Early predictors of boys' antisocial trajectories

Smart Beginnings Predicts Reduced Externalizing Behavior Via Parental Negative Demeanor During Discipline

The goal of this study was to examine the impacts of the Smart Beginnings (SB) intervention, a tiered model that combines universal primary prevention and targeted secondary prevention, on parental negative affect during discipline and children's externalizing behavior. Analyses included 273 families who were randomly assigned to SB or control groups at birth. Parental negative affect during discipline and child externalizing behavior were assessed through parent report at age four and six, respectively. Compared to the control group, families in SB had significantly reduced parental negative affect during discipline, with indirect effects on children's externalizing behavior through impacts on parent affect during discipline, both for the full sample and specifically for families with increased risks. Findings suggest that interventions aimed at promoting positive parent-child interactions may have important impacts on parenting behaviors and may prevent the onset of child behavior problems, with important implications for the implementation of preventive interventions. This study examined the impacts of the Smart Beginnings (SB) tiered model, which combines universal primary prevention and targeted secondary prevention, on parental negative demeanor during discipline-negative parental behavioral traits that are expressed through anger, verbal aggression, or demeaning behavior-and children's externalizing behavior. Analyses included 273 families randomly assigned to SB or control groups at birth. Parental negative demeanor during discipline was assessed through parent report (Socolar Discipline Survey) at age four and child externalizing behavior (CBCL) at age six. Compared to controls, regression analyses indicated that families in SB had significantly reduced parental negative demeanor during discipline, with mediation analyses suggesting indirect effects on child externalizing through impacts on parent demeanor during discipline, moderated by family risk level. Findings indicate that interventions aimed at promoting positive parent-child interactions may impact parenting behaviors and prevent onset of child behavior problems, with important implications for implementation of preventive interventions.

Family Functioning and Intraindividual Reaction Time Variability Interactively Predict Children's Externalizing Problems

Family functioning including family adaptability and family cohesion, and intraindividual reaction time variability (IIV) which serves as an index of attentional control has been found to relate to children's externalizing problems. However, it remains unknown whether family functioning interacts with children's IIV to predict their externalizing problems based on the diathesis-stress model. The present study examined this concern. Participants included 168 (Mage = 7.35 years, SD = 0.48; 48% boys) and 155 (Mage = 8.32 years, SD = 0.45; 49% boys) children at the first (T1) and second (after one year, T2) measurements, respectively. At T1, a flanker task was used to assess children's IIV. Mothers reported family functioning using the Chinese version of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales, and children's externalizing problems using the Chinese version of the Child Behavior Checklist. At T2, mothers reported children's externalizing problems again. Results indicated that family functioning negatively and IIV positively correlated with children's externalizing problems. Furthermore, family functioning interacted with children's IIV to predict their externalizing problems concurrently and longitudinally. Specifically, low family functioning combined with greater IIV predicted prospective externalizing problems. Findings suggested that better attentional control (indexed by lower IIV) may buffer the negative effect of poor family functioning.

Heterogeneity in Developmental Trajectories of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptomatology: Associations with Risk and Protective Factors

Among a large sample of youth (9-10 years old at baseline) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® (n = 11,661) we modeled trajectories of psychopathology over three years and associated risk and protective factors. Growth mixture modeling characterized latent classes with distinct psychopathology trajectories. Results indicated four different internalizing trajectories: a high-decreasing class, a moderate-decreasing class, a moderate-increasing class, and a low-stable class. There were also four externalizing trajectories: a moderate-decreasing class, a high-decreasing class, a moderate-increasing class, and a low-decreasing class. We used parallel process growth analysis to examine the co-development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and characterized five trajectory classes with distinct patterns of co-development. These classes were differentially associated with negative life events, neighborhood safety, and parental acceptance. Together, the findings characterize general developmental patterns of psychopathology, quantify the proportion of youth that follow each pattern, and identify key predictors that discriminate these patterns.

Integrating equifinality and multifinality into the of prevention programs in early childhood: The conceptual case for use of tiered models

Introduced in the context of developmental psychopathology by Cicchetti and Rogosh in the Journal, the current paper incorporates the principles of equifinality and multifinality to support the use of tiered models to prevent the development of emerging child psychopathology and promote school readiness in early childhood. We use the principles of equifinality and multifinality to describe the limitations of applying one intervention model to address all children presenting with different types of risk for early problem behavior. We then describe the potential benefits of applying a tiered model for having impacts at the population level and two initial applications of this approach during early childhood. The first of these tiered models, Smart Beginnings, integrates the use of two evidenced-based preventive interventions, Video Interaction Project, a universal parenting program, and Family Check-Up, a selective parenting program. Building on the strengths of Smart Beginnings, the second trial, The Pittsburgh Study includes Video Interaction Project and Family Check-Up, and other more and less-intensive programs to address the spectrum of challenges facing parents of young children. Findings from these two projects are discussed with their implications for developing tiered models to support children's early development and mental health.

Influence of early childhood parental hostility and socioeconomic stress on children's internalizing symptom trajectories from childhood to adolescence

Introduction

Children and adolescents with elevated internalizing symptoms are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, and other psychopathology later in life. The present study examined the predictive links between two bioecological factors in early childhood-parental hostility and socioeconomic stress-and children's internalizing symptom class outcomes, while considering the effects of child sex assigned at birth on internalizing symptom development from childhood to adolescence.

Materials and Methods

The study used a sample of 1,534 children to test the predictive effects of socioeconomic stress at ages 18 and 27 months; hostile parenting measured at child ages 4-5; and sex assigned at birth on children's internalizing symptom latent class outcomes at child ages 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, and 16-19. Analyses also tested the mediating effect of parenting on the relationship between socioeconomic stress and children's symptom classes. Other covariates included parent depressive symptoms at child ages 4-5 and child race and ethnicity.

Results

Analyses identified three distinct heterogenous internalizing symptom classes characterized by relative symptom levels and progression: low (35%); moderate and increasing (41%); and higher and increasing (24%). As anticipated, higher levels of parental hostility in early childhood predicted membership in the higher and increasing symptom class, compared with the low symptom class (odds ratio (OR) = .61, 95% confidence interval (CI) [.48,.77]). Higher levels of early childhood socioeconomic stress were also associated with the likelihood of belonging to the higher-increasing symptom class compared to the low and moderate-increasing classes (OR = .46, 95% CI [.35,.60] and OR = .56, 95% CI [.44,.72], respectively). The total (c = .61) and direct (c' = .57) effects of socioeconomic stress on children's symptom class membership in the mediation analysis were significant (p <.001).

Discussion

Study findings suggest that intervening on modifiable bioecological stressors-including parenting behaviors and socioeconomic stressors-may provide important protective influences on children's internalizing symptom trajectories.

Early risk factors for conduct problem trajectories from childhood to adolescence: the 2004 Pelotas (BRAZIL) Birth Cohort

Conduct problems are associated with an increased risk of a wide range of physical, mental, and social problems. However, there is still uncertainty about how early risk factors differentiate different developmental patterns of conduct problems and whether findings replicate across diverse social contexts. We aimed to identify developmental trajectories of conduct problems, and test early risk factors, in the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Brazil. Conduct problems were measured at ages 4, 6, 11, and 15 years from caregiver reports on the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Conduct problem trajectories were estimated using group-based semi-parametric modeling (n = 3938). Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations between early risk factors and conduct problem trajectories. We identified four trajectories: three with elevated conduct problems, including early-onset persistent (n = 150; 3.8%), adolescence-onset (n = 286; 17.3%), and childhood-limited (n = 697; 17.7%), and one with low conduct problems (n = 2805; 71.2%). The three elevated conduct problem trajectories were associated with a wide range of sociodemographic risk factors, prenatal smoking, maternal mental health, harsh parenting, childhood trauma, and child neurodevelopmental risk factors. Early-onset persistent conduct problems were particularly associated with trauma, living without a father figure, and attention difficulties. The four trajectories of conduct problems from ages 4 to 15 years in this Brazilian cohort have similar longitudinal patterns to those identified in high-income countries. The results confirm previous longitudinal research and developmental taxonomic theories on the etiology of conduct problems in a Brazilian sample.

