Transactional relations between caregiving stress, executive functioning, and problem behavior from early childhood to early adolescence

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Children's Internalizing Problems and Family Difficulties: The Role of Child Executive Functioning and Parenting Flexibility

Research has extensively examined how a poor family climate influences internalizing problems in children. However, studies investigating the directional relationship between children's internalizing issues and family difficulties, particularly in Chinese populations, remain limited. To address this gap, the current study employed a longitudinal design involving three rounds of surveys with 282 elementary school students (45.74% girls, Mage = 9.73 ± 1.54 years at Time 1) and their parents. Cross-lagged panel model analyses revealed several key findings: children's internalizing problems consistently predicted subsequent family difficulties, while family difficulties did not significantly affect children's internalizing problems. Additionally, parenting flexibility at Time 2 (T2) mediated the relationship between children's internalizing problems at Time 1 (T1) and family difficulties at Time 3 (T3). Children's executive functioning at T2 also mediated the association between internalizing problems at T1 and family difficulties at T3. These findings underscore the importance of enhancing children's executive functioning and improving parenting flexibility to mitigate the negative effects of children's internalizing problems on family dynamics.

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.

Assessing the mediating relationships between psychological factors in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and cognitive disengagement syndrome

This study aims to investigate the predictive and mediating relationships between emotion dysregulation, internalizing disorders, family functionality, loneliness preference, and executive functions (EF) in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and cognitive disengagement syndrome (ADHD + CDS). This study included 176 children and adolescents (92 boys, 84 girls) who were diagnosed with ADHD + CDS according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the Fifth Edition criteria by a fellowship-trained child and adolescent psychiatrist, between ages 8 -12 (M = 10, SD = 1.52) with a convenience sampling method. The solitude scale for children, difficulties in emotion dysregulation scale, Child Behavior Checklist, Barkley Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Scale, Family assessment device, and CNS Vital Signs test were used. The results showed that difficulty in emotion regulation, preference for loneliness, internalizing disorders and CDS symptom severity did not have a mediating effect between family functionality and EF. Still, emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between EF and internalizing disorders by itself and through loneliness preference. Also, preference for loneliness and emotion dysregulation had a mediating effect between family functionality and internalizing disorders. Finally, it was found that the effect of emotion regulation difficulty, loneliness preference, and internalizing disorders had a mediating role between CDS symptom severity and family functionality. In conclusion, the information obtained from this study on the etiology of CDS may guide future studies.

Impact of maternal depressive symptoms on offspring executive functions: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a thorough examination of the current understanding of the effect of maternal depression exposure on the executive functions (EFs) of offspring.

METHODS

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement, a comprehensive search for peer-reviewed cohort studies was performed on the MEDLINE (via PubMed), ScienceDirect, LILACS, PsycINFO, and SciELO databases. Study quality was assessed using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. The evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework.

RESULTS

Thirty-three cohort studies from different countries, enrolling a total of 38,981 participants, were analyzed. Twenty-four studies confirmed the hypothesis of a harmful effect of maternal depressive symptoms on offspring EF. However, high heterogeneity among studies was found, and meta-analysis was not feasible. Fetal programming, genetics, and parental practices have been identified as potential mechanisms that can affect the EFs of children born to mothers who have experienced depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest a negative association between maternal depressive symptoms and offspring EF. Further studies on the effects of chronicity/severity of maternal symptoms and changes in EFs in different sensitive periods are needed.

A Developmental Pathway from Early Inhibitory Control to Social Connectedness

Social connections are critical for mental and physical health; however, the developmental pathways to children's social connectedness outcomes are not well understood. This study examined the pathways from children's inhibitory control at 4 years to two social connectedness outcomes - loneliness and friendship quality at age 10 - through behavioral problems at age 7. As part of a longitudinal study (N = 291, 54% girls), children's inhibitory control was assessed via a Go/No-Go task when children were 4 years old. Mothers reported on children's behavioral problems at ages 4 and 7 years. Children reported on their friendship quality and loneliness at ages 7 and 10 years. Greater inhibitory control at 4 years predicted lower behavioral problems at 7 years, which in turn predicted better friendship quality and lower loneliness at 10 years. Indirect effects from inhibitory control at 4 years to loneliness and friendship quality at 10 years via behavioral problems at 7 years were significant. Findings suggest that inhibitory control in early childhood may play a key role for the development of social connectedness in middle childhood via its impact on children's behavioral problems.

Maternal perinatal depression and child executive function: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Maternal depression during the perinatal period predicts adverse developmental outcomes for children, via poorly understood mechanisms. One plausible pathway may involve child executive function, a suite of cognitive capacities associated with social, emotional and educational outcomes. Systematic review and meta-analysis are applied to evaluate evidence of association between maternal perinatal depression and child executive function.

