Emotion Dysregulation Is Associated With Social Impairment Among Young Adolescents With ADHD

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate aspects of emotion dysregulation (ED) that characterize young adolescents with ADHD, examine the effects of subtype and comorbidity, and determine the extent to which ED is related to aggression and rule-breaking and social impairment. Method: We examined which aspects of ED are most relevant to ADHD in 180 young adolescents (75% boys), as well as whether ED differs across ADHD subtypes or comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) status. We also examined the association between ED and aggression, rule-breaking, and social impairment. Results: Young adolescent females and males with ADHD exhibited various manifestations of ED, including behavioral dyscontrol in the presence of strong emotions and inflexibility/slow return to emotional baseline. ED did not differ as a function of ADHD subtype or comorbid ODD. Three aspects of ED, namely, low threshold for emotional excitability/impatience, behavioral dyscontrol in the face of strong emotions, and inflexibility/slow return to baseline, predicted three of six measured indices of parent- and self-reported social impairment, above and beyond comorbid ODD. Conclusions: ED is associated with ADHD among young adolescents, does not differ based on ADHD subtype or ODD status, and is associated with social impairment

Canis familiaris As a Model for Non-Invasive Comparative Neuroscience

There is an ongoing need to improve animal models for investigating human behavior and its biological underpinnings. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is a promising model in cognitive neuroscience. However, before it can contribute to advances in this field in a comparative, reliable, and valid manner, several methodological issues warrant attention. We review recent non-invasive canine neuroscience studies, primarily focusing on (i) variability among dogs and between dogs and humans in cranial characteristics, and (ii) generalizability across dog and dog-human studies. We argue not for methodological uniformity but for functional comparability between methods, experimental designs, and neural responses. We conclude that the dog may become an innovative and unique model in comparative neuroscience, complementing more traditional models

Associations among behavioral inhibition and owner-rated attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and personality in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris)

In humans, behavioral disinhibition is associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Limitations to rodent models of ADHD-like behaviors/symptoms may be augmented by complementary ones, such as the domestic dog. We examined associations between family dogs' (N = 29; of 14 breeds and 12 mongrels) performance on a self-developed touchscreen behavioral Go/No-Go paradigm and their owner-rated inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, accounting for relevant covariates. A greater proportion of commission errors was associated with greater hyperactivity/impulsivity. Regardless of accuracy, relative to dogs with no previous training, those with basic training had shorter response latencies. Also, regardless of accuracy, greater confidence and extraversion were associated with shorter latencies, and greater openness was associated with longer latencies. Shorter latency to commission errors was associated with greater inattention. Findings support the dog as a model of the association between behavioral disinhibition and ADHD-like behaviors/symptoms and are early evidence of convergent validity between the behavioral paradigm and the rating scale measure in dogs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Reliability of Reward ERPs in Middle-Late Adolescents Using a Custom and a Standardized Preprocessing Pipeline

Despite advantage of neuroimaging measures in translational research frameworks, less is known about the psychometric properties thereof, especially in middle‐late adolescents. Earlier, we examined evidence of convergent and incremental validity of reward anticipation and response event‐related potentials (ERPs) and here we examined, in the same sample of 43 adolescents (M (age) = 15.67 years; SD = 1.01; range: 14–18; 32.6% boys), data quality (signal‐to‐noise ratio [SNR]), stability (mean amplitude across trials), and internal consistency (Cronbach’s α and split‐half reliability) of the same ERPs. Further, because observed time course and peak amplitude of ERP grand averages and thus findings on SNR, stability, and internal consistency may depend on preprocessing method, we employed a custom and a standardized preprocessing pipeline and compared findings across those. Using our custom pipeline, reward anticipation components were stable by the 40th trial, achieved acceptable internal consistency by the 19th, and all (but the stimulus‐preceding negativity [SPN]) achieved acceptable SNR by the 41st trial. Initial response to reward components were stable by the 20th trial and achieved acceptable internal consistency by the 11th and acceptable SNR by the 45th trial. Difference scores had worse psychometric properties than parent measures. Time course and peak amplitudes of ERPs and thus results on SNR, stability, and internal consistency were comparable across preprocessing pipelines. In case of reward anticipation ERPs examined here, 41 trials (+4 artifacted and removed) and, in case of reward response ERPs, 45 trials (+5 artifacted) yielded stable and internally consistent estimates with acceptable SNR. Results are robust across preprocessing methods