Shared and distinct patterns of cortical network-level functional connectivity associated with child psychopathology dimensions

Improving current understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying child mental disorders could inform the development of effective therapeutic interventions. The United States National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) advocates to study neural correlates of child psychopathology using dimensional approach. Using baseline data from 8,970 children aged 9-10 years (50.37% male) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, I applied bifactor modeling to decompose Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) into one general psychopathology factor and three specific symptom factors (Conduct Problems, ADHD, Internalizing Problems) and studied the association of both shared and specific factors with cortical network-level functional connectivity using multivariate method aiming to delineate both shared and distinct patterns of functional organization associated with different child psychopathology. The result showed that increased general psychopathology was associated increase bottom-up processing of sensorimotor hand and auditory information and top-down processing of visual information; increased Conduct Problems showed increased cognitive neglect of visual and sensorimotor information and elevated sensorimotor and auditory network activities; increased ADHD showed sustained abnormality in both top-down and bottom-up processing of motor and auditory information; increased Internalizing Problems showed hyperactivities in cognitive control, top-down and bottom-up processing, visual information processing and hypoactivities in bottom-up processing of visual information and spatial navigation as well as maintaining spatial navigation. Sensitivity analysis including race yielded largely consistent result. Adjusting for socioeconomic status attenuated the associations with Conduct Problems and Internalizing Problems, whereas associations with General Psychopathology and ADHD remained robust. My findings offered novel insights into neurobiological mechanisms of different child psychopathology and suggested altered functional organization of the brain could serve as a potential biomarker for child mental disorders.