METHODS

Medline, Embase, PubMed, PsycInfo, and SCOPUS were searched for relevant articles to August 2020, with hand-search of relevant bibliographies. Original research published in English measuring maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the first year postpartum, and child executive function outcomes at any age was included. 27 studies met criteria for review. 16 studies reporting raw data of the association between depressive symptoms and executive function were used for meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Our systematic review identified inadequate assessment of maternal depression, and unreliable measures of executive function in many studies. Assessment of confounders was also inconsistent. Our meta-analysis identified a small, statistically significant relationship between perinatal depression and child executive function (effect size r = 0.07; 95% CI 0.03-0.10); equivalent to Cohen's d = 0.14.

LIMITATIONS

Variable quality of available studies leads to cautious interpretation of results.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that maternal perinatal depression does have an impact on executive function in offspring. Future studies must use robust measurement of depression and executive function, and account for the chronicity of maternal depression, and developmental context to produce meaningful results.

[Identifying Trajectories of Behavioral Problems in Children with Allergic Diseases: Secondary Data Analysis of the 5th to 7th Panel Study of Korean Children]

PURPOSE

This study aimed to identify latent classes of behavioral problem trajectories in children with allergic diseases and investigate their predictors.

METHODS

This study used data from the 5th to 7th Panel Study of Korean Children. The participants included 840 children aged 4~6 years with allergic diseases. Statistical analyses were conducted using latent class growth analysis and multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

The trajectories of both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in children with allergic diseases were classified into five groups, that is deteriorative, recovering, changing 1 (decreasing-increasing), changing 2 (increasing-decreasing), and low state persistent group. For the internalizing behavioral problems, predictors were temperament, father's education, family interaction, and disconnection in peer interaction. For the externalizing behavioral problems, predictors child's gender, temperament, marital conflict, parenting stress, family interaction, and parenting environment.

CONCLUSION

Deteriorative group has high-risk behavioral problems in children with allergic diseases. We suggest to provide interventions considering latent problem trajectories based on ecological environments for allergic children.

Prenatal Substance Exposure and Developmental Trajectories of Internalizing Symptoms: Toddlerhood to Preadolescence

BACKGROUND

Little is known about how prenatal exposure to substances (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine) may contribute to heterogeneous childhood trajectories of internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression, withdrawal, anxiety). The present study aimed to identify developmental trajectories of internalizing symptoms in children using gender-separate analyses and to examine whether trajectories differ by prenatal substance exposure (PSE) and other environmental and biological correlates.

METHODS

Data from two large community-based birth cohorts with PSE were integrated (N = 1,651, 848 boys, 803 girls): the Cleveland cohort and the Maternal Lifestyle Study (MLS). Internalizing symptoms were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist at ages 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12 in the Cleveland study and at ages 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 in the MLS.

RESULTS

Gender-separate group-based trajectory modeling yielded five distinctive developmental trajectories of internalizing symptoms from ages 2 to 13 in both boys and girls: low-risk group (14.4% girls, 28.8% boys); normative-decreasing group (35.3% girls, 33.1% boys); increasing risk group (14.4% girls, 13.0% boys); early-high group (22.3% girls, 17.9% boys); and chronic group (13.8% girls, 7.2% boys). Prenatal tobacco exposure, maternal psychological distress, and postnatal maternal alcohol use differentiated the longitudinal courses of internalizing symptoms. Boys were more likely to follow the low-risk trajectory, whereas girls were more likely to follow the chronic trajectory.

CONCLUSIONS

Prenatal tobacco exposure was associated with suboptimal developmental trajectories of internalizing symptoms in the context of prenatal poly-drug exposure, highlighting a need for continued and increased effort toward prevention of prenatal tobacco use.

Transactional relations between developmental trajectories of executive functioning and internalizing and externalizing symptomatology in adolescence

Adolescence is a period of social, physical, and neurobiological transitions that may leave individuals more vulnerable to the development of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Extant research demonstrates that executive functioning (EF) is associated with psychopathology outcomes in adolescence; however, it has yet to be examined how EF and psychopathology develop transactionally over time. Data were collected from 167 adolescents (47% female, 13-14 years old at Time 1) and their primary caregiver over 4 years. At each time point, adolescents completed three behavioral tasks that capture the underlying dimensions of EF, and both adolescents and their primary caregiver completed measures of adolescent psychopathology. Latent growth curve modeling was used to test the associations between initial levels and trajectories of EF and psychopathology. Results indicated that higher initial levels of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology were associated with lower EF at Time 4 (controlling for Time 1 EF). Initial levels of EF did not predict changes in internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. These findings suggest that early psychopathology may be a risk factor for maladaptive EF development in adolescence.

