychological needs after an act of ostracism, including a threat to belonging, control, meaningful existence and self-esteem. Here we examined whether this theoretically derived measure holds empirically true during adolescence. Two independent adolescent samples (nSite 1= 108, nSite2= 151, age range 10–18, 57.9

There is no relationship more vital than the one a child shares with their primary caregivers early in development. Yet many children worldwide are raised in settings that lack the warmth, connection, and stimulation provided by a responsive primary caregiver. In this study, we used data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a longitudinal study of institutionally-reared and family-reared children, to test how caregiving quality during infancy is associated with average EEG power over the first 3.5 years of life in alpha, beta, and theta frequency bands, and associations with later executive function (EF) at age 8 years. The sample comprised 189 children (129 institutionally-reared; 60 family-reared) who contributed data on observed caregiving quality during infancy (baseline; average age of 22 months), resting EEG power at baseline, 30, and 42 months, and performance-based data on a series of EF tasks at 8 years. Using Bayesian estimation, observed caregiving quality at baseline was marginally linked with higher average alpha and beta power, and lower theta power, from baseline to 42 months. In turn, higher average beta power and lower average theta power were marginally associated with higher EF at 8 years. In indirect effects models, higher caregiving quality at baseline was associated with higher EF at 8 years, with a marginal indirect effect through average theta power from baseline to 42 months. Variation in the quality of the early caregiving environment may be associated with later executive function, which is partially underpinned by individual differences in brain activity during early childhood.Research Highlights Examined associations between caregiving quality during infancy, brain activity during early childhood, and executive function during mid-childhood in sample of never-institutionalized and institutionally-reared children. Significant associations between higher quality caregiving during infancy and higher executive function during middle childhood. Marginal associations between caregiving quality during infancy and brain activity during early childhood. Marginal associations between brain activity during early childhood and executive function during mid-childhood.

Background Child homelessness has been associated with elevated mental health problems during early adolescence, a period of onset for psychiatric problems. Prior literature has relied on cross-sectional studies, limiting the understanding of temporality and trajectories of psychopathology. We extend prior literature by examining associations between child homelessness and internalising and externalising symptom trajectories in early adolescence, with consideration of timing and persistence of homelessness. Methods Using population-based longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we used multilevel models to examine the effects of homelessness prior to age 9, the timing of homelessness (eg, early vs middle childhood) and cumulative exposure to homelessness on internalising and externalising trajectories across ages <0–9 years. We also tested for sex differences in these associations. Results Of the 8391 participants, 5.5% reported exposure to homelessness at least once before age 9. Children who experienced homelessness had elevated internalising and externalising symptoms compared with their consistently housed peers, with excess risk evident among children who first experienced homelessness in middle childhood (relative to early childhood) and children who experienced recurrent homelessness. We did not observe changes in symptom trajectories over the course of 4 years. Men who experienced homelessness displayed a more pronounced risk of internalising symptoms relative to women and men who did not experience homelessness. Conclusion Childhood homelessness is associated with persistently elevated internalising and externalising symptoms across early adolescence compared with their consistently housed peers. Interventions and policies to address family homelessness may lead to better mental health among adolescents.

Background: Parent-child separation has been associated with negative mental health across childhood and adulthood, yet little is known about the long-term impacts for cardiovascular health. This systematic review synthesized and evaluated the quality of the literature examining the association between exposures to parent-child separation and cardiometabolic outcomes in adulthood. Methods: Following a registered protocol, online databases (Pubmed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) were searched for relevant studies. Studies were included if they (a) defined the exposure before age 18 as institutionalization, foster care placement, parental incarceration, separation due to parents migrating for economic reasons, or asylum and war; and (b) quantified the association between parent-child separation and cardiometabolic events and diagnoses (e.g., coronary heart disease, diabetes) and risk factors (e.g., body mass index, fat distribution, serum-based metabolic markers, inflammatory markers in adulthood (>= age 18). Studies lacking an unexposed comparison group were excluded. The risk for bias in each study was assessed with a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Results: Of the 1938 studies identified, 13 met our inclusion criteria. Two of the four studies examining associations between parent-child separation and cardiometabolic events and diagnoses found positive associations with coronary heart disease and diabetes. Amongst the 13 studies examining associations with any type of adult cardiometabolic risk factors, eight studies reported at least one positive association. Sub-analyses considering separate reasons for parent-child separation provided clearer insights: War evacuation was associated with hypertension and high blood pressure across four studies from the same cohort; out-of home care experiences largely evidenced null results across five different studies, and two studies on parental incarceration suggested positive associations with elevated inflammation, BMI and blood pressure. Conclusions: The connections between parent-child separation and adult cardiometabolic outcomes and risk factors are currently inconsistent. The results may depend on the reason for separation, age of assessment, analytic differences and other psychosocial variables that are often unmeasured in this literature.

