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Objectives: Characterizing the scope and import of early childhood irritability is essential for real‐world actualization of this reliable indicator of transdiagnostic mental health risk. Thus, we utilize pragmatic assessment to establish prevalence, stability, and predictive utility of clinically significant early childhood irritability. Methods: Data included two independent, diverse community samples of preschool age children (N = 1857; N = 1490), with a subset enriched for risk (N = 425) assessed longitudinally from early childhood through preadolescence (∼4–9 years old). A validated, brief (2‐item) scale pragmatically assessed clinically significant irritability. In the longitudinal subsample, clinical interviews assessed internalizing/externalizing disorders. Results: One in five preschool‐age children had clinically significant irritability, which was independently replicated. Irritability was highly stable through preadolescence. Children with versus without clinically significant early childhood irritability had greater odds of early onset, persistent internalizing/externalizing disorders. The pragmatic assessment effectively screened out low‐risk children and identified 2/3 of children with early‐onset, persistent psychopathology. Conclusions: Clinically significant early childhood irritability prevalence is akin to the pediatric obesity epidemic and may warrant similar universal screening/intervention. Also, irritability's stability demonstrates the common guidance "they'll grow out of it" to be false. Finally, pragmatic irritability assessment has transdiagnostic predictive power and addresses a need for feasible measures to flag risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We expanded the Multidimensional Assessment Profiles (MAPS) Scales developmental specification model to characterize the normal:abnormal spectrum of internalizing (anxious and depressive) behaviors in early childhood via the MAPS‐Internalizing (MAPS‐INT) scale. Methods: The MAPS‐INT item pool was generated based on clinical expertise and prior research. Analyses were conducted on a sub‐sample of families (n = 183) from the diverse When to Worry early childhood sample. Results: Normal:abnormal descriptive patterns for both anxious and depressive behaviors were consistent with prior work: (1) extremes of normative variation are abnormal when very frequent; and (2) pathognomonic indicators that most children do not engage in and are abnormal, even if infrequent. Factor analysis revealed a two‐factor MAPS‐INT Anxious Behaviors structure (Fearful‐Worried and Separation Distress) and a unidimensional MAPS‐INT Depressive Behaviors factor with good fit and good‐to‐excellent test‐retest reliability and validity. Conclusions: We characterized the normal:abnormal spectrum of internalizing behaviors in early childhood via the MAPS‐INT. Future research in larger representative samples can replicate and extend findings, including clinical thresholds and predictive utility. The MAPS‐INT helps lay the groundwork for dimensional characterization of the internalizing spectrum to advance neurodevelopmental approaches to emergent psychopathology and its earlier identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The association between prenatal stress and children's socioemotional development is well established. The COVID‐19 pandemic has been a particularly stressful period, which may impact the gestational environment. However, most studies to‐date have examined prenatal stress at a single time point, potentially masking the natural variation in stress that occurs over time, especially during a time as uncertain as the pandemic. This study leveraged dense ecological momentary assessments from a prenatal randomized control trial to examine patterns of prenatal stress over a 14‐week period (up to four assessments/day) in a U.S. sample of 72 mothers and infants. We first examined whether varied features of stress exposure (lability, mean, and baseline stress) differed depending on whether mothers reported on their stress before or during the pandemic. We next examined which features of stress were associated with 3‐month‐old infants' negative affect. We did not find differences in stress patterns before and during the pandemic. However, greater stress lability, accounting for baseline and mean stress, was associated with higher infant negative affect. These findings suggest that pathways from prenatal stress exposure to infant socioemotional development are complex, and close attention to stress patterns over time will be important for explicating these pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficits in self-regulation capacity have been linked to subsequent impairment and clinical symptomology across the lifespan. Prior work has identified difficulty regulating angry emotions (i.e., irritability) as a powerful transdiagnostic indicator of current and future clinical concerns. Less is known regarding how irritability intersects with cognitive features of self-regulation, in particular inhibitory control, despite its mental health relevance. A promising avenue for improving specificity of clinical predictions in early childhood is multi-method, joint consideration of irritability and inhibitory control capacities. To advance early identification of impairment and psychopathology risk, we contrast group- and variable-based models of neurodevelopmental vulnerability at the interface of irritability and inhibitory control in contexts of varied motivational and emotional salience. This work was conducted in a longitudinal study of children recruited at well-child visits in Midwestern pediatric clinics at preschool age (N = 223, age range = 3–7 years). Group-based models (clustering and regression of clusters on clinical outcomes) indicated significant heterogeneity of self-regulation capacity in this sample. Meanwhile, variable-based models (continuous multiple regression) evidenced associations with concurrent clinical presentation, future symptoms, and impairment across the broad spectrum of psychopathology. Irritability transdiagnostically indicated internalizing and externalizing problems, concurrently and longitudinally. In contrast, inhibitory control was uniquely associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms. We