Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE:Some studies have suggested alterations of structural brain asymmetry in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but findings have been contradictory and based on small samples. Here, we performed the largest ever analysis of brain left-right asymmetry in ADHD, using 39 datasets of the ENIGMA consortium. METHODS:We analyzed asymmetry of subcortical and cerebral cortical structures in up to 1,933 people with ADHD and 1,829 unaffected controls. Asymmetry Indexes (AIs) were calculated per participant for each bilaterally paired measure, and linear mixed effects modeling was applied separately in children, adolescents, adults, and the total sample, to test exhaustively for potential associations of ADHD with structural brain asymmetries. RESULTS:There was no evidence for altered caudate nucleus asymmetry in ADHD, in contrast to prior literature. In children, there was less rightward asymmetry of the total hemispheric surface area compared to controls (t = 2.1, p = .04). Lower rightward asymmetry of medial orbitofrontal cortex surface area in ADHD (t = 2.7, p = .01) was similar to a recent finding for autism spectrum disorder. There were also some differences in cortical thickness asymmetry across age groups. In adults with ADHD, globus pallidus asymmetry was altered compared to those without ADHD. However, all effects were small (Cohen's d from -0.18 to 0.18) and would not survive study-wide correction for multiple testing. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Prior studies of altered structural brain asymmetry in ADHD were likely underpowered to detect the small effects reported here. Altered structural asymmetry is unlikely to provide a useful biomarker for ADHD, but may provide neurobiological insights into the trait.

Objectives: Participants in this Workshop will learn methods by which to overcome common pitfalls and obstacles to scholarly writing and publication and will establish skills essential to getting papers published. Relatively few students, trainees, and clinicians publish scientific or other educational manuscripts because of limitations of time, experience, and access to mentorship. However, facilitating publishing opportunities for these groups is important because the process of authoring and publishing scientific manuscripts can increase competency in research literacy, engagement in evidence-based practices, and other skills needed to increase mastery in child and adolescent psychiatry.
Method(s): We provide attendees a "backstage pass" experience, combining practical instruction with individualized, hands-on training and consultation to build an early foundation for getting published. Topics covered include how to choose a publishable topic of interest and how to utilize and maintain mentorship relationships. Attendees also will receive personalized consultation and mentorship around their individual goals and their works in progress from peers and our presenters, who have significant and diverse experiences with authorship and publication-particularly with JAACAP and JAACAP Connect.
Result(s): Attendees will learn practical steps toward getting published in scholarly journals and strategies to overcome current limitations and obstacles. Participants also will have the opportunity to get started with mentored authorship and publishing experiences available through JAACAP Connect.
Conclusion(s): This Workshop provides medical students, residents, fellows, early-career psychiatrists, and other clinicians with limited scholarly experience both practical knowledge and foundational skills essential to writing and getting published. AC, ADV, R
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Objective/UNASSIGNED:The study examined whether mother-child reciprocity across increasingly challenging contexts moderated the association between household chaos and early childhood behavior problems. Background/UNASSIGNED:Living in a chaotic household is associated with behavioral dysregulation in childhood. An important goal in discordant household contexts is to establish positive aspects of relationships that are associated with more favorable developmental outcomes. Method/UNASSIGNED:The study analyzed data from 127 mother-child dyads participating in the 3-year visit in a study of primarily low-income, African American/Black families in urban areas. Dyads were videotaped during three successive, increasingly challenging, interaction tasks. Multiple regression analyses examined household chaos, dyadic reciprocity, and the interplay of those as predictors of behavior problems. Results/UNASSIGNED:Greater household chaos was associated with more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Moderation analyses indicated that dyadic reciprocity during two challenging interaction tasks (but not during free play) attenuated the association between household chaos and internalizing problems. Conclusions/UNASSIGNED:Household chaos was not associated with internalizing problems among dyads who had a connected, supportive relationship in more challenging interactive contexts. Implications/UNASSIGNED:Improving shared positive affect and dyadic harmony in the parent-child relationship may help protect young children against the negative influence of chaotic contexts.

Objectives: Agitation and aggressive outbursts are common among pediatric patients seeking mental health evaluation in the emergency department (ED). Such actions can increase morbidity among patients, slow down care, and raise the risk of injury among staff. Yet there is little to guide ED clinicians in identifying those at risk for agitation and dysregulation, identifying etiology of agitation, or choosing nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic strategies for prevention and de-escalation of agitation and dysregulation.
