Fronto-Limbic Connectivity as a Predictor of Improvement in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents Following Psychotherapy.

Objectives: Key neurobiological factors contribute to vulnerability to nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents and how they respond to treatment targeted to reduce such behaviors. This study aims to examine differences in intrinsic functional connectivity between adolescents with NSSI and healthy controls (HCs) and to identify baseline connectivity markers that predict improvements in NSSI after psychotherapy. Methods: Adolescents aged 12-17 (n = 24) with repetitive NSSI along with demographically similar HCs (n = 16) underwent resting-state functional MRI scanning after which patients received up to 4 months of psychological treatment. A seed-based approach was used to examine baseline between-group differences in intrinsic functional connectivity of the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Further analyses examined the associations between intrinsic functional connectivity at baseline and improvement in NSSI after psychological treatment. Results: Compared with HCs, adolescents with NSSI showed significantly reduced connectivity between the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex, subcallosal cortex, and paracingulate gyrus, as well as between the amygdala and a cluster encompassing the right planum temporale and right insula. Adolescents with NSSI, compared with HCs, also showed reduced connectivity between the mPFC and two clusters: one located in the precentral and postcentral gyri and another in the left insula. After treatment, 50% of patients reported fewer NSSI episodes compared to baseline, which was considered as improvement. Stronger negative amygdala-prefrontal connectivity was associated with greater posttreatment improvement in NSSI. Conclusions: Adolescents with NSSI may have aberrant amygdala and mPFC connectivity compared with HCs. Furthermore, stronger baseline negative amygdala-prefrontal connectivity may predict greater improvement in NSSI after psychological intervention. Given that no prior study has used resting-state functional connectivity to predict response to psychological treatment in adolescents with NSSI, replication of these findings is needed.

Limbic Intrinsic Connectivity in Depressed and High-Risk Youth.

OBJECTIVE: Depression runs in families and has been associated with dysfunctional limbic connectivity. Whether aberrant limbic connectivity is a risk factor for or a consequence of depression is unclear. To examine this question, we compared resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in youth with depressive disorders (DEP), healthy offspring of parents with depression (DEP-risk), and healthy comparison (HC) youth. METHOD: Magnetic resonance imaging at rest was acquired from 119 youth, aged 8 to 17 years (DEP, n = 41, DEP-risk, n = 39, and HC, n = 39) and analyzed using seed-based RSFC in bilateral amygdala and nucleus accumbens (NAcc), covarying for age, IQ, and sex. RESULTS: We found distinct risk- and disorder-specific patterns of RSFC across groups. DEP-risk and DEP youth shared reduced negative amygdala-right frontal cortex RSFC and reduced positive amygdala-lingual gyrus RSFC compared to HC youth (p < .001). DEP-risk youth had weaker negative amygdala-precuneus RSFC compared to DEP and HC youth (p < .001), suggesting a resilience marker for depression. In contrast, DEP youth had increased positive NAcc-left frontal cortex RSFC and reduced positive NAcc-insula RSFC compared to DEP-risk and HC youth (p < .001), suggestive of disorder-specific features of depression. Greater depression severity was correlated with disorder-specific amygdala and NAcc RSFC (p < .05). CONCLUSION: RSFC in the amygdala and NAcc may represent selective disorder- and risk-specific markers in youth with, and at familial risk for, depression. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these patterns predict long-term clinical outcomes.

Coverage of child maltreatment in abnormal psychology textbooks: Reviewing the adequacy of the content.

Abnormal psychology courses introduce undergraduate students to the range, causes, and treatments of psychological disorders. These courses present important opportunities to instruct students about disorders and treatments associated with childhood maltreatment (CM) as well as its prevalence. Little research has examined the adequacy with which abnormal psychology textbooks present information about CM. The present study reviewed the CM content of 10 abnormal psychology textbooks. The content was assessed in terms of the number of times CM was mentioned, the number of psychological disorders linked to CM, and the number of CM-related research citations. In addition, the authors conducted a content analysis to examine the significance, depth of detail, and organizational structure of the information provided within the sections of text addressing CM. There were significant differences in scores and the accuracy of coverage of CM across textbooks. Most of the textbooks lack key information on CM. The information presented in many textbooks is not consistent with current research and is overly focused on controversies. These findings are concerning because research has linked many psychological disorders and problematic outcomes to CM, but this information is not adequately conveyed to students via abnormal psychology textbooks. The authors make recommendations for improving the coverage of CM in abnormal psychology textbooks.