Factors in the neurodevelopment of negative urgency: Findings from a community-dwelling sample

Casey L Evans; Kayle S Sawyer; Sarah A Levy; Jessica P Conklin; EmilyKate McDonough; David A Gansler

doi:10.1177/23982128221079548

Factors in the neurodevelopment of negative urgency: Findings from a community-dwelling sample

Brain Neurosci Adv. 2022 Feb 25:6:23982128221079548. doi: 10.1177/23982128221079548. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Casey L Evans^{1

2}, Kayle S Sawyer^{3

4

5

6}, Sarah A Levy¹, Jessica P Conklin¹, EmilyKate McDonough^{7

8}, David A Gansler¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA.
² Psychology Assessment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Sawyer Scientific, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Department of Medical Education, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

This study investigated neuroanatomic, genetic, cognitive, sociodemographic and emotional underpinnings of the Negative Urgency subscale of the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation-Seeking and Positive Urgency Impulsive Behavior Scale in a healthy developmental sample. The goal of the investigation is to contribute to the harmonisation of behavioural, brain and neurogenetic aspects of behavioural self-control. Three domains - (1) Demographic, developmental, psychiatric and cognitive ability; (2) Regional brain volumes (neurobiological); and (3) Genetic variability (single nucleotide polymorphisms) - were examined, and models with relevant predictor variables were selected. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and best subset regressions were used to identify sparse models predicting negative urgency scores, which revealed that variables related to emotional regulation and right cingulate volume, as well as single nucleotide polymorphisms in CADM2 and SLC6A4, were associated with negative urgency. Our results contribute to the construct and criterion validity of negative urgency and support the hypothesis that negative urgency is a result of a complex array of influences across domains whose integration furthers developmental psychopathology research.

Keywords: Impulsivity; developmental psychopathology; negative urgency; neurodevelopment; neurogenetics.