J Child Psychol Psychiatry [JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Research Review: Emotion regulation in individuals with intellectual disability - an integrative review.
Ferguson EF, Nuske HJ, Hardan AY … +1 more , Gross JJ
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Jun · PMID 42233684 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Across diverse populations, there is growing evidence that emotion regulation is central to healthy adaptation. Much is known about emotion regulation processes in typically developing populations, but compar...
BACKGROUND: Across diverse populations, there is growing evidence that emotion regulation is central to healthy adaptation. Much is known about emotion regulation processes in typically developing populations, but comparatively very little is known about how these processes unfold in individuals with intellectual disability. METHODS: This integrative review advances understanding of emotion regulation in intellectual disability within a clinical framework. We first synthesize research on affective and behavioral functioning across the heterogeneous intellectual disability population. We then apply the process model of emotion regulation to examine how differences in cognition, language, and executive functioning shape regulation capacities. Particular attention is given to the distinction between self-focused strategies used by individuals to regulate their own emotions, and other-focused, interpersonal strategies (i.e. caregiver-mediated support), which may play a particularly critical role for individuals with intellectual disability across the lifespan. Finally, we discuss implications for clinical practice, including interventions for promoting healthy emotion regulation in intellectual disability within the process model framework and recommendations for family-centered approaches. CONCLUSIONS: By integrating empirical evidence with a widely used theoretical model, this review establishes a foundation for conceptualizing emotion regulation in intellectual disability and for improving interventions that support emotional well-being in this underserved population.
RETRACTION: Heritability of Children's Secure Base Script Knowledge in Middle Childhood: a Twin Study With the Attachment Script Assessment.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Jun · PMID 42231629 · Publisher ↗
J. Runze , A. M. Witte , M. H. van IJzendoorn , and M. J. Bakermans-Kranenburg , "Heritability of Children's Secure Base Script Knowledge in Middle Childhood: a Twin Study With the Attachment Script Assessment," Journal...
J. Runze , A. M. Witte , M. H. van IJzendoorn , and M. J. Bakermans-Kranenburg , "Heritability of Children's Secure Base Script Knowledge in Middle Childhood: a Twin Study With the Attachment Script Assessment," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 66, no. 6 (2025): 796-804, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14089. The above article, published online on 17 December 2024 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the authors; the journal Editor-in-Chief, Edmund Sonuga-Barke; the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health; and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction was agreed upon following the authors' communication to the journal that errors had been identified in the R code, which resulted in the introduction of duplicated values into the dataset. After reperforming the analyses, the authors determined that these errors affected the main results and conclusions of the study, necessitating an extensive revision of the article. Accordingly, the article has been retracted. The authors have been invited to submit a corrected version of the manuscript for consideration for publication.
Hunger as an uncontroversial predictor of poor adolescent mental health: evidence from a multiverse analysis of 410,213 adolescents across 79 countries.
Zaneva M, Dumbalska T, Reeves A … +1 more , Bowes L
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Jun · PMID 42227940 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Hunger has established detrimental impacts on physical health, with emerging evidence indicating negative impacts on mental health. However, there is a pronounced knowledge gap outside high-income settings an...
BACKGROUND: Hunger has established detrimental impacts on physical health, with emerging evidence indicating negative impacts on mental health. However, there is a pronounced knowledge gap outside high-income settings and for adolescents. Previous research also provides differing estimates of hunger's impacts, potentially underpinned by a wide range of researcher degrees of freedom. METHODS: We investigated the relationship between hunger and mental health (proxied by single-item indicator for worrying and three items for suicidality) in the Global School-based Student Health Survey, combining datasets from 79 countries and in a pooled sample of 410,213 adolescents (mean age 14.72 ± 1.56 years; 52% girls). We used a principled multiverse analysis, exploring 15,360 model specifications. RESULTS: Our results show a consistently stable negative relationship between hunger and adolescent mental health (worrying, median beta = .12; suicidality, median beta = .07). This reflects 12 and 7 percentage point increases in the prevalence for worry and suicidality, respectively, when experiencing hunger. This relationship is significant across a variety of analytical choices including sample selection, covariate choice (including country-level controls for wealth and inequality), predictor and outcome manipulation, among others. In a further multiverse analysis, we find evidence of a dose-response relationship, such that more frequently experiencing hunger is associated with greater reported levels of worrying and suicidality. CONCLUSIONS: Our work attests to the experience of hunger as one of the most clearly uncontroversial predictors of poor mental health. Addressing food insecurity and the equitable and efficient distribution of food globally is a crucial consideration for adolescent mental health protection and suicide prevention. Emphasis should be placed on appropriate population-level interventions, such as universal free school or community meal programs.
