Differences In Developmental Trajectories Research Articles

Effects of low temperature on growth and metabolism of larval green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) across early ontogeny.

Southern Distinct Population Segment (sDPS) green sturgeon spawn solely in one stretch of the Sacramento River in California. Management of this spawning habitat is complicated by cold water temperature requirements for the conservation of winter-run Chinook salmon. This study assessed whether low incubation and rearing temperatures resulted in carryover effects across embryo to early juvenile life stages on scaling relationships in growth and metabolism in northern DPS green sturgeon used as a proxy for sDPS green sturgeon. Fish were incubated and reared at 11°C and 15°C, with a subset experiencing a reciprocal temperature transfer post-hatch, to assess recovery from cold incubation or to simulate a cold-water dam release which would chillrearing larvae. Growth and metabolic rate of embryos and larvae were measured to 118days post hatch. Reciprocal temperature transfers revealed a greater effect of low temperature exposure during larval rearing rather than during egg incubation. While 11°C eggs hatched at a smaller length, log-transformed length-weight relationships showed that these differences in developmental trajectory dissipated as individuals achieved juvenile morphology. However, considerable size-at-age differences persisted between rearing temperatures, with 15°C fish requiring 60days post-hatch to achieve 1g in mass, whereas 11°C fish required 120days to achieve 1g, resulting in fish of the same age at the completion of the experiment with a ca. 37-fold difference in weight. Consequently, our study suggests that cold rearing temperatures have far more consequential downstream effects than cold embryo incubation temperatures. Growth delays from 11°C rearing temperatures would greatly increase the period of vulnerability to predation in larval green sturgeon. The scaling relationship between log-transformed whole-body metabolism and mass exhibited a steeper slope and thus an increased oxygen requirement with size in 11°C reared fish, potentially indicating an energetically unsustainable situation. Understanding how cold temperatures affect green sturgeon ontogeny is necessary to refine our larval recruitment estimations for this threatened species.

Decision-making under conditions of explicit risk and uncertainty in autistic and typically developing adolescents and young adults.

Adolescence has been characterized as a period of risky and possibly suboptimal decision-making, yet the development of decision-making in autistic adolescents is not well understood. To investigate decision-making in autism, we evaluated performance on 2 computerized tasks capturing decision-making under explicit risk and uncertainty in autistic and non-autistic adolescents/young adults ages 12-22years. Participants completed the Game of Dice Task (32 IQ-matched participant pairs) to assess decision-making under explicit risk and the modified Iowa Gambling Task (35 IQ-matched pairs) to assess decision-making under uncertainty. Autistic participants overall made riskier decisions than non-autistic participants on the Game of Dice Task, and the odds of making riskier decisions varied by age and IQ. In contrast, the autistic group showed comparable levels of learning over trial blocks to the non-autistic group on the modified Iowa Gambling Task. For both tasks, younger autistic participants performed poorer than their non-autistic counterparts, while group differences diminished in older ages. This age-related pattern suggests positive development during adolescence on risk assessment and decision-making in autism but also implies differential developmental trajectories between groups. These findings also suggest differential performance by the risk type, with additional complex influences of IQ and fluid cognition, which warrants further investigations.

Behavioral and neural responses to social rejection: Individual differences in developmental trajectories across childhood and adolescence

Dealing with social rejection is challenging, especially during childhood when behavioral and neural responses to social rejection are still developing. In the current longitudinal study, we used a Bayesian multilevel growth curve model to describe individual differences in the development of behavioral and neural responses to social rejection in a large sample (n > 500). We found a peak in aggression following negative feedback (compared to neutral feedback) during late childhood, as well as individual differences during this developmental phase, possibly suggesting a sensitive window for dealing with social rejection across late childhood. Moreover, we found evidence for individual differences in the linear development of neural responses to social rejection in our three brain regions of interest: The anterior insula, the medial prefrontal cortex, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In addition to providing insights in the individual trajectories of dealing with social rejection during childhood, this study also makes a meaningful methodological contribution: Our statistical analysis strategy (and can be found in this study’s online supplementary materials at https://jeroendmulder.github.io/social-emotion-regulation/) can be used as an example on how to take into account the many complexities of developmental neuroimaging datasets, while still enabling researchers to answer interesting questions about individual-level relationships.

