Skip to Content

Search: {{$root.lsaSearchQuery.q}}, Page {{$root.page}}

Clinical Brown Bag

Yuliya Shyrokonis, Joint Program in Social Work and Clinical Science Graduate Student and Cleanthis Michael, Clinical Science Graduate Student
Monday, October 10, 2022
9:00-9:50 AM
Shyrokonis: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the early release of thousands of incarcerated individuals, including those with histories of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Survivor advocates stress the importance of adequate supports for decarcerated individuals during re-entry, and notification and supports for their partners or ex-partners if there is a history of IPV. This survey assessed IPV survivors’ expectations of and experiences with decarceration in the state of Michigan. Findings highlight that out of 42 survivors with recently decarcerated (ex-)partners, 64.3% reported helpful behavior on the part of their released partner. By contrast, out of 72 survivors with still-incarcerated (ex-)partners, the same percentage - 64.3% - expected harmful behavior from their partner if released. Decarceration efforts may distinguish between individuals who are likely to harm versus help (ex-)partners upon release. Nonetheless, survivors reported several unmet needs, indicating the need for better re-integration services for decarcerated individuals and their families.

Michael: Recent theoretical models and empirical studies provide conflicting information about whether early adversity and disadvantage may accelerate or delay the pace of brain development. Few studies have examined how disadvantage within the broader neighborhood may modulate the pace of brain development – particularly on the level of brain networks, which critically underlie cognitive and socioemotional functioning. The present study leveraged a longitudinal community sample of 557 twins sampled from neighborhoods with above-average levels of poverty to evaluate the prospective association between neighborhood disadvantage during childhood (6-10y) and the pace of functional brain network development during adolescence (10-17y). We employed graph theoretical analyses of fMRI data to quantify different properties of network function. Multi-level models revealed that greater neighborhood disadvantage during childhood was associated with reduced network segregation – a proxy for functional specialization of neural networks – during adolescence, even after controlling for household-level disadvantage. Moreover, we found that network segregation, especially in cognitive control networks, showed developmental increases across adolescence in youth from more, but not less, disadvantaged neighborhoods. These findings suggest that neighborhood disadvantage may dynamically influence the pace of functional network development in youth, characterized by initial delays and followed by subsequent accelerations to catch up. Implications for our understanding of risk, resilience, and intervention will be discussed.
Website:
Event Type: Presentation
Tags: brown bag
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Department of Psychology, Clinical Science