Cognitive stimulation as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status and neural function supporting working memory: a longitudinal fMRI study.

Childhood experiences of low socioeconomic status are associated with alterations in neural function in the frontoparietal network and ventral visual stream, which may drive differences in working memory. However, the specific features of low socioeconomic status environments that contribute to these disparities remain poorly understood. Here, we examined experiences of cognitive deprivation (i.e. decreased variety and complexity of experience), as opposed to experiences of threat (i.e. violence exposure), as a potential mechanism through which family income contributes to alterations in neural activation during working memory. As part of a longitudinal study, 148 youth between aged 10 and 13 years completed a visuospatial working memory fMRI task. Early childhood low income, chronicity of low income in early childhood, and current income-to-needs were associated with task-related activation in the ventral visual stream and frontoparietal network. The association of family income with decreased activation in the lateral occipital cortex and intraparietal sulcus during working memory was mediated by experiences of cognitive deprivation. Surprisingly, however, family income and deprivation were not significantly related to working memory performance, and only deprivation was associated with academic achievement in this sample. Taken together, these findings suggest that early life low income and associated cognitive deprivation are important factors in neural function supporting working memory.

Alterations in fear learning as a mechanism linking childhood exposure to violence with PTSD symptoms: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Fear learning is a core component of conceptual models of how adverse experiences may influence psychopathology. Specifically, existing theories posit that childhood experiences involving childhood trauma are associated with altered fear learning processes, while experiences involving deprivation are not. Several studies have found altered fear acquisition in youth exposed to trauma, but not deprivation, although the specific patterns have varied across studies. The present study utilizes a longitudinal sample of children with variability in adversity experiences to examine associations among childhood trauma, fear learning, and psychopathology in youth. METHODS: The sample includes 170 youths aged 10-13 years (M = 11.56, s.d. = 0.47, 48.24% female). Children completed a fear conditioning task while skin conductance responses (SCR) were obtained, which included both acquisition and extinction. Childhood trauma and deprivation severity were measured using both parent and youth report. Symptoms of anxiety, externalizing problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed at baseline and again two-years later. RESULTS: Greater trauma-related experiences were associated with greater SCR to the threat cue (CS+) relative to the safety cue (CS-) in early fear acquisition, controlling for deprivation, age, and sex. Deprivation was unrelated to fear learning. Greater SCR to the threat cue during early acquisition was associated with increased PTSD symptoms over time controlling for baseline symptoms and mediated the relationship between trauma and prospective changes in PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood trauma is associated with altered fear learning in youth, which may be one mechanism linking exposure to violence with the emergence of PTSD symptoms in adolescence.

Threat Responsivity Predicts Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Hyperarousal Symptoms in Children after Hurricane Florence.

Following a traumatic event, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common. Considerable research has identified a relationship between physiological responses during fear learning and PTSD. Adults with PTSD display atypical physiological responses, such as increased skin conductance responses (SCR) to threatening cues during fear learning (Orr et al., 2000). However, little research has examined these responses in childhood when fear learning first emerges. We hypothesized that greater threat responsivity in early acquisition during fear conditioning before Hurricane Florence would predict PTSD symptoms in a sample of young children following the hurricane. The final sample included 58 children in North Carolina who completed fear learning before Hurricane Florence-a potentially traumatic event. After the hurricane, we assessed severity of hurricane impact and PTSD symptoms. We found that threat responsivity as measured by differential SCR during fear learning before the hurricane predicted PTSD hyperarousal symptoms and that hurricane impact predicted PTSD symptoms following the disaster. This exploratory work suggests that prospective associations between threat responsivity and PTSD symptoms observed in adulthood may be replicated in early childhood. Results are discussed in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis.

Association of adversity with psychopathology in early childhood: Dimensional and cumulative approaches.

