This meta-analysis aimed to robustly estimate differences in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms between children and adolescents with and without neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

We read with great interest the commentary by Jeffrey and colleagues, “Clinical Research Trials of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Adolescents aged 16 to 17 Years: Rationale Balanced With Caution.”1 We appreciate the efforts of the authors, the scholarship of this commentary, and the advocacy for research initiatives with psychedelic therapeutics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid (LSD) diethylamide, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). We agree that there is a compelling rationale for timely, rigorous studies with adolescents as it is likely that these compounds have been and will be used in adolescents with therapeutic intent.

We read with interest Jeffrey et al.’s Commentary encouraging clinical research using psychedelics for adolescents.1 Throughout their commentary, the authors operate under the general presupposition that psychedelics have demonstrated a favorable safety profile in adults, and therefore teenagers approaching an adult level of neurodevelopment can likely be safely treated with appropriate safeguards. While we concur that there is an urgent need for new psychopharmaceuticals for adolescents, we question this assumption of safety given increasing evidence of risks associated with psychedelics in adult trials.

We are writing in response to two Letters to the Editor, both of which responded to our initial commentary, entitled “Clinical Research Trials of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Adolescents aged 16 to 17 Years: Rationale Balanced With Caution.”1 We appreciate the thoughtful responses to our commentary, and we invite further dialogue about this important subject. Both commentaries emphasized the importance in engaging in thoughtful research approaches to ensure the safety of individuals whom are administered psychedelics.

Cultivating Behavioral Change in K–12 Students: Team-Based Intervention and Support Strategies outlines establishing a consistent and caring school in which students can thrive by focusing on behavior and skill building through a positive developmental approach to intervention in K–12 settings. The book exemplifies how to create boundaries that are appropriate to the comfort level of the teacher through engaging but predictable sequences to build trusting positive relationships between teachers and students.

Reviewing manuscripts is hard work. We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to the 441 hard workers listed below, who so diligently served their Journal between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. Our additional gratitude to our eleven colleagues (Matthew G. Biel, Michael H. Bloch, Francisco Xavier Castellanos, William E. Copeland, Kathryn Regan Cullen, Benjamin I. Goldstein, Kevin M. Gray, Niranjan S. Karnik, Michael C. Monuteaux, James G. Waxmonsky, and Eric A. Youngstrom) who served as ad hoc and guest editors and helped ensure that all manuscripts, our own included, were treated under the same editorial standards. We also would like to acknowledge the colleagues who are completing their terms on our Editorial Board: Matthew G. Biel, Alice Charach, Laura M. Prager, and S. Evelyn Stewart; Assistant Editor Lesha D. Shah; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Emerging Leaders Fellow Tara Thompson-Felix; and Connect Editor J. Corey Williams.

In keeping with the Journal's policies,1 we provide a listing of disclosures for all members of the editorial masthead and the ad hoc and guest editors (marked with an asterisk) as of September 15, 2024. This list, based on annually updated signed statements on file in the editorial office, includes all biomedical financial interests and potential conflicts of interest disclosed for the previous 36 months and the foreseeable future.

This summer, your president, your editor, and last year’s Journal award winners were challenged with selecting three new award-winning JAACAP articles. To be eligible, articles must epitomize scholarly excellence in a key area of our discipline and have been published in the Journal between July of the previous year and June of the current year by a lead or senior author who is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an AACAP member.

One of the challenges of evidence-based medicine is balancing population-level findings with individualized care. Average Treatment Effect (ATE) studies, including cohort studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), offer insights into factors affecting disease likelihood at group level or subgroup level (precision medicine), but are limited in predicting individual outcomes. This limitation arises because ATE studies operate within a probabilistic causal framework, indicating how likely a disease is when a certain individual or contextual factor is present: "if X, then probably Y."

As child and adolescent psychiatrists, sometimes we can feel stuck trying to support our patients and their families with a short visit every few weeks or months, when most of the difficulties are happening outside the office, especially at school. Parents come in describing the many phone calls home, suspensions, or failing grades. Although some of this is affected by the need to better support their hyperactivity and impulsivity or depression leading to frustration tolerance, it is also clear that support in school is essential. It is often hard to establish these connections to ensure that there is an appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) or more global behavioral support available at the school. Being able to find ways to develop these connections is essential to ensuring success for our patients.

