Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Clinical guidelines remain unclear on which medications for gambling disorder are to be preferred in terms of efficacy and tolerability. We aimed to compare pharmacological treatments for gambling disorder in terms of efficacy and tolerability, using network meta-analysis (NMA). METHODS:Based on our pre-registered protocol [CRD42022329520], a structured search was conducted across broad range of databases, for double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of medications for gambling disorder. Data were independently extracted by two researchers. We used standardized mean differences (SMD) using Hedges' g to measure the efficacy outcomes, and for the effect for tolerability we used dropout rate due to medication side effects, expressed as odds ratio (OR). Confidence in the network estimates was assessed using the CINeMA framework. We followed the PRISMA-NMA guidelines for this work. Outcomes were gambling symptom severity and quality of life (for efficacy), and tolerability. FINDINGS/RESULTS:We included 22 RCTs in the systematic review and 16 RCTs (n = 977 participants) in the NMA. Compared with placebo, moderate confidence evidence indicated that nalmefene [Standardized Mean Difference (SMD): -0.86; 95 % confidence interval (CI: -1.32,-0.41)] reduced gambling severity, followed by naltrexone (SMD: -0.42; 95 %CI: (-0.85,0.01)). Naltrexone (SMD: -0.50; 95 %CI: (-0.85,-0.14)) and nalmefene (SMD: -0.36; 95 %CI: (-0.72,-0.01) were also more beneficial than placebo in terms of quality of life. Olanzapine and topiramate were not more efficacious than placebo. Nalmefene [Odds Ratio (OR): 7.55; 95 %CI: (2.24-25.41)] and naltrexone (OR: 7.82; 95 %CI: (1.26-48.70)) had significantly higher dropout due to side effects (lower tolerability) compared with placebo. INTERPRETATION/CONCLUSIONS:Based on NMA, nalmefene and naltrexone currently have the most supportive evidence for the pharmacological treatment of gambling disorder. Further clinical trials of novel compounds, and analysis of individual participant data are needed, to strengthen the evidence base, and help tailor treatments at the individual patient level.

OBJECTIVE:Sleep problems are highly prevalent and impairing in adolescents with ADHD. However, their relation with co-occurring mental health problems is still unclear. This study assessed whether adolescents with ADHD, with and without self-reported sleep problems, differ from each other in co-occurring mental health problems, and whether they differ from adolescents without ADHD. Furthermore, we examined whether the adolescents with ADHD and self-reported sleep problems do indeed have more disturbed sleep than the other two groups and lastly, whether these sleep differences are moderated by co-occurring mental health problems. METHOD/METHODS:Three groups of adolescents (13-17 years): 1) with ADHD and comorbid self-reported sleep problems (N = 56), 2) with ADHD but without self-reported sleep problems (N = 25), and 3) without ADHD (N = 56) were assessed. Group comparisons were done for symptoms of co-occurring mental health problems, self- and parent-reported sleep problems, and objective and subjective sleep parameters. Exploratively, moderating effects of co-occurring mental health problems on sleep differences between groups are examined. RESULTS:Compared to those without self-reported sleep problems, adolescents with ADHD and comorbid self-reported sleep problems experienced significantly more co-occurring symptoms of mental health problems, especially depression. They also scored higher on all sleep problems, and had a longer sleep onset latency and lower sleep efficiency based on subjective and objective sleep measures. Depression and anxiety moderated objectively measured sleep differences. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Co-occurring mental health problems, especially depressive symptoms, are more prevalent in adolescents with ADHD and sleep problems and partially moderate the relation with sleep. This indicates that when adolescents with ADHD present with sleep problems in clinical practice, it is essential to also assess symptoms and other mental health problems and vice-versa.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:ADHD has been linked to an increased risk of completed suicide. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between ADHD medication use and completed suicide. METHODS:This nested case-control study included individuals aged 12-49 in Quebec, Canada, diagnosed with ADHD and/or dispensed ADHD medication. Suicide cases (n = 472) between 2000 and 2021 were matched with 5 controls each (n = 2360) on date of birth, sex, and continuous public drug insurance coverage for at least 365 days before suicide death (index date). Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the association between ADHD medication use and completed suicide. The association between specific ADHD medication types and completed suicide was also assessed. RESULTS:After controlling for potential confounders, no significant association was found between ADHD medication use and completed suicide in the overall sample, in individuals aged 12-24 and 25 to 49 years, and those with a prior ADHD physician diagnosis. No significant differences were found when comparing the use of non-stimulants only (aOR 1.27; 95 % CI: 0.62, 2.63), stimulants and non-stimulants (aOR 1.01; 95 % CI: 0.33, 3.08), and ADHD consultation without medication (aOR 0.94; 95 % CI: 0.69, 1.28) against stimulant-only use. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Both stimulants and non-stimulants were not associated with the risk of completed suicide. These findings can inform clinical decision-making.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:Substantial evidence suggests a downstream impact of maternal mental health on birth outcomes. The roles of comorbid maternal physical health and familial confounding underlying this association remain unclear. METHODS:This cohort study included a random sample of children born 1997-2008 within a health maintenance organization (HMO) in Israel, their parents, and siblings. Outcomes were ICD-9 diagnoses of neonatal adversities (birth complications and congenital anomalies) and exposures were maternal diagnoses of mental health disorders. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals for the associations between maternal mental health diagnoses and measures of neonatal adversity were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for maternal age, child's year of birth, socioeconomic status, and maternal physical morbidity burden. We examined potential familial confounding using a negative control approach based on paternal exposure. RESULTS:=1.1 (1.0-1.2), p = 0.01). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Physical health and familial factors play a role in the associations between maternal mental health and neonatal adversity.

