Sylvie Mrug

BackgroundSleep disturbances, common in Down syndrome (DS), adversely affect daily functioning and quality of life across the lifespan. However, little is known about behavioral sleep problems in adolescents and young adults with DS, including age and sex differences, as well as agreement between caregiver- and self-reports of sleep. MethodsStudy 1 included 24 individuals with DS (37% female, Mage=18.33 years, SD=4.38) and their caregivers, who completed six dichotomous questions assessing bedtime resistance, prolonged sleep onset latency, inappropriate sleep location, nighttime awakenings, early morning awakenings, and daytime sleepiness. After estimating prevalence, binomial logistic regressions tested age and sex differences in each problem. Study 2 included 12 caregiver-participant dyads (25% female, Mage=29.17 years, SD=8.99) who completed parallel self- and caregiver-report forms of the Children's Report of Sleep Patterns (CRSP). Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, ICCs and Spearman rank-order correlations examined reporter differences, absolute agreement and associations.ResultsIn Study 1, daytime sleepiness was most prevalent (92%), followed by bedtime resistance (79%), nighttime awakenings (75%), prolonged sleep onset latency (58%), early morning awakenings (54%), and inappropriate sleep location (46%). Older age was associated with increased odds of prolonged sleep onset latency; no other age or sex-specific associations were significant. In Study 2, caregiver and self-reports differed significantly for sleep location, bedtime fears, restless legs, insomnia, and enuresis. Associations and absolute agreement were generally limited, although Weekend Bedtime showed the strongest correspondence between reporters.ConclusionsSleep problems are highly prevalent in adolescents and young adults with DS, with greater sleep onset difficulties at older ages. Caregiver- and self-reports provide complementary rather than interchangeable information, supporting the need for multi-informant sleep assessment.

Purpose: The current study aimed to examine item-level sex differences in the diagnostic measures of ASD traits for children and adolescents referred for an ASD evaluation. By including all those referred for an ASD evaluation, the study aimed to include females who may be mis- or under-diagnosed by current ASD diagnostic procedures. Methods: The sample included 458 children and adolescents who were referred for an ASD evaluation at a tertiary care clinic. In this sample, 118 individuals (25.8%) were female, 282 (61.6%) were diagnosed with ASD, and the average age was 6.67 years (SD = 3.65). Multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) models were used to examine differential item functioning on the ADOS-2 and ADI-R. Results: Results indicated differential item functioning on a small proportion of ADI-R items (e.g., Circumscribed Interests, Inappropriate Facial Expressions, Imaginative Play, Spontaneous Imitation of Actions) across content areas, whereas there were no item-level sex differences identified on the ADOS-2. Conclusions: These findings suggest nuanced sex differences in ASD trait presentation among children and adolescents presenting with concern for ASD, as measured by standard diagnostic assessment tools. Future research should continue to explore detailed patterns of sex differences in trait measurement using precise sampling and incorporating additional diagnostic instruments, as a well-informed understanding of sex differences in ASD trait presentation and measurement is critical for addressing the existing sex bias in ASD research and clinical settings. This understanding will help ensure appropriate ASD characterization, identification, and diagnosis.

Although fathers play a critical role in their children’s outcomes, the role of fathers in the developmental pathways of delinquency remains understudied. Guided by a developmental cascade framework, this study examined prospective, bidirectional associations among child externalizing behaviors, father engagement, and father aggravation in parenting across childhood in predicting adolescent delinquency. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,296; 47% female; 47% Black Non-Hispanic; 22% White Non-Hispanic; 27% Hispanic), a cross-lagged panel model was estimated to test the reciprocal associations and indirect effects between father characteristics and early child externalizing behavior problems across four waves of assessment (average child age three, five, nine, and 15 years old). Results indicated limited evidence of bidirectional associations among father engagement, father aggravation, and child externalizing behaviors. Early child externalizing behavior was the most consistent predictor of adolescent delinquency. One small, unexpected association emerged in which higher father aggravation at age 3 predicted greater father engagement at age 5. No indirect effects were found. These findings underscore early externalizing behavior as a key developmental precursor of delinquency and suggest that fathers’ early engagement and aggravation in parenting play a limited role in the development of adolescent delinquency when considered within broader family processes.

