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Background The psychosocial stress experienced by families with young children during the pandemic raised concerns about developmental risks, particularly for preterm infants, who are highly sensitive to environmental influences. This study examined the association between parent-reported pandemic burden and cognitive, language and motor development of preterm children. Methods Between 2022 and 2023, a total of 69 children (median corrected age: 21.59 months) were assessed, 62.3% of whom were born prematurely. A subset of these preterm children ( n  = 31), restricted to improve age alignment, was compared to a pre-pandemic cohort ( n  = 40; median age: 22.2 months). Development was measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Second and Third Edition). The pandemic burden was quantified using the Corona-Index, which was based on a standardised parental questionnaire. Multiple linear regressions were conducted with the Corona-Index as the main predictor and sex, gestational age, socioeconomic status and parental stress as moderators. Group differences were analysed using Mann-Whitney-U-Tests. Results Cognitive and motor scores did not differ significantly between cohorts, whereas language scores were significantly lower in the pandemic group ( p  = 0.001). The overall regression models for cognitive and language development did not reach statistical significance, and their sub-analyses should be interpreted with caution. Within the pandemic cohort, a significant interaction between the Corona-Index and sex was found for motor development ( p  = 0.022). Exploratory interaction effects suggested possible sex-related differences. Conclusion Overall, preterm children assessed during the pandemic showed differences in language scores compared to the pre-pandemic control group, which may theoretically be linked to altered social environments. However, instrument-related variability and residual clinical confounding cannot be excluded. Exploratory analyses highlighted the importance of examining sex-specific patterns in the context of environmental disruptions.

Background/Objectives: Infant regulatory problems (RPs) are at risk of persisting and can contribute to later behavioral difficulties. Parenting stress has been identified as a risk factor associated with child RPs, but its mediating role has rarely been investigated in this context. The aim of the study was (1) to investigate whether RP symptoms were related to subsequent infant RP symptoms/toddler behavioral and emotional problems (BEPs) between two pediatric check-ups in the first 3 years of life and (2) to investigate the potential role of parenting stress as a partial mediator in the association of infant RPs and subsequent RPs/BEPs. Methods: Using data from a German cohort study (CoronaBaBY), associations between infant RPs at baseline and RPs/toddlers BEPs at follow-up (around 8 months later) were analyzed. Parenting stress was included as a mediation variable into the model. Results: In total, 725 parent–child dyads were analyzed. Mean infant age was 5.0 months (SD = 3.4). Elevated RP symptoms at baseline significantly predicted infant RP symptoms and BEPs at follow-up. Parenting stress at baseline significantly predicted feeding problems and BEPs at follow-up. Parenting stress partially mediated the associations between baseline infant RPs and follow-up RPs respectively BEPs in most models. Conclusions: Interventions should consider the partially mediating role of parenting stress, especially for the later development of BEPs. Research should aim to identify additional factors influencing infant regulatory problems and subsequent behavioral difficulties.

Background Psychosocial stress during the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing particularly in parents. Although being specifically vulnerable to negative environmental exposures, research on psychosocial stress factors in infants’ and toddlers’ families during the pandemic is so far sparse. The CoronabaBY study investigates the perceived pandemic burden, parenting stress and parent and child mental health problems in families with children aged 0–3 years in Bavaria, Southern Germany. Further, the relationships between these psychosocial stressors are examined and sociodemographic characteristics that may be predictive of these factors will be explored. Methods Participants were cross-sectionally surveyed via smartphone app. Standardized questionnaires on perceived pandemic burden, parenting stress, parental symptoms of depression and anxiety, infants’ crying, sleeping and feeding problems or toddlers’ emotional and behavioral problems were applied. Results N  = 991 parents ( M age  = 33.7 years, SD  = 4.5; 93.7% mothers, 91.5% born in Germany) with infants ( n  = 554; M age  = 5.9 months, SD  = 3.0) or toddlers ( n  = 435; M age  = 25.9 months, SD  = 6.5) participated in the first half-year of 2021. Sixty-five percent of the parents perceived a high pandemic burden, 37.7% experienced parenting stress and 24.1% showed affective symptoms (anxiety: 30.1%, depression: 18.5%). Feeding problems, crying/ sleeping problems and multiple regulatory problems were found in 34.8%, 26.2% and 13.5% of the infants, respectively. Amongst toddlers, 8.5% showed noticeable behavior and emotional problems. Children`s mental health problems correlated moderately with parenting stress and parental affective symptoms and weakly with perceived pandemic burden. A lower financial status, higher parental education and increasing child age were significant but weak predictors for higher parenting stress, affective symptoms and higher psychological problems in children. Conclusions A majority of the surveyed families with infants and toddlers experience the pandemic as stressful. The main challenges are parental affective symptoms and limited resources for childcare due to parenting stress. Overall, infants and toddlers show similar levels of mental health problems when being compared to pre-pandemic studies, but staggered detrimental effects on children`s mental health might occur if the stressful conditions persist. This is already indicated by correlations between parental and child psychosocial stress factors.