Joint Developmental Trajectories of Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity/Inattention: Antecedent Risk Markers for Group Membership

This study investigated joint trajectories of conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention from age three to nine in a cohort of 7,507 children in Ireland (50.3% males; 84.9% Irish). The parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to collect information on conduct problems (CP) and hyperactivity/inattention (HI). Information regarding risk markers was collected when participants were nine-months-old via parent report and standardised assessments. Using a person-centred approach (i.e., group-based multi trajectory modelling), six trajectories were identified: no CP/low HI, low-stable CP/HI, low-declining CP/stable HI, desisting co-occurring CP/HI, pure-increasing HI, and high chronic co-occurring CP/HI. Specific risk markers for group membership included: male sex; birth complications; perceived difficult temperament; lower primary caregiver age and education level, and higher stress level; prenatal exposure to smoking, and indicators of lower socioeconomic status. Primary caregiver-child bonding and having siblings were protective markers against membership in elevated groups. Results suggest support for both 'pure' HI and co-occurring trajectories of CP and HI emerging in toddlerhood. However, no support was found for a 'pure' CP trajectory, which may support the suggestion that children on a persistent CP trajectory will have coexisting HI. Intervention efforts may benefit from starting early in life and targeting multiple risk markers in families with fewer resources.

Overt and Covert Delinquency: Socio-Demographic Correlates in Justice-Involved Adolescent Males

Delinquent offenses among adolescents is an important public health concern worldwide and has been increasing at an alarming rate in India. The study aimed to assess the prevalence and pattern of delinquency among justice-involved adolescent (JIA) males and determine the associated socio-demographic factors. This cross-sectional study was carried out during the year 2016 to 2019 among 178 male inmates (aged 10-18 years) of an observation home situated at Berhampur city in the state of Odisha, India. More than half (52.8%) of the JIA males committed overt delinquent acts and 47.2% committed covert delinquent acts. Drug trafficking (34.5%) tops the list among different covert delinquent acts followed by stealing things (33.3%) whereas rape (62.8%) was the most frequently committed overt delinquent act followed by murder (25%). Results of the multivariate analysis revealed that older age {adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 4.05; 95% CI [1.73, 9.51]}, lower education status of mother (aOR: 2.81; 95% CI [1.09, 7.22]), single parenthood (aOR: 4.58; 95% CI [1.27, 16.58]), and non-supportive parenting (aOR: 3.13, 95% CI [1.44, 6.80]) were significantly associated with overt delinquency in JIA males. The prevalence of overt delinquency among JIA males was high. Interventional measures incorporating these determinants should be designed to address overt delinquency in this population.

Attention and behavior problems in childhood predict adult financial status, health, and criminal activity: A conceptual replication and extension of Moffitt et al. (2011) using cohorts from the United States and the United Kingdom

This study is a conceptual replication of a widely cited study by Moffitt et al. (2011) which found that attention and behavior problems in childhood (a composite of impulsive hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive-aggressive behaviors labeled "self-control") predicted adult financial status, health, and criminal activity. Using data from longitudinal cohort studies in the United States (n = 1,168) and the United Kingdom (n = 16,506), we largely reproduced their pattern of findings that attention and behavior problems measured across the course of childhood predicted a range of adult outcomes including educational attainment (βU.S. = -0.22, βU.K. = -0.13) and spending time in jail (ORU.S. = 1.74, ORU.K. = 1.48). We found that associations with outcomes in education, work, and finances diminished in the presence of additional covariates for children's home environment and achievement but associations for other outcomes were more robust. We also found that attention and behavior problems across distinct periods of childhood were associated with adult outcomes. Specific attention and behavior problems showed some differences in predicting outcomes in the U.S. cohort, with attention problems predicting lower educational attainment and hyperactivity/impulsivity predicting ever spending time in jail. Together with the findings from Moffitt et al., our study makes clear that childhood attention and behavior problems are associated with a range of outcomes in adulthood for cohorts born in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s across three countries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Antisocial behavior is associated with reduced frontoparietal activity to loss in a population-based sample of adolescents

BACKGROUND

Adolescent antisocial behavior (AB) is a public health concern due to the high financial and social costs of AB on victims and perpetrators. Neural systems involved in reward and loss processing are thought to contribute to AB. However, investigations into these processes are limited: few have considered anticipatory and consummatory components of reward, response to loss, nor whether associations with AB may vary by level of callous-unemotional (CU) traits.

METHODS

A population-based community sample of 128 predominantly low-income youth (mean age = 15.9 years; 42% male) completed a monetary incentive delay task during fMRI. A multi-informant, multi-method latent variable approach was used to test associations between AB and neural response to reward and loss anticipation and outcome and whether CU traits moderated these associations.

RESULTS

AB was not associated with neural response to reward but was associated with reduced frontoparietal activity during loss outcomes. This association was moderated by CU traits such that individuals with higher levels of AB and CU traits had the largest reductions in frontoparietal activity. Co-occurring AB and CU traits were also associated with increased precuneus response during loss anticipation.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that AB is associated with reduced activity in brain regions involved in cognitive control, attention, and behavior modification during negative outcomes. Moreover, these reductions are most pronounced in youth with co-occurring CU traits. These findings have implications for understanding why adolescents involved in AB continue these behaviors despite severe negative consequences (e.g. incarceration).

A Polygenic Risk Score Enhances Risk Prediction for Adolescents' Antisocial Behavior over the Combined Effect of 22 Extra-familial, Familial, and Individual Risk Factors in the Context of the Family Check-Up

Possessing informative tools to predict who is most at risk for antisocial behavior in adolescence is important to help identify families most in need of early intervention. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) have been shown to predict antisocial behavior, but it remains unclear whether PRSs provide additional benefit above more conventional tools to early risk detection for antisocial behavior. This study examined the utility of a PRS in predicting adolescents' antisocial behavior after accounting for a broad index of children's contextual and individual risk factors for antisocial behavior. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal family-based prevention study (N = 463; Ncontrol = 224; 48.8% girls; 45.1% White; 30.2% Black; 12.7% Hispanic/Latino, 10.4% biracial; 0.2% Native American). Participants were recruited from US-based Women, Infants, and Children Nutritional Supplement programs. A risk tolerance PRS was created from a genome-wide association study. We created a robust measure capturing additive effects of 22 conventional measures of a risk of antisocial behavior assessed at child age 2 (before intervention). A latent variable capturing antisocial behavior (ages 10.5-16) was created. After accounting for intervention status and the conventional risk index, the risk tolerance PRS predicted independent variance in antisocial behavior. A PRS-by-conventional risk interaction showed that the conventional risk measure only predicted antisocial behavior at high levels of the PRS. Thus, the risk tolerance PRS provides unique predictive information above conventional screening tools and, when combined with them, identified a higher-risk subgroup of children. Integrating PRSs could facilitate risk identification and, ultimately, prevention screening, particularly in settings unable to serve all individuals in need.

Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Middle School Students: Invariance Properties Related to Gender and Ethnicity

The middle school version of the Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students (msWARNS) is a self-report instrument designed for use by school personnel to identify barriers to school attendance and school success for sixth- to eighth-grade students. It measures six domains relevant to improving school outcomes that include aggression-defiance, depression-anxiety, substance use, peer deviance, home environment, and school engagement. In the present study, a bifactor S - 1 model, for which the aggression-defiance domain was the reference factor for the general factor and the other domains constituted the subfactors, had good fit and better fit than several other alternative models. Results of multigroup confirmatory factor analysis revealed invariance across different groups defined by gender and race/ethnicity (Native American, African American, Hispanic, and White), with a sample of referred middle school students (N = 2,356; ages 10-15 years). Reliability analyses support the use of the general factor to guide decision-making, the reliable use of the depression-anxiety factor for providing additional insights, and the remaining factors for guiding communication, as part of an assessment and intervention program for middle school students.

Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Perceptions of School Climate are Uniquely Associated with Students' Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems

Early externalizing and internalizing problems undermine children's school success and long-term well-being. Leveraging a large, U.S.-representative dataset (N ≈ 14,810), we examined how kindergarten teachers' self-efficacy and school climate perceptions were linked to students' behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Teachers' self-efficacy and school climate perceptions were uniquely linked to kindergarteners' externalizing and internalizing behaviors, after controlling for demographic covariates and children's executive functions. Kindergarten teachers' higher self-efficacy predicted lower levels of children's externalizing problems in first grade, while teachers' positive school climate perceptions predicted children's lower internalizing problems in first grade. Longitudinal models demonstrated that teachers' perceived school climate and self-efficacy were uniquely associated with decreases in children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors from kindergarten to first grade. Findings highlight the importance of teachers' self-efficacy and school climate for children's socio-emotional development and underscore an urgent need to determine how best to support teacher well-being to optimize children's outcomes.

Cannabis, connectivity, and coming of age: Associations between cannabis use and anterior cingulate cortex connectivity during the transition to adulthood

Cannabis use is common among adolescents and emerging adults and is associated with significant adverse consequences for a subset of users. Rates of use peak between the ages of 18-25, yet the neurobiological consequences for neural systems that are actively developing during this time remain poorly understood. In particular, cannabis exposure may interfere with adaptive development of white matter pathways underlying connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex, including the cingulum and anterior thalamic radiations (ATR). The current study examined the association between cannabis use during adolescence and emerging adulthood and white matter microstructure of the cingulum and ATR among 158 male subjects enrolled in the Pitt Mother and Child Project, a prospective, longitudinal study of risk and resilience among men of low socioeconomic status. Participants were recruited in infancy, completed follow-up assessments throughout childhood and adolescence, and underwent diffusion imaging at ages 20 and 22. At age 20, moderate cannabis use across adolescence (age 12-19) was associated with higher fractional anisotropy (FA) of the cingulum and ATR, relative to both minimal and heavy adolescent use. Longitudinally, moderate and heavy extended cannabis use (age 12-21) was associated with reduced positive change in FA in the cingulum from age 20 to 22, relative to minimal use. These longitudinal results suggest that cannabis exposure may delay cingulum maturation during the transition to adulthood and potentially impact individuals' functioning later in development.

A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Mother-Child Attachment and Externalizing Trajectories in Boys and Girls

In clinically referred children, boys and those with disorganized mother-child attachments tend to show the most maladaptive externalizing trajectories; however, additional research is necessary to test whether these findings hold in a community sample. Therefore, 235 community children (106 boys) were followed from ages 6 to 15 years across six time points. Multiple-group linear growth curves with mother-child attachment as a time-invariant covariate were fit to the data to explore externalizing trajectories for boys and girls. Results showed that boys had higher initial externalizing levels than girls, and children generally experienced a decline in symptoms over time. No significant trajectory differences were found for girls, and boys with different attachment classifications did not differ on their initial externalizing levels; however, boys with avoidant attachments (with resistant attachments trending) experienced a steeper decline in externalizing symptoms longitudinally. Implications for intervention and prevention are discussed.

Dynamic trajectory of platelet counts after the first cycle of induction chemotherapy in AML patients

Background

Platelet counts varied over time after induction chemotherapy. We aimed to investigate the different trajectories of platelet counts after the first cycle of induction chemotherapy in patients newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Methods and results

In total, 149 individuals were included in this study. We identified four distinct trajectories using a group-based trajectory model: low- stability group (n = 27, 18.12%), low-level decrease–medium elevation group (n = 42, 28.19%), low-level decrease–high elevation group (n = 60, 40.27%), and high-level decrease–medium elevation group (n = 20, 13.42%). The baseline characteristics of the high-level decrease–medium elevation group included higher platelet count, lower white blood cell count, lower percentage of bone marrow blasts, and lower rates of complete remission after the first cycle of induction chemotherapy. Compared with the low-stability group, the hazard ratios were 0.32 (95% confidence interval, 0.15–0.68) for the low-level decrease–medium elevation group, 0.31 (95% confidence interval, 0.15–0.63) for the low-level decrease–high elevation group, and 0.35 (95% confidence interval, 0.13–0.89) for the high-level decrease–medium elevation group after adjustment for age and gender by Cox proportional hazard regression. Compared with the low-stability group, the hazard ratios were 0.33 (95% confidence interval, 0.14–0.77) for the low-level decrease–medium elevation group and 0.31 (95% confidence interval, 0.14–0.67) for the low-level decrease–high elevation group after adjustment for age, gender, white blood cell count, and bone marrow blasts. These associations persisted after adjusting for age, gender, white blood cell count, bone marrow blasts, and platelet count.

Conclusion

The dynamic trajectory of platelet counts after the first cycle of induction chemotherapy is a significant predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Timely intervention should be considered for the low-stability group. The low-level decrease–medium elevation and low-level decrease-high elevation groups were independent protective factors for all-cause mortality.

Externalizing behavior in preschool children in a South African birth cohort: Predictive pathways in a high-risk context

Mental health problems often begin in early childhood. However, the associations of various individual and contextual risk factors with mental health in the preschool period are incompletely understood, particularly in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) where multiple risk factors co-exist. To address this gap, we prospectively followed 981 children in a South African birth cohort, the Drakenstein Child Health Study, assessing pre-and postnatal exposures and risk factors. The predictive value of these factors for child mental health (assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist) was modeled using structural equation modeling. We identified two key pathways to greater externalizing behavior: (1) prenatal exposure to substances (alcohol and smoking) directly predicted increased externalizing behavior (β = 0.24, p < 0.001); this relationship was partially mediated by an aspect of infant temperament (negative emotionality; β = 0.05, p = 0.016); (2) lower socioeconomic status and associated maternal prenatal depression predicted more coercive parenting, which in turn predicted increased externalizing behavior (β = 0.18, p = 0.001). Findings in this high-risk LMIC cohort cohere with research from higher income contexts, and indicate the need to introduce integrated screening and intervention strategies for maternal prenatal substance use and depression, and promoting positive parenting across the preschool period.

Individual differences in the development of youth externalizing problems predict a broad range of adult psychosocial outcomes

This study examined how youth aggressive and delinquent externalizing problem behaviors across childhood and adolescence are connected to consequential psychosocial life outcomes in adulthood. Using data from a longitudinal, high-risk sample (N = 1069) that assessed children and their parents regularly from early childhood (ages 3-5) through adulthood, multilevel growth factors of externalizing behaviors were used to predict adult outcomes (age 24-31), providing a sense of how externalizing problems across development were related to these outcomes via maternal, paternal, teacher, and child report. Findings indicated strong support for the lasting connections between youth externalizing problems with later educational attainment and legal difficulties, spanning informants and enduring beyond other meaningful contributors (i.e., child sex, cognitive ability, parental income and education, parental mental health and relationship quality). Some support was also found, although less consistently, linking externalizing problems and later alcohol use as well as romantic relationship quality. Delinquent/rule-breaking behaviors were often stronger predictors of later outcomes than aggressive behaviors. Taken together, these results indicate the importance of the role youth externalizing behaviors have in adult psychosocial functioning one to two decades later.