present these findings to advance a joint consideration approach to two promising indicators of neurodevelopmental vulnerability and mental health risk. Models suggest that both emotional and cognitive self-regulation capacities can address challenges in characterizing the developmental unfolding of psychopathology from preschool to early childhood age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of neurodevelopmental perspectives into clinical science has identified irritability as an early dimensional marker of lifespan mental health risk. Elucidating the developmental patterning of irritable behavior is key to differentiating normative variation from risk markers. Accounting for dysregulation and contextual features of irritability is useful for differentiation at preschool age, laying the groundwork for even earlier characterization. We provide initial evidence for the validity of the Multidimensional Assessment Profile of Disruptive Behavior Temper Loss Scale, Infant-Toddler version in two independent samples of 12-18-month-olds from the US. We calibrated the measure using item response theory in a large representative sample, then validated within an independent sample. We characterized the developmental patterning of irritable behaviors and their dimensional spectrum, and demonstrated test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. The MAP-DB-IT is a standardized, dimensional survey assessing irritability that serves as a tool for characterizing the developmental expression of early mental health risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Create and validate developmentally sensitive parent-report measures of emotional distress for children ages 1-5 years that conceptually align with the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) pediatric measures.Methods: Initial items were generated based on expert and parent input regarding core components of emotional distress in early childhood and review of theoretical and empirical work in this domain. Items were psychometrically tested using data from two waves of panel surveys. Item response theory (IRT) was applied to develop item calibration parameters (Wave 1), and scores were centered on a general U.S. population sample (Wave 2). Final PROMIS early childhood (EC) instruments were compared with existing measures of related constructs to establish construct validity.Results: Experts and parents confirmed the content validity of the existing PROMIS Pediatric emotional distress domains (i.e., anger, anxiety, and depressive symptoms) as developmentally salient for young children. Existing items were adapted and expanded for early childhood by employing best practices from developmental measurement science. Item banks as well as 4- and 8-item short forms, free from differential item functioning across sex and age, were constructed for the three domains based on rigorous IRT analyses. Correlations with subscales from previously validated measures provided further evidence of construct validity.Conclusions: The PROMIS EC Anger/Irritability, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms measures demonstrated good reliability and initial evidence of validity for use in early childhood. This is an important contribution to advancing brief, efficient measurement of emotional distress in young children, closing a developmental gap in PROMIS pediatric emotional distress assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing emphasis on emergent brain-behavior patterns supporting language, cognitive, and socioemotional development in toddlerhood, methodologic challenges impede their characterization. Toddlers are notoriously difficult to engage in brain research, leaving a developmental window in which neural processes are understudied. Further, electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential paradigms at this age typically employ structured, experimental tasks that rarely reflect formative naturalistic interactions with caregivers. Here, we introduce and provide proof of concept for a new “Social EEG” paradigm, in which parent–toddler dyads interact naturally during EEG recording. Parents and toddlers sit at a table together and engage in different activities, such as book sharing or watching a movie. EEG is time locked to the video recording of their interaction. Offline, behavioral data are microcoded with mutually exclusive engagement state codes. From 216 sessions to date with 2- and 3-year-old toddlers and their parents, 72% of dyads successfully completed the full Social EEG paradigm, suggesting that it is possible to collect dual EEG from parents and toddlers during naturalistic interactions. In addition to providing naturalistic information about child neural development within the caregiving context, this paradigm holds promise for examination of emerging constructs such as brain-to-brain synchrony in parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing emphasis on emergent brain‐behavior patterns supporting language, cognitive, and socioemotional development in toddlerhood, methodologic challenges impede their characterization. Toddlers are notoriously difficult to engage in brain research, leaving a developmental window in which neural processes are understudied. Further, electroencephalography (EEG) and event‐related potential paradigms at this age typically employ structured, experimental tasks that rarely reflect formative naturalistic interactions with caregivers. Here, we introduce and provide proof of concept for a new “Social EEG” paradigm, in which parent–toddler dyads interact naturally during EEG recording. Parents and toddlers sit at a table together and engage in different activities, such as book sharing or watching a movie. EEG is time locked to the video recording of their interaction. Offline, behavioral data are microcoded with mutually exclusive engagement state codes. From 216 sessions to date with 2‐ and 3‐year‐old toddlers and their parents, 72% of dyads successfully completed the full Social EEG paradigm, suggesting that it is possible to collect dual EEG from parents and toddlers during naturalistic interactions. In addition to providing naturalistic information about child neural development within the caregiving context, this paradigm holds promise for examination of