Keep Your Eye On

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter July 2012 Keep your eye on… …effects of parenting and peers on teen conduct problems The authors of a new study investigating how parenting behaviors and contact with deviant peers impact conduct problems found strong but complex interactions between all three. They collected data from a sample of 226 rural adolescents in grade seven through nine (N=112 boys; N=107 girls; N=7 gender unknown), their parents, and teachers. From seventh to eighth grade, results showed that effective parenting by mothers and fathers buffered the effect of higher levels of peer deviance on conduct problems across the entire [sample. From eighth to ninth grade (i.e., transition into high school), fathers’ effective parenting buffered the effects of deviant peer association on their daughters’ conduct problems, whereas both fathers’ and mothers’ influence was stronger for sons when deviant peer associations were lower. Although varying by parent and adolescent gender or adolescent age, results generally supported the protective effects of parenting on their children’s conduct problems during early to mid-adolescence. [Trudeau L, et al.: J Abnorm Child Psychol 2012 May 31; Epub ahead of print.] …marijuana use and gender predict poorer cognitive functioning in teens A new study has found that marijuana use is linked to poorer cognitive functioning in older adolescents, and that the effects are more pronounced in boys and are dose-dependent. Researchers collected data from 58 older teens and emerging adults: marijuana users (N=23, 56% female) and controls (N=35, 50% female). After controlling for reading ability, gender, subclinical depressive symptoms, body mass index, and alcohol and other drug use, results showed that increased marijuana use was linked to slower psychomotor speed/ sequencing ability (p<0.01), less efficient sustained attention (p<0.05), and increased cognitive inhibition errors (p<0.03). Gender played a significant role, with marijuana-using males showing greater cognitive slowing than females (psychomotor speed/sequencing ability; p<0.003). The results show that marijuana use was associated with poorer psychomotor speed, sustained attention, and cognitive inhibition in a dose-dependent manner in young adults, the authors conclude. “Future studies need to examine the neural substrates under- lying with these cognitive deficits and whether cognitive rehabilitation or exercise interven- tions may serve as a viable treatments of cognitive deficits in emerging adult MJ users,” they write. [Lisdahl KM, Price JS: J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2012; 22:1–11.] …age of first words predicts positive outcomes in children with autism Although acquiring useful language by age 5 has already been identified as a strong predictor of more positive outcomes for those with autism, results of a new study sug- gest that this criteria may need to be moved forward to 24 months. The study examined the relationship between age of language acquisition and later functioning in 119 children with autism. Researchers gathered data on use of the first word at a variety of ages and examined the relationship to cognitive ability and adaptive behaviors at 52 months. Results concurred with earlier studies showing that producing first words predicted a better outcome at every age. However, they also found that producing first words by 24 months was a particularly strong predictor of better outcomes. This finding suggests that the historic criterion for positive prognosis (i.e., “useful language by age 5”) may need to be updated to a more specific criterion with an earlier developmental time point. Future studies need to confirm these results. [Mayo J, et al.: J Autism Dev Disord 2012 Jun 7; Epub ahead of print.] 2 Editor: Gregory K. Fritz, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown Univer- sity; Academic Director, Bradley Hospital; Director of Child and Family Psychiatry, Hasbro Children’s Hospital E-mail: [email protected] Founding Editor: Lewis P. Lipsitt, Ph.D. Published in cooperation with Bradley Hospital. Founded in 1931, Bradley Hospital (www.bradleyhospital.org) was the nation’s first psychiatric hospital operating exclusively for children. Today it remains a premier medical institution devoted to the research and treatment of childhood psychiatric illnesses. Bradley Hospital, located in Providence, RI, is a teaching hospital for the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and ranks in the top third of private hospitals receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health. Its research arm, the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC), brings together leading researchers in such topics as: autism, childhood sleep patterns, infant development, eating dis- orders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and juvenile fire- setting. Bradley Hospital is a member of the Lifespan health system. Editorial Board: Larry Brown, M.D., Director, Research, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, RI Hospital; Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Debra Lobato, Ph.D., Director of Child Psychology, Clinical Associate Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Rowland Barrett, Ph.D., Director of Child and Adolescent Develop- mental Disabilities Program, Bradley Hospital; Associate Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D., Director of Child & Adolescent Outpatient Services, Hasbro Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professor (Research), Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Karyn Horowitz, M.D., Director of Outpatient Services, Bradley Hospi- tal; Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Jeffrey Hunt, M.D., Director of Training, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Associate Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behav- ior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Thomas Roesler, M.D., Co-Director, Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospital Program, Hasbro Children’s Hospital; Associate Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Henry Sachs, M.D., Medical Director, Bradley Hospital; Clinical Asso- ciate Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Ronald Seifer, Ph.D., Director of Research, Bradley Hospital; Profes- sor, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Anthony Spirito, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Psychology Training Consortium, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Dept of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Executive Managing Editor: Karienne Stovell Production Editor: Richard Reicherter Executive Editor: Isabelle Cohen-DeAngelis Publisher: Sue Lewis The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter (CABL) (ISSN 1058-1073, Online ISSN 1556-7575) is published monthly by Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774; e-mail: [email protected]. 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Keep Your Eye On