cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.15154/1527954
title: Large-scale functional brain networks of maladaptive childhood aggression identified by connectome-based predictive modeling

description: Disruptions in frontoparietal networks supporting emotion regulation have been long implicated in maladaptive childhood aggression. However, the association of connectivity between large-scale functional networks with aggressive behavior has not been tested. The present study examined whether the functional organization of the connectome predicts severity of aggression in children. This cross-sectional study included a transdiagnostic sample of 100 children with aggressive behavior (27 females) and 29 healthy controls without aggression or psychiatric disorders (13 females). Severity of aggression was indexed by the total score on the parent-rated Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. During fMRI, participants completed a face emotion perception task of fearful and calm faces. Connectome-based predictive modeling with internal cross-validation was conducted to identify brain networks that predicted aggression severity. The replication and generalizability of the aggression predictive model was then tested in an independent sample of children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Connectivity predictive of aggression was identified within and between networks implicated in cognitive control (medial-frontal, frontoparietal), social functioning (default mode, salience), and emotion processing (subcortical, sensorimotor) (r = 0.31, RMSE = 9.05, p = 0.005). Out-of-sample replication (p < 0.002) and generalization (p = 0.007) of findings predicting aggression from the functional connectome was demonstrated in an independent sample of children from the ABCD study (n = 1791; n = 1701). Individual differences in large-scale functional networks contribute to variability in maladaptive aggression in children with psychiatric disorders. Linking these individual differences in the connectome to variation in behavioral phenotypes will advance identification of neural biomarkers of maladaptive childhood aggression to inform targeted treatments.
DOI: 10.15154/1527957
title: Reaction time variability in children is specifically associated with attention problems and regional white matter microstructure

description: Background: Increased intraindividual variability (IIV) in reaction times (RT) has been suggested as a key cognitive and behavioral marker of attention problems, but whether this also applies to other dimensions of psychopathology is unknown. Moreover, while studies have linked IIV to brain white matter microstructure, large studies testing the robustness of these associations are needed. 
Methods: We utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study baseline assessment to test the associations between IIV and psychopathology (n=8580, age=9-10), and between IIV and white matter microstructure (n=7767, age=9-10). IIV was investigated using an ex-Gaussian distribution analysis of RTs in correct response go trials in the stop signal task. Psychopathology was measured by the Child Behavior Checklist and a bifactor structural equation model was performed to extract a general p-factor and specific factors reflecting internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems. To investigate white matter microstructure, fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean (MD), axial (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were examined in 23 atlas-based tracts. 
Results: The tail of the RT distribution (tau) was positively associated with the specific attention problems factor (Cohen’s d=.11) and with RD in the right corticospinal tract (d=.12). Additionally, RD (d=.11) and MD (d=.07) in the right cingulate tract were positively associated with mean RT (mu) and standard deviation (sigma) within the normal RT distribution, respectively. 
Conclusions: The study indicates a small but specific association between IIV and attention problems in children and supports previous findings on the relevance of white matter microstructure for IIV.
DOI: 10.15154/1527982
title: Covid-related effects on sleep, screen-time, and mood in the ABCD sample

description: Adolescence is characterized by dramatic physical, social, and emotional changes, making teens particularly vulnerable to the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This longitudinal study identifies young adolescents who are most vulnerable to the psychological toll of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides insights to inform strategies to help adolescents cope better in times of crisis. A data-driven approach combined with traditional statistical methods was applied to a longitudinal, demographically diverse cohort of more than 3000 young adolescents (range=10-14 years) participating in the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® in the United States, including multiple pre-pandemic visits and three pandemic assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic (May-August, 2020). We fitted machine learning and statistical models and provided a comprehensive list of the strongest predictors of psychological distress in individuals. Positive affect, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were accurately detected with our classifiers. Female sex and pre-pandemic internalizing symptoms and sleep problems were strong predictors of psychological distress. Parent- and youth-reported pandemic-related psychosocial factors, including poorer quality and functioning of family relationships, more screen time, and witnessing discrimination in relation to the pandemic further predicted youth distress. Screen time increased across the pandemic, and was associated with poorer sleep measures. However, better social support, regular physical activities, coping strategies, and healthy behaviors predicted better emotional well-being. 
Findings highlight the importance of social connectedness and healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as sleep and physical activity, as buffering factors against the deleterious effects of the pandemic on adolescents’ mental health, and the need for greater attention towards coping strategies that help the most vulnerable adolescents, particularly girls and those with pre-pandemic psychological problems. Findings also show more screen time was associated with poorer sleep behavior, before and during the pandemic. While recreational screen usage is an integral component of adolescent’s activities, especially during the pandemic, excessive use can have negative effects for essential health behaviors like sleep, highlighting the need to promote balanced screen usage.
DOI: 10.15154/1527984
title: Premature white matter microstructure in female children with a history of concussion

