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Context: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a set of early life events associated with toxic stress and long-term health consequences. The more ACEs a person has experienced, the greater their risk of physical and mental illness later in life. It has been proposed that gun violence, an increasingly common experience for children in the United States, should be considered an ACE due to its lifelong physical and psychosocial impacts. The SaFETy Score is a set of four questions that can be used in clinical settings to predict an adolescent's risk of gun violence exposure. Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between ACEs and lifetime gun violence exposure, as well as future gun violence risk as measured by the SaFETy Score. Study Design and Analysis: Longitudinal quantitative study. Multivariate linear regression with gun violence exposure and SaFETy score as the independent variables and ACE score as the dependent variable. Setting: Four semi-urban to rural primary care practices in eastern North Carolina. Population Studied: Patients age 14-24 at participating practices. Intervention/Instrument: Surveys at baseline and six months post-baseline assessed patient demographics, SaFETy score, ACE score, violence exposure, peer influences, and parental support. Outcome Measures: ACE score, SaFETy score, and lifetime gun violence exposure Results: The majority of the patients were female (69%), non-Hispanic or Latinx (73%), and had at least a high school diploma or GED (63%). In terms of race, 45% were white and 36% were Black or African-American. The majority (58%) had an ACE Score of one to three, which indicates intermediate risk for adverse health outcomes. One-quarter (25%) had an ACE score of four or more, indicating a high level of risk. Over half (55%) reported being exposed to gun violence in their lifetime. ACE Score was associated with both lifetime gun violence exposure and SaFETy Score (p=0.001 for both). Conclusions: In this study, ACEs were correlated with both lifetime gun violence exposure and SaFETy score, suggesting that gun violence exposure is more common in rural and suburban North Carolina youth who have also experienced other childhood traumas., Presenters Anna Gilbert, BS, Elisabeth Callen, PhD, Cory Lutgen, BS, BSc, Sanjay Batish, MD, Daijah Jones, [...]

Possible age-related differences in Phonemic Fluency Test (PFT) and Semantic Fluency Test (SFT) performance were examined by using longitudinal data of healthy older adults. The performance trajectories of 81 older adults in the 2 tests were analyzed for 11 years, from 65 to 75 years of age, via individually calculated linear regression coefficients. The results indicated that the PFT and SFT performance showed an age-related decline. However, the declining slope of the SFT was steeper than that of the PFT performance. These findings correspond with those of previous cross-sectional studies and suggest a future need to examine neurobiological substrates underlying the two domains of verbal fluency abilities. KEYWORDS: aging, developmental change, longitudinal study, Phonemic Fluency Test, Semantic Fluency Test, Tests of verbal fluency tasks (VFTs) are included in nearly all neuropsychological test batteries for evaluating cognitive impairments after brain damage or diseases affecting the central nervous system. The VFT [...]

There is a growing understanding that pathological genetic variation and environmental insults during sensitive periods in brain development have long-term consequences on brain function, which range from learning disabilities to complex psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Furthermore, recent experiments in animal models suggest that therapeutic interventions during sensitive periods, typically before the onset of clear neurological and behavioral symptoms, might prevent or ameliorate the development of specific pathologies. These studies suggest that understanding the dynamic nature of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders is crucial for the development of effective therapies. In this Perspective, I explore the emerging concept of developmental windows in psychiatric disorders, their relevance for understanding disease progression and their potential for the design of new therapies. The limitations and caveats of early interventions in psychiatric disorders are also discussed in this context., Author(s): Oscar Marín (corresponding author) [1, 2] Psychiatric disorders are a major socio-economic burden, mostly because of the indirect costs incurred from social support and unemployment [1, 2]. Current treatments [...]

Developmental psychology is not only a psychology of development from childhood to old age but a psychology of human development in world history. Eighty years of cross-cultural empirical research findings [...]