Individual differences in developmental trajectory leave a male polyphenic signature in bulb mite populations

Individual differences in developmental trajectory leave a male polyphenic signature in bulb mite populations

Recapitulation of Perturbed Striatal Gene Expression Dynamics of Donors' Brains With Ventral Forebrain Organoids Derived From the Same Individuals With Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that originates during neurodevelopment and has complex genetic and environmental etiologies. Despite decades of clinical evidence of altered striatal function in affected patients, studies examining its cellular and molecular mechanisms in humans are limited. To explore neurodevelopmental alterations in the striatum associated with schizophrenia, the authors established a method for the differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into ventral forebrain organoids (VFOs). VFOs were generated from postmortem dural fibroblast-derived iPSCs of four individuals with schizophrenia and four neurotypical control individuals for whom postmortem caudate genotypes and transcriptomic data were profiled in the BrainSeq neurogenomics consortium. Individuals were selected such that the two groups had nonoverlapping schizophrenia polygenic risk scores (PRSs). Single-cell RNA sequencing analyses of VFOs revealed differences in developmental trajectory between schizophrenia and control individuals in which inhibitory neuronal cells from the patients exhibited accelerated maturation. Furthermore, upregulated genes in inhibitory neurons in schizophrenia VFOs showed a significant overlap with upregulated genes in postmortem caudate tissue of individuals with schizophrenia compared with control individuals, including the donors of the iPSC cohort. The findings suggest that striatal neurons derived from high-PRS individuals with schizophrenia carry abnormalities that originated during early brain development and that the VFO model can recapitulate disease-relevant cell type-specific neurodevelopmental phenotypes in a dish.

Sub-voxel quantitative susceptibility mapping for assessing whole-brain magnetic susceptibility from ages 4 to 80.

The evolution of magnetic susceptibility of the brain is mainly determined by myelin in white matter (WM) and iron deposition in deep gray matter (DGM). However, existing imaging techniques have limited abilities to simultaneously quantify the myelination and iron deposition within a voxel throughout brain development and aging. For instance, the temporal trajectories of iron in the brain WM and myelination in DGM have not been investigated during the aging process. This study aimed to map the age-related iron and myelin changes in the whole brain, encompassing myelin in DGM and iron deposition in WM, using a novel sub-voxel quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) method. To achieve this, a cohort of 494 healthy adults (18-80 years old) was studied. The sub-voxel QSM method was employed to obtain the paramagnetic and diamagnetic susceptibility based on the approximated map from acquired map. The linear relationship between and maps was established from the regression coefficients on a small cohort data acquired with both 3D gradient recalled echo data and mapping. Large cohort sub-voxel susceptibility maps were used to create longitudinal and age-specific atlases via group-wise registration. To explore the differential developmental trajectories in the DGM and WM, we employed nonlinear models including exponential and Poisson functions, along with generalized additive models. The constructed atlases reveal the iron accumulation in the posterior part of the putamen and the gradual myelination process in the globus pallidus with aging. Interestingly, the developmental trajectories show that the rate of myelination differs among various DGM regions. Furthermore, the process of myelin synthesis is paralleled by an associated pattern of iron accumulation in the primary WM fiber bundles. In summary, our study offers significant insights into the distinctive developmental trajectories of iron in the brain's WM and myelination/demyelination in the DGM in vivo. These findings highlight the potential of using sub-voxel QSM to uncover new perspectives in neuroscience and improve our understanding of whole-brain myelination and iron deposit processes across the lifespan.

Development of BOLD Response to Motion in Human Infants.

Behavioral studies suggest that motion perception is rudimentary at birth and matures steadily over the first few years. We demonstrated previously that the major cortical associative areas serving motion processing, like middle temporal complex (MT+), visual cortex area 6 (V6), and PIVC in adults, show selective responses to coherent flow in 8-week-old infants. Here, we study the BOLD response to the same motion stimuli in 5-week-old infants (four females and four males) and compare the maturation between these two ages. The results show that MT+ and PIVC areas show a similar motion response at 5 and 8 weeks, whereas response in the V6 shows a reduced BOLD response to motion at 5 weeks, and cuneus associative areas are not identifiable at this young age. In infants and in adults, primary visual cortex (V1) does not show a selectivity for coherent motion but shows very fast development between 5 and 8 weeks of age in response to the appearance of motion stimuli. Resting-state correlations demonstrate adult-like functional connectivity between the motion-selective associative areas but not between primary cortex and temporo-occipital and posterior-insular cortices. The results are consistent with a differential developmental trajectory of motion area respect to other occipital regions, probably reflecting also a different development trajectory of the central and peripheral visual field.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How the cortical visual areas attain the specialization that we observed in human adults in the first few months of life is unknown. However, this knowledge is crucial to understanding the consequence of perinatal brain damage and its outcome. Here, we show that motion selective areas are already functioning well in 5-week-old infants with greater responses for detecting coherent motion over random motion, suggesting that very little experience is needed to attain motion selectivity.