description: Childhood concussion may interfere with neurodevelopment and influence cognition. Females are more likely to experience persistent symptoms after concussion, yet the sex-specific impact of concussion on brain microstructure in children is understudied. This study examined white matter and cortical microstructure, based on neurite density (ND) from diffusion-weighted MRI, in 9-to-10-year-old children in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study with (n=336) and without (n=7368) a history of concussion, and its relationship with cognitive performance. Multivariate regression was used to investigate relationships between ND and group, sex, and age in deep and superficial white matter, subcortical structures, and cortex. Principal component analysis was performed on ND, and components were examined in relation to performance on attention and processing speed tests. All tissue types demonstrated higher ND with age, reflecting brain maturation. Group comparisons revealed higher ND in deep and superficial white matter in females with concussion. In children with concussion higher ND in superficial white matter beneath the frontal and temporal cortices was associated with worse processing speed performance in females, and better performance in males. These results demonstrate a greater long-term impact of childhood concussion on white matter microstructure in females compared to males and may reflect premature white matter maturation.
DOI: 10.15154/1528058
title: EEG Biomarkers to Predict Response to Sertraline and Placebo Treatment in Major Depressive Disorder

description: Objective : Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a persistent psychiatric condition, and the leading cause of disability, affecting up to 5% of the population worldwide. Antidepressant medications (ADMs) are often the first-line treatment for MDD, but it may take the clinician months of “trial and error” to find an effective ADM for a particular patient. Therefore, identification of predictive biomarkers that can be used to accurately determine the effectiveness of a specific treatment for an individual patient is extremely valuable. Method : Using resting EEG data, we develop a machine learning algorithm (MLA) that searches for connectivity patterns within an individual's EEG signal that are predictive of the probability of responding to the antidepressant Sertraline or Placebo. The MLA has two steps: 1) Directed phase lag index (DPLI), a measure of phase synchronization between brain regions, that is not sensitive to volume conduction is applied to resting-state EEG data, 2) the resulting DPLI matrix is searched for a pattern set of features that can be used to successfully predict the response to Sertraline or Placebo. Results: Our MLA predicted response to Sertraline ( N = 105) or Placebo ( N = 119) with more than 80% accuracy. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that feature patterns selected from a DPLI matrix may be predictive of response to Sertraline and to Placebo. Significance : The proposed MLA may provide an inexpensive, non-invasive, and readily available tool that clinicians may use to enhance treatment effectiveness, accelerate time to recovery, reduce personal suffering, and decrease treatment costs.
DOI: 10.15154/1528079
title: MIND Networks: Robust Estimation of Structural Similarity from Brain MRI

description: Structural similarity networks are a central focus of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research into human brain connectomes in health and disease. We present Morphometric INverse Divergence (MIND), a robust method to estimate within-subject structural similarity between cortical areas based on the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the multivariate distributions of their structural features. Compared to the prior approach of morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) on N>10,000 data from the ABCD cohort, MIND networks were more consistent with known cortical symmetry, cytoarchitecture, and (in N=19 macaques) gold-standard tract-tracing connectivity, and were more invariant to cortical parcellation. MIND networks were remarkably coupled with cortical gene co-expression, providing fresh evidence for the unified architecture of brain structure and transcription. Using kinship (N=1282) and genetic data (N=4085), we characterized the heritability of MIND phenotypes, identifying stronger genetic influence on the relationship between structurally divergent regions compared to structurally similar regions. MIND presents a biologically-validated lens for analyzing the structural organization of the cortex using readily-available MRI measurements.
DOI: 10.15154/1528096
title: Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Risk Scores and Trajectories of Childhood Externalizing Behaviors: Examining the Role of Parenting and Family Conflict in the ABCD Study

description: Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are prevalent and associated with negative consequences. Understanding how genetic risk for AUD manifests in childhood and interacts with the environment is crucial to inform early interventions. 
 