Editorial: Disambiguating pubertal status from pubertal timing during adolescence: A renewed call for improved construct definition and measurement.
Klump KL, Di Dio AM, Culbert KM
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Jul · PMID 42212934 · Full text
There have been numerous past calls for studies to examine pubertal development, rather than just age, in developmental research. These calls are timely and appropriate given the significant effects of pubertal developme...
There have been numerous past calls for studies to examine pubertal development, rather than just age, in developmental research. These calls are timely and appropriate given the significant effects of pubertal development on a range of internalizing (e.g., eating disorders, depression) and externalizing (e.g., antisocial behavior) disorders. However, with this increased attention, some ambiguity in puberty constructs have crept into this important area of research. Previously clear lines between pubertal status versus pubertal timing have become blurred. In this Editorial, we define pubertal status and timing, describe how definitions and measurement models can confound these constructs, and propose new language for describing pubertal status and timing effects that may help establish clearer lines between these pubertal processes. We hope this piece will be a catalyst for more research and a testing of our lexical and empirical suggestions that are aimed at moving the field of developmental psychopathology forward in this critical area of adolescent health.
Student-teacher relationships as a mediator of children's education-linked genetics: results from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study.
Austerberry C, Corfield EC, Havdahl A … +8 more , Smajlagic D, Brandlistuen RE, Vaage Wang M, Fish L, Bernardi M, van de Grint-Stoop J, Bekkhus M, Fearon P
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42206760 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Genetic differences are robustly associated with educational outcomes, but how they become linked is poorly understood. A plausible hypothesis, yet to be thoroughly empirically tested, is that the school envi...
BACKGROUND: Genetic differences are robustly associated with educational outcomes, but how they become linked is poorly understood. A plausible hypothesis, yet to be thoroughly empirically tested, is that the school environment mediates the association. METHODS: Using structural equation models, we tested whether the student-teacher relationship at age 5 (teacher-reported Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) mediated the association between children's education-linked genetic propensities (PGS) and mother-rated reading and math performance at ages 6-8. We performed these analyses in 63,032 children from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study, a longitudinal, population-based, pregnancy cohort. RESULTS: Higher PGS were significantly associated with lower student-teacher conflict (β = -0.08, p < .001) and positive teacher responses (β = 0.07, p = .001), but not student-teacher closeness (β = 0.01, p = .616). Associations between PGS and educational performance were significantly partially mediated via conflict (β = 0.01, p < .001) and positive teacher responses (β = 0.01, p = .019) but not closeness (β = 1 × 10, p = .619). CONCLUSIONS: Student-teacher conflict and positive teacher responses may be mechanisms involved in the cascade of pathways linking children's genetics to their educational outcomes.
What makes a lonely child: environmental, health, and multimodal neuroimaging correlates of prospective loneliness in the ABCD study.
Wong TY, Wong TS, Hou WK … +7 more , Leung ANM, Xiao J, Yuen KSL, Lui SSY, Qiu A, Moore TM, Gur RC
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42186177 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Loneliness in childhood is a growing public health concern, yet early multilevel candidate risk and protective factors remain insufficiently mapped. Systematic investigation is essential to guide prevention a...
