Daily Mood Reactivity to Stress during Childhood Predicts Internalizing Problems Three Years Later

Digital phenotyping for mental health based on data analytics: A systematic literature review

Even though mental health is a human right, mental disorders still affect millions of people worldwide. Untreated and undertreated mental health conditions may lead to suicide, which generates more than 700,000 deaths annually around the world. The broad adoption of smartphones and wearable devices allowed the recording and analysis of human behaviors in digital devices, which might reveal mental health symptoms. This analysis constitutes digital phenotyping research, referring to frequent and constant measurement of human phenotypes in situ based on data from smartphones and other personal digital devices. Therefore, this article presents a systematic literature review providing a computer science view on data analytics for digital phenotyping in mental health. This study reviewed 5,422 articles from ten academic databases published up to September 2024, generating a final list of 74 studies. The investigated databases are ACM, IEEE Xplore, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, Springer, Web of Science, and Wiley. We investigated ten research questions, considering explored data, employed devices, and techniques for data analysis. This review also organizes the application domains and mental health conditions, data analytics techniques, and current research challenges. This study found a growing research interest in digital phenotyping for mental health in recent years. Current approaches still present a high dependence on self-reported measures of mental health status, but there is evidence of the employment of smartphones for leveraging passive data collection. Traditional machine learning techniques are the main explored strategies for analyzing the large amount of collected data. In this regard, published approaches deeply focused on data analysis, generating opportunities concerning the implementation of resources for assisting individuals suffering from mental disorders.

Daily association between parent-adolescent emotion contagion: The role of parent-adolescent connectedness

Emotion contagion between parents and adolescents is crucial for understanding adolescents' emotional experiences. However, little is known about how emotion contagion unfolds in daily life and the unique contributions of parent-adolescent relationships. This study examines the associations between parent and adolescent positive and negative emotions, and the moderating role of daily parent-adolescent connectedness. Participants were 191 Taiwanese adolescents (Mage = 12.93; SDage = 0.75; 53% female) and their parents who completed 10-day diary reports of emotions and parent-adolescent connectedness. Results indicate that higher daily parent negative emotions were associated with more adolescent negative emotions, and higher average parent negative emotions were associated with greater average negative emotions and fewer positive emotions in adolescents. Similar bidirectional effects were also found in adolescent-to-parent emotion contagion. Moreover, on days when connectedness was high, parent negative emotions were not associated with adolescent negative emotions but were related to increased positive emotions. Parent positive emotions were related to more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions when connectedness was low. The findings provide important insights into daily parent-adolescent emotion contagion and highlight parent-adolescent connectedness as a modifying factor in shaping dyadic emotional processes.

Adolescent Emotional Reactivity in Family and School Contexts: Prospective Links to Adolescent Psychopathology

Emotional reactivity has been linked to adolescent psychopathology and mental health problems. However, limited research has investigated the distinct associations between emotional reactivity in multiple interpersonal contexts and the development of adolescent psychopathology. The current study examined emotional reactivity to interparental conflict, parent-adolescent conflict, and school problems as predictors of adolescent internalizing problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms six months later. The sample included 139 adolescents (54% girls; Mage = 13.30, SDage = 0.73) and their parents who completed 10-day daily reports and 6-month follow-up assessments in Taiwan. Results showed that negative emotional reactivity to interparental conflict was associated with increased internalizing problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, after controlling for emotional reactivity to parent-adolescent conflict and school problems, outcomes at baseline, mean negative emotions, and sex. Furthermore, the associations between both positive and negative emotional reactivity to interparental conflict and adolescent anxiety symptoms was stronger for girls than boys. Findings suggested that heightened emotional reactivity to interparental conflict is a risk factor for predicting adolescent psychopathology, especially for girls' anxiety symptoms. Results highlight the importance of emotional reactivity across multiple interpersonal contexts in adolescence.

Relationships between empathy, executive functions, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in early adolescents

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have shown associations between internalizing and externalizing symptoms, executive functions, and empathy. However, the mechanisms that affect this relationship remain unclear. This study employed regression analysis to explore the relationships between empathy, executive functions, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

METHOD

Our study consisted of three consecutive stages. In the first stage, we assessed 2150 adolescents' parents aged 10-12 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to determine which participants should be included in the subsequent stages. In the second stage, we conducted a pilot study with 50 participants to assess the validity of the assessment system and the six film scenes to be used in the following stage. Finally, in the third stage, we obtained 170 participants' state empathy, trait empathy, and executive functioning.

