Browsing by Author "Klein, Rachel G."

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    Altered intrinsic functional connectivity of the cingulate cortex in children with severe temper outbursts
    (Cambridge University Press, 2018-05) Roy, Amy Krain; Bennett, Randi; Posner, Jonathan; Hulvershorn, Leslie; Castellanos, F. Xavier; Klein, Rachel G.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Severe temper outbursts (STO) in children are associated with impaired school and family functioning and may contribute to negative outcomes. These outbursts can be conceptualized as excessive frustration responses reflecting reduced emotion regulation capacity. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in negative affect as well as emotional control, and exhibits disrupted function in children with elevated irritability and outbursts. This study examined the intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of a region of the ACC, the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), in 5- to 9-year-old children with STO (n = 20), comparing them to children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without outbursts (ADHD; n = 18). Additional analyses compared results to a sample of healthy children (HC; n = 18) and examined specific associations with behavioral and emotional dysregulation. Compared to the ADHD group, STO children exhibited reduced iFC between the aMCC and surrounding regions of the ACC, and increased iFC between the aMCC and precuneus. These differences were also seen between the STO and HC groups; ADHD and HC groups did not differ. Specificity analyses found associations between aMCC-ACC connectivity and hyperactivity, and between aMCC-precuneus iFC and emotion dysregulation. Disruption in aMCC networks may underlie the behavioral and emotional dysregulation characteristic of children with STO.
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    Clinical features of young children referred for impairing temper outbursts
    (Mary Ann Liebert, 2013-11) Roy, Amy K.; Klein, Rachel G.; Angelosante, Aleta; Bar-Haim, Yair; Leibenluft, Ellen; Hulvershorn, Leslie; Dixon, Erica; Dodds, Alice; Spindel, Carrie; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    OBJECTIVE: In light of the current controversy about whether severe temper outbursts are diagnostic of mania in young children, we conducted a study to characterize such children, focusing on mania and other mood disorders, emotion regulation, and parental psychiatric history. METHODS: Study participants included 51 5-9-year-old children with frequent, impairing outbursts (probands) and 24 non-referred controls without outbursts. Parents completed a lifetime clinical interview about their child, and rated their child's current mood and behavior. Teachers completed a behavior rating scale. To assess emotion regulation, children were administered the Balloons Game, which assesses emotion expressivity in response to frustration, under demands of high and low regulation. Parental lifetime diagnoses were ascertained in blind clinical interviews. RESULTS: No child had bipolar disorder, bipolar disorder not otherwise specified (NOS), or major depression (MDD). The most prevalent disorder was oppositional defiant disorder (88.2%), followed by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (74.5%), anxiety disorders (49.0%), and non-MDD depressive disorders (33.3%). Eleven probands (21.6%) met criteria for severe mood dysregulation. During the Balloons Game, when there were no demands for self-regulation, children with severe outbursts showed reduced positive expressivity, and also showed significant deficits in controlling negative facial expressions when asked to do so. Anxiety disorders were the only diagnoses significantly elevated in probands' mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, young children with severe temper outbursts do not present with bipolar disorder. Rather, disruptive behavior disorders with anxiety and depressive mood are common. In children with severe outbursts, deficits in regulating emotional facial expressions may reflect deficits controlling negative affect. This work represents a first step towards elucidating mechanisms underlying severe outbursts in young children.