Objective Youth with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD: Conduct Disorder/Oppositional Defiant Disorder) are at increased risk for maladaptive reactive aggression. Theory suggests this is due to increased sensitivity of basic threat circuitry implicated in retaliation (amygdala/periaqueductal gray) in youth with DBD and low levels of Callous-Unemotional Traits and dysfunctional regulatory activity within ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in youth with DBD irrespective of callous-unemotional traits. Methods Fifty-six youths participated (23 female) aged 10–18 (26 healthy and 30 with DBD [15 with high and 15 with low callous-unemotional traits]) who completed an Ultimatum Game during functional MRI. Results Youth with DBD and low callous-unemotional traits showed greater increases in activation of basic threat circuitry when punishing others relative to comparison groups and dysfunctional down regulation of vmPFC during retaliation. All youth with DBD showed reduced amygdala-vmPFC connectivity during high provocation relative to healthy youth. VmPFC responsiveness and vmPFC-amygdala connectivity were related to patients’ retaliatory propensity (behavioral responses during task) and parent reported reactive aggression. Conclusions These data suggest differences in the underlying neurobiology of maladaptive reactive aggression in youth with DBD and low relative to high levels of callous-unemotional traits. Youth with DBD and low callous-unemotional traits alone show significantly greater threat responses during retaliation relative to comparison individuals. Moreover, these data suggest that vmPFC-amygdala connectivity is critical for regulating retaliation/reactive aggression and when dysfunctional, contributes to reactive aggression, independent of level of callous-unemotional traits.
Community violence exposure and harsh parenting have been linked to maladaptive outcomes, possibly via their effects on social cognition. The Social Information Processing (SIP) model has been used to study distinct socio-cognitive processes, demonstrating links between community violence exposure, harsh parenting, and maladaptive SIP. Though much of this research assumes these associations are causal, genetic confounds have made this assumption difficult to rigorously test. Comparisons of discordant monozygotic (MZ) twins provide one empirical test of possible causality, as differences between MZ twins must be environmental in origin. The present study examined effects of parenting and community violence exposure on SIP -specifically aggressive and avoidant social goals -in a sample of 426 MZ twin dyads (N=852 twins, 48% female). Phenotypically, we found that lower positive parenting and greater harsh parenting were associated with greater endorsement of dominance and revenge goals. We also found that indirect and direct community violence exposure was associated with greater endorsement of avoidance goals. Using an MZ difference design, we found that the relationships between lower levels of positive parenting and endorsement of dominance and revenge goals were due, in part, to environmental processes. Moreover, the relationships between the impact of indirect and direct community violence exposure and avoidance goals, as well as between the impact of indirect community violence exposure and revenge goals, appeared to be due to non-shared environmental processes. Our results establish social and contextual experiences as important environmental influences on children's social goals, which may increase risk for later psychopathology.
The Research Domain Criteria ( RDoC ) project is a framework for studying domains of biological and behavioral function that cut across traditional psychiatric diagnostic boundaries with the long‐term objective of creating a new nosology based on specific biobehavioral measures. The initial aim is to provide a framework to drive clinical research. One goal of RDoC is to facilitate the development of biomarkers that could eventually be used for practical clinical diagnostic purposes and allow the development of new treatments targeting specific mechanisms of mental illness. In this entry, RDoC , its development, and the ways that it may evolve are described.
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