RESULTS

The regression analysis showed that working memory (β = 0.261) and externalizing symptoms (β = -0.157) predicted cognitive empathy, but only externalizing symptoms predicted affective empathy (β = -0.193). The regression analysis also showed that cognitive empathy (β = -0.513) and affective empathy (β = -0.535) predicted externalizing symptoms, but only inhibition predicted internalizing symptoms (β = 0.158).

CONCLUSION

This population-based study highlights the reciprocal effects of externalizing symptoms on cognitive and affective empathy. No significant relationship was found between internalizing symptoms and empathy. This study also highlights the effect of working memory on cognitive empathy. These findings may inform psychological interventions to improve empathic abilities in early adolescence.

The Prospective Association between Emotional Reactivity and Adolescent Suicidal Ideation

Despite the importance of emotions in our daily lives, less is known about the role of emotional reactivity in suicidal risk. This brief study investigated whether emotional reactivity is associated with adolescent suicidal ideation six months later. Participants were 139 adolescents (55% female; Mage = 12.79, SDage = 0.73) who completed baseline assessments, a 10-day daily diary protocol, and six-month follow-up assessments. Results showed that higher emotional reactivity indicated by increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions was associated with a greater risk for suicidal ideation. The findings suggest that adolescents with greater emotional reactivity to daily school problems had elevated risks for suicidal ideation. This study supports the importance of emotional reactivity in daily life for preventing adolescent suicidal ideation.

Youth daily stressors predict their parents' wellbeing

The experiences of family members are intertwined and the stressors of one family member may crossover to affect the wellbeing of others in the family as well. Prior studies have established that the stress experienced by one marital spouse can affect the wellbeing of their spouse and that parent stress can affect their children's wellbeing. This study used daily diary data from 318 parent-youth dyads (Mean age parent = 41.34, adolescent = 13.18) to examine whether youth daily stressors (i.e., interpersonal conflicts and demands), were associated with parent wellbeing and cortisol levels. Parents report more negative affect, more physical symptoms (i.e., headaches/fatigue/stomach problems), and exhibit higher bedtime cortisol levels on days when youth experience stressors. These effects were consistent across different types of youth stressors, including parent, family, and non-family stressors. Youth stress may have important implications for parent wellbeing.

Advancing the Study of Resilience to Daily Stressors

Historically, studies of childhood and adult resilience have typically focused on adaptation to chronic life adversities, such as poverty and maltreatment, or isolated and potentially traumatic events, such as bereavement and serious illness. Here, we present a complementary view and suggest that stressors experienced in daily life may also forecast individual health and well-being. We argue that daily process approaches that incorporate intensive sampling of individuals in natural settings can provide powerful insights into unfolding adaptational processes. In making this argument, we review studies that link intraindividual dynamics with diverse health-related phenomena. Findings from this research provide support for a multiple-levels-analysis perspective that embraces greater unity in pivotal resilience constructs invoked across childhood and adult literatures. Drawing on insights and principles derived from life-span theory, we conclude by outlining promising directions for future work and considering their broader implications for the field of resilience.

Effect of a Game-Based Physical Education Program on Physical Fitness and Mental Health in Elementary School Children

Promotion of healthy active behaviors should start from early ages, as behaviors learned in youth are more likely to endure. A fundamental body of research in this field focuses on the implementation of programs within physical education (PE), thanks to its favorable characteristics. However, traditional PE based on exercise training and controlling styles seems to have weaker association with students' health benefits. For this reason, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of a game-based PE program on physical fitness and psychological health in schoolchildren aged 10 to 12 years old. A total of 252 students were distributed in experimental (EG, games-centered activities) and control (CG, traditional exercise training activities) groups. The program lasted 6 months. Health-related physical fitness components, psychological wellbeing, self-esteem, stress, and anxiety were assessed before and after the treatment. Both groups increased physical fitness at post-test; however, cardiorespiratory fitness did not improve. No differences were found between the groups at post-test. Our results show that games may be as effective as traditional training methods; yet, they suggest that PE alone may be insufficient for obtaining substantive benefits in cardiorespiratory fitness, regardless of the type of task presented.