Faculty Bibliography

Healthcare workers (HCWs) were at increased risk for mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, with prior data suggesting women may be particularly vulnerable. Our global mental health study aimed to examine factors associated with gender differences in psychological distress and depressive symptoms among HCWs during COVID-19. Across 22 countries in South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, 32,410 HCWs participated in the COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study between March 2020 and February 2021. They completed the General Health Questionnaire-12, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and questions about pandemic-relevant exposures. Consistently across countries, women reported elevated mental health problems compared to men. Women also reported increased COVID-19-relevant stressors, including insufficient personal protective equipment and less support from colleagues, while men reported increased contact with COVID-19 patients. At the country level, HCWs in countries with higher gender inequality reported less mental health problems. Higher COVID-19 mortality rates were associated with increased psychological distress merely among women. Our findings suggest that among HCWs, women may have been disproportionately exposed to COVID-19-relevant stressors at the individual and country level. This highlights the importance of considering gender in emergency response efforts to safeguard women's well-being and ensure healthcare system preparedness during future public health crises.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW/UNASSIGNED:The incorporation of digital technologies and their use in youth's everyday lives has been increasing rapidly over the past several decades with possible impacts on youth development and mental health. This narrative review aimed to consider how the use of digital technologies may be influencing brain development underlying adaptive and maladaptive screen-related behaviors. RECENT FINDINGS/UNASSIGNED:To explore and provide direction for further scientific inquiry, an international group of experts considered what is known, important gaps in knowledge, and how a research agenda might be pursued regarding relationships between screen media activity and neurodevelopment from infancy through childhood and adolescence. While an understanding of brain-behavior relationships involving screen media activity has been emerging, significant gaps exist that have important implications for the health of developing youth. SUMMARY/UNASSIGNED:Specific considerations regarding brain-behavior relationships involving screen media activity exist for infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood; middle childhood; and adolescence. Transdiagnostic frameworks may provide a foundation for guiding future research efforts. Translating knowledge gained into better interventions and policy to promote healthy development is important in a rapidly changing digital technology environment.

STUDY OBJECTIVES/UNASSIGNED:Trauma-related nightmares (TRNs) are a hallmark symptom of PTSD and are highly correlated with PTSD severity and poor sleep quality. Given the salience and arousal associated with TRNs, they might be an effective target for imaginal exposures during Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy. As a first step in this line of research, the current study compared participants' emotional reactivity during recollection of TRNs to their recollection of the index traumatic event. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Seventeen trauma-exposed participants with clinical or sub-clinical PTSD who reported frequent TRNs engaged in script-driven imagery using scripts depicting their index trauma and their most trauma-like TRN. Heart rate (HRR), skin conductance (SCR), corrugator EMG (EMGR) responses, and emotional ratings were recorded. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:HRR, SCR, and EMGR did not differ significantly between trauma-related and TRN scripts. Bayesian analyses confirmed support for the null hypothesis, indicating no differences. With the exception of "Sadness," for which TRNs elicited significantly lower ratings than trauma scripts, individual emotion ratings showed no significant differences, suggesting likely parity between the emotionality of trauma-related and TRN recollections. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:Together, TRN content elicited psychophysiological reactivity similar to that of the index trauma in this pilot study. Upon replication, studies testing TRNs as potential targets for imaginal exposures during PE may be warranted.

This study used latent transition analysis to examine the stability and change in perceived threats in youth's primary social contexts-neighborhoods, schools, and families-and associations with emotional and behavioral problems when youth transitioned from childhood to adolescence. The sample included 8208 racially and ethnically diverse youth enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (47.4% female, M _{age_Baseline} = 9.83, M _{age_Timepoint3} = 11.99). Results revealed that while perceived threats in youth's neighborhoods were considerably stable, perceived threats in youth's families fluctuated in relation to stressful life events. Further, subgroups of youth characterized by elevated perceived threat experiences in different contexts showed differential associations with emotional and behavioral problems. Overall, findings highlight the importance of considering the stability of perceived threats to direct appropriate interventions.

