Childhood behavioral inhibition and overcontrol: Relationships with cognitive functioning, error monitoring, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms

Maternal Social Phobia, but not Generalized Anxiety, Symptoms Interact with Early Childhood Error-Related Negativity to Prospectively Predict Child Anxiety Symptoms

The error-related negativity (ERN) has been called a putative neural marker of anxiety risk in children, with smaller ERN amplitudes denoting greater risk in early childhood. Children of anxious mothers are at elevated risk for anxiety problems compared to children of non-anxious mothers. Still unknown is whether discrete maternal symptoms interact with child ERN to predict different forms of child anxiety risk, knowledge of which could increase our understanding of the specificity of known conditions and pathways for transgenerational effects. Targeting two of the most prevalent forms of anxiety problems across children and adults, we tested whether maternal generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social phobia (SP) symptoms when children were 3 years old interacted with child ERN at age 4 years to predict child symptoms of overanxiousness and separation anxiety at age 5 years. We found that greater maternal SP, but not GAD, symptoms along with smaller (i.e., less negative) child ERN predicted more separation anxiety and overanxious symptoms in children, suggesting some specificity in prediction but less specificity in outcomes regarding the transmission of anxiety risk from mothers to offspring.

Executive functioning as a prospective moderator of the relations between maltreatment in childhood and externalizing symptoms and wellbeing from adolescence to young adulthood

Although childhood maltreatment is associated with externalizing symptoms, not all individuals with these experiences develop externalizing behaviors and some exhibit positive adjustment. To address this multifinality, we used latent growth curve modeling to identify trajectories of (a) externalizing symptoms and (b) subjective wellbeing from late adolescence through young adulthood, determine whether types of childhood maltreatment and domains of executive functioning (EF) are associated with initial levels and growth (slopes) of externalizing symptoms or subjective wellbeing, and investigate whether EF moderates these relations. Participants were youth recruited at ages 10-12 (N = 775; 69% male, 31% female; 76% White, 21% Black/African American, 3% multiracial). We examined EF at ages 10-12, childhood maltreatment reported retrospectively at age 25, and externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing at multiple points between ages 16 and 28. Experience of childhood maltreatment and certain EF domains were associated with externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing at age 16. EF domains were associated with rate of change in externalizing problems, though not in expected directions. EF variables moderated the relation between maltreatment and initial levels of both outcomes and change in externalizing symptoms. Findings have implications for intervention efforts to mitigate externalizing problems and bolster positive adjustment.

Research hotspots and trends of neuroimaging in social anxiety: a CiteSpace bibliometric analysis based on Web of Science and Scopus database

Background

This study focused on the research hotspots and development trends of the neuroimaging of social anxiety (SA) in the past 25 years.

Methods

We selected 1,305 studies on SA neuroimaging from the Web of Science and Scopus from January 1998 to December 2023. CiteSpace was used to analyze the number of published articles visually, cited references, cooperation among authors and institutions, co-occurrence of keywords, clustering of keywords, burst of keywords, and time zone of co-occurring keywords.

Results

A total of 1,305 articles were included, and the annual number of articles published over nearly 25 years showed the overall trend is on the rise. The analysis of author and institutional collaboration reveals that most authors collaborate closely. Among them, the team led by Pine, Daniel S published 59 articles, making it the most central team. Harvard University is identified as the most central institution in this network. The research hotspots can be categorized into four areas: research techniques, cognitive processing research areas, core brain regions and brain networks, and the neural predictors of treatment outcomes in SA. The most recent burst keywords are "cognitive behavioral therapy," "systematic review," "machine learning," "major clinical study," "transcranial direct current stimulation," "depression," and "outcome assessment," which provided clues on research frontiers. Based on the burst map and keyword time zone map, it appears that exploring the activity of brain regions involved in cognitive processing, such as face processing and attentional bias, as well as the comorbidity of SA and depression, through brain imaging technology, using brain signals as predictors of treatment outcomes in SA.

Conclusion

This study conducted a comprehensive, objective, and visual analysis of publications, and revealed hot topics and trends concerning the study of the brain mechanism of SA from 1998 to 2023. This work might assist researchers in identifying new insights on potential collaborators and institutions, hot topics, and research directions.

Telehealth-Delivered Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (RO DBT-A): A Pilot Mixed-Methods Study

OBJECTIVE

Disorders related to overcontrol frequently first appear during adolescence, are highly comorbid, and show limited treatment response, necessitating the adaptation of radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT; a transdiagnostic treatment targeting overcontrol) for adolescents (RO DBT-A). This study tested the preliminary efficacy of telehealth-delivered RO DBT-A in a heterogeneous clinical sample of youths.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 20 female participants ages 13-21 with elevated overcontrol; most were White (75%) and non-Hispanic/Latino (80%). RO DBT-A was provided over 20 weeks via skills group and individual sessions (N=13 participants). Participants seeking other treatment or no treatment formed the control group (N=7). Outcomes included self-reported symptoms and overcontrol. Follow-up interviews were analyzed by using inductive, contextualist thematic analysis to examine participant perceptions and reasons for dropout.

RESULTS

The RO DBT-A group showed significant improvements in depression (t=-1.78, df=10, p=0.011) and quality of life (QOL; Wilcoxon W=75, p=0.021) compared with the control group. From baseline to posttreatment, youths receiving RO DBT-A demonstrated significant improvements in maladaptive overcontrol (t=2.76, df=12, p=0.043), anxiety (t=2.91, df=12, p=0.043), depression (Wilcoxon signed rank V=82.5, p=0.043), and QOL (t=-3.01, df=12, p=0.043). Qualitative analysis revealed themes related to treatment barriers, facilitators, and timing.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings provide preliminary evidence supporting telehealth-delivered RO DBT-A in targeting overcontrol, decreasing symptomatology, and improving QOL in a heterogeneous clinical sample of youths. Qualitative follow-ups highlighted that dropout was driven by barriers related to therapy (e.g., structure- and therapist-related issues) and the timing of RO DBT-A compared with other treatments.

Interconnections between Emotion Recognition, Self-Processes and Psychological Well-Being in Adolescents

Background: Adolescence is a critical developmental period for mentalization and emotion regulation skills. Studies show that during this time, adolescents may experience greater vulnerability to challenges of mental and emotional well-being. Studies also show that self-skills, such as mentalization, self-compassion, and self-control are independently associated with feelings of global self-worth or psychological well-being. To date, no known studies have explored interconnected relations among these self-skills, despite significant overlaps in the social-biological development of these skills. Aims: To investigate interconnected relations among psychological well-being, mentalization, self-compassion and self-control. Gender differences in these relations are explored. Method: As part of a larger, longitudinal study of adolescent well-being, this cross-sectional study drew on a variety of self-report measures, investigating relations among adolescents’ self-reports of psychological well-being, emotion recognition, self-control, and self-compassion. Participants consisted of 88 girls and 57 boys, mean age 13.38. Results: Main results showed associations among emotion recognition, self-control and self-compassion and feelings of global self-worth. Specifically, results showed that understanding negative emotions in others relates to lower levels of self-compassion and feelings of self-worth. Further, adolescents who report low levels of self-control reported uncompassionate self-responding and lower levels of self-worth. Gender differences and implications for further research and adolescent social-emotional interventions are discussed.