The etiology of associations between negative emotionality and childhood externalizing disorders.

Despite consistent documentation of associations between childhood negative emotionality and externalizing psychopathology, few genetically informative studies have investigated the etiology of that association. The goal of the current study was to delineate the etiology of the covariation of negative emotionality and childhood externalizing problems (e.g., oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, inattention, and hyperactivity/impulsivity). Twin families were recruited from Georgia state birth records and completed parental report questionnaires of negative emotionality and common Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) child psychiatric disorders. Results suggest both genetic and environmental influences underlying negative emotionality and each externalizing symptom dimension, with additional evidence for sibling competition/rater contrast effects for inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Bivariate model-fitting analyses indicated that a portion of the additive (43%–75%) and nonadditive (26%–100%) genetic influences underlying each symptom dimension was accounted for by the genetic influences underlying negative emotionality. Finally, an independent pathways model examining the etiology of the association between negative emotionality and the externalizing dimensions indicated that a substantial portion of the additive genetic, nonadditive genetic, and nonshared environmental influences underlying externalizing behavior is shared with negative emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the relations among gender, disinhibition, and disruptive behavior in adolescents.

This study examined whether disinhibition shows similar relations with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD) symptomatology among male and female adolescents. The mixed-incentive or punishment condition of Newman's go/no-go task was administered to 172 adolescents. As expected, ADHD symptoms in boys and girls were predictive of disinhibition (i.e., commission errors) in the mixed-incentive but not punishment condition. Also consistent with expectations, CD symptoms in boys were predictive of disinhibition in the mixed-incentive but not punishment condition. In contrast, CD symptoms in girls were not predictive of disinhibition in either condition. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding sex differences in the etiology of ADHD and CD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder symptomatology in adolescents with alcohol use disorder.

This study tested the hypothesis that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD) comorbidity is associated with substance use and deviance severity in 395 adolescents with alcohol use disorder. Thirty percent of the adolescents had high ADHD symptom counts, and 73% had 3 or more CD symptoms. ADHD-CD was associated with nonalcohol substance use disorder, drinking levels, and CD severity, but in general substance use was not uniquely elevated or problematic among the comorbid cases. In general, CD and CD severity were more important. The findings did not differ between boys and girls, revealing that in a treatment sample of adolescents, ADHD-CD comorbidity may need to be assessed and treated, but it is not broadly indicative of severity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in psychiatric comorbidity among adolescents with substance use disorders.

The authors examined gender differences in rates of comorbid psychiatric disorders among adolescents with 1 or more psychoactive substance use disorders. Baseline diagnostic data were obtained from 135 adolescents, ages 12 to 19, and their parents-guardians, who participated in a study to develop and efficacy test Integrated Family and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder were higher among drug-abusing male adolescents compared with drug-abusing female adolescents. However, high rates of disruptive behavior disorders also characterized drug-abusing female adolescents. Similarly, drug-abusing female adolescents exhibited a higher rate of major depression compared with drug-abusing male adolescents. However, rates of dysthymia, double depression (i.e., major depression and dysthymia), and bipolar disorder were equivalent between genders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Refinements in the hierarchical structure of externalizing psychiatric disorders: Patterns of lifetime liability from mid-adolescence through early adulthood.

Research on hierarchical modeling of psychopathology has frequently identified 2 higher order latent factors, internalizing and externalizing. When based on the comorbidity of psychiatric diagnoses, the externalizing domain has usually been modeled as a single latent factor. Multivariate studies of externalizing symptom features, however, suggest multidimensionality. To address this apparent contradiction, confirmatory factor analytic methods and information-theoretic criteria were used to evaluate 4 theoretically plausible measurement models based on lifetime comorbidity patterns of 7 putative externalizing disorders. Diagnostic information was collected at 4 assessment waves from an age-based cohort of 816 persons between the ages of 14 and 33. A 2-factor model that distinguished oppositional behavior disorders (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder) from social norm violation disorders (conduct disorder, adult antisocial behavior, alcohol use disorder, cannabis use disorder, hard drug use disorder) demonstrated consistently good fit and superior approximating abilities. Analyses of psychosocial outcomes measured at the last assessment wave supported the validity of this 2-factor model. Implications of this research for the theoretical understanding of domain-related disorders and the organization of classification systems are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision making and reward in frontal cortex: Complementary evidence from neurophysiological and neuropsychological studies.

Patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex (PFC)—especially the ventral and medial parts of PFC—often show a marked inability to make choices that meet their needs and goals. These decision-making impairments often reflect both a deficit in learning concerning the consequences of a choice, as well as deficits in the ability to adapt future choices based on experienced value of the current choice. Thus, areas of PFC must support some value computations that are necessary for optimal choice. However, recent frameworks of decision making have highlighted that optimal and adaptive decision making does not simply rest on a single computation, but a number of different value computations may be necessary. Using this framework as a guide, we summarize evidence from both lesion studies and single-neuron physiology for the representation of different value computations across PFC areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classification of behavior disorders in adolescence: Scaling methods, predictive validity, and gender differences.

The present study examined issues relating to the measurement and discriminant validity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic criteria for behavior disorders in adolescence (conduct disorder [CD], oppositional defiant disorder [ODD], attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]). Data were obtained from a birth cohort of 995 New Zealand–born individuals studied to the age of 25 years and modeled associations between behavior disorder from ages 14 to 16 years and later outcomes including crime, substance use, mental health, parenthood and partnership outcomes, and education and employment outcomes to age 25 years. The associations between behavior disorders and outcomes were adjusted for both comorbid behavior disorders and a range of confounding factors. The results suggested that (a) dimensional measures of behavior disorder were more strongly correlated with outcomes than categorical (DSM) measures; (b) CD, ODD, and ADHD each had a distinctive pattern of associations with longer term consequences; and (c) there was no evidence to suggest that the developmental consequences of CD, ODD, and ADHD differed by gender. In general, the results supported the validity of DSM diagnostic domains but also highlighted the importance of including in DSM–V methods for both recognizing the severity of disorder and addressing subclinical symptom levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cannabis and motor function: fMRI changes following 28 days of discontinuation.

The authors hypothesized that supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation in chronic cannabis users, studied 4 to 36 hours after their last episode of use, would disappear by Day 28 of abstinence during finger-tapping tests. Eleven cannabis users and 16 comparison subjects were scanned during right (RFT) and left (LFT) finger-tapping tasks on a GE 1.5 Tesla scanner retrofitted with a whole body echo planar coil. Image analyses were conducted in SPM99 using an ROI approach to define each Brodmann area (BA). Differences in cerebral activation were examined in the left and right primary motor cortex (BA4), SMA (BA6), and ACC (BA24 and BA32 separately). The authors found diminished activation for contralateral BA6 from Day 0 to Day 28. For LFT, the authors also found: ipsilaterally diminished BA6 activation on Day 7, but not Day 0 or Day 28; ipsilaterally diminished BA32 activation on Day 0, but not Day 7 or Day 28; contralaterally diminished BA 4 activation on Day 28, but not Day 0 or Day 7; and contralaterally diminished BA32 activation on Day 0 and Day 28, but not Day 7. For RFT, the authors found ipsilaterally diminished BA32 activation on Days 0 and 7 but not on Day 28; contralaterally diminished BA32 activation on Days 0, 7, and 28; and ipsilaterally diminished BA6 activation on Days 0, 7, and 28. These results suggest that residual diminished brain activation is still observed after discontinuing cannabis use in motor cortical circuits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal attributions and child oppositional behavior: A longitudinal study of boys with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The authors examined changes over a 1-year period in mothers' attributions for child behavior and child oppositional behavior among 53 mothers and nonproblem sons and 44 mothers and sons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Boys averaged 8 years of age (SD = 11 months) at Time 1. Families were primarily of European Canadian cultural background and most were middle to upper middle class. Initial levels of child oppositionality did not predict changes in mothers' attributions over time. However, initial levels of mothers' attributions of oppositional child behavior to internal, stable, and global causes positively predicted child oppositional behavior, controlling for ADHD versus nonproblem status and the child's initial level of oppositional behavior. Although initial levels of overreactive and nonresponsive parenting also positively predicted child oppositional behavior, the contribution of mothers' attributions remained significant even with parenting variables controlled. Results suggest that mothers' attributions of child oppositional behavior to internal, stable, and global causes may contribute to maintenance of child problems over time and that these parenting cognitions have importance as intervention targets. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neighborhood disadvantage moderates associations of parenting and older sibling problem attitudes and behavior with conduct disorders in African American children.