Background/Objectives: Parenting stress is associated with parent and child mental health problems and has increased since the beginning of COVID-19. Research on paternal parenting stress is sparse—even if family models are changing increasingly with fathers being more strongly involved in caregiving for their children. This study investigated (1) overall parenting stress levels and specific parenting stress subscales in fathers with young children in comparison to mothers and (2) potential influencing factors on fathers’ and mothers’ parenting stress during the pandemic. Methods: In a cross-sectional online study, N = 368 parents (50.00% fathers) of children (0–3 years) filled out the German version of the Parenting Stress Index (EBI) and answered questions on sociodemographic and pandemic-related factors. Results: Fathers were 36.17 years (SD = 5.21) and mothers 33.65 years (SD = 4.39) old and 67.50% had a high educational background. Children (45.38% female) were 16.34 months (SD = 11.66) old. There was no significant group difference between fathers’ and mothers’ overall parenting stress (p = 0.39). Parenting stress scores in the attachment subscale were significantly higher in fathers (p < 0.001, r = 0.19). An increase in family conflicts during the pandemic had the highest impact on both paternal (ß = 0.45) and maternal (ß = 0.35) parenting stress. Conclusions: Parenting stress was equally high for fathers and mothers during the COVID-19 crisis, indicating a levelling of pre-pandemic differences due to pandemic-related factors. Future support measures should focus on reducing family conflicts and on strengthening fathers’ attachment to their child.

Sleep is ubiquitous in animals and humans, but its function remains to be further determined. The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis of sleep–wake regulation proposes a homeostatic increase in net synaptic strength and cortical excitability along with decreased inducibility of associative synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) due to saturation after sleep deprivation. Here we use electrophysiological, behavioural and molecular indices to non-invasively study net synaptic strength and LTP-like plasticity in humans after sleep and sleep deprivation. We demonstrate indices of increased net synaptic strength (TMS intensity to elicit a predefined amplitude of motor-evoked potential and EEG theta activity) and decreased LTP-like plasticity (paired associative stimulation induced change in motor-evoked potential and memory formation) after sleep deprivation. Changes in plasma BDNF are identified as a potential mechanism. Our study indicates that sleep recalibrates homeostatic and associative synaptic plasticity, believed to be the neural basis for adaptive behaviour, in humans. Sleep deprivation is believed to lead to homeostatic increases in synaptic strength and reduced inducibility of associative LTP, based mainly on findings from animal studies. Here, Kuhn et al . demonstrate similar sleep-dependent synaptic plasticity changes in humans along with altered plasma BDNF levels.

•Modular pipeline standardizes EEG preprocessing across multi-site studies.•Preserves data rank to support source and connectivity analyses.•Includes logging, plots, and automated IC classification for transparency.•Scalable for large-scale EEG studies in youth and other populations. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a powerful tool for investigating neural processes underlying cognition and neuropsychiatric disorders. Yet, variability in EEG preprocessing strategies restricts reproducibility and data integration across study sites and laboratories, particularly in larger research consortia. This paper introduces the CLEAN-EEG preprocessing pipeline, designed to standardize data processing and documentation across multiple sites. The CLEAN pipeline is implemented in MATLAB using EEGLAB. It comprises three modular, script-based stages: main preprocessing (including down-sampling, filtering, line noise removal, and channel interpolation), independent component analysis preparation and decomposition with flexible options for artifact rejection or neural component extraction, and component exclusion with support for automated classification and dipole fitting. Emphasis is placed on transparency through comprehensive logging and quality-control plotting, as well as on minimizing rank reduction to preserve data suitability for advanced analyses such as source localization and connectivity modeling. By providing clear, adaptable recommendations while ensuring detailed documentation of every step, the CLEAN pipeline aims to harmonize EEG preprocessing in large-scale, multi-center studies. This open and reproducible approach facilitates high throughput analyses, supports the training of researchers, and enables the rigorous integration of neurophysiological data across study sites, study designs, and populations.

