Principles for Guiding the Selection of Early Childhood Neurodevelopmental Risk and Resilience Measures: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study as an Exemplar.

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Amanda Sheffield Morris, Oklahoma State University; Lauren Wakschlag, Northwestern University; Sheila Krogh-Jespersen, Northwestern University; Nathan Fox, University of Maryland; Beth Planalp, University of Wisconsin; Susan B. Perlman, Washington University in St. Louis; Lauren C. Shuffrey, Columbia University; Beth Smith, University of Southern California; Nicole E. Lorenzo, University of Maryland; Dima Amso, Brown University; Claire Coles, Emory University; Scott P. Johnson, University of California Los Angeles
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-11-09
• Publisher: Springer
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42844-020-00025-3
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Advers Resil Sci
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 21
• Grant/Funding Information: Support for the work described in this manuscript came from a series of NIH R34s awarded to the University’s where each author resides. https://heal.nih.gov/research/infants-and-children/healthy-brain. In addition, support for Beth Planalp was provided by her K01, MH113710. Support for Lauren Shuffrey was supported by a T32, T32MH016434.
• Keywords: Pragmatic assessment; Neurodevelopmental assessment; Early childhood; Infancy; HBCD
• Research Categories: Psychology, Developmental; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

The vast individual differences in the developmental origins of risk and resilience pathways combined with sophisticated capabilities of big data science increasingly point to the imperative of large, neurodevelopmental consortia to capture population heterogeneity and key variations in developmental trajectories. At the same time, such large-scale population-based designs involving multiple independent sites also must weigh competing demands. For example, the need for efficient, scalable assessment strategies must be balanced with the need for nuanced, developmentally sensitive phenotyping optimized for linkage to neural mechanisms and specification of common and distinct exposure pathways. Standardized epidemiologic batteries designed for this purpose such as PhenX (consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox provide excellent "off the shelf" assessment tools that are well-validated and enable cross-study comparability. However, these standardized toolkits can also constrain ability to leverage advances in neurodevelopmental measurement over time, at times disproportionately advantaging established measures. In addition, individual consortia often expend exhaustive effort "reinventing the wheel," which is inefficient and fails to fully maximize potential synergies with other like initiatives. To address these issues, this paper lays forth an early childhood neurodevelopmental assessment strategy, guided by a set of principles synthesizing developmental and pragmatic considerations generated by the Neurodevelopmental Workgroup of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Planning Consortium. These principles emphasize characterization of both risk- and resilience-promoting processes. Specific measurement recommendations to HBCD are provided to illustrate application. However, principles are intended as a guiding framework to transcend any particular initiative as a broad neurodevelopmentally informed, early childhood assessment strategy for large-scale consortia science.