BACKGROUND: Loneliness in childhood is a growing public health concern, yet early multilevel candidate risk and protective factors remain insufficiently mapped. Systematic investigation is essential to guide prevention and intervention during sensitive developmental periods. This study identifies environmental, health, and neurobiological factors associated with prospective loneliness in children. METHODS: A population-based longitudinal cohort study used data from children aged 9-10 years and their caregivers enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study between 2016 and 2022. A total of 9,602 children with complete baseline and follow-up loneliness and demographic data were included after exclusions for exposure completeness and quality assurance. Baseline measures included 347 environmental exposures, 61 health indicators, and 558 MRI features capturing gray matter volume, white matter microstructure, and resting-state functional connectivity. The primary outcome was prospective loneliness reported from ages 10-14. Linear mixed-effects models assessed associations with environmental and health variables. Linear discriminant analysis was applied to neuroimaging features to distinguish children with and without prospective loneliness. RESULTS: Among 9,602 children (mean [SD] age, 119.01 [7.52] months; 48% girls; 55% White, 14% Black, 31% other races/ethnicities), 12% (n = 1,158) reported loneliness at baseline, and 71.6% (n = 829) of those re-experienced loneliness over 3 years. Prospective loneliness was significantly associated with 40 environmental variables (|d| = 0.069-0.388), most strongly parental psychopathology, developmental history, and family income. Twenty-six health indicators were also associated (|d| = 0.061-0.390), with general mental health showing the largest effect. Neuroimaging features associated with prospective loneliness converged in brain systems involved in socioemotional processing. CONCLUSIONS: Prospective loneliness was associated with modifiable environmental and health factors, as well as neurobiological differences. Early identification and targeted interventions that support socioemotional development, particularly within family, neighborhood, and school contexts, may help mitigate loneliness and its long-term impact.
Anthropometric differences between twins at birth and their association with later cognitive performance.
Eves R, Deppe M, Kandler C … +2 more , Mönkediek B, Lemola S
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42175742 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Past studies indicate significant associations between birth anthropometrics, such as relative birthweight or head circumference, and later cognitive performance. Using twin data, we investigated whether thes...
BACKGROUND: Past studies indicate significant associations between birth anthropometrics, such as relative birthweight or head circumference, and later cognitive performance. Using twin data, we investigated whether these associations are confounded by genetic and environmental factors. Additionally, we determined whether the association of within twin differences in birth anthropometrics and cognitive performance is nonlinear or moderated by factors such as zygosity or age at assessment. METHODS: Longitudinal data from over 2000 twin pairs from the German TwinLife study were analysed using the co-twin control method. Cognitive performance was assessed at two waves, with median ages of 12 and 18 years, with z-standardised scores based on wave and age. Differences between twins in birthweight and head circumference Z scores were calculated using Fenton's size at birth chart, based on health records at birth. RESULTS: Within twin differences in relative birthweight were associated with differences in cognitive performance at Wave 1 (β = .08, p = .001) and did not differ by zygosity (β = .03, p = .560). However, this association was not significant when reducing the sample to twins with valid data at both waves (β = .05, p = .187). Testing for nonlinearity or for moderation by age at assessment did not improve model fit. Within twin differences in head circumference were not significantly associated with differences in cognitive performance in any analyses (smallest p = 0.365). CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for confounding due to genetics or the shared environment, conditions in the womb, as indexed by relative birthweight, is associated with later cognition. This association is not stronger in younger individuals.
Within-person longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems in adolescent girls.
Yoon L, Magee KE, Stepp SD … +4 more , Forbes EE, Keenan KE, Hipwell AE, Guyer AE
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42175729 · Full text
BACKGROUND: Adolescence, particularly for girls, is a period of heightened risk for depressive symptoms and increased interpersonal stress. Although depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems are known to co-occur, p...
BACKGROUND: Adolescence, particularly for girls, is a period of heightened risk for depressive symptoms and increased interpersonal stress. Although depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems are known to co-occur, prior work has predominantly examined between-person associations, leaving within-person processes unclear. This study addressed this gap by testing longitudinal within-person associations between depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems in adolescent girls over 4 years, evaluating whether links were reciprocal or unidirectional. METHODS: Participants included 543 adolescent girls from the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Across four waves (mean ages = 16.5-19.3 years), girls self-reported depressive symptoms and eight types of interpersonal problems: domineering, vindictive, cold, socially avoidant, nonassertive, exploitable, overly nurturant, and intrusive. For each interpersonal problem, we fit both constrained and unconstrained random intercept cross-lagged panel models and selected the constrained model unless it demonstrated a significantly poorer fit than the unconstrained model, prioritizing parsimony. RESULTS: The selected models demonstrated good fit for all eight interpersonal problems. Within-person increases in depressive symptoms predicted subsequent within-person increases in overly nurturant and socially avoidant problems, whereas these interpersonal problems did not predict subsequent within-person increases in depressive symptoms. By contrast, depressive symptoms and domineering problems reciprocally predicted one another over time. CONCLUSIONS: This study clarifies how depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems influence one another over time within individuals in adolescent girls. Findings highlight domineering problems as a potential intervention target for breaking cycles of mutual reinforcement with depressive symptoms. Moreover, addressing depressive symptoms may yield social benefits by reducing subsequent overly nurturant and socially avoidant problems.
