Children's Sensitivity to Cost and Reward in Decision Making Across Distinct Domains of Probability, Effort, and Delay.

Many behavioral paradigms used to study individuals' decision making tendencies do not capture the decision components that contribute to behavioral outcomes, such as differentiating decisions driven toward a reward from decisions driven away from a cost. This study tested a novel decision making task in a sample of 403 children (age 9 years) enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal study. The task consisted of 3 blocks representing distinct cost domains (delay, probability, effort) wherein children were presented with a deck of cards, each of which consisted of a reward and a cost. Children elected whether to accept or skip the card at each trial. Reward-cost pairs were selected using an adaptive algorithm to strategically sample the decision space in the fewest number of trials. Using person-specific regression models, decision preferences were quantified for each cost domain with respect to general tolerance (intercept), as well as parameters estimating the effect of incremental increases in reward or cost on the probability of accepting a card. Results support the relative independence of decision making tendencies across cost domains, with moderate correlations observed between tolerance for delay and effort. Specific decision parameters showed unique associations with cognitive and behavioral measures including executive function, academic motivation, anxiety, and hyperactivity. Evidence indicates that sensitivity to reward is an important factor in incentivizing decisions to work harder or wait longer. Dissociating the relative contributions of reward and cost sensitivity in multiple domains may facilitate the identification of heterogeneity in sub-optimal decision making.

Relevance of a neurophysiological marker of attention allocation for children's learning-related behaviors and academic performance.

Learning-related behaviors are important for school success. Socioeconomic disadvantage confers risk for less adaptive learning-related behaviors at school entry, yet substantial variability in school readiness exists within socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Investigation of neurophysiological systems associated with learning-related behaviors in high-risk populations could illuminate resilience processes. This study examined the relevance of a neurophysiological measure of controlled attention allocation, amplitude of the P3b event-related potential, for learning-related behaviors and academic performance in a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged kindergarteners. The sample consisted of 239 children from an urban, low-income community, approximately half of whom exhibited behavior problems at school entry (45% aggressive/oppositional; 64% male; 69% African American, 21% Hispanic). Results revealed that higher P3b amplitudes to target stimuli in a go/no-go task were associated with more adaptive learning-related behaviors in kindergarten. Furthermore, children's learning-related behaviors in kindergarten mediated a positive indirect effect of P3b amplitude on growth in academic performance from kindergarten to 1st grade. Given that P3b amplitude reflects attention allocation processes, these findings build on the scientific justification for interventions targeting young children's attention skills in order to promote effective learning-related behaviors and academic achievement within socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.

Multifinality in the development of personality disorders: a Biology x Sex x Environment interaction model of antisocial and borderline traits.

Although antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is more common among males and borderline PD (BPD) is more common among females, some authors have suggested that the two disorders reflect multifinal outcomes of a single etiology. This assertion is based on several overlapping symptoms and features, including trait impulsivity, emotional lability, high rates of depression and suicide, and a high likelihood of childhood abuse and/or neglect. Furthermore, rates of ASPD are elevated in the first degree relatives of those with BPD, and concurrent comorbidity rates for the two disorders are high. In this article, we present a common model of antisocial and borderline personality development. We begin by reviewing issues and problems with diagnosing and studying PDs in children and adolescents. Next, we discuss dopaminergic and serotonergic mechanisms of trait impulsivity as predisposing vulnerabilities to ASPD and BPD. Finally, we extend shared risk models for ASPD and BPD by specifying genetic loci that may confer differential vulnerability to impulsive aggression and mood dysregulation among males and impulsive self-injury and mood dysregulation among females. Although the precise mechanisms of these sex-moderated genetic vulnerabilities remain poorly understood, they appear to interact with environmental risk factors including adverse rearing environments to potentiate the development of ASPD and BPD.