Achievement emotions and arithmetic fluency – Development and parallel processes during the early school years

This study investigated the developmental trajectories and interrelationships of mathematics-related achievement emotions and arithmetic fluency from first to third grade, and the effects of these on third grade mathematics performance. Participants were 232 Norwegian students. Students’ emotions and arithmetic fluency were measured four times and mathematics performance once. Applying latent growth curve modeling, developmental patterns of decreasing enjoyment and increasing boredom were observed over time. The mean level of enjoyment remained fairly high, and of both boredom and anxiety quite low. Individual differences were observed in both the initial levels and development of all emotions and arithmetic fluency, indicating differences in developmental trajectories. Only the initial levels and rate of change in arithmetic fluency predicted mathematics performance at the third grade.

Functional and structural brain network development in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. Given the profound brain changes that occur during childhood and adolescence, it is important to examine longitudinal changes of both functional and structural brain connectivity across development in ADHD. This study aimed to examine the development of functional and structural connectivity in children with ADHD compared to controls using graph metrics. One hundred and seventy five individuals (91 children with ADHD and 84 non-ADHD controls) participated in a longitudinal neuroimaging study with up to three waves. Graph metrics were derived from 370 resting state fMRI (197 Control, 173 ADHD) and 297 diffusion weighted imaging data (152 Control, 145 ADHD) acquired between the ages of 9 and 14. For functional connectivity, children with ADHD (compared to typically developing children) showed lower degree, local efficiency and betweenness centrality predominantly in parietal, temporal and visual cortices and higher degree, local efficiency and betweenness centrality in frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices. For structural connectivity, children with ADHD had lower local efficiency in parietal and temporal cortices and, higher degree and betweenness centrality in frontal, parietal and temporal cortices. Further, differential developmental trajectories of functional and structural connectivity for graph measures were observed in higher-order cognitive and sensory regions. Our findings show that topology of functional and structural connectomes matures differently between typically developing controls and children with ADHD during childhood and adolescence. Specifically, functional and structural neural circuits associated with sensory and various higher order cognitive functions are altered in children with ADHD.

Trajectories of medical service use among girls and boys with and without early-onset conduct problems.

Children with conduct problems (CP) have been found to be heavy and costly medical service users in adulthood. However, there is little knowledge on how medical service use develops during childhood and adolescence among youth with and without childhood CP. Knowing whether differences in developmental trajectories of medical service use for specific types of problems (e.g., injuries) are predicted by childhood CP would help clinicians identify developmental periods during which they might intensify interventions for young people with CP in order to prevent later problems and associated increased service use. Participants were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study of boys and girls with and without childhood CP as rated by parents and teachers. Medical service use was assessed using administrative data from a public single payer health plan. Latent growth modeling was used to estimate the mean trajectory of four types of medical visits (psychiatric, injury-related, preventative, total visits) across time and evaluate the effect of CP and other covariates. Support the hypothesis that early CP predicts higher medical service use at nine years old, and that this difference persists in a chronic manner over time, even when controlling the effects of ADHD and family income. Girls had fewer medical visits for psychiatric reasons than boys at baseline, but this difference diminished over time. Clinicians should be aware that childhood CP already predicts increased medical service use in elementary school. Issues specific to different contexts in which injuries might occur and sex differences are discussed.