Parenting in the Context of the Child: Genetic and Social Processes

The focus on the role of parenting in child development has a long-standing history. When measures of parenting precede changes in child development, researchers typically infer a causal role of parenting practices and attitudes on child development. However, this research is usually conducted with parents raising their own biological offspring. Such research designs cannot account for the effects of genes that are common to parents and children, nor for genetically influenced traits in children that influence how they are parented and how parenting affects them. The aim of this monograph is to provide a clearer view of parenting by synthesizing findings from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS). EGDS is a longitudinal study of adopted children, their birth parents, and their rearing parents studied across infancy and childhood. Families (N = 561) were recruited in the United States through adoption agencies between 2000 and 2010. Data collection began when adoptees were 9 months old (males = 57.2%; White 54.5%, Black 13.2%, Hispanic/Latinx 13.4%, Multiracial 17.8%, other 1.1%). The median child age at adoption placement was 2 days (M = 5.58, SD = 11.32). Adoptive parents were predominantly in their 30s, White, and coming from upper-middle- or upper-class backgrounds with high educational attainment (a mode at 4-year college or graduate degree). Most adoptive parents were heterosexual couples, and were married at the beginning of the project. The birth parent sample was more racially and ethnically diverse, but the majority (70%) were White. At the beginning of the study, most birth mothers and fathers were in their 20s, with a mode of educational attainment at high school degree, and few of them were married. We have been following these family members over time, assessing their genetic influences, prenatal environment, rearing environment, and child development. Controlling for effects of genes common to parents and children, we confirmed some previously reported associations between parenting, parent psychopathology, and marital adjustment in relation to child problematic and prosocial behavior. We also observed effects of children's heritable characteristics, characteristics thought to be transmitted from parent to child by genetic means, on their parents and how those effects contributed to subsequent child development. For example, we found that genetically influenced child impulsivity and social withdrawal both elicited harsh parenting, whereas a genetically influenced sunny disposition elicited parental warmth. We found numerous instances of children's genetically influenced characteristics that enhanced positive parental influences on child development or that protected them from harsh parenting. Integrating our findings, we propose a new, genetically informed process model of parenting. We posit that parents implicitly or explicitly detect genetically influenced liabilities and assets in their children. We also suggest future research into factors such as marital adjustment, that favor parents responding with appropriate protection or enhancement. Our findings illustrate a productive use of genetic information in prevention research: helping parents respond effectively to a profile of child strengths and challenges rather than using genetic information simply to identify some children unresponsive to current preventive interventions.

Parental Reflective Functioning as a Moderator for the Relationship Between Maternal Depression and Child Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

Parental Reflective Functioning (PRF) refers to parents' capacity to view their child's and their own behavior considering inner mental states, like thoughts, desires, and intentions. This study's objective was to examine whether PRF acted as a moderator for the relationships between maternal depression and child internalizing and externalizing problems. The sample was comprised of 685 Iranian mothers with preschoolers (3 to 5 years old) and school-aged (6-10 years old) children. To assess PRF, the PRF questionnaire was used. Child internalizing and externalizing difficulties were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, and maternal depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory- second version. Results indicated significant relationships between maternal depression and PRF (specifically pre-mentalizing and certainty in mental states). Also, mothers of school-aged children showed significantly higher levels of pre-mentalizing than mothers of preschoolers. Furthermore, certainty about mental states moderated the relationship between maternal depression and child externalizing behaviors in school-aged children. However, no moderating effect was found for pre-mentalizing or interest and curiosity in mental states in any age group.

Gene × Environment Interactions in the Development of Preschool Effortful Control, and Its Implications for Childhood Externalizing Behavior

This study examined the role of gene × environment interaction (G × E) in the development of effortful control (EC) and externalizing symptoms (EXT). Participants included 361 adopted children, and their Adoptive Parents (APs) and Birth Mothers (BMs), drawn from the Early Growth and Development Study. The primary adoptive caregivers' (AP1) laxness and overreactivity were assessed when children were 27-months-old, and used as indices of environmental influences on EC. Heritable influences on child EC were assessed by the BMs' personality characteristics (emotion dysregulation, agreeableness). Secondary adoptive caregivers (AP2) reported on children's EC at 54 months, and EXT at 7 years. Interactions between BM characteristics and AP1 laxness were related to EC and indirectly predicted EXT via EC. Parental laxness and EC were positively associated if children had high heritable risk for poor EC (BM high emotion dysregulation or low agreeableness), but negatively associated if children had low heritable risk for poor EC (BM low emotion dysregulation or high agreeableness). BM agreeableness also moderated associations between AP1 overreactivity and effortful control, and yielded a similar pattern of results. Our findings suggest that G × E is an important first step in the development of EXT via its effect on EC. Consistent with "goodness of fit" models, heritable tendencies can affect which parenting practices best support EC development.

Curvilinear Relations Between Preschool-Aged Children's Effortful Control and Socioemotional Problems: Racial-Ethnic Differences in Functional Form

The majority of studies of preschool-aged children's self-regulation presume that their higher levels of self-regulation are concurrently and prospectively associated with fewer externalizing and internalizing problems. This assumes their relations are only linear in form and negative, but studies with community samples of mostly non-Hispanic White children have found curvilinear or positive relations between self-regulation and socioemotional problems in early childhood. This cross-sectional study tests linear and quadratic relations between children's behavioral battery assessed effortful control and parent rated externalizing and internalizing problems, and whether their functional forms differ across racial-ethnic groups in a diverse sample of 2.5- to 3.5-years-olds (N = 72) from highly educated two-parent households. Child effortful control was negatively related to externalizing, quadratically related to internalizing (albeit marginally), and an interaction between effortful control and race-ethnicity indicated opposite linear relations between effortful control and internalizing problems for different racial-ethnic groups. By integrating tests of curvilinearity and interactions, this study builds on theoretical and empirical work indicating complex relations between the development of self-regulation and psychopathology.

Prosocial and Aggressive Behavior: A Longitudinal Study

Developmental theorists have made strong claims about the fundamental prosocial or aggressive nature of the human infant. However, only rarely have prosocial behavior and aggression been studied together in the same sample. We charted the parallel development of both behaviors from infancy to childhood in a British community sample, using a two-construct, multimethod longitudinal design. Data were drawn from the Cardiff Child Development Study (CCDS), a prospective longitudinal study of a volunteer sample of parents and their firstborn children. A sample of 332 mothers was recruited from National Health Service (NHS) prenatal clinics and general practice clinics in Wales, UK, between Fall of 2005 and Summer of 2007. Potential participants represented the full range of sociodemographic classifications of neighborhoods. Participating families were divided about equally between middle- and working-class families, were somewhat more likely to have sons than daughters, and the majority (90%) were in a stable partnership. In response to standard categories recommended for use in Wales at the time, the majority (93%) of mothers reported themselves as Welsh, Scottish, English, or Irish; most others named a European or South Asian nationality. Of the 332 families agreeing to participate, 321 mothers (Mage  = 28 years) and 285 partners (Mage  = 31 years) were interviewed during the pregnancy and 321 of the families contributed data at least once after the child's birth. After an initial home visit at 6 months, data collection occurred in four additional waves of testing when children's mean ages were approximately 1, 1.5, 2.5, and 7 years. Data collection alternated between family homes and Cardiff University. Of those families seen after the child's birth, 89% were assessed at the final wave of testing. Data collection ended in 2015. Methods included direct observation, experimental tasks, and collection of reports from mothers, fathers, other relatives or family friends, and classroom teachers. Interactions with a familiar peer were observed at 1.5 years. Interactions with unfamiliar peers took place during experimental birthday parties at 1 and 2.5 years. At 7 years, parents were interviewed, parents and teachers completed questionnaires, and the children engaged in cognitive and social decision-making tasks. Based on reports from parents and other informants who knew the children well, individual differences in both prosocial behavior and aggression were evident in children. Both types of behavior showed stability across the second and third years. The association between prosocial behavior and aggression changed over time: at 1.5 years, they were not significantly related (the association approached zero), but they became negatively correlated by 3 years. Different patterns were seen when children played with familiar versus unfamiliar peers. At 1.5 years, when children were observed at home with a familiar peer, prosocial behavior and aggression were unrelated, thus showing a pattern of results like that seen in the analysis of informants' reports. However, a different pattern emerged during the experimental birthday parties with unfamiliar peers: prosocial behavior and aggression were positively correlated at both 1 and 2.5 years, contributing to a general sociability factor at both ages. Gender differences in prosocial behavior were evident in informants' reports and were also evident at the 1-year (though not the 2.5-year) birthday parties. In contrast, gender differences in both prosocial behavior and aggression were evident by 7 years, both in children's aggressive decision-making and in their parents' and teachers' reports of children's aggressive behavior at home and school. By age 7, children's aggressive decision-making and behavior were inversely associated with their verbal skills, working memory, and emotional understanding. Some children had developed aggressive behavioral problems and callous-unemotional traits. A few (12%) met diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder or oppositional-defiant disorders, which had been predicted by early angry aggressiveness and lack of empathy for other people. Taken together, the findings revealed a gradual disaggregation of two ways in which children interact with other people. Individual differences in both prosocial behavior and aggression revealed continuity over time, with gender differences emerging first in prosocial behavior, then in aggression. Restrictions in the participant sample and the catchment area (e.g., all were first-time parents; all were drawn from a single region in the United Kingdom) mean that it is not possible to generalize findings broadly. It will be important to expand the study of prosocial behavior and aggression in other family and environmental contexts in future work. Learning more about early appearing individual differences in children's approaches to the social world may be useful for both educational and clinical practice.