Method(s): The 2019 Pediatric BETA (Best Practices in the Evaluation and Treatment of Agitation) guidelines were created utilizing Delphi methodology to obtain a consensus among a national group of emergency child and adolescent psychiatry experts. Ruth Gerson, MD, will review these guidelines as well as subsequent research on the management of agitation in pediatric patients in the ED.
Result(s): Consensus guidelines recommend a multimodal approach to managing agitation with the choice of intervention based on the etiology of agitation.
Conclusion(s): Participants will learn best practices for nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic de-escalation of agitation, as well as strategies for risk identification and prevention. AGG, IMD, PPC
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Objectives: The history of racial discrimination against African American (AfAm) and Black people in the United States is deeply rooted in the history of this country. This presentation will help participants understand the intersection between racism, structural racism, and subsequent hardships as it relates to the AfAm youth's experience of discrimination. This presentation will also help participants learn practical approaches for exploring issues of discrimination with AfAm patients.
Method(s): The presenter will review the history of racial discrimination toward AfAm groups in the United States and give an overview of common experiences of discrimination for AfAm youth. Additionally, using the models of adolescent development of Erik Erikson, William Cross, James Marcia, and Beverly Tatum, the presenter will describe how racial prejudice impacts adolescent socialization and (racial) identity development, and the risk that this may confer for mental illness. Finally, the presenter will offer clinical pearls for clinicians to explore topics of racial and religious prejudice with AfAm patients.
Result(s): For AfAms, racism, segregation, and the resultant impacts on self-esteem and identity have been a constant reality and threat from the time of slavery through the present day. These brutal institutions, sanctioned and maintained by institutional racism, clearly manifest in all aspects of life for African Americans-segregated and unequal education system and housing, healthcare disparities, mental healthcare disparities, disproportionally elevated incarceration rates, and as painfully highlighted this past year, continued vulnerability to acts of violence at the hands of law enforcement. These disastrous long-term consequences have been documented and are clear. However, the experience of Black youth, introduced to these harsh realities over time, has strong implications during crucial periods of development, including physical, emotional, and identity development.
Conclusion(s): There is benefit for clinicians to incorporate exploration of the impact of racial discrimination, although it is challenging, in the evaluation and treatment of AfAm and Black youth. DEI, DEV, ADOL
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Objectives: There is a significant and urgent need across psychiatry and other academic medicine departments to design, create, and execute effective dialogues on race, while examining unconscious bias and privilege. The overarching goal of facilitated dialogue is to create a safe space for faculty, staff, and trainees of different racial backgrounds to engage in meaningful dialogue that helps all develop an antiracist approach to their work and lives.
Method(s): Based on the literature and the findings of a departmental needs assessment survey that we designed, we developed clear learning objectives, community norms, an 8-month curriculum, facilitator training and supervision, mixed-race dialogue group composition and logistics, and continuous improvement and comprehensive program evaluation. The curriculum covered topics spanning social identity, power and privilege, bias and discrimination, microaggressions, historical and structural racism, current events, cultural formulation and application to practice, allyship, and antiracism stance and action. Each facilitated dialogue session incorporated antiracist readings, videos, podcasts, immersive activities, and interactive group discussion.
Result(s): A total of 114 department faculty, staff, and trainees completed the antiracism education needs assessment survey. Ten clinical leaders were trained to serve as dialogue facilitators. Ninety-seven faculty, staff, and trainees from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds opted to participate, and 179 learner experience surveys were collected from October 2020 to January 2021. At least 94% of respondents felt engaged, safe in the dialogue environment, learned key antiracism concepts, and learned tools on how to take an antiracist stance in their work and lives.