Associations between prenatal alcohol exposure and parent-reported sleep disturbances in 10,336 adolescents: an Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.
Devine EK, Green R, Visontay R … +7 more , Byrne H, Riches J, Elliott EJ, Newton NC, Squeglia LM, Mewton L, Stapinski LA
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42165753 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: This study investigated the associations between prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), including low and moderate levels of exposure, and parent-reported sleep disturbances during adolescence. This is an area that...
BACKGROUND: This study investigated the associations between prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), including low and moderate levels of exposure, and parent-reported sleep disturbances during adolescence. This is an area that remains understudied despite evidence linking PAE, particularly heavy PAE, to poor sleep in younger children and the growing recognition of harms associated with low levels of PAE. METHODS: Participants were 10,336 adolescents (aged 12-13) from the fourth assessment wave of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Cross-sectional generalised linear mixed models and generalised additive mixed models were used to assess the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure, conceptualised as the presence or absence of PAE, total drinks consumed during pregnancy (i.e. dose) and patterns of PAE (i.e. abstainers, light reducing, light stable, heavy reducing), on parent-reported adolescent sleep disturbances, while controlling for important birth related, environmental and medical factors. RESULTS: Adolescents with any PAE experienced worse overall parent-reported sleep disturbances compared to those without, with sleep-wake transitions, excessive somnolence and sleep breathing being the domains most impacted. There was limited support for a dose-response relationship between low-level PAE and sleep problems in adolescence. However, those with a pattern of PAE before knowledge of pregnancy, compared to abstainers, experienced greater problems with sleep-wake transitions and sleep breathing. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to the growing evidence that there are no safe levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, as even low to moderate PAE negatively impacts adolescent sleep. Identifying sleep-wake transitions, excessive somnolence and sleep breathing as the most affected domains provides targets for both screening and intervention.
Attention and social problems are uniquely associated with academic achievement beyond overall psychopathology: multicohort replication in 3,800 participants.
Tragoudas G, Ünal ZE, Geary DC … +1 more , Menon V
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42153376 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Understanding which specific behavioral and emotional problems are uniquely associated with achievement and thus potential targets for developing educational interventions. METHODS: Child Behavior Checklist s...
BACKGROUND: Understanding which specific behavioral and emotional problems are uniquely associated with achievement and thus potential targets for developing educational interventions. METHODS: Child Behavior Checklist syndrome scales and standardized measures of mathematics and reading achievement were analyzed using structural equation modeling in a community California cohort (N = 252) and the clinically diverse Healthy Brain Network cohort (N = 3,583). RESULTS: Attention and social problems were uniquely associated with lower achievement beyond overall psychopathology levels defined by the covariances among syndrome scores. Attention problems were consistently related to poorer mathematics and reading achievement across clinical status, development, and sex. Social problems showed age- and sex-specific patterns and were associated with lower achievement throughout development for girls but only during adolescence for boys. Models examining achievement-to-psychopathology relationships resulted in poorer fits than psychopathology-to-achievement models in typically developing children and adolescents. However, bidirectional relationships emerged in clinical samples, particularly between attention problems and mathematics achievement and between social problems and reading achievement. CONCLUSIONS: Specific behavioral problems, rather than overall psychopathology, are consistently associated with academic difficulties. Educational screening and interventions should prioritize attention regulation across all developmental stages and implement sex-differentiated social skill support, beginning earlier for girls and during adolescence for boys. These findings replicate across independent samples, demonstrating robust relationships with direct implications for school-based educational and mental health services.
Methodological provocations for detecting context-dependent ADHD-risk coupling: a commentary on Goueta et al. (2025).
Yi L, Yao H
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42152730 · Publisher ↗
Goueta et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2025, 66, 1209) utilized a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to investigate reciprocal links between ADHD symptoms and adolescent risky behavio...