The longitudinal stability of fMRI activation during reward processing in adolescents and young adults

BACKGROUND

The use of functional neuroimaging has been an extremely fruitful avenue for investigating the neural basis of human reward function. This approach has included identification of potential neurobiological mechanisms of psychiatric disease and examination of environmental, experiential, and biological factors that may contribute to disease risk via effects on the reward system. However, a central and largely unexamined assumption of much of this research is that neural reward function is an individual difference characteristic that is relatively stable and trait-like over time.

METHODS

In two independent samples of adolescents and young adults studied longitudinally (Ns = 145 & 139, 100% female and 100% male, ages 15-21 and 20-22, 2-4 scans and 2 scans respectively), we tested within-person stability of reward-task BOLD activation, with a median of 1 and 2 years between scans. We examined multiple commonly used contrasts of active states and baseline in both the anticipation and feedback phases of a card-guessing reward task. We examined the effects of cortical parcellation resolution, contrast, network (reward regions and resting-state networks), region-size, and activation strength and variability on the stability of reward-related activation.

RESULTS

In both samples, contrasts of an active state relative to a baseline were more stable (ICC: intra-class correlation; e.g., Win>Baseline; mean ICC = 0.13 - 0.33) than contrasts of two active states (e.g., Win>Loss; mean ICC = 0.048 - 0.05). Additionally, activation in reward regions was less stable than in many non-task networks (e.g., dorsal attention), and activation in regions with greater between-subject variability showed higher stability in both samples.

CONCLUSIONS

These results show that some contrasts from functional neuroimaging activation during a card guessing reward task have partially trait-like properties in adolescent and young adult samples over 1-2 years. Notably, results suggest that contrasts intended to map cognitive function and show robust group-level effects (i.e. Win > Loss) may be less effective in studies of individual differences and disease risk. The robustness of group-level activation should be weighed against other factors when selecting regions of interest in individual difference fMRI studies.

Marital quality over the life course and child well-being from childhood to early adolescence

Research on marital quality and child well-being is currently limited by its common use of geographically constrained, homogenous, and often cross-sectional (or at least temporally limited) samples. We build upon previous work showing multiple trajectories of marital quality and data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (NLSY79) regarding mothers and their children (inclusive of ages 5-14). We examine how indicators of child well-being are linked to parental trajectories of marital quality (happiness, communication, and conflict). Results showed children whose parents had consistently poor marital quality over the life course exhibited more internalizing and externalizing problems, poorer health, lower quality home environments, and lower math and vocabulary scores than children of parents in consistently higher-quality marriages. Group differences remained stable over time for child health, home environment, and vocabulary scores. Group differences for internalizing problems declined over time, whereas group differences increased for externalizing problems and math scores. Initial advantages for females across nearly all indicators of child well-being tended to shrink over time, with boys often moving slightly ahead by mid adolescence. We discuss the implications of these findings in regard to children's development and well-being and suggest treating marriage as a monolithic construct betrays important variation within marriage itself.

Dispositional Negative Emotionality in Childhood and Adolescence Predicts Structural Variation in the Amygdala and Caudal Anterior Cingulate During Early Adulthood: Theoretically and Empirically Based Tests

Substantial evidence implicates the amygdala and related structures in the processing of negative emotions. Furthermore, neuroimaging evidence suggests that variations in amygdala volumes are related to trait-like individual differences in neuroticism/negative emotionality, although many questions remain about the nature of such associations. We conducted planned tests of the directional prediction that dispositional negative emotionality measured at 10-17 years using parent and youth ratings on the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale (CADS) would predict larger volumes of the amygdala in adulthood and conducted exploratory tests of associations with other regions implicated in emotion processing. Participants were 433 twins strategically selected for neuroimaging during wave 2 from wave 1 of the Tennessee Twins Study (TTS) by oversampling on internalizing and/or externalizing psychopathology risk. Controlling for age, sex, race-ethnicity, handedness, scanner, and total brain volume, youth-rated negative emotionality positively predicted bilateral amygdala volumes after correction for multiple testing. Each unit difference of one standard deviation (SD) in negative emotionality was associated with a .12 SD unit difference in larger volumes of both amygdalae. Parent-rated negative emotionality predicted greater thickness of the left caudal/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (β = 0.28). Associations of brain structure with negative emotionality were not moderated by sex. These results are striking because dispositions assessed at 10-17 years of age were predictive of grey matter volumes measured 12-13 years later in adulthood. Future longitudinal studies should examine the timing of amygdala/cingulate associations with dispositional negative emotionality to determine when these associations emerge during development.

Beyond family-level adversities: Exploring the developmental timing of neighborhood disadvantage effects on the brain

A growing literature suggests that adversity is associated with later altered brain function, particularly within the corticolimbic system that supports emotion processing and salience detection (e.g., amygdala, prefrontal cortex [PFC]). Although neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has been shown to predict maladaptive behavioral outcomes, particularly for boys, most of the research linking adversity to corticolimbic function has focused on family-level adversities. Moreover, although animal models and studies of normative brain development suggest that there may be sensitive periods during which adversity exerts stronger effects on corticolimbic development, little prospective evidence exists in humans. Using two low-income samples of boys (n = 167; n = 77), Census-derived neighborhood disadvantage during early childhood, but not adolescence, was uniquely associated with greater amygdala, but not PFC, reactivity to ambiguous neutral faces in adolescence and young adulthood. These associations remained after accounting for several family-level adversities (e.g., low family income, harsh parenting), highlighting the independent and developmentally specific neural effects of the neighborhood context. Furthermore, in both samples, indicators measuring income and poverty status of neighbors were predictive of amygdala function, suggesting that neighborhood economic resources may be critical to brain development.

The association of community and individual parental social capital with behavior problems among children in Japan: results from A-CHILD longitudinal study

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to determine the association of individual-level and community-level parental social capital with childhood behavior problems using population-based longitudinal data in Japan.

METHODS

We analyzed data from a population-based longitudinal survey study which followed first-grade elementary school children (6-7 years old) in Adachi City, Tokyo, Japan. At baseline, the parents of first-grade students from all 69 elementary schools in Adachi City were asked to respond to a questionnaire assessing behavior problems and prosocial behavior (using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) and parental social capital in the community (N = 5494). Data on follow-up questionnaires on behavior problems were collected when children were second grade. Among both surveys, 3656 parents returned valid responses. The association between individual-level and community-level parental social capital and children's behavior problems were analyzed using multilevel analyses adjusting for covariates.

RESULTS

Community-level social capital was positively associated with prosocial behaviors, but not for total difficulties, after adjustment for covariates (coefficient = 0.19, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.36). Individual-level parental social capital was also positively associated with prosocial behaviors (coefficient = 0.27, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.41) and negatively associated with total difficulties (coefficient = - 0.54, 95% CI - 0.89 to - 0.19).

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that greater community-level social capital can benefit children with increased prosocial behaviors. Individual-level parental social capital can be protective of youth by increasing prosocial behaviors and reducing difficult behaviors. Boosting both community and individual social capital can be a promising means to enhance children's well-being.