Youth from historically underserved backgrounds, including those from low-income households or minority groups, are more likely to experience increased stress and anxiety and lower emotional well-being. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are a potentially sustainable, evidence-based method of providing mental health care within the school setting. This paper aimed to offer a foundational understanding of whether an MBI administered in school may improve anxiety and emotional well-being in underserved youth by decreasing stress. Although the intervention had no effect on students’ outcomes, findings contribute to the limited but growing literature evaluating MBIs in diverse educational contexts. Results indicated that mid-intervention stress significantly predicted post-intervention anxiety and emotional well-being. These findings suggest reducing stress may be a key target for improving mental health outcomes among students in underserved communities and highlight the need for further research to enhance the effectiveness and cultural responsiveness of school-based MBIs.

The relationships between neighborhood characteristics, like disadvantage and collective efficacy, and criminal behavior are complex, with few studies examining their longitudinal interplay over the course of adolescence to adulthood. The present study investigated direct, indirect, and interactive effects of neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy in adolescence on adult violent and non-violent criminal behaviors (age 16–29), using data from three waves of the Healthy Passages study ( N = 663). We tested indirect pathways through adolescent delinquency, exposure to neighborhood violence, and perceived neighborhood disorder. Neither neighborhood disadvantage nor collective efficacy directly predicted adult violent or non-violent criminal behaviors. Results indicated that neighborhood disadvantage was associated with higher adolescent exposure to neighborhood violence and greater perceptions of neighborhood disorder, but not with adolescent delinquency. However, an indirect effect emerged, with neighborhood disadvantage related to a lower likelihood of non-violent criminal behavior via greater perceived neighborhood disorder. Adolescent delinquency robustly predicted both violent and non-violent criminal behaviors in adulthood. No significant interactive effects between neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy were observed. Findings underscore the complexity of neighborhood influences on crime development and suggest that adolescents’ perceptions of their environments may serve as one potential mechanism linking structural disadvantage to certain long-term behavioral outcomes.

Violence exposure has deleterious effects on emotional well-being, including higher rates of future mental illness. Adolescence is an important period of neural development within brain regions (e.g., prefrontal cortex) that support emotional processes. The relationship between brain activity and emotion may vary with violence exposure. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between violence exposure, stress-elicited brain activity, and emotion in young people. Violence exposure was measured four times from 11 to 19 years of age. Participants (n = 301) returned 1 year later (age = 20) to complete mental health (i.e., anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress) questionnaires and the Montreal Imaging Stress Task during behavioral (e.g., skin conductance response and cortisol) and neuroimaging data collection. Data were collected from 2004 to 2018. Violence exposure was positively associated with mental health symptoms. Further, violence exposure moderated the relationship between stress-elicited dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity and depression, cortisol, and skin conductance response. These findings suggest that violence exposure moderates the relationship between stress-elicited brain function and emotion-related behavior in young people. These findings provide novel insight into neural processes that may underlie the relationship between prior violence exposure and emotional function, which may have important implications for mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Black individuals are disproportionately exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in comparison to White individuals, including greater violence exposure, neighborhood disadvantage, and poverty. Neural circuitry that includes the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex (ventromedial, dorsomedial, and dorsolateral), and inferior parietal lobule support stress‐related emotional processes. ACEs may modify emotion‐related activity within these brain regions, which, in turn, may modulate emotional behavior. However, the extent to which ACEs underlie race‐related differences in emotional function remains to be determined. Therefore, this study investigated whether stress‐elicited brain activity varies with race‐related differences in ACEs. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 301 Black and White participants were acquired during the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. Violence exposure, neighborhood disadvantage, and family income were measured during adolescence to assess ACEs, whereas stress‐elicited brain function was assessed in emerging adulthood. Behavioral (stress ratings) and psychophysiological data (skin conductance and heart rate) were collected alongside fMRI. Race‐related differences were observed in behavioral (stress ratings), psychophysiological (heart rate), and neural (fMRI) responses to stress. Further, a significant relationship was observed between stress reactivity and ACEs. Importantly, adjusting for ACEs reduced race‐related differences in stress reactivity (stress ratings and brain function), suggesting that the neurobehavioral response to stress may be shaped, in part, by ACEs. These findings provide new insight into the socioenvironmental factors that influence emotional function.

