Developmental imaging genetics: challenges and promises for translational research

Advances in molecular biology, neuroimaging, genetic epidemiology, and developmental psychopathology have provided a unique opportunity to explore the interplay of genes, brain, and behavior within a translational research framework. Herein, we begin by outlining an experimental strategy by which genetic effects on brain function can be explored using neuroimaging, namely, imaging genetics. We next describe some major findings in imaging genetics to highlight the effectiveness of this strategy for delineating biological pathways and mechanisms by which individual differences in brain function emerge and potentially bias behavior and risk for psychiatric illness. We then discuss the importance of applying imaging genetics to the study of psychopathology within a developmental framework. By beginning to move toward a systems-level approach to understanding pathways to behavioral outcomes as they are expressed across development, it is anticipated that we will move closer to understanding the complexities of the specific mechanisms involved in the etiology of psychiatric disease. Despite the numerous challenges that lie ahead, we believe that developmental imaging genetics has potential to yield highly informative results that will ultimately translate into public health benefits. We attempt to set out guidelines and provide exemplars that may help in designing fruitful translational research applications that incorporate a developmental imaging genetics strategy

We Need to Talk About Development and Victims

The article by Lilienfeld and colleagues (this issue) proposes that the study of personality disorders could be substantially advanced by viewing at least some of them as emergent interpersonal syndromes. This commentary considers the need for a developmental approach in understanding how the emergent interpersonal syndromes arise. It also highlights the importance of systematically studying individual differences in victimization. We need to understand why some are more likely than others to be exploited, victimized, or remain in a dysfunctional relationship with an individual with a personality disorder

Initial Validation of a Brief Pictorial Measure of Caregiver Aggression: The Family Aggression Screening Tool

In the present study, we report on the development and initial psychometric properties of the Family Aggression Screening Tool (FAST). The FAST is a brief, self-report tool that makes use of pictorial representations to assess experiences of caregiver aggression, including direct victimization and exposure to intimate partner violence. It is freely available on request and takes under 5 minutes to complete. Psychometric properties of the FAST were investigated in a sample of 168 high-risk youth aged 16 to 24 years. For validation purposes, maltreatment history was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; levels of current psychiatric symptoms were also assessed. Internal consistency of the FAST was good. Convergent validity was supported by strong and discriminative associations with corresponding Childhood Trauma Questionnaire subscales. The FAST also correlated significantly with multi-informant reports of psychiatric symptomatology. Initial findings provide support for the reliability and validity of the FAST as a brief, pictorial screening tool of caregiver aggression

Annual Research Review: Childhood maltreatment, latent vulnerability and the shift to preventative psychiatry - the contribution of functional brain imaging

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is a potent predictor of poor mental health across the life span. We argue that there is a need to improve the understanding of the mechanisms that confer psychiatric vulnerability following maltreatment, if we are to progress from simply treating those with a manifest disorder, to developing effective preventative approaches that can help offset the likelihood that such disorders will emerge in the first place. METHODS: We review extant functional neuroimaging studies of children and adolescents exposed to early neglect and/or maltreatment, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse across four neurocognitive domains: threat processing, reward processing, emotion regulation and executive control. Findings are discussed in the context of 'latent vulnerability', where alterations in neurocognitive function are considered to carry adaptive value in early adverse caregiving environments but confer long-term risk. RESULTS: Studies on threat processing indicate heightened as well as depressed neural responsiveness in maltreated samples, particularly in the amygdala, thought to reflect threat hypervigilance and avoidance respectively. Studies on reward processing generally report blunted neural response to anticipation and receipt of rewards, particularly in the striatum, patterns associated with depressive symptomatology. Studies on emotion regulation report increased activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during active emotion regulation, possibly reflecting greater effortful processing. Finally, studies of executive control report increased dorsal ACC activity during error monitoring and inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: An emerging body of work indicates that altered neurocognitive functioning following maltreatment: (a) is evident even in the absence of overt psychopathology; (b) is consistent with perturbations seen in individuals presenting with psychiatric disorder; (c) can predict future psychiatric symptomatology. These findings suggest that maltreatment leads to neurocognitive alterations that embed latent vulnerability to psychiatric disorder, establishing a compelling case for identifying those children at most risk and developing mechanistically informed models of preventative intervention. Such interventions should aim to offset the likelihood of any future psychiatric disorder

Extreme Demand Avoidance in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Refinement of a Caregiver-Report Measure

Objectives: Extreme/“pathological” demand avoidance (PDA) describes a presentation found in some children on the autism spectrum, characterized by obsessive resistance to everyday demands and requests. Demands often trigger avoidance behavior (e.g., distraction, excuses, withdrawal into role play). Pressure to comply can lead to escalation in emotional reactivity and behavior that challenges. Methods: Previously, the Extreme Demand Avoidance Questionnaire (EDA-Q) was developed to quantify resemblance to clinical accounts of PDA from caregiver reports. The aim of this study was to refine the EDA-Q using principal components analysis (PCA) and item response theory (IRT) analysis on parent/caregiver-report data from 334 children with ASD aged 5–17 years. Results: PCA and IRT analyses identified eight items that are discriminating indices of EDA traits, and behave similarly with respect to quantifying EDA irrespective of child age, gender, reported academic level, or reported independence in daily living activities. The “EDA-8” showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha =.90) and convergent and divergent validity with other measures (some of which were only available for a subsample of 233 respondents). EDA-8 scores were not related to parental reports of ASD severity. Conclusions: Inspection of the test information function suggests that the EDA-8 may be a useful tool to identify children on the autism spectrum who show an extreme response to demands, as a starting point for more in-depth assessment