BACKGROUND: The association between adversity and psychopathology in adolescents and adults is characterized by equifinality. These associations, however, have not been assessed during early childhood when psychopathology first emerges. Defining adversity using both dimensional and cumulative risk approaches, we examined whether specific types of adversity are differentially associated with psychopathology in preschool-aged children. METHODS: Measures of threat, deprivation, and total adversities (i.e., cumulative risk) were calculated based on parent-reported information for 755 2- to 5-year old children recruited from pediatric primary care clinics. Logistic regression was used to estimate cross-sectional associations between type of adversity and anxiety, depression, ADHD, and behavioral disorder diagnoses. RESULTS: Threat and cumulative risk exhibited independent associations with psychopathology. Threat was strongly related to behavioral disorders. Cumulative risk was consistently related to all psychopathologies. CONCLUSIONS: Using mutually adjusted models, we identified differential associations between threat and psychopathology outcomes in preschool-aged children. This selectivity may reflect different pathways through which adversity increases the risk for psychopathology during this developmentally important period. As has been observed at other ages, a cumulative risk approach also effectively identified the cumulative impact of all forms of adversity on most forms of psychopathology during early childhood.

Deprivation and psychopathology in the Fragile Families Study: A 15-year longitudinal investigation.

BACKGROUND: Early adversity consistently predicts youth psychopathology. However, the pathways linking unique dimensions of early adversity, such as deprivation, to psychopathology are understudied. Here, we evaluate a theoretical model linking early deprivation exposure with psychopathology prospectively through language ability. METHODS: Participants included 2,301 youth (47.5% female) enrolled in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. We include data from assessment points at ages 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15. Latent factors for deprivation and threat were modeled from multiple indicators at ages 1 and 3. Youth language ability was assessed at Age 5. Indicators of psychopathology were assessed at ages 5, 9, and 15. A structural equation model tested longitudinal paths to internalizing and externalizing psychopathology from experiences of deprivation and threat. RESULTS: Deprivation from birth to Age 3 was associated with an indirect effect on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in early childhood (Age 5), later childhood (Age 9), and adolescence (Age 15) via language ability in early childhood (Age 5). Early threat exposure was associated with increased internalizing and externalizing psychopathology across all ages. There was no significant indirect effect from threat to psychopathology via language ability. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of deprivation on psychopathology during early childhood, late childhood, and adolescence are explained, in part, through early childhood language ability. Results provide insight into language ability as a possible opportunity for intervention.

Brain structure mediates the association between socioeconomic status and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with greater risk for symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). One mechanism through which SES may confer risk for ADHD is by influencing brain structure. Alterations to cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volume have been associated with low SES and with the presence of ADHD across multiple studies. The current study examined whether cortical thickness, surface area or subcortical volume mediate the associations between SES and ADHD in youth 3-21 years old (N = 874) from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics Study. Freesurfer was used to estimate cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volume from structural magnetic resonance imaging. Parents reported on demographics, family SES, ADHD diagnoses and the presence of child attention problems. Statistical mediation was assessed using a bootstrap resampling procedure. Controlling for parental ADHD, child age, gender, birth weight and scanner, children in low SES families were more likely to be in the ADHD group. Consistent with previous reports in this sample, low SES was associated with reduced surface area across the frontal lobe and reduced subcortical volume in the amygdala, cerebellum, hippocampus and basal ganglia. Of these regions, a significant indirect effect of SES on ADHD status through subcortical volume was observed for the left cerebellum (95% confidence interval: 0.004, 0.022), the right cerebellum (95% confidence interval: 0.006, 0.025), and the right caudate (95% confidence interval: 0.002, 0.022). Environmentally mediated changes in the cerebellum and the caudate may be neurodevelopmental mechanisms explaining elevated risk of ADHD in children in low SES families.

Early adversity and children's emotion regulation: Differential roles of parent emotion regulation and adversity exposure.

Exposure to early life adversity (ELA) is associated with increased rates of psychopathology and poor physical health. The present study builds on foundational work by Megan Gunnar identifying how ELA results in poor long-term outcomes through alterations in the stress response system, leading to major disruptions in emotional and behavioral regulation. Specifically, the present study tested the direct effects of ELA against the role of parent socialization to shed light on the mechanisms by which ELA leads to emotion regulation deficits. Children ages 4-7 years (N = 64) completed interviews about their experiences of deprivation and threat, a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm, and an IQ test. Parents of the children completed questionnaires regarding their own emotion regulation difficulties and psychopathology, their children's emotion regulation, and child exposure to adversity. At the bivariate level, greater exposure to threat and parental difficulties with emotion regulation were associated with poorer emotion regulation in children, assessed both via parental report and physiologically. In models where parental difficulties with emotion regulation, threat, and deprivation were introduced simultaneously, regression results indicated that parental difficulties with emotion regulation, but not deprivation or threat, continued to predict children's emotion regulation abilities. These results suggest that parental socialization of emotion is a robust predictor of emotion regulation tendencies in children exposed to early adversity.