Data from 296 sibling pairs (mean ages 10 and 13 years), their primary caregivers, and census records were used to test the hypothesis that African American children's likelihood of developing conduct problems associated with harsh parenting, a lack of nurturant-involved parenting, and exposure to an older sibling's deviance-prone attitudes and behavior would be amplified among families residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods. A latent construct representing harsh-inconsistent parenting and low levels of nurturant-involved parenting was positively associated with younger siblings' conduct disorder symptoms, as were older siblings' problematic attitudes and behavior. These associations were strongest among families residing in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Future research and prevention programs should focus on the specific neighborhood processes associated with increased vulnerability for behavior problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disinhibitory psychopathology in male adolescents: Discriminating conduct disorder from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder through concurrent assessment of multiple autonomic states.

T. P. Beauchaine (2001) recently proposed a model of autonomic nervous system functioning that predicts divergent patterns of psychophysiological responding across disorders of disinhibition. This model was tested by comparing groups of male adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder plus conduct disorder (CD/ADHD) with controls while performing a repetitive motor task in which rewards were administered and removed across trials. Participants then watched a videotaped peer conflict. Electrodermal responding (EDR), cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were monitored. Compared with controls, the ADHD and CD/ADHD participants exhibited reduced EDR. The CD/ADHD group was differentiated from the ADHD and control groups on PEP and from the control group on RSA. Findings are discussed in terms of the motivational and regulational systems indexed. Implications for understanding rates of comorbidity between CD and ADHD are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of the anterior cingulate cortex in the control over behavior by Pavlovian conditioned stimuli in rats.

To investigate the contribution of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to stimulus-reward learning, rats with lesions of peri- and postgenual ACC were tested on a variety of Pavlovian conditioning tasks. Lesioned rats learned to approach a food alcove during a stimulus predicting food, and responded normally for conditioned reinforcement. They also exhibited normal conditioned freezing and Pavlovian-instrumental transfer, yet were impaired at autoshaping. To resolve this apparent discrepancy, a further task was developed in which approach to the food alcove was under the control of 2 stimuli, only 1 of which was followed by reward. Lesioned rats were impaired, approaching during both stimuli. It is suggested that the ACC is not critical for stimulus-reward learning per se, but is required to discriminate multiple stimuli on the basis of their association with reward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gesture behavior in unmedicated schizotypal adolescents.

Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by interpersonal and verbal communication deficits. Despite the important role of gesture in social communication, no published reports examine the use of gesture by individuals with SPD. In this study, raters code gesture from videotaped interviews of unmedicated adolescents with SPD, other personality disorders, or no Axis II disorder. Results indicate that SPD adolescents show significantly fewer gestures but do not differ from the other groups in overall rate of movement. The findings are discussed in light of brain regions involved in dysfunction, parallels to schizophrenia, and treatment implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood predictors of adolescent substance use in a longitudinal study of children with ADHD.

Children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n=142) were prospectively monitored into adolescence (13-18 years old) to evaluate their risk for elevated substance use relative to same-aged adolescents without ADHD (n=100). Probands reported higher levels of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use than did controls. Group differences were apparent for alcohol symptom scores but not for alcohol or marijuana disorder diagnoses. Within probands, severity of childhood inattention symptoms predicted multiple substance use outcomes; childhood oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) symptoms predicted illicit drug use and CD symptoms. Persistence of ADHD and adolescent CD were each associated with elevated substance use behaviors relative to controls. Further study of the mediating mechanisms that explain risk for early substance use and abuse in children with ADHD is warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anterior cingulate activity and level of cognitive conflict: Explicit comparisons.

