The proposed interdisciplinary research network is designed to examine the neural and behavioral changes that underpin successful treatment outcomes for antisocial adolescents. There are four specific aims: (1) to create a multi-site network that can support collaborations among scientists and practitioners from diverse disciplines interested in clinical change; (2) to explore microsocial processes of behavioral regulation in the family and peer systems, and neurocognitive mechanisms responsible for shifting attention and controlling impulses, that correspond to successful clinical interventions; (3) to test and refine new temporally sensitive methods that can tap fine-grained changes in brain (dense-array ERP methods) and behavior (dynamic real-time behavior maps); and (4) to identify the characteristics of youth for whom evidence-based treatments are effective and model the processes that underlie successful outcomes for different antisocial subtypes. Plans for building and supporting the Network infrastructure include full-team meetings, meetings among clusters of network members, workshops and a mini-conference to share information with the broader scientific and clinical community, collaborations for generating pilot research, and collaborations for manuscript preparation and development of major research proposals. The planned pilot studies will draw on the diverse expertise of team members to fashion innovative approaches to brain and behavioral assessment. Behavioral assessment will target changes in overall behavioral flexibility and stability of negative patterns. Neural assessment will target changes in ERP signatures of attentional regulation and response selection. Global predictions are that both sets of changes will correspond with clinical improvement as assessed by more conventional outcome measures. The overall goals are to advance knowledge about the causal substrates of antisocial patterns and the mechanisms underlying treatment success, and to disseminate new evaluation techniques to clinicians interested in monitoring treatment progress.