Emotion Reactivity and Regulation in Adolescent Girls Following an Interpersonal Rejection.

Failures in emotion regulation, especially as a result of interpersonal stress, are implicated as transdiagnostic risk factors for psychopathology. This study examines the effects of an experimentally timed targeted interpersonal rejection on emotion reactivity and regulation in typically developing adolescent girls. Girls ( n = 33, ages 9-16 years, M = 12.47, SD = 2.20) underwent fMRI involving a widely used emotion regulation task. The emotion task involves looking at negative stimuli and using cognitive reappraisal strategies to decrease reactions to negative stimuli. Participants also engaged in a social evaluation task, which leads participants to believe a preselected peer was watching and evaluating the participant. We subsequently told participants they were rejected by this peer and examined emotion reactivity and regulation before and after this rejection. Adolescent girls evidence greater reactivity via higher self-reported emotional intensity and greater amygdala activation to negative stimuli immediately after (compared with before) the rejection. Self-reported emotional intensity differences before and after rejection were not observed during regulation trials. However, on regulation trials, girls exhibited increased prefrontal activation in areas supporting emotion regulation after compared with before the rejection. This study provides evidence that a targeted rejection increases self-report and neural markers of emotion reactivity and that girls increase prefrontal activation to regulate emotions after a targeted rejection.

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) in Children: Reliability and Heritability.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits comprise the core symptoms of psychopathy, yet no study has estimated the heritability of CU traits in a community sample of children using an instrument designed solely to assess CU traits. The current study uses data from 339 twin pairs aged 9-14 to examine the reliability and heritability of the parent-report Inventory of Callous-unemotional Traits (ICU) at two assessments approximately 3 weeks apart. Time-specific measurement error was taken into account to obtain a more accurate estimate of the heritability reflecting the latent liability to CU traits. Test-retest reliability was 0.84 and heritability at visit 1 was 39%. The heritability of the latent liability to CU traits was 47%. This latent liability contributed 79% of the variance in ICU score at visit 1 and visit 2. This is the first study to account for measurement error while examining the heritability of CU traits, furthering our understanding of psychopathy in children.

Anxiety symptoms and children's eye gaze during fear learning.

BACKGROUND: The eye region of the face is particularly relevant for decoding threat-related signals, such as fear. However, it is unclear if gaze patterns to the eyes can be influenced by fear learning. Previous studies examining gaze patterns in adults find an association between anxiety and eye gaze avoidance, although no studies to date examine how associations between anxiety symptoms and eye-viewing patterns manifest in children. The current study examined the effects of learning and trait anxiety on eye gaze using a face-based fear conditioning task developed for use in children. METHODS: Participants were 82 youth from a general population sample of twins (aged 9-13 years), exhibiting a range of anxiety symptoms. Participants underwent a fear conditioning paradigm where the conditioned stimuli (CS+) were two neutral faces, one of which was randomly selected to be paired with an aversive scream. Eye tracking, physiological, and subjective data were acquired. Children and parents reported their child's anxiety using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders. RESULTS: Conditioning influenced eye gaze patterns in that children looked longer and more frequently to the eye region of the CS+ than CS- face; this effect was present only during fear acquisition, not at baseline or extinction. Furthermore, consistent with past work in adults, anxiety symptoms were associated with eye gaze avoidance. Finally, gaze duration to the eye region mediated the effect of anxious traits on self-reported fear during acquisition. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety symptoms in children relate to face-viewing strategies deployed in the context of a fear learning experiment. This relationship may inform attempts to understand the relationship between pediatric anxiety symptoms and learning.

Latent structure of negative valence measures in childhood.

