Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

BackgroundExternalizing behavior refers to emotional and behavioral problems or disorders characterized by conducts directed outward at an individuals environment. Polygenic scores (PGSs) indexing the individual genetic susceptibility for this behavior still explain a small proportion of the phenotypic variance. To increase this phenotypic variance explained for externalizing behavior we used a multi-PGS approach combining PGSs for several risk factors, mental health conditions and related pheno...

Exposure is considered the most active element of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for pediatric anxiety, and its efficacy is theorized to depend on cognitive control and its supporting neural substrates (e.g., central executive [CEN], salience [SN], and default mode networks [DMN]). However, little work has identified how CBT, or exposure specifically, modulates intrinsic connectivity of these networks. Progress may be limited by heterogeneity in network connectivity in anxiety, which may obs...

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are common in youth and predict later mental health problems. Bullying victimization is a robust environmental risk factor for psychopathology including PLEs, but whether its association with PLEs reflects shared genetic liability, individual-specific putatively causal effects, or reciprocal processes is unclear. We analyzed seven waves of longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, examining associations across the sample in ...

BackgroundFood insecurity (FI) is associated with overall poorer mental health in childhood and adolescence and negatively impacts longer-term health. However, less is known about how differential exposure to FI may shape the development of different mental health symptoms over this period. MethodsWe used data from two population-based UK birth cohorts: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; n=6,182; born 1991-1992) and Growing Up in Scotland (GUS; n=3,167; born 2004-2005)...

BackgroundAdolescence is a period of rapid neurobiological and behavioural change, yet it remains unclear how deviations from normative brain maturation relate to the development of internalising and externalising symptoms. MethodsUsing data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, we combined brain age prediction with bivariate latent growth curve (BLGC) models to test whether deviations in brain maturation - indexed by the brain age gap (BAG) - relate to mental health dev...

ImportanceMotor skill impairments affect up to 87% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are associated with greater severity of repetitive behaviors. Yet, most research examining this relationship has treated ASD as a unitary condition. Understanding whether motor-behavior relationships differ by genetic etiology could inform stratified approaches to ASD research and clinical care. ObjectiveTo determine whether the relationship between motor function and restricted and repetitive...

BackgroundParental genetics matters for childrens behavioural difficulties, but the extent to which this is due to direct genetic transmission versus environmentally mediated indirect genetic effects remains unclear. MethodsWe studied eight European birth cohorts with over 33,000 family-based trio samples. We analysed polygenic scores (PGSs) for 13 mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions and their composite indices (PC1 and mean) representing general neuropsychiatric liabilities, as wel...

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogenous condition that has no biologically relevant subtypes yet. Here, we utilized a multidimensional approach considering social deficits in ASD alongside negative valence and empathy dysfunction to distinguish ASD from Neurotypicals (NT) and to generate ASD subtypes using machine learning approaches. 114 subjects were analyzed, with 70 being NT and 44 ASD, all male with an IQ greater than 70, with 5 domains of personality (NEO-PI-r) and Reading the Min...

BackgroundSynthetic cohorts created by combining two cohorts can be useful when no single data set includes both the exposure and outcome data of interest. We estimate the effects of depression in early adulthood on later-life memory outcome using two nationally representative cohorts separately and in a synthetic sample. MethodsWe used the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 (NLSY; N=5,747) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N=6,846) and a synthetic cohort combining exposure data ...

PTSD is defined by a core of inter-connected symptom clusters. It is currently unclear whether this pattern of interconnections remains stable across the lifespan or differs across key developmental periods. Synthesising seven international trauma-exposed samples (N=5,470), we compared network interrelationships among core self-reported and/or caregiver-reported PTSD symptom clusters (re-experiencing, avoidance and arousal) in preschoolers, school-aged children, adolescents, and adults. For self...

BackgroundEarly relational health (ERH) is thought to buffer the association between early life stress (ELS) and child psychopathology, but limited work has directly tested this hypothesis. ObjectiveWe evaluate mother-infant emotional connection, a facet of ERH, as a buffer of combined and individual impacts of specific ELS exposures (maternal mental health and interpartner conflict) on child psychopathology. MethodsParticipants included mother-infant dyads (n=100) followed longitudinally in t...

BackgroundGenetic liability of depressive disorder can be captured by psychopathology in relatives (family history). Various methods summarize family history in a single score, differing in included information as well as underlying model. We systematically compared the performance of family history indicators, including promising new indicators based on the liability threshold model, in predicting depressive disorder. MethodsWe calculated selected family history indicators for depression (dich...

ObjectiveAlthough mental health and healthy lifestyle interventions are associated with functional outcomes in adolescence, the extent to which particular lifestyle factors explain relationships between mental health and outcome are unclear. Here we examined mediating effects of lifestyle factors on relationships between mental health and two functional outcomes measured 2-3 years later as well as the moderating effect of environmental risk factors on mediation strength in early adolescence. Me...

The Social ABCs is a parent-mediated Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) that promotes early verbal communication and affect sharing emphasizing child-led learning within natural routines. Here we conducted a six-week pilot single-arm study of the Social ABCs program with 17 autistic toddlers (19-39 months) and their parents in Israel, employing pre- and post-intervention assessments including language, social communication, and parenting stress measures. Results demonstrat...

Perinatal depression (PD) is common and disabling, yet its longitudinal comorbidity patterns and predictability remain poorly understood. This study leveraged 8,804 women with delivery records in the All of Us cohort, including 438 with clinically diagnosed postpartum depression (PPD), to characterize multimorbidity trajectories and develop integrated prediction models. Comorbidities were grouped into 38 conditions across psychiatric, autoimmune, metabolic, neurological/pain, and reproductive/gy...

BackgroundAntenatal depressive symptoms (ADS) are common and underdiagnosed, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and are associated with adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. Current screening relies on subjective symptom reporting, limiting early identification and prevention. Epigenetic modifications, particularly DNA methylation, offer a promising avenue for objective, early biomarkers of depression risk during pregnancy. MethodsIn this nested case-control design within the ...

Violent victimisation affects 1-4% of populations annually and constitutes a major risk factor for psychiatric morbidity and suicidal behaviours. However, the aetiological mechanisms underlying vulnerability to severe victimisation remain poorly understood. We examined genetic and environmental contributions to victimisation risk across development using nationwide family data from 4,458,368 individuals born in Sweden (1973-2004) and Finland (1970-2003). Violent victimisation was identified thro...

Misophonia is the adverse emotional reaction to everyday sounds (e.g., chewing or pen clicking). Since atypical sensory experiences are a key feature of autism, we investigated whether autistic individuals are more liable for experiencing misophonia symptoms. In addition, we explore the contribution of sensory sensitivity to misophonia symptoms in autism. Autistic adults (N=1050) filled out the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale-Revised (AMISOS-R), the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ-28), and the Sensory P...

BackgroundSuicidal ideation (SI) fluctuates over time, yet traditional static risk factors poorly align with its dynamics over time. Understanding dynamic symptom patterns may advance knowledge of the temporal interplay between SI and co-occurring symptoms in adults with depressive and anxiety disorders. Materials and methodsWe analyzed six waves (at baseline, and after 2, 4, 6, 9, and 13 years of follow-up) of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA; n = 305, mean age 40.8 years...

RationaleNeurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are characterised by significant challenges in communication, social interaction, and adaptive function, often impacting quality of life. Previous studies support genetic influences on the communication abilities of individuals with NDD, but were either limited to single genetic conditions or to small cohorts with a limited selection of communication measures. MethodsWe analysed caregiver-reported communication abilities in 79,518 individuals with ND...