The role of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in attention is a matter of debate. One hypothesis suggests that its role is to monitor response-level conflict, but explicit evidence is somewhat lacking. In this study, the activation of ACC was compared in (a) color and number standard Stroop tasks in which response preparation and interference shared modality (response-level conflict) and (b) color and number matching Stroop tasks in which response preparation and interference did not share modality (non-response-level conflict). In the congruent conditions, there was no effect of task type. In the interference conditions, anterior cingulate activity in the matching tasks was less than that in the standard tasks. These results support the hypothesis that ACC specifically mediates generalized modality-independent selection processes invoked by response competition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of prefrontal cortex in predictive fear learning.

Pavlovian fear conditioning depends on prediction error, or the discrepancy between actual and expected outcomes. We used immunohistochemistry, neuronal tract tracing, and reversible inactivation to study the role of prefrontal cortex and thalamocortical pathways in predictive fear learning. Unexpected, but not expected, conditioned stimulus (CS)–unconditioned stimulus (US) presentations caused increased c-Fos expression in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), midline thalamus, lateral amygdala, as well as retrograde labeled midline thalamic afferents to PFC. Reversible inactivation of dorsomedial PFC, but not infralimbic PFC, prevented the associative blocking of fear learning. These results suggest a role for dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC), and a thalamic → dmPFC pathway, in signaling whether or not aversive events are expected or unexpected and so whether they are to be learned about. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactions of focal cortical lesions with error processing: Evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Electrophysiological and hemodynamic studies have suggested that structures in the vicinity of the anterior cingulate cortex are involved in performance monitoring, particularly in detection of errors. Bidirectional interactions between the frontomedian system involved in performance monitoring and the lateral prefrontal cortex as well as the orbitofrontal cortex have been proposed, but few studies have directly addressed this issue. The authors used a speeded flankers task to investigate error-related event-related potentials in 3 patient groups with different focal cortical lesions. Whereas bilateral frontopolar lesions involving the orbitofrontal cortex as well as temporal lesions did not alter the error-related negativity (ERN), lesions of the lateral frontal cortex resulted in an abolition of the ERN and in a reduction of the error positivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Videogames and young people with developmental disorders.

Young people with developmental disorders experience difficulties with many cognitive and perceptual tasks, and often suffer social impairments. Yet, like typical youth, many appear to enjoy playing videogames. This review considers the appeal of videogames to individuals with autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and specific language impairment. It examines how they respond to the various challenges that play entails with particular reference to sensory, cognitive, and social dimensions. It is argued that research into how these young people engage voluntarily with this dynamic and challenging medium offers great potential to extend our empirical and theoretical understanding of the disorders. Many gaps in our current knowledge are identified and several additional themes for possible future research are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructive thinking in adolescents with substance use disorders.

This study examined the concurrent validity and clinical correlates of the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI), a measure of experiential coping, in 551 adolescents aged 14–18 years with and without Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) substance use disorders (SUDs). The CTI was correlated with depression, anxiety, and conduct problems. After controlling for demographics and comorbid lifetime psychiatric disorders, the CTI scales of Behavioral Coping and Categorical Thinking distinguished adolescents with and without SUDs. Implications of these findings for assessment and treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental pathways in oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) specifies a developmental relationship between oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Evidence for this link is mixed, however, and recent studies suggest that different symptom dimensions in ODD may have different outcomes. The authors examined links between ODD, CD, and their young adult outcomes in the Great Smoky Mountains Study (E. J. Costello et al., 1996), a longitudinal data set with over 8,000 observations of 1,420 individuals (56% male) covering ages 9–21 years. ODD was a significant predictor of later CD in boys but not in girls after control for comorbid CD and subthreshold CD symptomatology. Transitions between ODD and CD were less common than anticipated, however, particularly during adolescence. The authors examined characteristics and outcomes of children with pure ODD, pure CD, and combined CD/ODD. Alongside many similarities in childhood and adolescent correlates, key differences were also identified: CD largely predicted behavioral outcomes, whereas ODD showed stronger prediction to emotional disorders in early adult life. Factor analysis identified irritable and headstrong dimensions in ODD symptoms that showed differential prediction to later behavioral and emotional disorders. Overall, the results underscore the utility of retaining separate ODD and CD diagnoses in DSM–V. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)