Differential development and trainability of self-regulatory abilities among preschoolers

Self-regulation (SR) as well as self-regulated learning (SRL) show large interindividual variance in preschoolers. This variance may result in differential developmental trajectories. The present study aims to investigate whether a reduction in interindividual differences over time, which could previously be found for preschoolers' SR, is also present for SRL. Furthermore, the present study aims to explore whether preschool SRL training transfers to SR and whether training effects visible in SRL depend on initial performance. A sample of 94 preschoolers participated in this intervention study. Children were assigned to either a training group or to an active control group. Additionally, the sample was divided into high- and low-SRL preschoolers based on pretest SRL performance. Repeated measures ANCOVAs revealed that in the active control group, differences between high- and low-SRL preschoolers decreased over time. The training group showed a greater increase in SRL than the active control group. Training-induced increases did not vary between high- and low-SRL preschoolers. Additionally, increases in SR were identical for training and active control group. Further research on the transferability of preschool SRL training to SR is needed.

Longitudinal trajectories of cortical development in 22q11.2 copy number variants and typically developing controls

Probing naturally-occurring, reciprocal genomic copy number variations (CNVs) may help us understand mechanisms that underlie deviations from typical brain development. Cross-sectional studies have identified prominent reductions in cortical surface area (SA) and increased cortical thickness (CT) in 22q11.2 deletion carriers (22qDel), with the opposite pattern in duplication carriers (22qDup), but the longitudinal trajectories of these anomalies—and their relationship to clinical symptomatology—are unknown. Here, we examined neuroanatomic changes within a longitudinal cohort of 261 22q11.2 CNV carriers and demographically-matched typically developing (TD) controls (84 22qDel, 34 22qDup, and 143 TD; mean age 18.35, ±10.67 years; 50.47% female). A total of 431 magnetic resonance imaging scans (164 22qDel, 59 22qDup, and 208 TD control scans; mean interscan interval = 20.27 months) were examined. Longitudinal FreeSurfer analysis pipelines were used to parcellate the cortex and calculate average CT and SA for each region. First, general additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used to identify regions with between-group differences in developmental trajectories. Secondly, we investigated whether these trajectories were associated with clinical outcomes. Developmental trajectories of CT were more protracted in 22qDel relative to TD and 22qDup. 22qDup failed to show normative age-related SA decreases. 22qDel individuals with psychosis spectrum symptoms showed two distinct periods of altered CT trajectories relative to 22qDel without psychotic symptoms. In contrast, 22q11.2 CNV carriers with autism spectrum diagnoses showed early alterations in SA trajectories. Collectively, these results provide new insights into altered neurodevelopment in 22q11.2 CNV carriers, which may shed light on neural mechanisms underlying distinct clinical outcomes.

Association between resting-state functional brain connectivity and gene expression is altered in autism spectrum disorder

Gene expression covaries with brain activity as measured by resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, it is unclear how genomic differences driven by disease state can affect this relationship. Here, we integrate from the ABIDE I and II imaging cohorts with datasets of gene expression in brains of neurotypical individuals and individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with regionally matched brain activity measurements from fMRI datasets. We identify genes linked with brain activity whose association is disrupted in ASD. We identified a subset of genes that showed a differential developmental trajectory in individuals with ASD compared with controls. These genes are enriched in voltage-gated ion channels and inhibitory neurons, pointing to excitation-inhibition imbalance in ASD. We further assessed differences at the regional level showing that the primary visual cortex is the most affected region in ASD. Our results link disrupted brain expression patterns of individuals with ASD to brain activity and show developmental, cell type, and regional enrichment of activity linked genes.

Unique dynamic profiles of social attention in autistic females.

Social attention affords learning opportunities across development and may contribute to individual differences in developmental trajectories, such as between male and female individuals, and in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism. Using eye-tracking, we measured social attention in a large cohort of autistic (n = 123) and nonautistic females (n = 107), and autistic (n = 330) and nonautistic males (n = 204), aged 6-30 years. Using mixed Growth Curve Analysis, we modelled sex and diagnostic effects on the temporal dynamics of proportional looking time to three types of social stimuli (lean-static, naturalistic-static, and naturalistic-dynamic) and examined the link between individual differences and dimensional social and nonsocial autistic traits in autistic females and males. In the lean-static stimulus, average face-looking was higher in females than in males of both autistic and nonautistic groups. Differences in the dynamic pattern of face-looking were seen in autistic vs. nonautistic females, but not males, with face-looking peaking later in the trial in autistic females. In the naturalistic-dynamic stimulus, average face-looking was higher in females than in males of both groups; changes in the dynamic pattern of face looking were seen in autistic vs. nonautistic males, but not in females, with a steeper peak in nonautistic males. Lower average face-looking was associated with higher observer-measured autistic characteristics in autistic females, but not in males. Overall, we found stronger social attention in females to a similar degree in both autistic and nonautistic groups. Nonetheless, the dynamic profiles of social attention differed in different ways in autistic females and males compared to their nonautistic peers, and autistic traits predicted trends of average face-looking in autistic females. These findings support the role of social attention in the emergence of sex-related differences in autistic characteristics, suggesting an avenue to phenotypic stratification.