emerging constructs such as brain‐to‐brain synchrony in parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted data collection for longitudinal studies in developmental sciences to an immeasurable extent. Restrictions on conducting in-person standardized assessments have led to disruptive innovation, in which novel methods are applied to increase participant engagement. Here, we focus on remote administration of behavioral assessment. We argue that these innovations in remote assessment should become part of the new standard protocol in developmental sciences to facilitate data collection in populations that may be hard to reach or engage due to burdensome requirements (e.g., multiple in-person assessments). We present a series of adaptations to developmental assessments (e.g., Mullen) and a detailed discussion of data analytic approaches to be applied in the less-than-ideal circumstances encountered during the pandemic-related shutdown (i.e., missing or messy data). Ultimately, these remote approaches actually strengthen the ability to gain insight into developmental populations and foster pragmatic innovation that should result in enduring change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework has prompted a paradigm shift from categorical psychiatric disorders to considering multiple levels of vulnerability for probabilistic risk of disorder. However, the lack of neurodevelopmentally based tools for clinical decision making has limited the real-world impact of the RDoC. Integration with developmental psychopathology principles and statistical methods actualize the clinical implementation of RDoC to inform neurodevelopmental risk. In this conceptual paper, we introduce the probabilistic mental health risk calculator as an innovation for such translation and lay out a research agenda for generating an RDoC- and developmentally informed paradigm that could be applied to predict a range of developmental psychopathologies from early childhood to young adulthood. We discuss methods that weigh the incremental utility for prediction based on intensity and burden of assessment, the addition of developmental change patterns, considerations for assessing outcomes, and integrative data approaches. Throughout, we illustrate the risk calculator approach with different neurodevelopmental pathways and phenotypes. Finally, we discuss real-world implementation of these methods for improving early identification and prevention of developmental psychopathology. We propose that mental health risk calculators can build a needed bridge between the RDoC multiple units of analysis and developmental science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks at the types of awe guests feel when they leave art and science cultural institutions of various sizes and context, and how it may be related to what they remember learning. We surveyed 899 guests at the end of their visit and 550 of them again about one week later. Measures included a scale of awe-related perceptions (both positive and negative) along with questions about memories guests have about what they learned during their visit. Results show awe-related perceptions were consistent across institutions with only one significant difference, even when grouped by context (art vs. science). Guests' memories of profound educational and emotional experiences were weakly related to the amount and types of awe they felt. This connection was strongest with memories of emotional connections and being surprised. We also found connections to social experiences and that prior knowledge was a strong, consistent predictor of positive awe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prenatal stress exposure increases vulnerability to virtually all forms of psychopathology. Based on this robust evidence base, we propose a "Mental Health, Earlier" paradigm shift for prenatal stress research, which moves from the documentation of stress‐related outcomes to their prevention, with a focus on infant neurodevelopmental indicators of vulnerability to subsequent mental health problems. Achieving this requires an expansive team science approach. As an exemplar, we introduce the Promoting Healthy Brain Project (PHBP), a randomized trial testing the impact of the Wellness‐4‐2 personalized prenatal stress‐reduction intervention on stress‐related alterations in infant neurodevelopmental trajectories in the first year of life. Wellness‐4‐2 utilizes bio‐integrated stress monitoring for just‐in‐time adaptive intervention. We highlight unique challenges and opportunities this novel team science approach presents in synergizing expertise across predictive analytics, bioengineering, health information technology, prevention science, maternal–fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatrics, and neurodevelopmental science. We discuss how innovations across many areas of study facilitate this personalized preventive approach, using developmentally sensitive brain and behavioral methods to investigate whether altering children's adverse gestational exposures, i.e., maternal stress in the womb, can improve their mental health outlooks. In so doing, we seek to propel developmental SEED research towards preventive applications with the potential to reduce the pernicious effect of prenatal stress on neurodevelopment, mental health, and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal learning environments provide the opportunity to study guests' experiences as they engage with exhibits specifically designed to invoke the emotional experience of awe. The current paper presents insight gained by using both traditional survey measures and innovative mobile eye-tracking technology to examine guests' experiences of awe in a science museum. We present results for guests' visual attention in two exhibit spaces, one chosen for its potential to evoke positive awe and one for negative awe, and examine associations between visual attention and survey responses with regard to different facets of awe. In this exploratory study, we find relationships between how guests attend to features within an exhibit space (e.g., signage) and their feelings of awe. We discuss implications of using both methods concurrently to shed new light on exhibit design, and more generally for working in transdisciplinary multimethod teams to move