Anyone who has ever tried to sing in a choir might have experienced how incredibly beautiful, and yet truly challenging, it is to blend different voices into a single polyphonic movement. This experience offers a vivid metaphor of the very idea of neurodiversity, with both the joys and the challenges it comes with. Our experience with a neurodiverse choir has convinced us that sharing this experience could be as an effective way to shed light on what neurodiversity can be, what it is not, and what it involves for clinicians.

More than two thirds of youth will experience at least one traumatic event.1 Ongoing conflicts and increasingly pervasive natural disasters attributable to climate change signal that this number is on the rise.2,3 There is a significant need for trauma-informed interventions to mitigate the severity, chronicity, and cost of the physical and mental health effects of trauma (eg, cardiometabolic diseases, posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression). While such evidence-based interventions do exist, a significant proportion of youth do not respond to treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy, and globally an even larger proportion are unable to access treatment.

I stood at the head of the resuscitation room as the nurses hooked a boy up to monitors. “Joshua is a 14-year-old boy, history of depression,” the paramedic began. “One hour ago, he ingested a handful of Tylenol and 8 Benadryl. Dad found out at 6:10 pm and called an ambulance to bring him to the emergency department (ED). He was stable on the ambulance ride. Any questions?” I performed the initial medical assessment, seeking to identify any conditions that would require urgent treatment. Minutes later, I sat next to Joshua and listened to his story.

Childhood and adolescent development affect how adults react to various situations. In the history of science, such belief and understanding have evolved. For example, Berry and Brown connect the independent works of Darwin and Mendel, the theory of “who” and “how” one survives through natural selection theory, respectively.1 And although the influence on each other is unknown, there have been attempts to connect the works of Pavlov and Freud on classical conditioning and the importance of early childhood in psychoanalysis.2 Fast forward to contemporary mental health research, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study and other related studies provide strong evidence on how negative childhood experiences explain adult experiences and pathologies.3 Although the ACE hypothesis links individual-level traumatic or negative experiences to adult mental health, the study “Associations Between Neighborhood Resources and Youths’ Response to Reward Omission in a Task Modeling Negatively Biased Environments” by Brown et al. sheds light on the impacts of neighborhood level experiences on child development.4 The efforts such as neighborhood study further our understanding of how precision medicine, a concept that is not new but has been rapidly emerging in the last 2 decades, can bring a paradigm shift in mental health.5

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are both highly heritable developmental psychiatric disorders and exhibit a high degree of comorbidity. Our objective is to enhance understanding of the transdiagnostic and diagnosis-specific structural alterations and related cellular and genetic pathophysiological mechanisms between ADHD and ASD.

We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews (SRs), with or without meta-analysis (MA), of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing nonpharmacological sleep interventions for children and adolescents across various clinical populations.

To identify the COVID-19 pandemic impact on well-being/mental health, coping strategies, and risk factors in adolescents worldwide.

In the 2024 Scientific Proceedings supplement to JAACAP, New Research Poster 6.59, “The Impact of Teaching Emotional Awareness and Coping Skills to Elementary School Children,” (2024;63: S299-S300), authors Rhea Shishodia and Alexa Twet’s affiliations appeared incorrectly. Rhea Shishodia, BA, BS, is with California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Alexa Twet, BS, is with California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In the 2024 Scientific Proceedings supplement to JAACAP, New Research Poster 5.21, “Growth Parameters and Differences in Social and Treatment Approaches in ADHD Racial Groups,” (2024;63:S261-S262), author Asmaa Hassan Abdelrehim was omitted from the author list. The author list should have appeared as follows: Ayman Saleh, MD, Lilia Mucka Andrew, PhD, Laura Willing, MD, Mi Young Ryee, PhD, Karen Schlumpf, EdD, MPH, Asmaa Hassan Abdelrehim, MD, Adelaide Robb, MD.

Adolescents with disrupted rest-activity rhythms (RARs), including shorter sleep duration, later sleep timing, and low physical activity levels, are at greater risk for mental health and behavioral problems. It remains unclear whether the same associations can be observed for within-subject changes in RARs.

We explain when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you do not stoop to their level. Our motto is when they go low, you go high.