The Family Time-Out (FTO) is a trans-theoretical and trans-diagnostic therapeutic protocol designed to treat intense and chronic conflict in families for whom parent-adolescent conflict plays a salient role. This article outlines the goals, objectives, and stepwise implementation process of the FTO protocol, including the initial FTO family session, follow-up session structure, and troubleshooting of common clinical issues that arise during implementation. A companion article in this issue (Fasulo and Waugh, 2024) presents the FTO protocol’s broader clinical justification, conceptual and developmental foundation, recommended intervention style and clinical assumptions, and strategies for optimizing and managing family commitment to change.

This systematic review aimed to establish the extent to which each Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptom criterion is being assessed without being influenced (biased) by factors such as informant, sex/gender, and age. Measurement invariance (MI) testing using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is the prime statistical method to ascertain how these factors may affect the measurement and colour the perception or interpretation of symptom criteria. Such effects (non-invariance) can be operationalised in the form of altered association of a symptom criterion with the measured trait (expressed via variations in CFA loadings which represent the weight of each symptom criterion) due to the factor(s) and/or artificially alter the probability of endorsement of a particular symptom criterion (expressed via variations in the CFA threshold(s) representing how mild or severe a given symptom is). Based on a pre-registered protocol (CRD42022276105), we searched PubMed, Global Health, Embase and PsycInfo up to 21-02-23 for studies that included MI assessments on specific ADHD symptom criteria in individuals aged 0-18 years old, using parental and/or teacher report. Self-reports were excluded, given the poor reliability of self-report in ADHD. All included studies met specific COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) criteria. Results were synthesised in tabular form, grouping results by factors (e.g. informant) from 44 studies retained. Most comparisons indicated both metric (same loadings) and scalar invariance (same thresholds) with regard to informant, gender, age, temporal (repeated assessments) and co-morbidity. Therefore, the available evidence supports the current diagnostic criteria. However, findings could have been improved by systematic reporting of the direction of bias and its effect size. There appears to be a bias towards reporting MI instead of non-invariance. More studies in the literature are needed where the amalgamation of information provided by different informs and the association of specific symptoms with comorbidity are analysed.

INTRODUCTION/UNASSIGNED:This study examined the potential interplay between motor development and intervention in support of action understanding. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Eighty nine-month-old infants completed a tool-use training session and goal imitation paradigm that assessed action understanding in counterbalanced order. A metric of motor development was obtained using the Early Motor Questionnaire. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:Results indicated that training improved action understanding, particularly for those infants who started out with lower means-end skills. Results further indicated that infants who did not receive any training experience in the lab beforehand, drew on their existing means-end skills. DISCUSSION/UNASSIGNED:These results emphasize independent contributions of training and motor development on action understanding and shed light on the interaction between training and individual motor readiness in facilitating action understanding in infancy.

BACKGROUND:We examined neighborhood characteristics concerning breast cancer screening annual adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS:We analyzed 6673 female patients aged 40 or older at increased inherited cancer risk in 2 large health care systems (NYU Langone Health [NYULH] and the University of Utah Health [UHealth]). Multinomial models were used to identify predictors of mammogram screening groups (non-adherent, pre-pandemic adherent, pandemic period adherent) in comparison to adherent females. Potential determinants included sociodemographic characteristics and neighborhood factors. RESULTS:Comparing each cancer group in reference to the adherent group, a reduced likelihood of being non-adherent was associated with older age (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95, 0.99), a greater number of relatives with cancer (OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.75, 0.86), and being seen at NYULH study site (OR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.60). More relatives with cancer were correlated with a lesser likelihood of being pandemic period adherent (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81, 0.97). A lower likelihood of being pre-pandemic adherent was seen in areas with less education (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.62, 0.96) and NYULH study site (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.55). Finally, greater neighborhood deprivation (OR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.01) was associated with being non-adherent. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Breast screening during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with being older, having more relatives with cancer, residing in areas with less educational attainment, and being seen at NYULH; non-adherence was linked with greater neighborhood deprivation. These findings may mitigate risk of clinically important screening delays at times of disruptions in a population at greater risk for breast cancer.