Residing in poverty-impacted Ugandan communities and raising children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) is associated with above heightened parenting stress. An evidence-based intervention designed to help parents tailor their parenting style to effectively manage children with DBDs was implemented in Uganda between 2017 and 2023. At the end of the intervention, caregivers displayed lower levels of parenting stress than controls, however the mechanisms by which stress reduction occurred is unknown. We investigated whether the intervention's effect on parenting stress was mediated by parenting practices, family cohesion, or mental health. Mediation was assessed using Mitchell and Maxwell's cross-lagged auto-regressive approach. Each mediation model regressed the outcome parenting stress score at each time point onto intervention group assignment (0 = Control; 1 = Multiple Family Group (MFG) intervention) and parenting stress score at the preceding time point. Each mediator was investigated one at a time and regressed onto intervention group assignment and the mediator score at the preceding time point. Parenting stress score was also regressed onto the preceding time point mediator score. The residuals for mediators and parenting stress were allowed to correlate at each time point. We included regression pathways from each covariate to the mediators and outcomes at subsequent waves and were included in the model as random variables. The findings show that the intervention had a significant direct effect on parenting stress at 16 weeks post intervention initiation and was partially mediated by parenting practices, caregiver mental health, and parenting stress at 8 weeks, but we found no evidence it was mediated by family cohesion, supporting two of our hypotheses. Equipping caregivers with parenting skills and strategies to improve mental health can go a long way in reducing overall parenting stress among caregivers with DBDs. Our findings could be leveraged to enhance stress reduction among caregivers of children with DBDs in the long-term.

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.

Suicide screening is critical in pediatric emergency departments (EDs). Behavioral measures of suicide risk may complement self-report measures. The current study examines suicide-specific behavioral measures and tests their potential short-term within-person effects among respondents, ability to discriminate future suicide attempt from suicidal ideation, and translation into interpretable categorical composite scores. The sample included 167 youth (10-17 years), presenting for suicide-related reasons to a pediatric psychiatric ED. During their ED visit, participants completed the Death/Life Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the Suicide Stroop Task. Recurrent suicidal thoughts and attempts were assessed within 6 months of the ED visit via medical records and email surveys. Youth displayed a decrease in the levels of distress and self-injurious desires (negative mood, desire to hurt themselves, and desire to die) after completing the behavioral tasks. The Death/Life IAT prospectively differentiated with 68% accuracy between youth who attempted suicide after their ED visit and those who had suicidal ideation but no attempt, p = 0.04, OR = 5.65, although this effect became marginally significant after controlling for self-report and demographic covariates. Neither the Suicide Stroop Task, nor the categorical composite scores predicted suicide attempts, ps = 0.08-0.87, ORs = 0.96-3.95. Behavioral measures of suicide risk administered in the ED do not appear to increase distress or self-injurious desires. They may be able to distinguish those who go on to attempt suicide (vs. consider suicide) within six months after discharge.

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.

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.

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.