BACKGROUND: Internalizing disorders (IDs), consisting of the syndromes of anxiety and depression, are common, debilitating conditions often having onsets in adolescence. Scientists have developed dimensional self-report instruments that assess putative negative valence system (NVS) trait-like constructs as complimentary phenotypes to clinical symptoms. These include various measures that index temperamental predispositions to IDs and correlate with neural substrates of fear, anxiety, and affective regulation. This study sought to elucidate the overarching structure of putative NVS traits and their relationship to early manifestations of ID symptomatology. METHODS: The sample consisted of 768 juvenile twin subjects ages 9-13. Together with ID symptoms, extant validated instruments were chosen to assess a broad spectrum of NVS traits: anxiety sensitivity, irritability, fearfulness, behavioral activation and inhibition, and neuroticism and extraversion. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA/CFA) were used to investigate the latent structure of the associations among these different constructs and ID symptoms. Bifactor modeling in addition to standard correlated-factor analytic approaches were applied. RESULTS: Factor analyses produced a primary tripartite solution comprising anxiety/fear, dysphoria, and positive affect among all these measures. Competing DSM-like correlated factors and an RDoC-like NVS bifactor structure provided similar fit to these data. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the conceptual organization of a tripartite latent internalizing domain in developing children. This structure includes both clinical symptoms and a variety of self-report dimensional traits currently in use by investigators. These various constructs are, therefore, most informatively investigated using an inclusive, integrated approach.

The Twin Study of Negative Valence Emotional Constructs.

The Twin Study of Negative Valence Emotional Constructs is a multi-site study designed to examine the relationship between a broad selection of potential measures designed to assess putative endophenotypes for negative valence systems (NVS) and early symptoms of internalizing disorders (IDs). In this article, we describe the sample characteristics, data collection protocols, and measures used. Pre-adolescent Caucasian twin pairs were recruited through the Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry; data collection began in February of 2013. Enrolled twins completed various dimensional self-report measures along with cognitive, emotional, and psychophysiological tasks designed to assess NVS function. Parents also completed surveys about their twins and themselves. In addition, a subset of the twins also participated in a neuroimaging protocols. Data collection is in the final stages, and preliminary analyses are underway. The findings will potentially expand our understanding of the mechanisms by which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in NVS phenotypes and provide new insights into underlying risk factors for IDs.

Testing a Conceptual Model of Early Adversity, Neural Function, and Psychopathology: Protocol for a Retrospective Observational Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Early adversity, broadly defined as a set of negative exposures during childhood, is extremely common and increases risk for psychopathology across the life span. Previous research suggests that separate dimensions of adversity increase risk through developmental plasticity mechanisms shaping unique neurobiological pathways. Specifically, research suggests that deprivation is associated with deficits in higher order cognition, while threat is associated with atypicality in fear learning and emotion dysregulation. However, most of this research has been conducted in adolescent and adult samples, long after exposure to adversity occurs and far from periods of peak developmental plasticity. OBJECTIVE: The Wellness Health and Life Experiences (WHALE) study examines the neurobiological and behavioral mechanisms by which deprivation, threat, and unpredictability increase risk for psychopathology in early childhood (age 4-7 years) directly following periods of peak developmental plasticity. The objective of this study is to describe the study rationale and aims, the research design and procedures, and the analytical plan to test the study hypotheses. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study that examines associations between exposure to deprivation and threat and their hypothesized neurobiological mechanisms, how these neurobiological mechanisms link early adversity and psychopathology, and associations between unpredictability, reward learning, and psychopathology. The sample was a convenience sample of children (aged 4-7 years) and their families, identified through flyers, email blasts to listserves, school-based advertising, and involvement in community events. Data were collected during a home visit, a subsequent laboratory visit, and a final neuroimaging visit. Planned analyses include linear regression, path analyses, and functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses to explore the role of neural function in the association between early adversity and psychopathology. RESULTS: Participants (N=301) have been recruited into the study, and data collection has commenced. The expected results will be available in 2024. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study will help elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms by which early adversity increases risk for psychopathology in early childhood. This study represents the earliest test of an influential theory of biological embedding of early adversity. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/59636.