scientific knowledge and application forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To illustrate the integration of developmental considerations into person-reported outcome (PRO) measurement development for application in early childhood pediatric psychology.Methods: Combining the state-of-the-science Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) mixed-methods instrument development approach with considerations from developmental measurement science, we developed 12 PROMIS early childhood (PROMIS EC) parent report measures to evaluate common mental, social, and physical health outcomes for ages 1-5. Through this interdisciplinary effort, we identified key considerations for early childhood PROs that enable reliable and valid assessment within the real-world constraints of clinical care settings.Results: Four key considerations are highlighted as key to this process: (a) Engage diverse content experts to identify meaningful and relevant constructs; (b) Balance salient features for early childhood with lifespan coherence of constructs; (c) Emphasize observable features across the typical/atypical spectrum; and (d) Ensure feasibility and relevancy for clinical and research application. Each consideration is discussed using exemplars from the PROMIS EC measurement development process.Conclusions: PROMIS EC provides an illustration of how well-established PRO measures for youth can be adapted for younger children by incorporating developmental considerations. This process and resulting key considerations provide clinicians and researchers in the field of pediatric psychology with guidance for adapting PROs to early childhood, enabling critical continuity in domains of high salience to pediatric psychologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on prior work using Tom Dishion's Family Check-Up, the current article examined intervention effects on dysregulated irritability in early childhood. Dysregulated irritability, defined as reactive and intense response to frustration, and prolonged angry mood, is an ideal marker of neurodevelopmental vulnerability to later psychopathology because it is a transdiagnostic indicator of decrements in self-regulation that are measurable in the first years of life that have lifelong implications for health and disease. This study is perhaps the first randomized trial to examine the direct effects of an evidence- and family-based intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), on irritability in early childhood and the effects of reductions in irritability on later risk of child internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Data from the geographically and sociodemographically diverse multisite Early Steps randomized prevention trial were used. Path modeling revealed intervention effects on irritability at age 4, which predicted lower externalizing and internalizing symptoms at age 10.5. Results indicate that family-based programs initiated in early childhood can reduce early childhood irritability and later risk for psychopathology. This holds promise for earlier identification and prevention approaches that target transdiagnostic pathways. Implications for future basic and prevention research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental disorders are the predominant chronic diseases of youth, with substantial life span morbidity and mortality. A wealth of evidence demonstrates that the neurodevelopmental roots of common mental health problems are present in early childhood. Unfortunately, this has not been translated to systematic strategies for improving population-level mental health at this most malleable neurodevelopmental period. We lay out a translational Mental Health, Earlier road map as a key future direction for prevention of mental disorder. This paradigm shift aims to reduce population attributable risk of mental disorder emanating from early life, by preventing, attenuating, or delaying onset/course of chronic psychopathology via the promotion of self-regulation in early childhood within large-scale health care delivery systems. The Earlier Pillar rests on a "science of when to worry" that (a) optimizes clinical assessment methods for characterizing probabilistic clinical risk beginning in infancy via deliberate incorporation of neurodevelopmental heterogeneity, and (b) universal primary-care-based screening targeting patterns of dysregulated irritability as a robust transdiagnostic marker of vulnerability to life span mental health problems. The core of the Healthier Pillar is provision of low-intensity selective intervention promoting self-regulation for young children with developmentally atypical patterns of irritability within an implementation science framework in pediatric primary care to ensure highest population impact and sustainability. These Mental Health, Earlier strategies hold much promise for transforming clinical outlooks and ensuring young children's mental health and well-being in a manner that reverberates throughout the life span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the predictive reasoning abilities of typically developing (TD) infants and 2‐year‐old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in an eye‐tracking paradigm. Participants watched a video of a goal‐directed action in which a human actor reached for and grasped one of two objects. At test, the objects switched locations. Across these events, we measured: visual anticipation of the action outcome with kinematic cues (i.e., a completed reaching behavior); goal prediction of the action outcome without kinematic cues (i.e., an incomplete reach); and latencies to generate predictions across these two tasks. Results revealed similarities in action anticipation across groups when trajectory information regarding the intended goal was present; however, when predicting the goal without kinematic cues, developmental and diagnostic differences became evident. Younger TD children generated goal‐based visual predictions, whereas older TD children were not systematic in their visual predictions. In contrast to both TD groups, children with ASD generated location‐based predictions, suggesting that their visual predictions may reflect visuomotor perseveration. Together, these results suggest differences in early predictive reasoning abilities. Autism Res 2018, 11: 870–882. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary: The current study examines the ability to generate visual predictions regarding other people's goal‐directed actions, specifically reaching and grasping an object, in infants and children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Results showed no differences in abilities when movement information about a person's goal was evident; however, differences were evident across age and clinical diagnoses when relying on previous knowledge to generate a visual prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skilled social interactions require knowledge about others' intentions and the ability to implement this knowledge in real-time to generate appropriate responses to one's partner. Young infants demonstrate an understanding of other people's intentions (e.g. Woodward, Sommerville, Gerson, Henderson & Buresh, 2009), yet it is not until the second year that infants seem to master the real-time implementation of their knowledge during social interactions (e.g. Warneken & Tomasello, 2007). The current study investigates the possibility that developments in social competence during the second year are related to increases in the speed with which infants can employ their understanding of others' intentions. Twenty- to 22-month-old infants ( N = 23) viewed videos of goal-directed actions on a Tobii eye-tracker and then engaged in an interactive perspective-taking task. Infants who quickly and accurately anticipated another person's future behavior in the eye-tracking task were more successful at taking their partner's perspective in the social interaction. Success on the perspective-taking task was specifically related to the ability to correctly predict another person's intentions. These findings highlight the importance of not only being a 'smart' social partner but also a 'fast' social thinker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that young infants perceive others' actions as structured by goals. One open question is whether the recruitment of this understanding when predicting others' actions imposes a cognitive challenge for young infants. The current study explored infants' ability to utilize their knowledge of others' goals to rapidly predict future behavior in complex social environments and distinguish goal-directed actions from other kinds of movements. Fifteen-month-olds (N = 40) viewed videos of an actor engaged in either a goal-directed (grasping) or an ambiguous (brushing the back of her hand) action on a Tobii eye-tracker. At test, critical elements of the scene were changed and infants' predictive fixations were examined to determine whether they relied on goal information to anticipate the actor's future behavior. Results revealed that infants reliably generated goal-based visual predictions for the grasping action, but not for the back-of-hand behavior. Moreover, response latencies were longer for goal-based predictions than for location-based predictions, suggesting that goal-based predictions are cognitively taxing. Analyses of areas of interest indicated that heightened attention to the overall scene, as opposed to specific patterns of attention, was the critical indicator of successful judgments regarding an actor's future goal-directed behavior. These findings shed light on the processes that support “smart” social behavior in infants, as it may be a challenge for young infants to use information about others' intentions to inform rapid predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's confidence in their own knowledge may influence their willingness to learn novel information from others. Twenty-four-month-old children's ( N = 160) willingness to learn novel labels for either familiar or novel objects from an adult speaker was tested in 1 of 5 conditions: accurate, inaccurate, knowledgeable, ignorant, or uninformative. Children were willing to learn a second label for an object from a reliable informant in the accurate, knowledgeable, and uninformative conditions; children were less willing to apply a novel label to a familiar object if the speaker previously was inaccurate or had expressed ignorance. However, when the objects were novel, children were willing to learn the label regardless of the speaker's knowledge level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normal sexual and reproductive functions depend largely on neurological mechanisms. Neurological defects in men can cause infertility through erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and semen abnormalities. Among the major conditions contributing to these symptoms are pelvic and retroperitoneal surgery, diabetes, congenital spinal abnormalities, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. Erectile dysfunction can be managed by an increasingly invasive range of treatments including medications, injection therapy and the surgical insertion of a penile implant. Retrograde ejaculation is managed by medications to reverse the condition in mild cases and in bladder harvest of semen after ejaculation in more severe cases. Anejaculation might also be managed by medication in mild cases while assisted ejaculatory techniques including penile vibratory stimulation and electroejaculation are used in more severe cases. If these measures fail, surgical sperm retrieval can be attempted. Ejaculation with penile vibratory stimulation can be done by some spinal cord injured men and their partners at home, followed by in-home insemination if circumstances and sperm quality are adequate. The other options always require assisted reproductive techniques including intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The method of choice depends largely on the number of motile sperm in the ejaculate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The target article argues that developmental processes are key to understanding the mirror neuron system, yet neglects several bodies of developmental research that are informative for doing so. Infants' actions and action understanding are structured by goals, and the former lends structure to the latter. Evaluating the origins and functions of mirror neurons depends on integrating investigations of neural, social-cognitive and motor development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]