The Role of Social and Neural Connectedness in Predicting Neurodevelopmental Functioning in Adolescence - PROJECT SUMMARY
Few effective interventions exist for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), which are associated with
significant impairment, high rates of disability, and substantial public health costs. The prevalence of NDDs has
increased considerably over the past two decades, and children with NDDs make up the largest proportion of
youth that seek mental health treatment. Thus, novel approaches for understanding NDDs and identifying
potential treatment targets for these disorders are needed. NDDs often have comorbid presentations and
shared symptomatology (e.g., impaired social functioning), which suggests that using a transdiagnostic
approach to study NDDs may be informative. This approach could reveal modifiable factors and underlying
neurobiological mechanisms that could be targeted through intervention to reduce neurodevelopmental
symptomatology. Social connectedness (i.e., extracurricular involvement, family dynamics, and relationships
with peers and parents) may be a salient protective factor for youth with neurodevelopmental symptomatology.
An important neural correlate for social functioning appears to be functional connectivity within the salience
network (SN), which is involved in detection of relevant stimuli (e.g., changes in other's emotional
expressions).Thus, social connectedness and related connectivity within the SN may be predictive of
neurodevelopmental outcomes. The potential protective role of these factors may be particularly salient during
adolescence, which is a vulnerable period for many of the negative outcomes associated with NDDs. The
proposed longitudinal project will capitalize on the multi-level framework of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive
Development (ABCD) study by using psychosocial, functional neuroimaging, and cognitive data from two
timepoints (i.e., baseline and one-year follow-up) to assess neurodevelopmental functioning in a sample of
>11,500 youth in early adolescence. The project will be conducted at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research,
which is an ABCD study site. The aims of the proposed project are threefold: to determine whether 1) social
connectedness is associated with SN functional connectivity cross-sectionally; 2) social connectedness
predicts future neurodevelopmental function; and 3) SN functional connectivity predicts future
neurodevelopmental function. These aims will be assessed using linear mixed effects models with relevant
covariates included (e.g., baseline neurodevelopmental function, youth ethnicity, youth gender, and family
income). The proposed study has an exploratory aim of utilizing a data-driven, machine learning approach to
identify additional modifiable factors (e.g., sleep, physical activity, screen time) that predict future
neurodevelopmental function. The project is novel in that it takes a transdiagnostic approach to studying
NDDs, it is longitudinal, and it has the potential for replication and extension as future data are released.
Results from the project could have meaningful clinical relevance with the potential for identifying treatment
targets for future interventions aiming to improve neurodevelopmental symptomatology in early adolescence.