Goueta et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2025, 66, 1209) utilized a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to investigate reciprocal links between ADHD symptoms and adolescent risky behavior. Their finding that stable between-person differences, rather than within-person fluctuations, primarily drive this association challenges common clinical assumptions. While commending their methodological rigor, this commentary proposes five refinements to better capture the dynamic ADHD-risk nexus. First, aggregating diverse risk behaviors may mask distinct symptom-coupled fluctuations, requiring multivariate models to separate impulsivity from social deviance. Second, relying exclusively on parent reports introduces bias; future studies should incorporate multi-informant designs, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and passive sensing. Third, standard time metrics overlook critical developmental milestones; event-contingent sampling around salient transitions can address process non-stationarity. Fourth, integrating time-varying mediators, such as sleep and parental monitoring, can reveal precise windows of heightened risk for targeted interventions. Finally, dimensional scoring might obscure non-linear threshold effects and pharmacological impacts. By addressing behavioral heterogeneity, reporter variance, developmental contexts, and non-linearities, future research can clarify exactly when, for whom, and under what conditions ADHD symptom fluctuations forecast adolescent risk.
Examining bidirectional associations between overprotective parenting and adolescent problem behaviors: a multiverse analysis.
Flamant N, Soenens B, Tiemeier H … +2 more , Waterschoot J, Prinzie P
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42144234 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Research on overprotective parenting in adolescence has predominantly used cross-sectional designs, limiting attention to possible bidirectional associations between such parenting and adolescents' problem be...
BACKGROUND: Research on overprotective parenting in adolescence has predominantly used cross-sectional designs, limiting attention to possible bidirectional associations between such parenting and adolescents' problem behaviors. The few longitudinal studies available have yielded mixed findings regarding the direction of effects between overprotective parenting and adolescent outcomes, which may stem from substantive and design-related choices (e.g., type of informant). The present study systematically investigated the potentially bidirectional interplay between overprotective parenting and adolescents' functioning over time using a multiverse analysis. METHODS: We used two-wave repeated-measures data with a two-year interval from the Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality, and Development (FSPPD), including 588 adolescents, both parents, and their teachers. Adolescents and their parents reported on parental overprotection. Moreover, adolescents, their parents, and teachers rated adolescents' externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. Latent change models were estimated within a multiverse framework. RESULTS: The results provide stronger evidence that adolescents with more overprotective parents show, on average, a greater increase in problem behavior than adolescents with less overprotective parents, compared to evidence for the opposite direction of effects. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these findings highlight the potential of a multiverse analysis and mainly support a directional effect of overprotective parenting on more problematic adolescent functioning within the two-year time interval studied.
Conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits in pre-schoolers: Psychosocial profiles in a Brazilian birth cohort.
Perrone LR, Bauer A, Waller R … +3 more , Domingues M, Curi Hallal P, Murray J
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42141818 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early childhood are risk markers for persistent antisocial behaviour, with marked adverse life outcomes. However, associations of CU traits with broader psychosocial charact...
BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early childhood are risk markers for persistent antisocial behaviour, with marked adverse life outcomes. However, associations of CU traits with broader psychosocial characteristics are not well understood, particularly in early childhood. OBJECTIVE: To examine developmental and psychosocial profiles of pre-school children according to their levels of CU traits and conduct problems (CPs) in a large, population-based cohort from southern Brazil. METHODS: The 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort includes 4,275 children followed from birth. At age 4 years, CU traits and CP were assessed via parent-report questionnaires, and 19 other psychosocial characteristics were examined mostly in task-based assessments regarding: neurodevelopment, language, executive functioning, emotion recognition, theory of mind, social information processing and empathy/prosocial behaviours. These 19 psychosocial characteristics were compared across four groups of children with varying levels of CU/CP, and regression models were used to test for independent associations with CU traits and CP, adjusting for sociodemographic factors at birth. RESULTS: At age 4 years, 14.8% of children had elevated CU traits only, 14.2% had CP only, and 16.3% had both high CU + CP. Compared to children without CU traits or CP, children with higher CU traits had poorer performance across multiple domains of development, including language, motor development, emotion recognition and prosocial behaviour. In contrast, children with CP-only showed more circumscribed deficits, mainly in self-control and emotional functioning. In regression analyses, CU traits were associated with broader neurodevelopmental impairments, whereas CP was more specifically linked to behaviour regulation. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated CU traits in early childhood are associated with broad developmental difficulties, whereas CPs relate more specifically to emotional and self-regulation challenges. These findings underscore the need for holistic approaches to understanding early manifestations of CU traits and interventions in the context of CP behaviours.
Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring: A nationwide population-based cohort study - A commentary on Oh and Song 2026.
Ayoub G
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42126059 · Publisher ↗
This commentary examines how prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution may contribute to the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Experimental work demonstrates that gestational exposure to air pollution an...
This commentary examines how prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution may contribute to the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Experimental work demonstrates that gestational exposure to air pollution and micro- and nanoplastics can induce neuroinflammation, synaptic disruption and autism- or attention-related phenotypes in rodents, supporting biological plausibility for pollutant-related NDD risk. Large-scale epidemiological studies have begun to link prenatal traffic-related pollutants with cognitive delay, behavioural difficulties and increased risk of ASD and ADHD, although most data come from Western cohorts. Against this backdrop, a nationwide South Korean cohort (>1.4 million births) reports that higher prenatal nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide exposure is associated with increased risk of clinically diagnosed NDDs into adolescence. These findings underscore prenatal air pollution as a modifiable, population-level risk factor for child mental health.
Learning-based cognitive control in ADHD: a multicentric study.
Toffoli L, Stefanelli G, Del Popolo Cristaldi F … +11 more , Duma GM, Pastore M, Tarantino V, Franzoi M, Vecchi M, Danieli A, Martinez F, Blaye A, Gonthier C, CALM‐1 Team, Mento G
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42086295 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Learning-based cognitive control (CC), the ability to adapt control strategies based on contextual regularities, has been studied in typically developing (TD) children but remains underexplored in children wi...
BACKGROUND: Learning-based cognitive control (CC), the ability to adapt control strategies based on contextual regularities, has been studied in typically developing (TD) children but remains underexplored in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study investigates whether children with ADHD show intact learning-based CC and how it is affected by increased cognitive demands. METHODS: In a multicentric study, 7-14 years old children (145 ADHD [20F, mean = 10.4 ± 2.0], 97 TD [51F, mean = 10.4 ± 2.0]) completed two experimental tasks: a modified Flanker task and a cued go-noGo task. Both included a List-Wide Proportion Congruency (LWPC) manipulation to create different contextual predictability (mostly congruent/valid vs. half congruent/valid blocks). Reaction times (RTs) and accuracy were analyzed across blocks, and we also examined associations between task adaptation and neuropsychological (NPS) as well as questionnaire-based measures of CC, including inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and behavioral difficulties. RESULTS: Children with ADHD showed similar LWPC effects to TD peers in the Flanker task, suggesting preserved learning-based CC in low-demand contexts. In the cued go-noGo task, which involved greater attentional and inhibitory demands, children with ADHD displayed less efficient modulation of RTs and reduced speed-accuracy trade-off adaptation compared to TD peers. A composite NPS score predicted task adaptation. No associations were found with parental questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: Learning-based CC appears preserved in children with ADHD in simple contexts but is hindered under complex, multi-demand conditions. Neuropsychological performance may be a key mechanism underlying these group differences. These findings emphasize the need for ecologically valid paradigms and tailored interventions targeting complex CC challenges in ADHD.
Reasons for nondisclosure of suicide ideation or attempts among adolescents from ethnoracially and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds with a recent suicidal episode.
Sullivan SR, Gomez J, Polanco-Roman L … +4 more , Ortin-Peralta A, Rombola C, Stone A, Miranda R
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42085046 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Adolescent emergency department visits for suicide ideation or attempts are increasing, particularly among youth of color. Many adolescents do not disclose their suicidal thoughts to anyone prior to presentat...
