Faculty Bibliography

Professor Alessandro Zuddas, from the University of Cagliari (Italy), passed away prematurely in July 2022. As a prominent figure in child and adolescent neuropsychiatry, he substantially influenced the fields of neurodevelopmental disorders and neuropsychopharmacology both nationally and internationally. Professor Zuddas was a renowned expert in basic and clinical research in child and adolescent psychopharmacology, an enlightened and stimulating educator, and a mentor to many students, residents, and senior colleagues. With his enthusiasm and unique ability to network, he contributed enormously to trace a path in the field that we continue to follow. His name will remain in the textbooks and articles he authored. Here, as colleagues and friends who had the honor to work with him, we provide our personal views of Alessandro's impact and legacy, which go far beyond his publications.

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. The longitudinal collection of biological samples from over 7000 birthing parents and their children within the HBCD study enables research on pre- and postnatal exposures (e.g., substance use, toxicants, nutrition), and biological processes (e.g., genetics, epigenetic signatures, proteins, metabolites) on neurobehavioral developmental outcomes. The following biosamples are collected from the birthing parent: 1) blood (i.e., whole blood, serum, plasma, buffy coat, and dried blood spots) during pregnancy, 2) nail clippings during pregnancy and one month postpartum, 3) urine during pregnancy, and 4) saliva during pregnancy and at in-person postnatal assessments. The following samples are collected from the child at in-person study assessments: 1) saliva, 2) stool, and 3) urine. Additionally, placenta tissue, cord blood, and cord tissue are collected by a subset of HBCD sites. Here, we describe the rationale for the collection of these biospecimens, their current and potential future uses, the collection protocol, and collection success rates during piloting. This information will assist research teams in the planning of future studies utilizing this collection of biological samples.

Family functioning plays a critical role in childhood disruptive behavior disorders (The Family Journal, 2003, 11(1), 33-41; Research in Nursing and Health, 2016, 39(4), 229-243). Yet, there is limited research on the impact of evidence-based family strengthening interventions on improving family cohesion as a protective factor among children experiencing behavioral challenges. To address this gap, we analyzed data (N = 636) from the SMART Africa-Uganda study (2016-2022), a cluster randomized clinical trial testing an evidence-based family-strengthening intervention called Amaka Amasanyufu (translated as "Happy Families" in the local language). Children aged 8-13 and their caregivers were recruited from 26 public primary schools that were randomized to: (1) control condition receiving generalized psychosocial literature (10 schools), (2) intervention delivered via parent peers (eight schools), and (3) intervention delivered via community healthcare workers (eight schools). Children completed the family cohesion questionnaire at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, and 6 months post-intervention completion. The intervention effectiveness was evaluated via a three-level logistic mixed effects model with pairwise comparisons across study conditions within each time point. Participants in the parent-peer intervention group had greater odds of being in the higher family cohesion group than participants in the control group at 8 weeks (OR = 3.24), 16 weeks (OR = 1.88) and 6 months (OR = 2.07). At 8 weeks, 16 weeks, and 6 months, participants in the community health worker group had 3.98, 2.08, and 1.79 times greater odds of being in the higher family cohesion group than participants in the control group, respectively. Our findings strengthen the evidence base for Amaka Amansayufu as an effective intervention that can be utilized in SSA to improve family cohesion in families with children experiencing behavioral challenges.

This review summarizes recent findings on stress-related programming of brain development in utero, with an emphasis on situating findings within the mothers' broader psychosocial experiences. Meta-analyses of observational studies on prenatal stress exposure indicate the direction and size of effects on child neurodevelopment are heterogeneous across studies. Inspired by lifespan and topological frameworks of adversity, we conceptualize individual variation in mothers' lived experience during and prior to pregnancy as a key determinant of these heterogeneous effects across populations. We structure our review to discuss experiential categories that may uniquely shape the psychological and biological influence of stress on pregnant mothers and their developing children, including current socioeconomic resources, exposure to chronic and traumatic stressors, culture and historical trauma, and the contours of prenatal stress itself. We conclude by identifying next steps that hold potential to meaningfully advance the field of fetal programming.