Studying a Moving Target in Development: The Challenge and Opportunity of Heterotypic Continuity

Many psychological constructs show heterotypic continuity-their behavioral manifestations change with development but their meaning remains the same (e.g., externalizing problems). However, research has paid little attention to how to account for heterotypic continuity. Conceptual and methodological challenges of heterotypic continuity may prevent researchers from examining lengthy developmental spans. Developmental theory requires that measurement accommodate changes in manifestation of constructs. Simulation and empirical work demonstrate that failure to account for heterotypic continuity when collecting or analyzing longitudinal data results in faulty developmental inferences. Accounting for heterotypic continuity may require using different measures across time with approaches that link measures on a comparable scale. Creating a developmental scale (i.e., developmental scaling) is recommended to link measures across time and account for heterotypic continuity, which is crucial in understanding development across the lifespan. The current synthesized review defines heterotypic continuity, describes how to identify it, and presents solutions to account for it. We note challenges of addressing heterotypic continuity, and propose steps in leveraging opportunities it creates to advance empirical study of development.

Connections that characterize callousness: Affective features of psychopathy are associated with personalized patterns of resting-state network connectivity

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There was significant heterogeneity in participants’ neural networks.

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Psychopathy associated with default mode-central executive network connectivity.

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Associations were specific to affective psychopathic traits.

Background

Psychopathic traits are hypothesized to be associated with dysfunction across three resting-state networks: the default mode (DMN), salience (SN), and central executive (CEN). Past work has not considered heterogeneity in the neural networks of individuals who display psychopathic traits, which is likely critical in understanding the etiology of psychopathy and could underlie different symptom presentations. Thus, this study maps person-specific resting state networks and links connectivity patterns to features of psychopathy.

Methods

We examined resting-state functional connectivity among eight regions of interest in the DMN, SN, and CEN using a person-specific, sparse network mapping approach (Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation) in a community sample of 22-year-old men from low-income, urban families (N = 123). Associations were examined between a dimensional measure of psychopathic traits and network density (i.e., number of connections within and between networks).

Results

There was significant heterogeneity in neural networks of participants, which were characterized by person-specific connections and no common connections across the sample. Psychopathic traits, particularly affective traits, were associated with connection density between the DMN and CEN, such that greater density was associated with elevated psychopathic traits.

Discussion

Findings emphasize that neural networks underlying psychopathy are highly individualized. However, individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits had increased density in connections between the DMN and CEN, networks that have been linked with self-referential thinking and executive functioning. Taken together, the results highlight the utility of person-specific approaches in modeling neural networks underlying psychopathic traits, which could ultimately inform personalized prevention and intervention strategies.

Developmental cascades to children's conduct problems: The role of prenatal substance use, socioeconomic adversity, maternal depression and sensitivity, and children's conscience

This study investigated the longitudinal associations among prenatal substance use, socioeconomic adversity, parenting (maternal warmth, sensitivity, and harshness), children's self-regulation (internalization of rules and conscience), and conduct problems from infancy to middle childhood (Grade 2). Three competing conceptual models including cascade (indirect or mediated), additive (cumulative), and transactional (bidirectional) effects were tested and compared. The sample consisted of 216 low-income families (primary caretaker and children; 51% girls; 74% African American). Using a repeated-measures, multimethod, multi-informant design, a series of full panel models were specified. Findings primarily supported a developmental cascade model, and there was some support for additive effects. More specifically, maternal prenatal substance use and socioeconomic adversity in infancy were prospectively associated with lower levels of maternal sensitivity. Subsequently, lower maternal sensitivity was associated with decreases in children's conscience in early childhood, and in turn, lower conscience predicted increases in teacher-reported conduct problems in middle childhood. There was also a second pathway from sustained maternal depression (in infancy and toddlerhood) to early childhood conduct problems. These findings demonstrated how processes of risk and resilience collectively contributed to children's early onset conduct problems.

Impact of Parenting Intervention on Observed Aggressive Behaviors in At-Risk Infants

Aggressive behaviors in early childhood persist through childhood and adolescence and result in negative outcomes. However, studies assessing aggressive behaviors in early childhood have focused primarily on parent report. Additionally, the effects of parenting interventions and associated parenting skills on early observed aggression have not been examined. In the present study, we examined the direct effect of a brief, in-home adaptation of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, the Infant Behavior Program (IBP), on observed frequency of aggressive behaviors and global ratings of aggression in infants ages 12 to 15 months. Additionally, we examined behaviorally-based parenting skills as a mechanism by which the IBP impacted observed infant aggressive behaviors. Sixty infants with elevated levels of behavior problems were randomized to receive the IBP or standard pediatric primary care. Infants receiving the IBP demonstrated a significant decrease in the observed frequency of aggressive behaviors during infant-led play across a 3-month follow-up. Furthermore, the intervention led to decreases in parental use of don't skills (i.e., directive and negative parent statements), which, in turn, led to decreases in the frequency of observed aggressive behaviors at a 3-month follow-up. However, effects were not maintained at a 6-month follow-up. Results provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of a brief parenting intervention on reducing the frequency of infant aggressive behaviors, including the indirect effect of the IBP on the frequency of aggressive behaviors through reductions in parenting skills. The study highlights the importance of targeting negative parenting practices to decrease subsequent aggressive behaviors in early childhood.

Time-varying Effects of GABRG1 and Maladaptive Peer Behavior on Externalizing Behavior from Childhood to Adulthood: Testing Gene × Environment × Development Effects

Engagement in externalizing behavior is problematic. Deviant peer affiliation increases risk for externalizing behavior. Yet, peer effects vary across individuals and may differ across genes. This study determines gene × environment × development interactions as they apply to externalizing behavior from childhood to adulthood. A sample (n = 687; 68% male, 90% White) of youth from the Michigan Longitudinal Study was assessed from ages 10 to 25. Interactions between γ-amino butyric acid type A receptor γ1 subunit (GABRG1; rs7683876, rs13120165) and maladaptive peer behavior on externalizing behavior were examined using time-varying effect modeling. The findings indicate a sequential risk gradient in the influence of maladaptive peer behavior on externalizing behavior depending on the number of G alleles during childhood through adulthood. Individuals with the GG genotype are most vulnerable to maladaptive peer influences, which results in greater externalizing behavior during late childhood through early adulthood.

Sex differences in associations of socioemotional dispositions measured in childhood and adolescence with brain white matter microstructure 12 years later

Predictive associations were estimated between socioemotional dispositions measured at 10-17 years using the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale (CADS) and future individual differences in white matter microstructure measured at 22-31 years of age. Participants were 410 twins (48.3% monozygotic) selected for later neuroimaging by oversampling on risk for psychopathology from a representative sample of child and adolescent twins. Controlling for demographic covariates and total intracranial volume (TICV), each CADS disposition (negative emotionality, prosociality, and daring) rated by one of the informants (parent or youth) significantly predicted global fractional anisotropy (FA) averaged across the major white matter tracts in brain in adulthood, but did so through significant interactions with sex after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. In females, each 1 SD difference in greater parent-rated prosociality was associated with 0.43 SD greater FA (p < 0.0008). In males, each 1 SD difference in greater parent-rated daring was associated with 0.24 SD lower FA (p < 0.0008), and each 1 SD difference in greater youth-rated negative emotionality was associated with 0.18 SD greater average FA (p < 0.0040). These findings suggest that CADS dispositions are associated with FA, but associations differ by sex. Exploratory analyses suggest that FA may mediate the associations between dispositions and psychopathology in some cases. These associations over 12 years could reflect enduring brain-behavior associations in spite of transactions with the environment, but could equally reflect processes in which dispositional differences in behavior influence the development of white matter. Future longitudinal studies are needed to resolve the causal nature of these sex-moderated associations.

Trajectories and Predictors of Children's Early-Starting Conduct Problems: Child, Family, Genetic, and Intervention Effects

Several research teams have previously traced patterns of emerging conduct problems (CP) from early or middle childhood. The current study expands on this previous literature by using a genetically-informed, experimental, and long-term longitudinal design to examine trajectories of early-emerging conduct problems and early childhood discriminators of such patterns from the toddler period to adolescence. The sample represents a cohort of 731 toddlers and diverse families recruited based on socioeconomic, child, and family risk, varying in urbanicity and assessed on nine occasions between ages 2 and 14. In addition to examining child, family, and community level discriminators of patterns of emerging conduct problems, we were able to account for genetic susceptibility using polygenic scores and the study's experimental design to determine whether random assignment to the Family Check-Up (FCU) discriminated trajectory groups. In addition, in accord with differential susceptibility theory, we tested whether the effects of the FCU were stronger for those children with higher genetic susceptibility. Results augmented previous findings documenting the influence of child (inhibitory control [IC], gender) and family (harsh parenting, parental depression, and educational attainment) risk. In addition, children in the FCU were overrepresented in the persistent low versus persistent high CP group, but such direct effects were qualified by an interaction between the intervention and genetic susceptibility that was consistent with differential susceptibility. Implications are discussed for early identification and specifically, prevention efforts addressing early child and family risk.