BACKGROUND: Adolescent emergency department visits for suicide ideation or attempts are increasing, particularly among youth of color. Many adolescents do not disclose their suicidal thoughts to anyone prior to presentation, and it is unclear why. The present study examined adolescents' reasons for not disclosing their suicide ideation or attempts prior to presenting for clinical care. METHODS: Adolescents, ages 12-19 years, who presented to emergency departments in New York City with recent suicide ideation or a suicide attempt were interviewed about the circumstances surrounding their recent ideation or attempt. Those who reported not disclosing their suicide ideation to others (N = 70; 79% Hispanic/Latine; 77% female) - 23 of whom presented with suicide ideation, 47 with a suicide attempt - were asked about their reasons for not disclosing their ideation in a semi-structured interview. RESULTS: Through thematic analysis, we found eight reasons that adolescents gave for not disclosing their suicide ideation. Four reasons were related to others' reactions, including perceived unavailability of support, negative impacts of their disclosure on others, anticipating others' negative judgments, and fear of punitive consequences (e.g., institutionalized responses). Four reasons were related to internal factors, including their wish to die, desire for privacy and nondisclosure, anticipating their own emotional distress, and believing their suicide ideation did not warrant disclosure. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of addressing both interpersonal and intrapersonal barriers to suicide-related disclosure among adolescents. Enhancing provider communication strategies and developing culturally responsive screening tools and interventions may help identify at-risk adolescents who might otherwise remain undetected.
Development and validation of a machine learning-based screening tool for early detection of adolescent suicide risk.
Li W, Cheng Y, Zhang Z … +6 more , Yang Y, Jin Y, Cui Z, Wang J, Duan Y, Chen R
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 May · PMID 42076808 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Adolescent suicide remains a significant public health concern, yet existing suicide screening instruments primarily focus on already manifested suicidal phenomena, underscoring the need for reliable and prac...
BACKGROUND: Adolescent suicide remains a significant public health concern, yet existing suicide screening instruments primarily focus on already manifested suicidal phenomena, underscoring the need for reliable and practical tools to enable early identification and intervention. METHODS: Based on a large-scale school-based cohort study conducted in Southern China in 2022, this study aimed to develop and preliminarily validate two machine learning-based tools (a 51-item full version and an 11-item abbreviated version) designed to help identify adolescents at risk of developing suicide risk. The dataset was divided into two samples for tool development and longitudinal interview validation. During the tool development phase, LASSO regression was employed to select items with optimal contributions for recent suicide attempts from a multidimensional set of risk factors, followed by model training with multiple machine learning algorithms. The developed models were subsequently evaluated for their ability to predict suicide risk as assessed by the follow-up interview in the longitudinal validation phase. RESULTS: Both versions of the screening tool demonstrated adequate discriminative ability, with the CatBoost algorithm outperforming others (AUROC ≥ 0.87). The abbreviated tool showed a slight trade-off between model precision and practicality, with a 0.02 reduction in AUROC, while still maintaining appropriate discrimination. Longitudinal validation using follow-up interview outcomes supported the predictive validity of both tools. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the utility of machine learning-based suicide risk screening tools among adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence supporting the machine learning-based screening tools for early suicide risk detection in adolescents that integrates multidimensional vulnerabilities. The tools show promise in facilitating early identification and targeted interventions in school settings, addressing a critical need in adolescent mental health care. Nonetheless, further research is warranted to confirm their efficacy and support broader implementation.
Decoding and vocabulary improvements mediate sustained gains in reading comprehension: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial of a multicomponent reading intervention.
Downing C, Clark C, Evans G … +4 more , Cartin R, Smith J, Hulme C, Jones M
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Apr · PMID 42059107 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Reading comprehension is critical for academic success, yet many children with persistent decoding difficulties struggle to achieve it. This study examined whether a multicomponent literacy intervention is ef...