Neural Correlates of the p Factor in Adolescence: Cognitive Control With and Without Enhanced Positive Affective Demands.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has aimed to characterize processes underlying general liability toward psychopathology, termed the p factor. Given previous research linking the p factor with difficulties in both executive functioning and affective regulation, the present study investigated nonaffective and positive affective inhibition in the context of a sustained attention/inhibition paradigm in adolescents exhibiting mild to severe psychopathology. METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected during an integrated reward conditioning and go/no-go task in 138 adolescents assigned female at birth. We modeled the p factor using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis. Positive affective inhibition was measured by examining responses to no-go stimuli with a history of reward conditioning. We examined associations between p factor scores and neural function and behavioral performance. RESULTS: Consistent with nonaffective executive function as a primary risk factor, p factor scores were associated with worse behavioral performance and hypoactivation in the left superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus during response initiation (go trials). The p factor scores were additionally associated with increased error-related signaling in the temporal cortex during incorrect no-go trials. CONCLUSIONS: During adolescence, a period characterized by heightened risk for emergent psychopathology, we observed unique associations between p factor scores and neural and behavioral indices of response initiation, which relies primarily on sustained attention. These findings suggest that shared variation in mental disorder categories is characterized in part by sustained attention deficits. While we did not find evidence that the p factor was associated with inhibition in this study, this observation is consistent with our hypothesis that the p factor would be related to nonaffective control processes.

Pre-pandemic brain structure and function and adolescent psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for youths and families, dramatically increasing exposure to stressors and stress-related psychopathology. Increasing work has leveraged pre-pandemic neuroimaging data to predict adolescent psychopathology and stress responses during the pandemic, with a particular focus on internalizing symptoms. We review this recent literature on pre-pandemic brain structure and function and adolescent internalizing psychopathology during the pandemic. At present, existing studies have not consistently identified specific alterations in brain structure and function that predict anxiety or depressive symptoms during the pandemic. In contrast, exposure to stress and adversity before and during the pandemic as well as access to peer and family support have emerged as consistent and reliable predictors of youth mental health during the pandemic.

Child Anxiety and Depression Symptom Trajectories and Predictors over 15 Months of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Repeated measures are required to monitor and map trajectories of mental health symptoms that are sensitive to the changing distal and proximal stressors throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Understanding symptoms in young children is particularly important given the short- and long-term implications of early-onset internalizing symptoms. This study utilized an intensive longitudinal approach to assess the course and environmental correlates of anxiety and depression symptoms in 133 children, ages 4-11 (Mage = 7.35, SD = 1.03), in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caregivers completed 48 repeated assessments from April 7, 2020, to June 15, 2021, on child and caregiver mental health symptoms, family functioning, and COVID-19-related environmental changes. Results from a series of multilevel growth models demonstrate that child depression symptoms were highest following initial stay-at-home orders (April 2020) and linearly decreased over time, while child anxiety symptoms were variable over the 15-month period. Caregiver depression symptoms and family conflict significantly predicted levels of child depression symptoms. In contrast, caregiver depression symptoms, caregiver anxiety symptoms, and time spent home quarantining significantly predicted levels of child anxiety symptoms. Results suggest that depression and anxiety symptoms in young children may have unique trajectories over the course of the coronavirus pandemic and highlight symptom-specific risk factors for each symptom.

Distinct Associations of Deprivation and Threat With Alterations in Brain Structure in Early Childhood.

OBJECTIVE: The dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology hypothesizes deprivation and threat impact distinct neurobiological pathways, such as brain structure. This hypothesis has not been examined longitudinally or in young children. This study tested longitudinal associations between threat and deprivation measured in preschool and brain structure in childhood. It was hypothesized that threat would be associated with amygdala and hippocampal subcortical volume and deprivation would be associated with cortical thickness in association cortex. METHOD: The study included T1-weighted scans from 72 children (5-10 years old, 54.2% female participants). Threat was measured by the presence of domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neighborhood violence. Deprivation was measured by the presence of neglect. Associations of deprivation or threat with brain structure were examined controlling for other dimension (deprivation or threat) and nuisance covariates using whole-brain vertex-wise analyses. Subcortical volume was extracted, and the same associations were examined using multiple regression. RESULTS: Threat was associated with widespread decreases in cortical surface area across the prefrontal cortex and other regions. Threat was not associated with amygdala or hippocampal volume. Deprivation was associated with increased thickness in occipital cortex, insula, and cingulate. CONCLUSION: Results suggest distinct associations of deprivation and threat on brain structure in early childhood. Threat is associated with widespread differences in surface area, and deprivation is associated with differences in cortical thickness. These observations are consistent with work in adolescence and adulthood and reflect how dimensions of adversity differentially impact neural structure.

