Available online 15 February 2023, 111614

Author links open overlay panel, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , …ABSTRACT

Few studies have examined the association between conduct problems and cerebral cortical development. Herein, we characterize the association between age-related brain change and conduct problems in a large longitudinal, community-based sample of adolescents. 1,039 participants from the IMAGEN study possessed psychopathology and surface-based morphometric data at study baseline (M = 14.42 years, SD = 0.40; 559 females) and 5-year follow-up. Self-reports of conduct problems were obtained using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Vertex-level linear mixed effects models were implemented using the Matlab toolbox, SurfStat. To investigate the extent to which cortical thickness maturation was qualified by dimensional measures of conduct problems, we tested for an interaction between age and SDQ Conduct Problems (CP) score. There was no main effect of CP score on cortical thickness; however, a significant “Age by CP” interaction was revealed in bilateral insulae, left inferior frontal gyrus, left rostral anterior cingulate, left posterior cingulate, and bilateral inferior parietal cortices. Across regions, follow-up analysis revealed higher levels of CP were associated with accelerated age-related thinning. Findings were not meaningfully altered when controlling for alcohol use, co-occurring psychopathology, and socioeconomic status. Results may help to further elucidate neurodevelopmental patterns linking adolescent conduct problems with adverse adult outcomes.

Section snippetsINTRODUCTION

Conduct problems include angry and aggressive behavior (e.g., losing one's temper, initiating physical fights, threatening harm to others), deceitfulness, theft, and other serious violations of societal rules and norms (American Psychiatric Association. 2013). Disorders typified by conduct problems, such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD), are among the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric conditions in youths and young adults (American Psychiatric Association.

Sample

Neuroimaging and behavioral data were obtained from the IMAGEN study conducted across 8 European sites in France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany, which includes 2,223 adolescents recruited from schools at age 14 years (age range = 12.9–15.7 years). Recruitment into the IMAGEN study targeted adolescents for whom all four grandparents were the same nationality as the participant (i.e., participants were required to have four Western European grandparents); as such, the sample is

Demographic Measures

Demographic information for participants is summarized in Table 1. The age distribution of subjects with complete baseline and follow-up data is depicted in Figure S1. Histograms of baseline and follow-up SDQ Conduct Problems scores are shown in Figure S2.

Cortical Thickness

Consistent with prior reports of adolescent cortical thickness development, there was a significant main effect of age on cortical thickness, with most areas of the cortex evidencing age-related thinning (Ducharme et al., 2016; Ducharme et

DISCUSSION

To our knowledge, the present study represents the largest longitudinal neuroimaging study to date on adolescent conduct problems. Specifically, we found an association between dimensional assessments of conduct problems and cerebral cortical development in a community-based sample of adolescents. In light of the extant literature (Oostermeijer et al., 2016), our findings suggest that normative and clinically significant levels of conduct problems are related to a common set of cortical

Funding and Disclosures

This work received support from the following sources: the European Union-funded FP6 Integrated Project IMAGEN (Reinforcement-related behaviour in normal brain function and psychopathology) (LSHM-CT- 2007-037286), the Horizon 2020 funded ERC Advanced Grant ‘STRATIFY’ (Brain network based stratification of reinforcement-related disorders) (695313), ERANID (Understanding the Interplay between Cultural, Biological and Subjective Factors in Drug Use Pathways) (PR-ST-0416-10004), BRIDGET (JPND:

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