Early‐life stress confers profound and lasting risk for developing cognitive, social, emotional, and physical health problems. The effects of stress on the developing brain contribute to this risk, with frontolimbic circuitry particularly susceptible to early experiences, possibly due to its innervation with glucocorticoid receptors and the timing of frontolimbic circuit maturation. To date, the majority of studies on stress and frontolimbic circuitry have employed a categorical approach, comparing stress‐exposed versus non‐stress‐exposed youth. However, there is vast heterogeneity in the nature of stress exposure and in outcomes. Recent forays into understanding the psychobiological effects of stress have employed a dimensional approach focused on experiential, environmental, and temporal factors that influence the association between stress and subsequent vulnerability. This review highlights empirical findings that inform a dimensional approach to understanding the effects of stress on frontolimbic circuitry. We identify the timing, type, severity, controllability, and predictability of stress, and the degree to which a caregiver is involved, as specific features of stress that may play a substantial role in differential outcomes. We propose a framework for the effects of these features of stress on frontolimbic development that may partially determine how heterogeneity in stress exposure influences this circuitry and, ultimately, mental health.
Socially assistive robots (SARs) represent a promising resource for efforts to improve children’s mental health and alleviate suffering on a large scale. However, the effects of SARs on clinically relevant domains are not yet well established. Our goal was therefore to provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of the capacity for SARs to alleviate clinically relevant symptoms in children. Such a demonstration might then serve as the foundation for efforts to establish the role of SARs in mental health care. We examined the influence of interactions with an SAR on mood, anxiety, and arousal in a sample of 87 children between the ages of 6 and 9, following exposure to a stressful task. Participants completed the Trier Social Stress Test for Children before interacting with the SAR, interacting with the SAR turned off, or waiting quietly. Participants completed baseline and posttest measures of state anxiety and mood, and salivary cortisol was collected at 5 time points. Children who interacted with the robot showed greater increases in positive mood than children in either of the two control conditions, but did not differ from control participants in terms of negative mood, anxiety, or arousal. SARs may convey benefits for children’s mental health by augmenting positive mood. Future research should examine the processes through which SARs promote positive emotions and the circumstances under which that effect is most potent. Although preliminary, these findings suggest that SARs may provide a highly efficient way to alleviate clinical symptoms in children by increasing positive mood.
Socially assistive robots (SARs) present a promising intervention for addressing the increasing prevalence of childhood stress. This innovative technology has become increasingly common in practical implementation. However, empirical support has not kept pace with the robots' growing popularity. The present study set out to provide an empirical test of the stress-buffering capability of this technology. We examined the effects of the presence of an SAR on self-reported measures of stress in a community sample of 70 children (40 girls, 30 boys) between the ages of 7 and 10 years old. Child participants were randomly assigned to either a robot-present or a robot-absent condition during the Trier Social Stress Test for Children. Contrary to our predictions, we did not detect a stress-buffering effect of the presence of the robot. Instead, the primary analysis showed that the robot's presence led to a larger decrease in positive affect following the task. However, further analyses found no significant difference in positive affect when accounting for baseline group differences. Exploratory analyses of the nature of children's interactions with the SAR during the stressful task found that higher levels of parentreported social anxiety were associated with greater prosocial behaviors towards the SAR, thus signifying a potential target for future interventions. Further work on SARs is needed to determine the optimal timing and robotic specifications that would maximize the potential of this developing technology to improve children's mental health care.
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric condition among youth, with symptoms commonly emerging prior to or during adolescence. Delineating neurodevelopmental trajectories associated with anxiety disorders is important for understanding the pathophysiology of pediatric anxiety and for early risk identification. While a growing literature has yielded valuable insights into the nature of brain structure and function in pediatric anxiety, progress has been limited by inconsistent findings and challenges common to neuroimaging research. In this review, we first discuss these challenges and the promise of ‘big data’ to map neurodevelopmental trajectories in pediatric anxiety. Next, we review evidence of age-related differences in neural structure and function among anxious youth, with a focus on anxiety-relevant processes such as threat and safety learning. We then highlight large-scale cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that assess anxiety and are well positioned to inform our understanding of neurodevelopment in pediatric anxiety. Finally, we detail relevant challenges of ‘big data’ and propose future directions through which large publicly available datasets can advance knowledge of deviations from normative brain development in anxiety. Leveraging ‘big data’ will be essential for continued progress in understanding the neurobiology of pediatric anxiety, with implications for identifying markers of risk and novel treatment targets.
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