We examined the independent and interactive effects of AUD polygenic scores (AUD-PGS), parenting behaviors (i.e., monitoring and acceptance), and family conflict on trajectories of childhood externalizing problems using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study across Waves 1-3 (Mage=9.92, 10.92, 12.00). Latent growth curve models were conducted separately for White (n=5,910), Black/African American (n=1,692), and Hispanic (n=1,786) subgroups, controlling for age, sex, parental education and income, and genetic ancestry principal components. 
 
Externalizing behaviors on average decreased over time (slope B=-0.62/-0.58/-0.90, p = <.001/.002/.017, for White/Black/Hispanic), with intercept and slope negatively correlated (r=-.33/-.39/-.31, p = <.001/.006/.041, for White/Black/Hispanic). Family conflict (B=0.16/0.10/0.12, p = <.001/.015/<.001, for White/Black/Hispanic) and parental acceptance (B=-0.07/-0.06, p = <.001/.006, for White/Hispanic) predicted baseline externalizing; family conflict (B=-0.11, p = <.001, for White) and parental monitoring (B=0.10, p = .017, for Black) predicted the slope of externalizing behaviors. There were no significant main effects of AUD-PGS for any subgroup. For Hispanic youth, there was an interaction between AUD-PGS and family conflict (B=-0.05, p = .024); family conflict was more strongly associated with baseline externalizing when AUD-PGS was low (B=.17, p <.001) than when AUD-PGS was high (B=.07, p = .064). Results indicate the important role of family context in influencing childhood externalizing behaviors.
DOI: 10.15154/1528102
title: Statistical modeling of brain structural connectome for ABCD dataset 

description: There has been a huge interest in studying human brain connectomes inferred from different imaging modalities and exploring their relationships with human traits, such as cognition. Brain connectomes are usually represented as networks, with nodes corresponding to different regions of interest (ROIs) and edges to connection strengths between ROIs. Due to the high-dimensionality and non-Euclidean nature of networks, it is challenging to depict their population distribution and relate them to human traits. Current approaches focus on summarizing the network using either pre-specified topological features or principal components analysis (PCA). In this work, building on recent advances in deep learning, we develop a nonlinear latent factor model to characterize the population distribution of brain graphs and infer their relationships to human traits. We refer to our method as Graph AuTo-Encoding (GATE). We applied GATE to two large-scale brain imaging datasets, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study and the Human Connectome Project (HCP) for adults, to study the structural brain connectome and its relationship with cognition. Numerical results demonstrate huge advantages of GATE over competitors in terms of prediction accuracy, statistical inference, and computing efficiency. We found that the structural connectome has a stronger association with a wide range of human cognitive traits than was apparent using previous approaches.
DOI: 10.15154/1528107
title: Moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity among adolescents in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic.

description: This study aimed to evaluate adolescents' moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) during the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to sociodemographic characteristics and determine mental health and resiliency factors associated with MVPA among a diverse national sample of adolescents ages 10-14 years. Data were collected during the pandemic in May 2020 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD, N = 5,153), a national prospective cohort study in the U.S. MVPA was quantified as the product of reported duration and frequency (hours per week), which was further summarized as the proportion meeting age-appropriate 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. A similar estimate was generated using MVPA data collected prior to the pandemic. Mental health and resiliency measures were collected during the pandemic. Regression models examined associations between mental health or resiliency measures and MVPA during the pandemic. Median MVPA was 2 h per week (IQR 0, 6). Overall, the percentage of the cohort meeting MVPA guidelines decreased from 16.1% (pre-pandemic) to 8.9% (during the pandemic). Racial/ethnic minority adolescents and adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were significantly less likely to meet MVPA guidelines during the pandemic. Poorer mental health, COVID-related worry, and stress were associated with lower MVPA, while more social support and coping behaviors were associated with higher MVPA during the pandemic. In this large, national sample of adolescents, the proportion of those meeting MVPA Guidelines was lower during the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Interventions to promote social support and coping behaviors may improve MVPA levels among adolescents during the pandemic.
DOI: 10.15154/1528121
title: Genetic risk of AUDs and childhood impulsivity: Examining the role of parenting and family environment

