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PurposeFluid cognitive functioning (FCF), or the capacity to learn, solve problems, and adapt to novel situations, is instrumental for academic success, psychological well-being, and adoption of healthy behaviors. Our knowledge concerning factors associated with FCF, including those that may be targeted with interventions to improve outcomes, remains limited. MethodsWe used a machine learning (ML) framework in conjunction with a large battery of measures from 9,718 youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to identify factors associated with the observed variability in FCF performance. Youth age-corrected composite FCF score was derived from the National Institutes for Health Toolbox Neurocognitive Battery. A ML pipeline using a stack ensemble of multiple ML algorithms and nested cross-validation to avoid overfitting was conducted to examine factors associated with FCF. Results The identified ML algorithm explained 14.74% of variance (95%CI: 14.53-14.88%) in FCF. Among the most important factors were those that replicated previous research (e.g., socioeconomic factors), as well as novel, potentially modifiable factors, including extracurricular involvement, screen media activity, and sleepConclusionsPragmatic and scalable interventions targeting these behaviors may not only enhance cognitive performance but may also protect against the negative impact of socioeconomic and mental health factors on cognitive performance in at-risk youth. The longitudinal data from ABCD will be able to begin to assess causality by examining how changes in these factors affect subsequent cognitive performance.

This study examined relations between multiple measures of maternal iron status assessed 3 months post-partum, and infant processing speed (longest look during visual habituation), memory (novelty preference), attention (heart rate changes), and neural response variability (in auditory event-related potentials) at 3 and 9 months. Plasma iron was associated with 9-month novelty preference and longest look, and developmental changes in longest look. Hemoglobin predicted sustained attention, and both plasma iron and soluble transferrin receptors predicted neural response variability at 9 months. Improved maternal iron appears to have a positive impact on infant cognitive development even in a well-nourished, low-risk sample.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is recommended; however, women with obesity have lower exclusive breastfeeding rates than their normal weight peers. The impact of the timing of maternal excess adiposity onset is unknown. Research aim: We examined whether the timing of onset of excess weight was related to exclusive breastfeeding duration. Methods: Snowball sampling was used for the cross-sectional Breastfeeding Opinions, Outcomes, Behaviors, and Services online survey. The sample was 1,570 mothers who reported their breastfeeding and weight history. Exclusive breastfeeding duration (for first biological child only) was calculated in months and dichotomously (0=< 6 months exclusive breastfeeding; 1=⩾ 6 months exclusive breastfeeding). Participants self-reported their excess weight onset (0=before/during puberty or 1=after puberty). Results: Analysis of covariance results indicated that earlier onset of excess weight was associated with shorter exclusive breastfeeding ( F (1, 1518) = 11.29, p2=.01). Those with excess adiposity onset before or during puberty were 1.6 times more likely to experience exclusive breastfeeding failure (< 6 months exclusive breastfeeding) than those with onset after puberty ( OR = 1.57, β = .46, Wald = 11.81, p = .001). Conclusion: Earlier onset of excess adiposity had an adverse influence on exclusive breastfeeding duration. Women with a history of excess adiposity before or during puberty who want to breastfeed may require additional intervention to promote their breastfeeding success.

During the developmental period of 6–12 months, infants deepen and solidify their developing relationships. By 6 or 7 months of age, attachments to and preference for primary caregivers are observable. Infants also begin to exhibit fear of strangers and actively seek proximity to attachment figures during this time. Chapter 4 presents research on typical and atypical social and emotional development for infants between the ages of 6 months and 12 months. It discusses how infants’ new capacity for mobility impacts social and emotional development, particularly in the areas of joint attention, social referencing, stranger anxiety, and understanding of the minds of others. The biobehavioral context of development at this age is discussed as well as caregiver practices that promote healthy social and emotional growth during this time period.

Obesity is a global epidemic, yet successful interventions are rare. Up to 60% of people fail to achieve clinically meaningful, short-term weight loss (5–10% of start weight), whereas up to 72% are unsuccessful at achieving long-term weight loss (5–10% loss for ≥ 5 years). Understanding how biological, cognitive, and self-regulatory factors work together to promote or to impede weight loss is clearly needed to optimize obesity treatment. This paper describes the methodology of the Cognitive and Self-regulatory Mechanisms of Obesity Study (the COSMOS trial). COSMOS is the first randomized controlled trial to investigate how changes in multiple biopsychosocial and cognitive factors relate to weight loss and one another across two weight loss treatments. The specific aims are to: 1) Confirm that baseline obesity-related physiological dysregulation is linked to cognitive deficits and poorer self-regulation, 2) Evaluate pre- to post-treatment change across time to assess individual differences in biomarkers, cognition, and self-regulation, and 3) Evaluate whether the acceptance-based treatment (ABT) group has greater improvements in outcomes (e.g., greater weight loss and less weight regain, improvements in biomarkers, cognition, and self-regulation), than the standard behavioral treatment group (SBT) from pre- to post-treatment and 1-year follow-up. The results of COSMOS will provide critical information about how dysregulation in biomarkers, cognition, and/or self-regulation is related to weight loss and whether weight loss treatments are differentially associated with these factors. This information will be used to identify promising treatment targets that are informed by biological, cognitive, and self-regulatory factors in order to advance obesity treatment.

The interactions between attention and stimulus encoding in infancy were examined using heart rate (HR) and visual habituation measures. At 3, 6, and 9 months of age, infants (N = 119) were habituated to an adult face; longest look (LL) duration was measured as an indicator of encoding speed. Three groups were formed based on LL change from 3 to 9 months: Large Decrease, Small Decrease, and Increase. Using concurrent electrocardiograph recordings, attention was measured through the percentage of looking time in orienting, sustained attention, and attention termination. We partially replicated previous findings regarding developmental patterns of attention in these three groups, notably that these patterns were different for the Increase group. Looks away from the stimulus were also assessed in each attentional phase and, as predicted, HR acceleration phases showed less visual engagement than HR deceleration phases. We also found anomalous behavior for the LL Increase group. In general, this small but distinct group showed similarities at 3 months to the presumably more mature behavior of typical 9 month olds, but by 9 months, they behaved more like typical 3 month olds regarding some, but not all, cognitive measures. These results are discussed in the context of the development of endogenous attention.