Background: While food insecurity is often examined in the context of hunger and physical health, it also significantly affects psychological wellbeing. Given the link between stress and food insecurity, youth in food‐insecure households are at a higher risk of experiencing internalizing and externalizing problems. However, less is known about protective factors that may protect youth from the detrimental effects of food insecurity on behavior. Methods: The sample includes 288 adolescents that completed assessments of food insecurity, school connectedness, and emotional and behavioral problems. Teachers completed surveys on student attention problems. Results: After controlling for sociodemographics, multiple regressions revealed that greater food insecurity was linked with higher levels of anxiety/depression, aggression, and attention problems. School connectedness moderated the effect of food insecurity on rule‐breaking behaviors, such that food insecurity was only related to more rule‐breaking behaviors in youth reporting low school connectedness. Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity: Interventions aimed at improving school connectedness may lessen behavioral problems, especially among students experiencing food insecurity, reducing barriers to intermediate education. Conclusions: These results suggest that food insecurity is associated with multiple psychosocial problems that may be alleviated by a greater sense of belonging at school.

Background: Childhood and adolescent obesity, which affects nearly 1 in 5 youth in the US, presents a pressing public health concern. Obesity is linked to chronic low‐grade inflammation, which exacerbates comorbidities. Noninvasive tools are needed to monitor obesity‐related inflammation and assess weight‐management interventions in children and adolescents. Objective: This study investigated the associations between Body Mass Index z‐score (BMIz) and salivary biomarkers: C‐reactive protein (CRP), cytokines interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α. Methods: A sample of 280 adolescents (Mage = 12.1 years, SD = 0.44) was followed for 2 years (3 time points) from 2019 to 2021. An autoregressive cross‐lagged path model was used to examine the prospective relationships between BMIz and salivary biomarkers. Results: Findings indicated a bidirectional relationship between BMIz and salivary CRP levels, suggesting a feed‐forward cycle in which excessive weight gain and inflammation mutually amplify each other. Salivary cytokines were not associated with BMIz. Conclusions: This study underscores the utility of salivary CRP as a noninvasive biomarker for obesity‐related inflammation. Monitoring salivary CRP levels could aid in targeting interventions to prevent obesity‐related complications early in life.

Background/Objectives: Students with specific learning disorders (SLDs) are at increased risk for emotional and academic difficulties. While teacher characteristics can influence student outcomes, few studies have examined the role of teacher personality in supporting students with SLDs. This study investigated whether teacher personality traits predicted student emotional well-being and academic achievement in a school-based intervention context. Methods: Participants were 64 students with SLDs (Mage = 13.28) nested within 21 teachers. Students completed measures of emotional well-being at baseline and post-intervention, and grade point average (GPA) was obtained from school records at the end of the school year. Teachers completed the Big Five Inventory mid-intervention. Two-level multilevel models were conducted in Mplus using maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors (MLR). The models controlled for student and teacher demographics, baseline emotional well-being, and the intervention group. Missing data were addressed using full information maximum likelihood (FIML). Results: Teacher female sex, higher neuroticism, and lower teaching experience were associated with higher student emotional well-being post-intervention. Follow-up analyses confirmed that teacher sex, neuroticism, and conscientiousness each explained substantial between-teacher variance. In the GPA model, student sex and teacher openness were significant predictors, with female students and students taught by more open teachers earning higher GPAs. Conclusions: Teacher personality traits, specifically neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness, were associated with emotional and academic outcomes among students with SLDs. The findings highlight the importance of considering teacher characteristics in designing school-based interventions to support the development of learners with SLDs or other neurodevelopmental disorders.