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Summary: Background: Impulsivity and reward sensitivity are personality traits associated with obesity and binge‐eating disorder (BED), but little research has examined prospective associations between these traits and body mass index z‐score (BMI‐z) differentially for children with and without BED. Objective: Using data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study, the present analysis examined predictive associations between impulsivity and reward sensitivity facets with BMI‐z 1 year later in children with versus without BED. Methods: Nine‐to‐ten‐year‐old children were recruited across the United States and completed self‐report questionnaires and clinical interviews at baseline, and height and weight were taken at baseline and 1‐year follow‐up. Multivariable models were run with baseline impulsivity and reward sensitivity facets predicting 1‐year BMI‐z in children with versus without BED. Results: Reward sensitivity and impulsivity were unrelated to BMI‐z at follow‐up in children without BED. Greater negative urgency (i.e., proclivity to act rashly without forethought in response to negative emotions) and lower positive urgency (i.e., proclivity to act rashly without forethought due to positive emotions) predicted increased BMI‐z at 1‐year follow‐up in children with BED subsample. Conclusions: Findings indicate the importance of developing theoretical models and interventions for obesity prevention in children with BED that address emotional impulsivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many individuals in the United States will experience some form of abuse or neglect before the age of 18. Exposure to such adversities earlier in life can predict greater sexual risk engagement such as high sexual partner number. While the research examining the influence of early adversity on sexual behaviour is vast, we have yet to fully understand why this association exists. In the present manuscript we attempt to shed light on potential predictors and moderators of this association and offer suggestions for future research. Specifically, we begin with a brief review of the existing research pertaining to early adversity and sexual risk taking. Then, we outline potentially important moderators to consider such as impulsivity, sensation seeking, and reward sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Substance use in youth remains a pressing problem in the United States. Existing studies have shown the importance of neuropathways responsible for affective response and reward motivation in adolescents' substance use initiation and maintenance. However, limited observational studies have explored the relationship between aspects of behavioral motivation traits and the likelihood of substance use initiation in adolescents. In this prospective cohort study, we assessed the associations between behavioral motivation traits based on the Behavioral Inhibition and Approach Systems (BIS-BAS) Scale and substance use initiation using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study., Method: In the 9216 eligible sample population, we assessed the associations between mean Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) / Behavioral Approach System (BAS) scores measured at year 2 of the ABCD study and substance use initiation at year 3 of the ABCD study using multivariable logistic regressions adjusting for ABCD study site, sampling weights, as well as sociodemographic characteristics., Results: We found that higher BIS mean score was associated with higher odds of initiating substance use at year 3 (AOR=1.20, 95 % CI: 1.03, 1.40). Out of three BAS measure categories, only BAS Fun-seeking mean score was positively associated with higher odds of initiating substance use at year 3 (AOR=1.23, 95 % CI: 1.07, 1.43)., Conclusion: Our study showed that inhibitory and fun-seeking behavioral tendencies are associated with an increased likelihood of substance use initiation in adolescents. Our findings suggest a potential pathway linking emotional traits to early substance initiation in adolescents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A new virtual reality task was employed which uses preference for interpersonal distance to social stimuli to examine social motivation and emotion perception in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Nineteen high function children with higher functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFASD) and 23 age, gender, and IQ matched children with typical development (TD) used a joy stick to position themselves closer or further from virtual avatars while attempting to identify six emotions expressed by the avatars, happiness, fear, anger, disgust, sadness, and surprise that were expressed at different levels of intensity. The results indicated that children with HFASD displayed significantly less approach behavior to the positive happy expression than did children with TD, who displayed increases in approach behavior to higher intensities of happy expressions. Alternatively, all groups tended to withdraw from negative emotions to the same extent and there were no diagnostic group differences in accuracy of recognition of any of the six emotions. This pattern of results is consistent with theory that suggests that some children with HFASD display atypical social-approach motivation, or sensitivity to the positive reward value of positive social-emotional events. Conversely, there was little evidence that a tendency to withdraw from social-emotional stimuli, or a failure to process social emotional stimuli, was a component of social behavior task performance in this sample of children with HFASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]