"Food" and "non-food" self-regulation in childhood: a review and reciprocal analysis

BACKGROUND

In developmental science, there is an extensive literature on non-food related self-regulation in childhood, where several domains relating to emotions, actions and cognitions have been identified. There is now growing attention to food related self-regulation in childhood, especially difficulties with ASR, and the consequences for weight gain and adiposity. The aim of this narrative review was to conduct a reciprocal analysis of self-regulation in the food and non-food domains in childhood (referred to as appetite self-regulation (ASR) and general self-regulation (GSR) respectively). The focus was on commonalities and differences in key concepts and underpinning processes.

METHODS

Databases and major journals were searched using terms such as self-regulation, appetite self-regulation, or self-regulation of energy intake, together with associated constructs (e.g., Executive Function, Effortful Control, delay-of-gratification). This was followed by backward and forward snowballing.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The scholarship on GSR in childhood has had a focus on the role of the cognitively-oriented Executive Function (EF), the temperamentally-based Effortful Control (EC) and the recursive interplay between bottom-up (reactive, emotion driven, approach or avoidance) and top-down (cognitive, conscious decision-making) processes. "Hot" and "cool/cold" EF and self-regulation situations have been distinguished. There were some parallels between GSR and ASR in these areas, but uncertainty about the contribution of EF and EC to ASR in young children. Possible differences between the contribution to ASR-related outcomes of delay-of-gratification in food and non-food tasks were apparent. Unique elements of ASR were identified; associated with psychological, biological and neurological responses to food and bottom-up processes. A diverse number of situations or elements connected to ASR exist: for example, energy balance homeostasis, caloric compensation, hunger regulation, satiation, satiety, energy density of food, eating in the absence of hunger, emotional eating, etc. CONCLUSIONS: Self-regulation in food and non-food domains are amenable to a reciprocal analysis. We argue that self-regulation of appetite should be added as a domain under the umbrella of self-regulation in childhood along with the other non-food related domains. This could lead to a broader understanding of self-regulation in childhood, and generate novel lines of enquiry.

Behavior problems and dysfunctional parenting: Cross-sectional study in Japan

BACKGROUND

The Japanese government has established a law encouraging early detection and treatment of developmental disorders in children. Child behavior problems (CBP) tend to be recognized at school as a result of developmental disorders. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with CBP in Japan. We hypothesized that factors other than developmental disorders are important in explaining CBP.

METHODS

The study was conducted between February and March 2015. Parents of 3,515 children aged 2-5 years attending one of 34 public nursery schools in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan received self-administered questionnaires addressing parental socioeconomic factors, mental health, parenting style (i.e. hostile, overreactive, or lax), developmental disorders in children, and CBP. A multiple regression analysis was applied to explore associations between CBP and possible factors.

RESULTS

Overall, 1,410 mothers were eligible to participate in the study. Children diagnosed with developmental disorders accounted for 7.8% of the sample, while on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory 17% of children had behavior problems needing clinical intervention. After adjustment for confounding factors, as well as for the diagnosis of developmental disorders, poor mental status and all three dysfunctional parenting styles had strong associations with CBP, and hostile, overreactive, and lax parenting had standardized β-values (β) of 0.29, 0.28, and 0.15, respectively (P < 0.01). A problematic relationship between the parents was also significantly associated with CBP (β = -0.29, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

When CBP are identified, parenting skills, mental health status and parental relationships should be considered along with the possibility of developmental disorders in the development of interventions.

Profiles of individual assets and mental health symptoms in at-risk early adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Few studies investigated the combined patterns of individual assets (e.g., social competence, positive identity) and mental health symptoms (MHS) in adolescents. This study examined the patterns of early adolescents' individual assets and MHS and whether identified patterns were associated with later adolescents' outcomes.

METHODS

Participants were 352 (164 boys, 188 girls) adolescents who were primarily African-American and from low socioeconomic status families, participating in a prospective study of the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure from birth in the Midwest United States. Individual assets, using the Developmental Assets Profile, and MHS, using the Youth Self-Report, were assessed at age 12. Substance use, via self-report and biologic assays, early (before age 15) sexual behaviors, and behavioral adjustment were assessed at age 15.

RESULTS

Latent profile analysis indicated four distinctive profiles: low assets with elevated MHS (P1, n = 54, 15.3%); adequate assets with thought and social problems (P2, n = 84, 23.9%); low assets without MHS (P3, n = 101, 28.7%); and high assets without MHS (P4, n = 113, 32.1%). Children in the profile with high assets without MHS (P4) were more likely to have a higher IQ and to be in a more optimal environment (higher parental monitoring and less family conflict) than those in other profiles. Although profiles with MHS were associated with adolescent risk behaviors, this relationship was more pronounced for girls than for boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Girls in the low assets with elevated MHS (P1) should be a primary concern for preventive intervention. Our study demonstrates the heterogeneity of individual patterns of adaptation and maladaptation.