Resting brain activity has been widely used as an index of brain development in neuroscience and clinical research. However, it remains unclear whether early differences in resting brain activity have meaningful implications for predicting long-term cognitive outcomes. Using data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (Zeanah et al., 2003), we examined the impact of institutional rearing and the consequences of early foster care intervention on 18-year IQ. We found that higher resting theta electroencephalogram (EEG) power, reflecting atypical neurodevelopment, across three assessments from 22 to 42 months predicted lower full-scale IQ at 18 years, providing the first evidence that brain activity in early childhood predicts cognitive outcomes into adulthood. In addition, both institutional rearing and later (vs. earlier) foster care intervention predicted higher resting theta power in early childhood, which in turn predicted lower IQ at 18 years. These findings demonstrate that experientially-induced changes in brain activity early in life have profound impact on long-term cognitive development, highlighting the importance of early intervention for promoting healthy development among children living in disadvantaged environments.

Institutional rearing negatively impacts the development of children's social skills and executive functions (EF). However, little is known about whether childhood social skills mediate the effects of the foster care intervention (FCG) and foster caregiving quality following early institutional rearing on EF and social skills in adolescence. We examined (a) whether children's social skills at 8 years mediate the impact of the FCG on the development of EF at ages 12 and 16 years, and (b) whether social skills and EF at ages 8 and 12 mediate the relation between caregiving quality in foster care at 42 months and subsequent social skills and EF at age 16. Participants included abandoned children from Romanian institutions, who were randomly assigned to a FCG (n = 68) or care as usual (n = 68), and a never-institutionalized group (n = 135). At ages 8, 12, and 16, social skills were assessed via caregiver and teacher reports and EF were assessed via the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Caregiving quality of foster caregivers was observed at 42 months. FCG predicted better social skills at 8 years, which in turn predicted better EF in adolescence. Higher caregiver quality in foster care at 42 months predicted better social skills at 8 and 12 years, and better EF at 12 years, which in turn predicted 16-year EF and social skills. These findings suggest that interventions targeting caregiving quality within foster care home environments may have long-lasting positive effects on children's social skills and EF.

Recent models of psychopathology suggest the presence of a general factor capturing the shared variance among all symptoms along with specific psychopathology factors (e.g., internalizing and externalizing). However, few studies have examined predictors that may serve as transdiagnostic risk factors for general psychopathology from early development. In the current study we examine, for the first time, whether observed and parent-reported infant temperament dimensions prospectively predict general psychopathology as well as specific psychopathology dimensions (e.g., internalizing and externalizing) across childhood. In a longitudinal cohort ( N = 291), temperament dimensions were assessed at 4 months of age. Psychopathology symptoms were assessed at 7, 9, and 12 years of age. A bifactor model was used to estimate general, internalizing, and externalizing psychopathology factors. Across behavioral observations and parent-reports, higher motor activity in infancy significantly predicted greater general psychopathology in mid to late childhood. Moreover, low positive affect was predictive of the internalizing-specific factor. Other temperament dimensions were not related with any of the psychopathology factors after accounting for the general psychopathology factor. The results of this study suggest that infant motor activity may act as an early indicator of transdiagnostic risk. Our findings inform the etiology of general psychopathology and have implications for the early identification for children at risk for psychopathology.

IMPORTANCE A child temperament characterized by shyness and avoidance of social interactions is associated with poor peer relationships and emotional problems, yet its long-term associations with adult cardiometabolic health are largely unknown. OBJECTIVE To examine whether a childhood temperament characterized by shyness and avoidance of social interactions is associated with poor cardiometabolic health. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cohort study included participants who were recruited at birth between April 1991 to December 1992 as part of a prospective longitudinal cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Follow-up assessments of health behaviors and cardiometabolic health extended into young adulthood (age 24 years). Data analysis was conducted between April and October 2021. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Parent reports of temperament across ages 3 to 6 years were used to derive childhood temperament profiles in a longitudinal clustering analysis. Accelerometry measures of adolescent moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) from ages 11 to 15 years and adult social occupation class were examined as mediators using path analyses. At age 24 years, 9 cardiometabolic outcomes were measured through anthropometrics and fasting blood samples: triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, glycated hemoglobin levels, insulin levels, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. RESULTS Of the 9491 participants included in the analyses, 4908 (51.7%) were male, and 8668 of 9027 (96.0%) were White. Four childhood temperament profiles were identified: (1) introverted (2810 [29.6%]), (2) extraverted (2527 [26.6%]), (3) conflicted-shy (2335 [24.6%]), and (4) avoidant-shy (1819 [19.2%]). Lower childhood socioeconomic status was a precursor associated with the development of an avoidant-shy temperament (eg, introvert vs avoidant-shy: odds ratio, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.04-1.23). Path analyses showed that avoidant-shy children spent less time in MVPA in adolescence compared with all other temperament profiles (eg, introvert vs avoidant-shy: beta = 0.10; b = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.14-0.35; P < .001), which in turn was associated with a cluster of cardiometabolic indices at age 24 years, including lower HDL cholesterol levels (beta = 0.07; b = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.12-1.78; P = .03) and higher LDL cholesterol levels (beta = -0.07; b = -1.69; 95% CI = -3.32 to -0.06; P = .04), insulin levels (beta = -0.10; b = -0.57; 95% CI, -1.04 to -0.10; P = .02), diastolic blood pressure (beta = -0.09; b = -0.59; 95% CI, -0.97 to -0.21; P = .002), and body mass index (beta = -0.07; b = -0.32; 95% CI, -0.56 to -0.07; P = .01). Additionally, children classified as avoidant-shy attained lower social occupation classes at age 24 years, which was concurrently associated with higher BMI (beta = 0.06; b = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.08-0.35; P = .002). Notably, these results were adjusted for a range of early developmental precursors and confounders, suggesting an independent association of temperament. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this cohort study, less engagement in physical activity across adolescence seemed to be a developmental mechanism connecting an avoidant-shy childhood temperament and greater cardiometabolic risks over the life course. Future studies should examine the efficacy of physical activity and social skill programs that specially target the needs of different children to thereby reduce cardiometabolic risks.