Behavioral and mental health concerns are common, with depressive episodes reported by 1 in 5 adolescents and anxiety reported by 1 in 10 adolescents. In 2021, given the growing mental health crisis worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, a state of emergency was declared in children's mental health and a national suicide prevention crisis hotline number, 988 was established. Despite the elevated rates of mental health concerns, the ability to access treatment is low and critical shortages in the U.S. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry workforce contribute to the lack of access to trained pediatric mental health professionals. Pediatric primary care is a natural setting for evidence-based and innovative primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention models due to universal access to patients. Pediatricians can integrate behavioral health care into their primary care practice though providing patients with care for common mental health issues either alone or collaborating with mental health specialists. However, the majority of pediatric trainees report that they do not feel competent to assess and treat pediatric patients with common B/MH concerns even though they feel that competency in these areas is important. Regulatory changes in pediatric training programs are necessary but change takes time. Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) is a term used to describe a variety of models of care that can be implemented by teams of primary care and B/MH providers working together. These models use a systematic approach that emphasizes collaboration and communication to provide patient-centered care and improve patient health outcomes through increased access to and delivery of quality behavioral health care. The integration of behavioral health care into pediatric primary care has the potential to reduce disparities by increasing access to needed mental health care in a familiar and destigmatized environment, decrease wait time for services and improve the quality of B/MH care provided in the primary care setting.

UNLABELLED: = 12.89, 55% female). They self-reported on CMC preferences and social media burden and on anxiety symptoms in two domains (generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety) and completed an eye-tracking assessment of attention bias. We tested the hypothesis that preferring CMC over face-to-face communications and perceiving greater social media burden would predict more severe anxiety symptoms, particularly among those with greater attention bias to threat. As predicted, greater feelings of social media burden predicted more severe anxiety symptom severity (GAD only) but only among those with greater attention bias to threat. The potential role of attention bias in associations between CMC and adolescent anxiety and the specificity of effects on GAD symptom severity is discussed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION/UNASSIGNED:The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-024-00253-1.

There have been increasing efforts to develop prediction models supporting personalised detection, prediction, or treatment of ADHD. We overviewed the current status of prediction science in ADHD by: (1) systematically reviewing and appraising available prediction models; (2) quantitatively assessing factors impacting the performance of published models. We did a PRISMA/CHARMS/TRIPOD-compliant systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42023387502), searching, until 20/12/2023, studies reporting internally and/or externally validated diagnostic/prognostic/treatment-response prediction models in ADHD. Using meta-regressions, we explored the impact of factors affecting the area under the curve (AUC) of the models. We assessed the study risk of bias with the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST). From 7764 identified records, 100 prediction models were included (88% diagnostic, 5% prognostic, and 7% treatment-response). Of these, 96% and 7% were internally and externally validated, respectively. None was implemented in clinical practice. Only 8% of the models were deemed at low risk of bias; 67% were considered at high risk of bias. Clinical, neuroimaging, and cognitive predictors were used in 35%, 31%, and 27% of the studies, respectively. The performance of ADHD prediction models was increased in those models including, compared to those models not including, clinical predictors (β = 6.54, p = 0.007). Type of validation, age range, type of model, number of predictors, study quality, and other type of predictors did not alter the AUC. Several prediction models have been developed to support the diagnosis of ADHD. However, efforts to predict outcomes or treatment response have been limited, and none of the available models is ready for implementation into clinical practice. The use of clinical predictors, which may be combined with other type of predictors, seems to improve the performance of the models. A new generation of research should address these gaps by conducting high quality, replicable, and externally validated models, followed by implementation research.

THE AMERICAN/UNASSIGNED:Academy of Pediatrics advocates for a preventive approach to children's mental health (MH) care and pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) are in a unique position to promote the emotional health of their patients, integrate systems for screening and assessment of MH conditions and provide MH intervention and ongoing clinical follow-up. Integration of a behavioral health service into pediatric primary care has the potential to increase the clinical confidence and MH competency of PCPs and improve patient health outcomes through increased access to and delivery of quality MH care in the primary care setting. METHOD/METHODS:This article describes the step-by-step process of developing and implementing a custom integrated behavioral health (IBH) program into two different academic pediatric primary care clinics located in New York, NY and Chicago, IL. The process of developing each clinic's: IBH needs assessment, setting of IBH priorities and defining and implementing initial and subsequent targeted educational and clinical interventions are described in detail. Specific consideration of each IBH program's issues related to physical space, staffing, funding, and billing is also addressed. RESULTS:Each clinic had different pre-existing strengths, challenges, resources, and priorities but both settings desired having an IBH program that would simultaneously improve patient access to clinic-based counseling and psychiatry services while building MH clinical capacity among pediatric residents and attending PCPs. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:Specific IBH educational and clinical interventions described in this article differed between the two settings, however, both IBH models were developed to provide pediatric residents and attendings with a combination of in-person and asynchronous clinical education and consultation and opportunities for mental health clinical skill modeling and guidance while also creating increased patient access to clinic-based MH services. This detailed review will be of benefit to pediatric clinics considering development of a customized IBH program.