Distinct brain network features predict internalizing and externalizing traits in children and adults.

A classic distinction in psychiatry has been the study of externalizing and internalizing traits. However, the extent to which shared or unique brain network features - such as patterns of functional connectivity - may predict internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children and adults remain poorly understood. Using a sample of 2262 children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study and 752 adults from the Human Connectome Project (HCP), we show that predictive network features are, at least in part, dissociable across both categories of behavior and developmental stages. Traits within internalizing and externalizing behavioral categories are predicted by similar network features concatenated across task and resting states. However, distinct network features predict internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children and adults. These data reveal shared and unique brain network features that account for individual variation within broad internalizing and externalizing categories across developmental stages.