Antisocial and Callous Behaviour in Children

Antisocial behaviour is one of the most common reasons for a childhood referral to mental health and educational services and represents a substantial public health cost. Callous-unemotional traits can be used to distinguish between children who are capable of pre-meditated antisocial behaviour and violence and children whose antisocial behaviour and violence are primarily impulsive and threat reactive. Decades of developmental psychopathology research have shown that children with antisocial behaviour are thus a heterogeneous group and, for interventions to be successful, it is critical that distinct subgroups of children receive services that best match their profile of vulnerabilities and strengths. Recent advances in genetic and brain imaging research in the field have made important contributions to our understanding of the developmental vulnerability that callous-unemotional traits represent. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the current evidence base with regard to genetic and neuroscience findings of callous-unemotional traits and antisocial behaviour with callous-unemotional traits. We also discuss the implications of these findings for prevention and intervention, and finish by outlining what we consider to be necessary directions for future research

A review of childhood maltreatment, latent vulnerability and the brain: implications for clinical practice and prevention

There is a well-established association between childhood maltreatment and later poor mental health and increasing recognition that we need to find ways to support children following such experiences to improve long-term outcomes. We suggest that the rationale for such a preventive approach is directly informed by the emerging findings from the field of functional neuroimaging. Here, we review the evidence from four neurocognitive systems: threat processing, reward processing, emotion regulation and executive control. We briefly summarise what is known about each system, review the evidence that altered functioning is implicated in common mental health problems and describe how the functioning of each system is altered following maltreatment. Across domains, these neurocognitive alterations following child maltreatment are in line with those seen in adults presenting with mental health problems yet most maltreated children studied do not have a presenting ‘disorder’. This suggests that these neurocognitive alterations may potentiate the risk of future psychopathology. We discuss this possibility in the context of the theory of latent vulnerability (McCrory and Viding, 2015). According to this model, children may respond to early adverse environments in ways that are potentially adaptive in the short term but which create vulnerability to future mental health problems in the long term. We also consider the clinical implications of the neuroimaging evidence ‒ in particular, the growing need for a more preventive clinical approach

Parenting Goals: Links with Parenting Strategies in Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

OBJECTIVES: Parenting goals describe the outcomes that parents aim for when interacting with their child. They have received little attention in research with caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study explored different types (dimensions) of parenting goals reported by caregivers of children with ASD, investigated links between these parenting goals and child characteristics, and explored whether parenting goals were linked to reported use of particular parenting strategies. METHODS: Data from 161 caregivers of children with ASD aged 7–18 years revealed two goal dimensions: “Norm Adherence Goals” (i.e. the perceived importance of the child cooperating with the parent, respecting their authority, and behaving well in public); and “Autonomy Support and Relationship Goals” (i.e. the perceived importance of promoting the child’s resilience, wellbeing, and the quality of the parent-child relationship). RESULTS: Parents who reported that norm adherence goals were particularly important to them were more likely to endorse parenting strategies such as setting rules, using rewards, and giving punishments. These parents also reported using less “Accommodation” (e.g. making allowances for their child, being flexible, avoiding triggers). Autonomy support and relationship goals were very strongly endorsed by nearly all parents, and we therefore could not find strong links between the importance of these goals and parenting strategies. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that parenting goals might be importantly linked to parenting strategies and could be considered in personalizing interventions in clinical practice. Given that parents’ cognitions about their child’s behaviour and their role as parents likely interact with and influence their parenting goals, we argue that future research should investigate parenting goals, cognitions, and behaviours in parallel

Investigating associations between empathy, morality and psychopathic personality traits in the general population

Although atypical moral and empathy processing are considered core features of psychopathic personality, little is known about how these constructs are associated with psychopathic traits in the general population. One-hundred and twenty-four adult males from the community were administered the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale 4 Short Form, as well as a wide battery of affect, empathy and morality tasks and questionnaires. Our findings indicate that both core affective-interpersonal, as well as lifestyle-antisocial features of psychopathy are associated with weaker empathic responses to fearful faces. However, only the unique variance of the affective-interpersonal features is associated with weaker empathic response to happy stories, lower propensity to feel empathic concern and less difficulty in making decisions on moral dilemmas. In contrast, the unique variance of the lifestyle-antisocial features is associated with greater propensity to feel empathic concern. These preliminary findings extend previous research and suggest that, while the joint variance between affective-interpersonal and lifestyle-antisocial features might drive some ‘deficits’ associated with psychopathy, there also appears also to be unique ‘deficits’ associated with the core affective-interpersonal features, particularly in relation to affective aspects of moral processing