Developmental Characterization of Preschool Disruptive Behavior

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:  Lauren Wakschlag, PhD 
Funding: National Institute of Mental Health


The MAPS study, supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), aims to validate the Multidimensional Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior (MAP-DB).

This paper-and-pencil tool is designed to translate developmental constructs gleaned from more intensive methods into methods that can be used in large-scale population studies. Wakschlag and her collaborators are validating the MAP-DB tool in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 3,700 preschoolers. MAP-DB includes a demonstration of differentiated association of the disruptive behavior dimensions to discrete neurocognitive processes and predictive utility. She has also recently obtained an NIMH American Recovery and Reinvestment Act supplement to integrate Event-Related Potentials, a form of developmentally-sensitive neuroimaging, into the MAPS validation battery.

Dr. Wakschlag is leading the MAPS study in collaboration with a national team of researchers, including Margaret Briggs-Gowan of the University of Connecticut, Alice Carter of the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Patrick Tolan of the University of Virginia, and NIMH neuroscientists. Find related information, here.