BACKGROUND: Reading comprehension is critical for academic success, yet many children with persistent decoding difficulties struggle to achieve it. This study examined whether a multicomponent literacy intervention is effective in improving reading comprehension and whether any gains in comprehension are mediated by improvements in word reading and vocabulary knowledge. METHODS: In a randomised controlled trial (RCT), 285 English-speaking children aged 7-9 years with reading difficulties were assigned to a waitlist control group or the Research Informed Literacy with Language (RILL) intervention, a structured, multicomponent programme targeting decoding and language skills. Literacy outcomes were assessed at baseline (t1), postintervention (t2) and at 4-month follow-up (t3). The trial was preregistered; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN18940975. RESULTS: Children receiving RILL showed significantly greater gains in word-level literacy (d = 0.19, p < .001), taught vocabulary (d = 0.30, p = .017) and reading comprehension (d = 0.23, p = .011) immediately postintervention. Effects were sustained at follow-up (word-level literacy d = 0.17; taught vocabulary d = 0.30; comprehension d = 0.25). Mediation analyses, showed a significant indirect effect of the intervention on comprehension at delayed follow-up via word-level literacy at t2 (y-standardised indirect β = .10, 95% CI [0.06, 0.12]), with a negligible direct effect (y-standardised β = .01, 95% CI [-0.20, 0.20]). In an additional exploratory parallel-mediation model, both t2 word-level literacy and taught vocabulary showed unique indirect effects on t3 comprehension (word-level literacy indirect: β = .16, 95% CI 0.10, 0.21, and taught vocabulary indirect β = .11, 95% CI 0.02, 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: Our intervention produced immediate and sustained improvements in word-level literacy, taught vocabulary and reading comprehension in struggling readers. Persisting decoding weaknesses are common in later primary years, and our findings show that improving word reading can produce enduring benefits for comprehension.
Type and developmental timing of childhood adversity predicts psychopathology symptoms in a South African birth cohort.
Eldeeb SY, McKenna BG, Lake MT … +8 more , Hoffman N, Lussier AA, Walton E, Simpkin AJ, Smith ADAC, Zar HJ, Stein DJ, Dunn EC
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Apr · PMID 42056733 · Publisher ↗
BACKGROUND: Childhood adversity is widespread globally and is one of the strongest predictors of later psychopathology. However, the differential effects of type and timing of childhood adversities on childhood psychopat...
BACKGROUND: Childhood adversity is widespread globally and is one of the strongest predictors of later psychopathology. However, the differential effects of type and timing of childhood adversities on childhood psychopathology remain unclear, highlighting the need to explore which life-course hypotheses (sensitive periods, accumulation of exposure, and/or recency of exposure) best explain these associations. Of particular importance, there is a lack of research in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where children experience higher rates of adversity relative to children in high-income countries (HIC). METHODS: Participants included 787 children and their mothers from a South African birth cohort, the Drakenstein Child Health Study. Mothers reported child exposure to adversity from birth to 8 years of age across six adversity categories. We used the two-stage Structured Life-Course Modeling Approach (SLCMA) to examine life-course associations between childhood adversity exposures and internalizing/externalizing symptoms measured using the Child Behavior Checklist at age 8 years. RESULTS: Maternal psychopathology, maternal adverse events, child food insecurity, and child exposure to community/domestic violence had the strongest associations with child psychopathology symptoms, with varying life-course models selected. The accumulation hypothesis best explained associations of maternal adverse events (partial R = 2.3%) and child exposure to community/domestic violence (partial R = 1.6%) with internalizing symptoms. The combined middle childhood sensitive period (age > 5-8) and recency hypotheses model best explained associations between maternal psychopathology and internalizing (partial R = 7.0%) or externalizing (partial R = 5.1%) symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We identified that different types and timing of childhood adversity confer differential risk for childhood psychopathology symptoms in this LMIC sample. Our work has implications for strategically-timed intervention and prevention strategies to improve mental health, which may need to be specifically designed for children in LMIC.
How global is our research on child and adolescent mental health? A worldwide concentration and imbalance - and an opportunity for JCPP to take the lead in disseminating globally diverse research.
Wilson S, Patel K
J Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026 Apr · PMID 42046395 · Publisher ↗
Mental health conditions, including among children and adolescents, are prevalent in the general population worldwide. Yet, much of our child and adolescent mental health research is not globally representative, with the...
Mental health conditions, including among children and adolescents, are prevalent in the general population worldwide. Yet, much of our child and adolescent mental health research is not globally representative, with the vast majority of research conducted in samples in, and by researchers from, the United Kingdom and Western Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In this editorial, we highlight the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry as well-positioned to support and promote research on child and adolescent mental health conducted in globally diverse samples, by researchers from higher-, middle-, and lower-income countries that is representative of and generalizable to children and adolescents throughout the world.
About
- Frequency
- Sun
- Papers found
- 200
- RSS feed
- Subscribe