The special role of middle childhood in self‐control development: Longitudinal and genetic evidence

Despite the importance of self‐control for well‐being and adjustment, its development from early childhood to early adolescence has been relatively understudied. We addressed the development of mother‐reported self‐control in what is likely the largest and longest longitudinal twin study of the topic to this day (N = 1889 individual children with data from at least one of five waves: ages 3, 5, 6.5, 8–9 and 11 years). We examined rank‐order change in self‐control from early childhood to early adolescence, genetic and environmental contributions to variance in the trait and differential developmental trajectories. The relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to change and stability was also examined. Results point at middle childhood as a period of potential transition and change. During this period the rank‐order stability of self‐control increases, heritability rates substantially rise, and a cross‐over occurs in two of the self‐control trajectories. Nonadditive genetic effects contribute to both stability and change in self‐control while the nonshared environment contributes mostly to change, with no effect for the shared environment. Our findings suggest that new genetic factors, that emerge around age 6.5 and whose effect on self‐control is carried on along development, may partially account for changes in self‐control around late middle childhood, and explain the growing stability in the trait approaching early adolescence. We discuss the implications of the special role of middle childhood for self‐control development.

Neurodevelopmental Trajectories in Children With Internalizing, Externalizing and Emotion Dysregulation Symptoms.

IntroductionChildhood and adolescence are crucial periods for brain and behavioral development. However, it is not yet clear how and when deviations from typical brain development are related to broad domains of psychopathology.MethodsUsing three waves of neuroimaging data within the population-based Generation R Study sample, spanning a total age range of 6–16 years, we applied normative modeling to establish typical development curves for (sub-)cortical volume in 37 brain regions, and cortical thickness in 32 brain regions. Z-scores representing deviations from typical development were extracted and related to internalizing, externalizing and dysregulation profile (DP) symptoms.ResultsNormative modeling showed regional differences in developmental trajectories. Psychopathology symptoms were related to negative deviations from typical development for cortical volume in widespread regions of the cortex and subcortex, and to positive deviations from typical development for cortical thickness in the orbitofrontal, frontal pole, pericalcarine and posterior cingulate regions of the cortex.DiscussionTaken together, this study charts developmental curves across the cerebrum for (sub-)cortical volume and cortical thickness. Our findings show that psychopathology symptoms, are associated with widespread differences in brain development, in which those with DP symptoms are most heavily affected.

Diagnostic Stability and Phenotypic Differences Among School-Age Children Diagnosed With ASD Before Age 2.

Given the importance of early detection, it is critical to understand the non-linearity in manifestation of ASD before age 24 months, when ASD symptoms are beginning to consolidate, through the age of 36 months when stability of ASD diagnosis is reportedly high into school-age when increased demands may challenge previously successful compensatory processes and permit first ASD detection. We employed a prospective, longitudinal design focused on children with an older sibling with ASD (n = 210) who received diagnostic evaluations at mean ages of 15.4 months (Time 1), 36.6 months (Time 2), and 5.7 years (Time 3) to examine: (1) diagnostic stability, (2) developmental trajectories associated with different patterns of ASD vs. non-ASD classifications, and (3) predictors of classification group over time. Clinical best estimate (CBE) diagnosis of ASD or non-ASD was made at each time point. Linear mixed-effects models were implemented to examine differences in developmental trajectories of stable and dynamic diagnostic groups. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine predictors of the likelihood of belonging to each CBE diagnostic classification group. Results revealed that sensitivity and stability of an ASD diagnosis significantly increased from Time 1 (sensitivity: 52%; stability: 63%) to Time 2 (sensitivity: 86%; stability: 68%). Different developmental trajectories of autism symptom severity and non-verbal and verbal IQ were observed across groups, with differences first observed at Time 1 and becoming more pronounced through Time 3. Presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors as well as limitations in initiation of joint attention and expressive language skills differentially predicted the likelihood of belonging to the different CBE diagnostic classification groups. Results suggest that ASD symptoms may emerge or attenuate over time, with some children meeting diagnosis at follow-up, and other children no longer meeting diagnostic criteria. From a systems perspective, diagnostic non-linearity may be viewed as a dynamic developmental process, where emergent properties arising from various biological, genetic, and experiential factors interact, culminating in phenotypic phenomena that change over time. Clinical implications include extending universal ASD and social communication screening into school-age, supporting families' understanding of diagnostic shifts, and ensuring unbiased diagnostic decision-making when following children with ASD.

