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Background: Cognitive control impairments are observed across several psychiatric conditions, highlighting their role as a transdiagnostic marker. Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties with inhibition, working memory, processing speed, and attention regulation. These cognitive control impairments may either mediate or moderate the association between neurobiological vulnerabilities and phenotypic presentation in neurodevelopmental disorders. Alternately, neurocognitive vulnerabilities in ADHD may be additive, akin to a multiple deficit model. We tested the mediation, moderation, and additive models using neurocognitive data in youth with ADHD. Methods: 7–11 year-old children diagnosed with ADHD (n = 75) and control children (n = 29) completed EEG recordings and neuropsychological testing (full scale IQ; cognitive control). Caregivers provided ADHD symptom ratings. Correlations and linear regression analyses were completed to examine the associations among cortical functioning (aperiodic slope), cognitive control, and ADHD symptoms. Results: We found support for an additive model wherein vulnerabilities in aperiodic slope, event-related potentials, and cognitive control each explained unique variance in ADHD symptoms. There was some evidence that cognitive control moderates the effect of atypical cortical development on ADHD symptoms. There was no support for the mediation model. Conclusions: The etiology of ADHD symptoms is multifaceted and involves multiple “hits” across neurological and cognitive-behavioral factors.

Despite a strong connection between family environment and mood symptoms in youth, little research to date has examined potential underlying mechanisms. We propose an etiological model investigating how parenting (i.e., expressed emotion, or EE) affects youth depression by shaping their emotion regulation abilities. Forty-six youth and caregivers participated in this cross-sectional study. Family environment was assessed using the Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) and the Levels of Expressed Emotion Scale (LEE). The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) were used to assess youth emotion regulation and depressive symptoms, respectively. Analyses demonstrated no significant relationships between type of reporter (i.e., independent rater, parent, youth) of parental EE and criticism. Mediation analyses suggested that youth-reported parental EE predicted greater levels of youth depressive symptoms, and that this association was mediated by emotion regulation. This study has direct clinical implications, elucidating the importance of strengthening positive parent-child communication to support the development of emotion regulation skills and psychological well-being for youth.

Prior research suggests that symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related neurodevelopmental disorders may derive from alterations in the brain's ability to flexibly tune the balance between information integration and segregation and global versus local processing. This balance allows the brain to optimally filter salient stimuli in the environment and can be measured with electroencephalography (EEG) via calculation of the aperiodic spectral slope. A steeper aperiodic slope increases the capacity of global neural networks to process low-salience stimuli, while a flatter aperiodic slope reflects an emphasis on local neural networks that respond preferentially to high-salience input. Although aperiodic slope differences have been reported in ADHD, prior studies have not accounted for differing levels of stimulus input in experimental paradigms. There is evidence to suggest that dynamic shifts in neural oscillation patterns in response to changing environmental conditions could be critical for attention regulation.Using high-density resting EEG, we measured aperiodic spectral slope during low contrast (lights off) and high contrast (lights on) environmental conditions in a sample of 88 7-11-year-old children diagnosed with ADHD and 29 controls (30% female).While controls showed a flatter aperiodic slope during the high contrast (lights on) as compared to low contrast (lights off) environmental condition, children with ADHD did not show any change in aperiodic slope across conditions.This study presents a novel etiological model of biological mechanisms associated with ADHD. Children with ADHD show suboptimal modulation of intrinsic neural activity in response to changing environmental input. The dynamic spectral slope is a promising candidate biomarker for ADHD. The possibility that dynamic spectral slope is associated with cognitive-behavioral regulation more broadly merits further investigation.

BACKGROUND Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often present with additional psychiatric conditions. Comorbidity is associated with poorer long-term outcomes, highlighting the need for effective assessment and intervention. However, self-perceptual biases may mask the presence of symptoms for a subgroup of children with ADHD. This study examined the role of social self-perceptual biases in children with ADHD versus control children on self-reports of loneliness, and depressive and anxious symptoms. METHODS The research question was examined in two samples. Sample 1 consisted of 7.7-12.8-year-old boys with ADHD (n = 199) and control boys (n = 74); Sample 2 consisted of 7.7-11.4-year-old boys and girls with ADHD (n = 178) and control children (n = 86). Across samples, children reported social competence and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Child-reported loneliness was examined in Sample 1. A social competence discrepancy score (difference between self-report and teacher-report) was used as an indicator of social self-perceptual bias. RESULTS Hierarchical multiple regression analyses tested social self-perceptual bias as a suppressor variable. The magnitude of the associations between ADHD and self-reported feelings of depression, anxiety and loneliness was greater when social self-perceptual bias was included in models as compared to models that did not include social self-perceptual bias (ΔR2 s range = 0.04-0.19). CONCLUSIONS Findings across both samples suggest that social self-perceptual biases may mask internalizing symptom severity on self-reports for individuals who overestimate their social competence. More research is needed to determine the best approach to assessing internalizing problems among children with ADHD.

The current investigation examined if changes in youth internalizing problems as a result of a family group cognitive behavioral (FGCB) preventive intervention for families with a parent with a history of depression had a cascade effect on youth social problems over 24 months and the bidirectional nature of these effects. One hundred eighty families with a parent with a history of major depressive disorder (M age = 41.96; 88.9% mothers) and a youth age 9 to 15 years (49.4% females; M age = 11.46) participated. Findings from a panel model indicated that, compared to a minimum intervention condition, the FGCB intervention significantly reduced youth internalizing problems at 12 months that in turn were associated with lower levels of social problems at 18 months. Similarly, the FGCB intervention reduced internalizing problems at 18 months, which were associated with fewer social problems at 24 months. Changes in social problems were not related to reductions in subsequent internalizing problems. The findings suggest that reductions in youth internalizing problems can lead to lower levels of social problems. Youth social problems are difficult to change; therefore, targeting internalizing problems may be an effective way to reduce the social problems of children of parents with a history of depression.