Early Childhood Trajectories of Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity/Attention Problems: Predicting Adolescent and Adult Antisocial Behavior and Internalizing Problems

Although conduct problems (CP) and hyperactivity/attention problems (HAP) are thought to covary with regularity, few studies have traced the probability of co-occurring CP and HAP longitudinally, particularly beginning in the toddler period. Further, there is little research examining how early co-occurring trajectories of CP and HAP predict functioning across several domains through late adolescence and early adulthood. Using a cohort of 284 low-income boys, we examined whether separate developmental trajectories of overt CP and HAP symptomatology from ages 2 to 10 relate to violent behavior, established correlates of antisocial behavior, impulsivity, and internalizing problems in adolescence and early adulthood. Co-occurring trajectory patterns of CP and HAP from ages 2 to 10 were also investigated in relation to later maladjustment. Findings indicated that trajectories of CP beginning in early childhood were related to violent behavior in adolescence and adulthood, adolescent correlates of antisocial behavior (i.e., deviant talk with peers), and internalizing problems in adulthood. Early HAP trajectories were also related to later problem behaviors when considered in isolation. However, when examining trajectories of CP and HAP simultaneously, children with chronic CP + chronic HAP, but not HAP-only, were most at risk for multiple types of problem behaviors in adolescence and early adulthood, including violent behavior and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Thus, HAP symptomatology was no longer predictive of adolescent and adult functioning once co-occurring CP was accounted for. Findings extend prior research with older children of HAP and/or CP, highlighting the predictive value of trajectories of CP beginning in the toddler period.

Examining income dynamics and externalizing and internalizing trajectories through a developmental psychopathology lens: A nationally representative study

Prior research has documented elevations in levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors among children in lower income families in comparison to more advantaged peers. However, most studies focus on behavior problems at a single point in time or within a short developmental period. Associations between income dynamics and developmental trajectories of behavior problems over time are less understood. To address this, the current study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 7,476; 50.8% male) to examine how income dynamics (annual income and income volatility) across three distinct developmental periods from early childhood to early adolescence relate to trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems. Group-based mixture modeling revealed a five-group trajectory model for externalizing behavior and a four-group trajectory model for internalizing behavior. Higher cumulative annual income predicted greater likelihood of belonging to the low-stable group compared to the other, more problematic groups for both externalizing and internalizing trajectories. In addition, income losses predicted higher risk of membership in any group other than the low-stable group for internalizing and externalizing behavior. Developmental period-specific income dynamics, though not as consistent as cumulative dynamics, also predicted trajectory group membership.

Childhood maltreatment affects adolescent sensitivity to parenting and close friendships in predicting growth in externalizing behavior

Childhood maltreatment robustly predicts adolescent externalizing behaviors (EB; e.g., violence, delinquency, substance use) and may crystalize patterns of EB by influencing sensitivity to the social environment (e.g., parenting, friendships). In a nationally representative sample of 9,421 adolescents, we modeled latent growth curves of EB from age 13 to 32 years. Next, we explored whether maltreated youth differed from nonmaltreated youth in their sensitivity to parental closeness, friendship involvement, and polymorphisms from dopamine genes linked to EB (dopamine receptors D2 and D4, dopamine transporter). Overall, maltreated youth had significantly higher levels of EB across adolescence and adulthood; however, maltreated and nonmaltreated youth showed similar patterns of EB change over time: violent behavior decreased in adolescence before stabilizing in adulthood, whereas nonviolent delinquency and substance use increased in adolescence before decreasing in the transition to adulthood. Maltreatment reduced sensitivity to parental closeness and friendship involvement, although patterns varied based on type of EB outcome. Finally, none of the environmental effects on EB were significantly moderated by the dopamine polygenic risk score after accounting for multiple testing. These findings underline the enduring effects of early maltreatment and implicate that maltreatment may contribute to long-term risk for EB by influencing children's sensitivity to social relationship factors in adolescence.

Gender-Specific Trajectories of Conduct Problems from Ages 3 to 11

Gender-specific pathways of conduct problems (CP) from toddlerhood have received little attention. Using a nationally representative sample of UK children born in 2000–2001 (6458 boys and 6340 girls), the current study (a) identified subgroups of CP pathways separately for boys and girls from ages 3 to 11 and (b) examined early precursors (pregnancy to 9 months) of these trajectories. Group-based trajectory models identified four distinct trajectories for both boys and girls: each characterized as ‘low’; ‘early-onset, desisting’; ‘early-onset, persistent’ and ‘school-onset’. This suggests that the taxonomic framework developed to conceptualise childhood-onset CP among males is also applicable to females, though needing some revision to capture heterogeneity identified during early and middle childhood. We also found significant precursors of the different trajectory groups with some variation by gender. Early socioeconomic deprivation was a significant risk factor of the early-onset pathways among both genders, but played no significant role for ‘school-onset’. Childhood-onset trajectories of boys, but not girls, were predicted by parenting attitudes and behaviour.

The Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward (STAR) model and the development of callous-unemotional traits

Research implicates callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., lack of empathy, prosociality, and guilt, and reduced sensitivity to others' emotions) in the development of severe and persistent antisocial behavior. To improve etiological models of antisocial behavior and develop more effective treatments, we need a better understanding of the origins of CU traits. In this review, we discuss the role of two psychobiological and mechanistic precursors to CU traits: low affiliative reward (i.e., deficits in seeking out or getting pleasure from social bonding and closeness with others) and low threat sensitivity (i.e., fearlessness to social and non-social threat). We outline the Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward (STAR) model and review studies that have examined the development of affiliative reward and threat sensitivity across animal, neuroimaging, genetic, and behavioral perspectives. We next evaluate evidence for the STAR model, specifically the claim that CU traits result from deficits in both affiliative reward and threat sensitivity. We end with constructive suggestions for future research to test the hypotheses generated by the STAR model.

Associations Between Boys' Early Childhood Exposure to Family and Neighborhood Poverty and Body Mass Index in Early Adolescence

OBJECTIVE

To test relations between exposure to poverty, in the forms of family income and neighborhood deprivation, during three developmental stages, and children's body mass index (BMI) in early adolescence.

METHODS

Data came from a longitudinal sample of racially diverse, urban, low-income boys. Interactions between family income to needs and census-derived neighborhood deprivation at three developmental stages-early childhood (18 and 24 months), preschool-to-school entry (3.5 and 6 years), and school-age (8 and 10 years)-were tested in relation to BMI at age 11.

RESULTS

There was a significant interaction whereby higher income predicted lower BMI only in the context of low levels of neighborhood deprivation in early childhood. In high-deprivation neighborhoods, higher income was associated with risk for overweight/obesity in early adolescence. This pattern was found to be specific to income and neighborhood deprivation measured in early childhood.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings have implications for policy relevant to obesity prevention. More research on associations between early exposure to poverty and later risk for obesity on low-income samples is warranted, as the relationship is likely complex and influenced by many different factors, including the family and neighborhood food environments and child health behaviors.

Linking Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) constructs to developmental psychopathology: The role of self-regulation and emotion knowledge in the development of internalizing and externalizing growth trajectories from ages 3 to 10

Identifying Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) constructs in early childhood is essential for understanding etiological pathways of psychopathology. Our central goal was to identify early emotion knowledge and self-regulation difficulties across different RDoC domains and examine how they relate to typical versus atypical symptom trajectories between ages 3 and 10. Particularly, we assessed potential contributions of children's gender, executive control, delay of gratification, and regulation of frustration, emotion recognition, and emotion understanding at age 3 to co-occurring patterns of internalizing and externalizing across development. A total of 238 3-year-old boys and girls were assessed using behavioral tasks and parent reports and reassessed at ages 5 and 10 years. Results indicated that very few children developed "pure" internalizing or externalizing symptoms relative to various levels of co-occurring symptoms across development. Four classes of co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems were identified: low, low-moderate, rising, and severe-decreasing trajectories. Three-year-old children with poor executive control but high emotion understanding were far more likely to show severe-decreasing than low/low-moderate class co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptom patterns. Child gender and poor executive control differentiated children in rising versus low trajectories. Implications for early intervention targeting self-regulation of executive control are discussed.