description: This study examined the independent and interactive effects of genetic risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD), parenting behaviors, and family environment on childhood impulsivity. Data were drawn from White (n = 5,991), Black/African American (n = 1,693), and Hispanic/Latino (n = 2,118) youth who completed the baseline assessment (age 9–10) and had genotypic data available from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Participants completed questionnaires and provided saliva or blood samples for genotyping. Results indicated no sig- nificant main effects of AUD genome-wide polygenic scores (AUD-PRS) on childhood impulsivity as measured by the UPPS-P scale across racial/ethnic groups. In general, parental monitoring and parental acceptance were associated with lower impulsivity; family conflict was associated with higher impulsivity. There was an interaction effect between AUD-PRS and family conflict, such that family conflict exacer- bated the association between AUD-PRS and positive urgency, only among Black/African American youth. This was the only significant interaction effect detected from a total of 45 tests (five impulsivity dimensions, three subsamples, and three family factors), and thus may be a false positive and needs to be replicated. These findings highlight the important role of parenting behaviors and family conflict in relation to impulsivity among children.
DOI: 10.15154/1528122
title: Family Processes as Mediators of the Association between Parental Attitudinal Familism and Youth Externalizing Behaviors

description: Attitudinal familism, that is one’s thoughts and feelings related to familism typically measured across three different domains: obligation (i.e., the degree to which an individual expects family to be there in times of financial, social, or emotional need), support (i.e., how close an individual feels to their family), and referent (i.e., the degree to which an individual believes that their actions should be in line with what is expected by their family), has been found to be protective against the emergence of a wide range of psychopathological symptoms. Although much is yet to be known about the processes through which familism relates to youth outcomes, parenting behaviors have been proposed as potential mediating pathways through which parental attitudinal familism can influence youth development. 
In this study, we examined whether family processes (i.e., family conflict, parental monitoring, and parental warmth and acceptance) mediate the relation between parental attitudinal familism and youth externalizing behaviors using the first three waves of data collection from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (baseline: n = 11,878, Mage = 9.91 years, SD = 0.62; 52% male). Parents and youth completed a variety of annual assessments related to the parent’s attitudinal familism, the youth’s appraisal of their caregiver’s parenting practices, and parental perception of youth psychopathology across the first three waves of data collection. 
Results from structural equation modelling indicated that there is an indirect effect of familism support on externalizing that is mediated through parental acceptance after controlling for youth race/ethnicity, age, sex at birth, baseline externalizing symptoms, family income, and parental educational attainment. Familism support also showed an association with parental monitoring but parental monitoring did not show an association with externalizing after controlling for other variables. Family obligations was directly positively associated with youth externalizing but the effect was not mediated though the parenting variables tested, indicating that its effect may be operating through other mediating pathways.  It is important to note that when the familism subdimensions were aggregated into a composite familism score, all associations with externalizing were no longer found, highlighting the need to study familism as a multidimensional construct.
DOI: 10.15154/1528124
title: Educational quality may be a closer correlate of cardiometabolic health than educational attainment

description: Educational quality may be a closer correlate of physical health than more commonly used measures of educational attainment (e.g., years in school). We examined whether a widely-used performance-based measure of educational quality is more closely associated with cardiometabolic health than educational attainment (highest level of education completed), and whether perceived control (smaller sample only), executive functioning (both samples), and health literacy (smaller sample only) link educational quality to cardiometabolic health. In two samples (N=98 and N=586) collected from different regions of the US, educational quality was associated with cardiometabolic health above and beyond educational attainment, other demographic factors (age, ethnoracial category, sex), and fluid intelligence. Counter to expectations, neither perceived control, executive function, nor health literacy significantly mediated the association between educational quality and cardiometabolic health. Findings add to the growing literature suggesting that current operationalizations of the construct of education likely underestimate the association between education and multiple forms of health. To the extent that educational programs may have been overlooked based on the apparent size of associations with outcomes, such actions may have been premature.