Predictors of family violence in North Carolina following initial COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

BACKGROUND: Although there is evidence that family violence increased in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, few studies have characterized longitudinal trends in family violence across the course of initial stay-at-home orders. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study is to investigate patterns and predictors of family violence, such as child maltreatment and harsh punishment, during the first eight weeks of the pandemic after initial stay-at-home orders in North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants included 120 families with children ages 4-11 (53% non-White, 49% female) and a primary caregiver (98% female) living in rural and suburban areas in North Carolina. Participants were recruited based on high risk of pre-pandemic family violence exposure. METHODS: Caregivers completed weekly surveys during the pandemic assessing family violence, caregiver employment status, and caregiver emotion reactivity. In addition, all caregivers completed pre-pandemic surveys on family violence. RESULTS: Mixed-effects models revealed that family violence was highest following initial stay-at-home orders and decreased linearly over time. Higher pre-pandemic child violence exposure and caregiver unemployment were associated with higher initial family violence. Higher caregiver emotion reactivity was associated with changes in family violence across time. CONCLUSIONS: We observed high levels of family violence following stay-at-home orders, especially in families with higher baseline violence, higher caregiver emotion reactivity, and caregiver unemployment or underemployment. These associations suggest that vulnerable families may respond to the additional stressor of stay-at-home orders with increased violence and thus need additional support in moments of crisis.

Psychosocial deprivation and receptive language ability: a two-sample study.

BACKGROUND: The quality of early caregiving experiences is a known contributor to the quality of the language experiences young children receive. What is unknown is whether, and if so, how psychosocial deprivation early in life is associated with long-lasting receptive language outcomes. METHODS: Two prospective longitudinal studies examining early psychosocial deprivation/neglect in different contexts (i.e., deprivation due to institutional care or deprivation experienced by children residing within US families) and receptive language as assessed via the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) were used to assess the magnitude of these associations. First, 129 participants from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care in Romania, completed a receptive language assessment at age 18 years. Second, from the USA, 3342 participants from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study were assessed from infancy until middle childhood. RESULTS: Children exposed to early institutional care, on average, had lower receptive language scores than their never institutionalized counterparts in late adolescence. While randomization to an early foster care intervention had no long-lasting association with PPVT scores, the duration of childhood exposure to institutional care was negatively associated with receptive language. Psychosocial deprivation in US families was also negatively associated with receptive language longitudinally, and this association remained statistically significant even after accounting for measures of socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: Experiences of psychosocial deprivation may have long-lasting consequences for receptive language ability, extending to age 18 years. Psychosocial deprivation is an important prospective predictor of poorer receptive language. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Bucharest Early Intervention Project ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00747396.

Differential Associations of Deprivation and Threat With Cognitive Control and Fear Conditioning in Early Childhood.

Early-life adversity (ELA) is strongly associated with risk for psychopathology. Within adversity, deprivation, and threat may lead to psychopathology through different intermediary pathways. Specifically, deprivation, defined as the absence of expected cognitive and social inputs, is associated with lower performance on complex cognitive tasks whereas threatening experiences, defined as the presence of experiences that reflect harm to the child, are associated with atypical fear learning and emotional processes. However, distinct associations of deprivation and threat on behavioral outcomes have not been examined in early childhood. The present study examines how deprivation and threat are associated with cognitive and emotional outcomes in early childhood. Children 4-7 years old completed behavioral tasks assessing cognitive control (N = 58) and fear conditioning (N = 45); deprivation and threat were assessed using child interview and parent questionnaires. Regression analyses were performed including deprivation and threat scores and controls for age, gender, and IQ. Because this is the first time these variables have been examined in early childhood, interactions with age were also examined. Deprivation, but not threat was associated with worse performance on the cognitive control task. Threat, but not deprivation interacted with age to predict fear learning. Young children who experienced high levels of threat showed evidence of fear learning measured by differential skin conductance response even at the earliest age measured. In contrast, for children not exposed to threat, fear learning emerged only in older ages. Children who experienced higher levels of threat also showed blunted reactivity measured by amplitude of skin conductance response to the reinforced stimuli regardless of age. Results suggest differential influences of deprivation and threat on cognitive and emotional outcomes even in early childhood. Future work should examine the neural mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes and link changes with increased risk for negative outcomes associated with adversity exposure, such as psychopathology.