Importance The early childhood temperament of behavioral inhibition (BI), characterized by inhibited and fearful behaviors, has been associated with heightened risk for anxiety and depression across the lifespan. Although several neurocognitive correlates underlying vulnerability to the development of anxiety among inhibited children have been identified, little is known about the neurocognitive correlates underlying vulnerability to the development of depression. Objective To examine whether blunted striatal activation to reward anticipation, a well-documented neurocognitive vulnerability marker of depression, moderates the association between early BI and the developmental changes in depression and anxiety from adolescence to adulthood. Design, Setting, and Participants Participants in this prospective longitudinal study were recruited at age 4 months between 1989 and 1993 in the US. Follow-up assessments extended into 2018 (age 26 years). Data were analyzed between September 2021 to March 2022. Main Outcomes and Measures BI was measured through an observation paradigm in infancy (ages 14 and 24 months). Neural activity to anticipated rewards during a monetary incentive delay task was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging in adolescence (between ages 15-18 years; 83 individuals had usable data). Anxiety and depressive symptoms were self-reported across adolescence to young adulthood (ages 15 and 26 years; n = 108). A latent change score model, accounting for the interdependence between anxiety and depression, tested the moderating role of striatal activity to reward anticipation in the association between early BI and changes in anxiety and depressive symptoms. A region of interest approach limited statistical tests to regions within the striatum (ie, nucleus accumbens, caudate head, caudate body, putamen). Results Of 165 participants, 84 (50.1%) were female and 162 (98%) were White. Preliminary analyses revealed significant increases in anxiety and depressive symptoms across ages 15 to 26 years, as well as individual variation in the magnitude of changes. Main analyses showed that reduced activity in the nucleus accumbens to reward anticipation moderated the association between early BI and increases in depressive (β = -0.32; b = -4.23; 95% CI, -7.70 to -0.76; P = .02), and more depressive symptoms at age 26 years (β = -0.47; b = -5.09; 95% CI, -7.74 to -2.43; P < .001). However, there were no significant interactions associated with latent changes in anxiety across age nor anxiety at age 26 years. Activity in the caudate and putamen did not moderate these associations. Conclusions and Relevance Blunted reward sensitivity in the ventral striatum may be a developmental risk factor connecting an inhibited childhood temperament and depression over the transition to adulthood. Future studies should examine the efficacy of prevention programs, which target maladaptive reward processing and motivational deficits among anxious youths, in reducing risks for later depression.

This study examined whether early institutional rearing and attachment security influence the quality and quantity of friendships at age 16 in 138 participants, including children abandoned to institutions in Bucharest, Romania, who were randomized to care as usual (n = 45, 26 female), or foster care (n = 47, 25 female), and a never-institutionalized group (n = 46, 18 female). Adolescents in the foster care group with secure attachment to their foster mothers at 42 months were comparable to never-institutionalized adolescents in having more friends and more positive behaviors with their friend during dyadic interactions, compared to the foster care group with insecure attachment and care as usual group. Interventions targeting early child-caregiver attachment relationships may help foster the ability to build positive friendships in adolescence.

Adverse peer experiences, such as social exclusion, are known risks for socioemotional problems among shy youth. Yet, little is known about how shy children and adolescents process social exclusion in the brain and whether these responses are amplified in adolescence. Using the Cyberball task, we examined mediofrontal theta (4-7 Hz) event-related EEG spectral power during conditions of fair play and social exclusion in 122 participants (58 children, ages 10-12 years, and 64 adolescents, ages 14-17 years). Age effects of the task showed that adolescents displayed heightened theta power to both outright rejection and baseline “not my turn” events, whereas children showed higher theta power to rejection compared with “not my turn” events. Further results on individual differences showed that children with relatively higher levels of shyness displayed enhanced theta power to both rejection and “not my turn” events—a pattern that also was observed in adolescents. These findings suggest that a pattern of heightened neural sensitivity to both outright social exclusion and threats of exclusion, which is the norm by adolescence, also is observed in children with higher levels of shyness. The similar neural response pattern might be driven by salient social motivations that similarly modify the social cognition and behaviors of these groups and might reflect neural antecedents of rejection sensitivity.