B – 115 Cognitive-Emotional Variability Among Pediatric Healthy Controls: Not-so-Typical!

Abstract Objective The variability of brain function and behavior among pediatric healthy controls is as prominent as among those with clinical disorders, yet the fact is poorly recognized. We hypothesize that one of the major mechanisms underlying this variability among typically developing children (TDC) is an interaction between subclinical internalizing traits (INT)–such as anxiety and depressive moods with cognitive performance. An emerging question: Will the increased INT traits, still of a nonclinical severity, consistently influence the proficiency of cognitive performance in the visual-spatial/verbal domain in TDC children, frequently considered as a “control” baseline group in developmental research? Method 94 community-recruited children aged 9–15 (F=50%) participated. Psychiatric or neurological history was exclusionary. Assessment included: INT traits with Parent-Reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Internalizing Subscale (SDQ-I); Cognitive Skills with the WASI-II and NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery. Ordinary Least Squares regression models controlled for socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and ethnicity. Results Higher INT traits were significantly associated with reduced verbal comprehension scores (WASI-II: Vocabulary (β=-0.80, p=.013, 95% CI[-1.43,-0.17]); Verbal Comprehension Index (β=-1.09, p=.019, 95% CI[-2.00,-0.18]). No statistically significant impact of subclinical INT was found on other cognitive domains. SES was a marked predictor of performance across multiple domains, independently of INT traits. Conclusion These findings show significant cognitive-emotional variability within a normative TDC sample and challenge the general believe that “control” groups are homogeneous. Subclinical INT traits may constitute an early cognitive-emotional vulnerability in tasks relying on verbal communication. Dimensional models may offer a more accurate framework for understanding developmental trajectories and interpretation of control groups in pediatric neuropsychology research.