Conclusion(s): Our curriculum, process, and facilitators have successfully addressed our goals of creating a safe space to discuss experiences with race and racism, staying open to the experiences of others, being open to new ways of viewing race, and furthermore use this new perspective to adopt an antiracist stance in their lives. Our workshop format is designed to help participants understand our process and to think through creating their own dialogues. It involves a mix of instructive and highly interactive activities, performed through breakouts and debriefings. AC, DEI, REST
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Basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) degeneration is a hallmark of Down syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Current therapeutics have been unsuccessful in slowing disease progression, likely due to complex pathological interactions and dysregulated pathways that are poorly understood. The Ts65Dn trisomic mouse model recapitulates both cognitive and morphological deficits of DS and AD, including BFCN degeneration. We utilized Ts65Dn mice to understand mechanisms underlying BFCN degeneration to identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention. We performed high-throughput, single population RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to interrogate transcriptomic changes within medial septal nucleus (MSN) BFCNs, using laser capture microdissection to individually isolate ~500 choline acetyltransferase-immunopositive neurons in Ts65Dn and normal disomic (2N) mice at 6 months of age (MO). Ts65Dn mice had unique MSN BFCN transcriptomic profiles at ~6 MO clearly differentiating them from 2N mice. Leveraging Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and KEGG analysis, we linked differentially expressed gene (DEG) changes within MSN BFCNs to several canonical pathways and aberrant physiological functions. The dysregulated transcriptomic profile of trisomic BFCNs provides key information underscoring selective vulnerability within the septohippocampal circuit. We propose both expected and novel therapeutic targets for DS and AD, including specific DEGs within cholinergic, glutamatergic, GABAergic, and neurotrophin pathways, as well as select targets for repairing oxidative phosphorylation status in neurons. We demonstrate and validate this interrogative quantitative bioinformatic analysis of a key dysregulated neuronal population linking single population transcript changes to an established pathological hallmark associated with cognitive decline for therapeutic development in human DS and AD.

Stimulants (methylphenidate or amphetamines) are the recommended first-line option for the pharmacological treatment of individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, some patients with ADHD will not respond optimally to stimulants. Here, we discuss strategies to manage stimulant-refractory ADHD, based on the recommendations advanced in clinical guidelines, knowledge of expert practice in the field, and our own clinical recommendations, informed by a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, PsycInfo, EMBASE + EMBASE classic, OVID Medline, and Web of Science (up to 30 March 2021). We first highlight the importance of stimulant optimization as an effective strategy to increase response. We then discuss a series of factors that should be considered before using alternative pharmacological strategies for ADHD, including poor adherence, time action properties of stimulants (and wearing-off of effects), poor tolerability (that prevents the use of higher, more effective doses), excessive focus on or confounding from presence of comorbid non-ADHD symptoms, and tolerance. Finally, we consider the role of non-stimulants and combined pharmacological approaches. While the choice of medication for ADHD is still to a large extent based on a trial-and-error process, there are reasonably accepted data and guidelines to aid in clinical decision-making. It is hoped that advances in precision psychiatry in the years ahead will further guide prescribers to tailor medication choice to the specific characteristics of the patient.

Objectives: Clinical trials in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have typically neglected the voices of the youth themselves. Besides raising ethical questions, this may also affect the quality of the data obtained. We examined differences in adverse event (AE) reporting between parents and parent-child dyads in an open trial of cannabidiol (CBD). We hypothesized that including youth with ASD in AE reporting would increase the number of total and related AEs independently of response.
Method(s): Twelve youth (ages 7-14 years) with ASD (verbally fluent, IQ >= 80) completed a 6-week, Phase 2 open trial of 98% CBD (Epidiolex [V], 100 mg/mL) at 3 or 6 mg/kg/day; target N = 30. An individualized target symptom domain was identified at baseline by clinician consensus from informant report, rating scales, and clinical observation. Responders were defined by Clinical Global Impression Scale-Improvement (CGI-I) <= 2 in their target symptom domain. AEs were assessed by phone with parents (weeks 1, 3, 5) and via the UKU (Udvalg for Kliniske Under-sogelser) Side Effects Rating Scale administered by clinicians to dyads (weeks 2, 4, 6). Clinician consensus determined the relatedness of AEs to treatment. Disease-related events (DREs) were considered adverse if the severity or frequency increased. In this interim analysis, we identified response to treatment and AEs, contrasted AE rates (parents vs dyads), and examined the relationship between treatment response and AE profile.
Result(s): All 12 initial participants completed the trial; 4 responded (33%). Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity (CGI-S) improved significantly from pre- (M = 4.83; SD = 0.39) to posttreatment (M = 3.92; SD = 0.90) (t11 = 3.53; p < 0.004). The most frequent AEs were tiredness (n = 5) and increased emotionality (n = 3). Of 47 total AEs, all were mild and 39 were first reported by dyads. Of 14 related AEs, 9 were first reported by dyads. One DRE occurred: increased severity of restricted, repetitive behaviors. The number of AEs reported by dyads (M = 3.25; SD = 3.14) compared to parents alone (M = 0.67; SD = 0.89) was significantly higher (t11 = 2.18; p = 0.017). Responders and nonresponders did not differ significantly in the number of total or related AEs.
Conclusion(s): This interim analysis suggests that including the input of children with ASD in AE reporting captures a fuller profile of total and related AEs without compromising the study integrity or results. ASD, OLT, R
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