Background During the pandemic, parenting stress and mental health challenges for both parents and children have increased. However, the lasting repercussions for families remain largely unexplored. Additionally, young families currently face stressors such as economic inflation, the Russia-Ukraine War, and the climate crisis, whose impacts on families are not yet understood. The primary aim of the study is therefore to evaluate parenting stress as well as child and parent mental health problems in the postpandemic era. Additionally, the study seeks to identify potential predictors of parenting stress and mental health issues in parents. Methods From February 2023 to March 2024, we conducted a digital cross-sectional study involving families ( N  = 17,333) with children aged 0–9 years in Bavaria (Southern Germany) to examine parenting stress and mental health issues among both parents and children in light of current societal challenges. Validated questionnaires were used to gather data, and potential factors contributing to parenting stress were investigated. Results We found that 53.7% of parents scored above the cut-off value, indicating that they experienced moderate to high levels of parenting stress. Additionally, 13.5% showed signs of anxiety symptoms, while 14.6% exhibited indications of depression according to cut-off values. Additionally, 34.9% of the infants (0–24 months) had crying and/or sleeping difficulties, whereas emotional and behavioral problems were observed in 8.7 of the toddlers (2–4 years) and 10.4% of the pre- and primary schoolers (˃ 4 years). Economic inflation was perceived as stressful or very stressful for 59.3% of parents, with radicalization and social division (49.3%), the Russia–Ukraine War (37.9%), and the climate crisis (31.8%) also cited as sources of stress. For 31.6% of families, the lingering effects of the pandemic continued to be a (major) burden. Across all age groups, children’s mental health issues and societal challenges were the primary predictors of parenting stress. Conclusion Our study underscores that psychosocial stressors for families with children remain pronounced even postpandemic. Moreover, our findings highlight the impact of broader societal trends, such as economic inflation and social division, on family well-being. Addressing these stressors and promoting the mental health of infants while bolstering parental resilience by alleviating parenting stress should be key priorities for healthcare initiatives in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Background Exposure to refugee and traumatic experiences in early childhood can dysregulate the stress response system and lower children’s threshold for aggression. This study examines differences in amount and patterns of aggressive play in children with and without refugee or traumatic experiences, while also assessing how other environmental factors, such as flight duration as a marker of cumulated adverse experiences, time spent in the host country, parental distress, and screen exposure, are associated with such behaviour. Methods In standardized 10 min free individual play sessions, episodes of aggressive behaviours were observed in 62 children with refugee experience and 64 children from a clinically referred comparison group without refugee experience (aged 3–6 years) and coded into four categories: physical, verbal, instrumental, and symbolic. Emotional states were documented to clarify the background mood and context of the aggressive episodes. Parents reported sociodemographic data, screen time, and filled out the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screening for children aged 3–6 (CATS 3–6), assessing potentially traumatic experiences of their children with corresponding symptoms, and the Refugee Health Screener (RHS) for information on their own mental health and distress levels. We correlated these factors with our structured observations of aggressive episodes during children’s play in a standardized situation. Results No significant difference in the distribution of aggressive behaviour episodes between the refugee and comparison groups was observed, even after accounting for gender. Symbolic aggression was more frequent among boys from the comparison group (p = 0.014), while no group or gender effects emerged for other aggression categories. Amount of aggressive behaviour was not related to parent-rated traumatic experiences or symptoms, but a significant correlation appeared, with the reported amount of screen time within the male sub-group (ρ = 0.209, p =0 .027). Conclusion Refugee and traumatic experiences showed no association with increased aggressive behaviour, whereas higher screen time was observed alongside elevated amounts of aggressive episodes among boys in our study. Children from both, refugee and clinical comparison group predominantly engaged in non-violent play in calm, low demand setting, highlighting potential protective role of safe, stimulating environments. Trial registration German clinical trials register, registration number: DRKS00025734, date: 07–23-2021.

We describe a drug repurposing treatment involving the use of nicardipine in a young patient with Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that results from variants of TCF4 gene) as a bench-to-bedside approach. Loss of TCF4 function in Pitt–Hopkins syndrome leads to increased excitability of Na v 1.8 in neurons. Nicardipine is normally used alone or together with other medicines to treat severe chest pain (angina) or high blood pressure (hypertension), and can also be used in children to treat hypertension. Nicardipine was shown to have an inhibitory effect on Na v 1.8 in vitro as well as in Tcf4 +/− mice, showing promising effects on behavior, learning and memory. In this study, nicardipine was given orally for 7 months (starting dose 0.2 mg/kg/d, maximum dose 1.7 mg/kg/d). There were no significant side effects. The patient showed mild to moderate improvement in all developmental trajectories as well as in her restlessness. Repurposing nicardipine in Pitt-Hopkins syndrome patients could be a promising approach to enhance development in these often severely affected patients.

The synaptic plasticity hypothesis of major depressive disorder (MDD) posits that alterations in synaptic plasticity represent a final common pathway underlying the clinical symptoms of the disorder. This study tested the hypotheses that patients with MDD show an attenuation of cortical synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP)-like plasticity in comparison with healthy controls, and that this attenuation recovers after remission. Cortical synaptic LTP-like plasticity was measured using a transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol, ie, paired associative stimulation (PAS), in 27 in-patients with MDD according to ICD-10 criteria and 27 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. The amplitude of motor-evoked potentials was measured before and after PAS. Patients were assessed during the acute episode and at follow-up to determine the state- or trait-character of LTP-like changes. LTP-like plasticity, the PAS-induced increase in motor-evoked potential amplitudes, was significantly attenuated in patients with an acute episode of MDD compared with healthy controls. Patients with remission showed a restoration of synaptic plasticity, whereas the deficits persisted in patients without remission, indicative for a state-character of impaired LTP-like plasticity. The results provide first evidence for a state-dependent partial occlusion of cortical LTP-like plasticity in MDD. This further identifies impaired LTP-like plasticity as a potential pathomechanism and treatment target of the disorder.