Do Conduct Problem Pathways Differ for Black and Minority Ethnic Children in the UK? An Examination of Trajectories from Early Childhood to Adolescence

A substantial body of evidence has examined developmental pathways into and out of conduct problems. However, there is a dearth of research examining whether the same conduct problem pathways are evident in minority ethnic, as in white, populations. Drawing on the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a nationally representative longitudinal study of children born between 2000 and 2002, this study examines differences in group-based trajectories of conduct problems according to broad categories of ethnicity. Using pathways identified in a prior study (n = 17,206, 49% female, 18% ethnic minority), including persistently high (8%), childhood-limited (23%), adolescent-onset (13%), and low (56%), significant ethnic differences were found. As a result, trajectories of conduct problems were identified separately for Asian, black, mixed ethnicity, and white children. For Asian, black, and mixed ethnicity children, three trajectories were identified: persistently high, childhood-limited, and low, but not adolescent-onset. Although these pathways have similar labels, their patterns and shapes seem to differ among the three ethnic groups. For white children, the same four trajectory groups were identified as in the prior study. Risk factors also differed among the groups according to ethnicity, although a worse child-parent relationship was a significant predictor of the higher problem trajectories for all ethnic groups. Overall, the findings suggest that black and minority ethnic children may follow different developmental pathways of conduct problems than white children, particularly during adolescence, having implications for service use and early intervention.

Comparing alternative methods of measuring cumulative risk based on multiple risk indicators: Are there differential effects on children's externalizing problems?

This study examined several alternative methods to measure cumulative risk (CR) based on multiple risk indicators. Several methods for measuring CR are presented and their conceptual and methodological assumptions are assessed. More specifically, at the individual risk level, we examined the implications of various measurement approaches (i.e., dichotomous, proportion- and z-scores). At the composite level, we measured CR as an observed score, and compared this approach with two variable-centered approaches (consisting of reflective and formative indicators) and two person-centered approaches (consisting of latent class analysis and latent profile analysis). A decision tree was proposed to aid researchers in comparing and choosing the alternative methods. Using a sample of 169 low-income families (children approximately 5 years old, 51% girls; 74% African American, and their primary caregiver), we specified models to represent each of the alternative methods. Across models, the multiple risk composite was based on a set of 12 individual risk indicators including low maternal education, hunger, meal and money unpredictability, maternal psychopathology, maternal substance use, harsh parenting, family stress, and family violence. For each model, we estimated the effect size of the composite CR variable on children's externalizing problems. Results indicated that the variable-centered CR composites had larger effects than the observed summary score CR indices and the person-centered methods.

Socioemotional dispositions of children and adolescents predict general and specific second-order factors of psychopathology in early adulthood: A 12-year prospective study

We previously hypothesized that the ubiquitous, but patterned correlations among all dimensions of psychopathology reflect a hierarchy of progressively more nonspecific causal influences, with a general factor of psychopathology-also dubbed the p factor-reflecting the most transdiagnostic causal influences. We further hypothesized that the general factor is a manifestation of individual differences in 1 or more trait-like dispositions, particularly negative emotionality, that are nonspecifically associated with risk for essentially every dimension of psychopathology. We tested the hypothesis that this and other dispositions measured in childhood/adolescence significantly predict general and specific second-order dimensions of psychopathology in early adulthood. The latent general factor of psychopathology itself was correlated over time from 10-17 to 23-31 years of age even though it was defined by different informants and different dimensions of symptoms. Using a measure of dispositions that minimizes item contamination with psychopathology symptoms, parent-rated negative emotionality in childhood and adolescence predicted the general factor of psychopathology based on self-reported symptoms in early adulthood, whereas parent-rated daring predicted the specific adult externalizing psychopathology factor after correction for multiple tests. In addition, youth-rated negative emotionality and daring predicted specific adult externalizing psychopathology. These results over a span of 12 years suggests that the general factor is relatively stable over time and that associations of dispositional traits with second-order dimensions of psychopathology are enduring, sometimes across informants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Indirect Effects of Early Parenting on Adult Antisocial Outcomes via Adolescent Conduct Disorder Symptoms and Callous-Unemotional Traits

Parental harsh punishment and warmth have been associated with child and adolescent conduct disorder (CD) symptoms and callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., lack of guilt, empathy, and deficient affect); however, it is unclear whether the effect of these parenting behaviors on antisocial outcomes persists into adulthood. Thus, the present study aimed to test whether adolescent CD symptoms and CU traits mediate the effect of parental harsh punishment and warmth on adult antisocial outcomes (i.e., antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), externalizing psychopathology, partner violence, and violent and substance crime). Participants included the high-risk control and normative samples from the Fast Track project (N =753, male = 58%, African American = 46%). Harsh punishment during kindergarten through grades 1-2 predicted higher adolescent CD symptoms, and directly observed warmth during kindergarten through grades 1-2 predicted lower adolescent CU traits. Adolescent CD symptoms predicted greater adult substance crime, and adolescent CU traits predicted greater adult ASPD symptoms and externalizing psychopathology. Further, adolescent CD symptoms indirectly accounted for the effect of parental harsh punishment on adult substance crime, and adolescent CU traits indirectly accounted for the effect of parental warmth on ASPD symptoms and externalizing psychopathology. Findings support the importance of early interventions targeting parenting behaviors to reduce risk for the development of antisocial behavior, and inform developmental models of antisocial behavior in adolescence through adulthood.

Weakened Functional Connectivity Between the Amygdala and the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Is Longitudinally Related to Psychopathic Traits in Low-Income Males During Early Adulthood

Psychopathy is a complex disorder comprised of harmful personality traits and impulsive-lifestyle and antisocial behaviors. Weakened functional connectivity between limbic and prefrontal brain regions is thought to underlie impaired sensitivity to others' emotions that contribute to the interpersonal and affective personality traits associated with psychopathy. We tested whether weakened functional connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during the processing of fearful, angry, and neutral facial expressions, was prospectively related to psychopathic traits in early adulthood. The sample included 167 low-income, racially diverse, urban males who completed an fMRI scan at age 20 and questionnaire measures at ages 20 and 22. Weakened amygdala-vmPFC functional connectivity to fearful, but not neutral or angry, faces at age 20 was related to higher psychopathic traits at age 22.

Trajectories and predictors of risk for mental health problems throughout childhood

BACKGROUND

Children fluctuate in their risk for mental health-related problems. While children have demonstrated consistent trajectories for various types of mental health problems, the existence of developmental trajectories of overall risk of mental health problems has not been explored. This study aimed to identify distinct trajectories of overall mental health risk among children from ages 4-12 years. A secondary objective was to identify predictors of the mental health risk trajectories.

METHOD

Data from the first five waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) were used to assess mental health risk and potential predictors. The primary parent (n = 3717) completed questionnaires, time-use diaries, and face-to-face interviews over the five waves. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify distinct latent trajectories of mental health risk. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify predictors of the trajectories.

RESULTS

Six distinct trajectories of mental health risk were identified: Low Difficulty (72.9%), Improvers (9.7%), Decliners (7.9%), Early Decliners/Late Improvers (4.7%), Early Improvers/Late Decliners (2.7%), and High Difficulty (2.2%). Child sex, sociability, parental warmth, sports participation, and household income were identified as significant predictors of mental health trajectories.

CONCLUSIONS

There are distinct trajectories of overall risk for mental health problems during childhood. Research should focus on the High Difficulties group and the Early Improvers/Late Decliners group to address the predictors and improve access to early mental health services.