Previous studies have suggested that children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may benefit less from behavioral parent training (BPT) if their parents have high levels of ADHD symptoms. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis that parental ADHD symptoms reduce the efficacy of two BPT programs in a sample of preschoolers with ADHD. One intervention was specifically designed for children with ADHD (NFPP: New Forest Parenting Programme) and one was designed for children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) (HNC: Helping the Noncompliant Child). Neither intervention was adapted to address parental ADHD symptoms. This secondary analysis included data from 164 parents and their 3–4 year-old children who were randomly assigned to one of the two programs or a waitlist group. Children were compared on ADHD and ODD outcomes at post-intervention and a 6-month follow-up. The presence of parent ADHD symptoms reduced the efficacy of BPT in only one of 16 analyses. Implications and limitations (e.g., low baseline rate of parental ADHD symptoms) of the findings are provided.

The purpose of the current study was two-fold: (1) To examine time trends of the inclusion of fathers in child psychopathology research from 2005 to 2015; and (2) to examine online crowdsourcing as a method to recruit and study fathers. In study 1, findings indicated that, relative to two earlier reviews of father participation from 1984 – 1991 and 1992 – 2004, there has been limited progress in the inclusion of fathers in child psychopathology research over the last decade. In study 2, without explicit efforts to recruit fathers, almost 40% of a sample of 564 parents recruited from online crowdsourcing (Amazon’s Mechanical Turk) were fathers. Major demographic differences did not emerge between mother and father participants and data were equally reliable for mothers and fathers. Fathers were more likely to drop out over the course of a 12-month follow-up but these differences in retention between mothers and fathers were non-significant if fathers were retained at a 2-week follow-up. Finally, family process models tested across four assessments (baseline, 4, 8, and 12 month follow-ups) indicated that data from fathers are equally supportive of convergent validity as data from mothers. We concluded that online crowdsourcing is a promising recruitment methodology to increase father participation in child psychopathology research.

Children from low-income families are at elevated risk of meeting diagnostic criteria for behavior disorders. Although mastery-based Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) programs have a robust evidence-base for reducing disruptive behaviors of young children, socioeconomically disadvantaged families are more likely to drop out of treatment and, in turn, are less likely to benefit. Therefore, efficient assessment and treatment may be needed. Less research, however, has addressed the value of time-consuming behavioral observations relative to caregiver-report of problem behaviors in the assessment of this at-risk and underserved group. In the current study, 43 low-income parents and their clinic-referred child were observed during a standard mastery-based BPT interaction task (Child's Game) at baseline. Findings revealed that parents were observed to displayed an extremely high proportion of maladaptive behaviors targeted for reduction by subsequent treatment (Instructions plus Questions) relative to behaviors that the treatment was designed to increase (Attends plus Rewards). In contrast, parents reported they utilized relatively high and low rates of positive and negative parenting, respectively. Behaviorally-observed parenting was not correlated with caregiver-reported parenting. The findings suggest that baseline observations of behaviors targeted in mastery-based BPT interventions are an important part of assessment in parenting programs for low-income families with young disruptive children.

Cohabiting family structures are becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States but are less stable than married family unions. In this longitudinal study we examine the change in psychosocial adjustment of adolescents when a non-biologically related male cohabiting partner (MCP) transitions out of the family home. Of particular interest, the role of maternal and MCP depressive symptoms was examined as a moderator. At wave 1, the sample was comprised of 111 low-income urban Black families, consisting of an adolescent (42.3 % male; Mage = 13), a biological mother, and a non-biologically-related male cohabiting partner (MCP). Wave 2 and 3 assessments occurred over the course of the subsequent 29 months, with 38 % of MCPs transitioning out of the home. We used latent growth curve modeling to characterize trajectories of youth internalizing and externalizing symptom change across the 3 waves. Both maternal and MCP depressive symptoms interacted with whether a transition occurred, consistent with the notion that adolescent problem behaviors are shaped by the dynamic interplay of individual- and family-characteristics.

The present study examined whether the presence of comorbid ODD differentially moderated the outcome of two Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) programs in a sample of preschoolers with ADHD: One designed specifically for ADHD (NFPP: New Forest Parenting Programme) and one designed primarily for ODD (HNC: Helping the Noncompliant Child). In a secondary analysis, 130 parents and their 3–4 year-old children diagnosed with ADHD were assigned to one of the two programs. 44.6 % of the children also met criteria for ODD. Significant interactions between treatment conditions (NFPP vs. HNC) and child ODD diagnosis (presence vs. absence) indicated that based on some parent and teacher reports, HNC was more effective with disruptive behaviors than NFPP but only when children had a comorbid diagnosis. Further, based on teacher report, NFPP was more effective with these behaviors when children had a diagnosis of only ADHD whereas HNC was equally effective across ADHD only and comorbid ODD diagnoses. Comorbidity profile did not interact with treatment program when parent or teacher reported ADHD symptoms served as the outcome. Implications for clinical interventions are discussed and directions for future work are provided.