Longitudinal Changes of Resting-State Networks in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Typically Developing Children

BackgroundAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. Given the profound brain changes that occur across childhood and adolescence, it is important to identify functional networks that exhibit differential developmental patterns in children with ADHD. This study sought to examine whether children with ADHD exhibit differential developmental trajectories in functional connectivity compared with typically developing children using a network-based approach. MethodsThis longitudinal neuroimaging study included 175 participants (91 children with ADHD and 84 control children without ADHD) between ages 9 and 14 and up to 3 waves (173 total resting-state scans in children with ADHD and 197 scans in control children). We adopted network-based statistics to identify connected components with trajectories of development that differed between groups. ResultsChildren with ADHD exhibited differential developmental trajectories compared with typically developing control children in networks connecting cortical and limbic regions as well as between visual and higher-order cognitive regions. A pattern of reduction in functional connectivity between corticolimbic networks was seen across development in the control group that was not present in the ADHD group. Conversely, the ADHD group showed a significant decrease in connectivity between predominantly visual and higher-order cognitive networks that was not displayed in the control group. ConclusionsOur findings show that the developmental trajectories in children with ADHD are characterized by a subnetwork involving different trajectories predominantly between corticolimbic regions and between visual and higher-order cognitive network connections. These findings highlight the importance of examining the longitudinal maturational course to understand the development of functional connectivity networks in children with ADHD.

From a Molar to a Molecular Approach to the Developmental Trajectory of Syntax Comprehension of Persons with Intellectual Disability

AbstractThe aim of our study was to investigate whether the developmental trajectories of syntax comprehension of participants with or without intellectual disability are comparable. We obtained results from a syntax comprehension test of 615 typically developing participants (mean chronological age = 4.61 years, SD = 0.85) and 615 participants with intellectual disability (mean chronological age = 12.22 years, SD = 3.14) matched on a nonverbal cognitive measure. We examined these results by applying several statistical approaches to the overall scores for the syntax test and then to the scores for each of its 92 items. Results showed negligible between‐group differences in developmental trajectories, at both levels of analysis (overall and item scores). This lack of effect suggests that the relationship between cognitive development and syntax comprehension is comparable for the two groups of participants. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Children's behavior problems, caregivers' trauma history, and membership in latent physical abuse trajectory classes: An approach of latent class growth analysis to dating violence victimization

BackgroundChild abuse is a serious social problem in the USA as many children suffer from child abuse and its negative consequences are severe. To prevent future victimization, it is essential to understand unique patterns of child abuse trajectories over time and the factors associated with their victimization. ObjectiveThe primary goal of this study was to identify individual differences in developmental trajectories of alleged physical abuse between the ages of 2 and 12. Participants and settingThe sample included all children drawn from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), which is a consortium of five study sites (South, East, Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest). MethodsUsing the high-risk sample with Child Protective Service record reviews prior to age 4, significant variability in trajectory class membership was observed in the unconditional Latent Class Growth Analysis. ResultsThree trajectory classes were obtained from the data: Early Onset, Late Peak and Non-Victims. The findings showed that children who had an attention problem at age 4 were more likely to become members of both the Early Onset and Late Peak groups, relative to Non-victims. Also, membership in the Late Peak group was predicted by caregivers' childhood physical abuse, supporting for the cycle of physical abuse across generations. Finally, children in the Late Peak group were at the highest risk of being physically, psychologically, and sexually abused in a dating relationship at age 14. ConclusionsThese results suggest that children's internal and external behavior problems and caregivers' childhood physical abuse are predictive of child abuse trajectory class membership. Parental education programs that increase their knowledge about children with special needs and intervention programs targeting caregivers with a history of physical abuse would be beneficial to prevent child abuse (re)victimization.