Positive affect: phenotypic and etiologic associations with prosocial behaviors and internalizing problems in toddlers

Development of temperament types from infancy to adolescence: Genetic and environmental influences with an economically and racially/ethnically diverse sample

Kagan theorized biologically based temperament types that are present in infancy, stable across development, and essential for understanding individual differences. Despite evidence, temperament research remains focused on a few prominent dimensions of temperament, without adequately addressing covariance among dimensions and temperament types. Using longitudinal twin data, we took a person-centered statistical approach to identify temperament types and examined continuity and change across five developmental periods (Ninfancy = 602; Ntoddlerhood = 522; Nearly childhood = 390; Nlate childhood = 718; Nearly adolescence = 700). We then examined the genetic and environmental etiology of temperament types. Twins were boys and girls (51-53% female), primarily Hispanic/Latinx (23-30%) and non-Hispanic/Latinx White (56-63%), and from socioeconomically diverse families (28-38% near-or-below the poverty line). Using latent profile analysis, we identified three temperament types at each age characterized by negative reactivity and dysregulation, positive reactivity and strong self-regulation, and moderate reactivity and regulation. Latent transition analyses revealed considerable continuity in membership type for "negative dysregulated" beginning in infancy, log odds = 1.58 (SE = .65) to 3.16 (SE = .77), p < .01, of remaining relative to transitioning to "typical expressive", and "positive well-regulated" beginning in early childhood, log odds = 1.41 (SE = .56) to 2.25 (SE = .47), p < .05. Twin analyses revealed moderate heritability and a consistent role of the shared environment on positive well-regulated, with negative dysregulated and typical expressive also moderately heritable with the shared environment being important at some ages. Findings support the presence of theorized biologically based temperament types that develop rapidly in infancy and toddlerhood and provide a foundation for the study of individual differences and risk and resilience processes across the lifespan. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Mediating Role of Social Interactions and Early Psychopathological Symptoms in the Relationship Between Empathy and Prosociality in Young Children with ASD and Neurotypical Peers

This study examined the relationship between empathy, prosocial behaviour, social interactions and early psychopathological symptoms (internalising and externalising behaviours) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children. A total of 506 parents of children aged 18-48 months participated in this study. The parents of 92 children with ASD and 414 neurotypical children completed the Empathy Questionnaire, the Child Prosocial Behaviour Questionnaire, and the Emotional and Social Development Questionnaire. The results confirmed the direct relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour in both groups. However, the findings showed a different pattern of the indirect relationship between empathy and prosociality through the social dimensions in the children with ASD compared to their typically developing peers. In the children with ASD, there was only one significant indirect path from empathy to prosocial behaviour - through internalising behaviours (anxiety). Anxiety also played a moderating role in this relationship. The higher the anxiety, the stronger the relationship between empathy and prosociality. In the neurotypical group, social interactions were a significant mediator, strengthening the relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour. Externalising behaviours weakened this relationship. Intergroup and gender differences were also examined. These findings may have practical implications for social skills training programmes based on behavioural interventions by highlighting the importance of prosocial behaviour for social interaction and protection against psychopathological problems in children with autism and typically developing children.

Prosocial behavior and psychopathology: An 11-year longitudinal study of inter- and intraindividual reciprocal relations across childhood and adolescence

The current study investigated whether prosocial behavior and emotional problems, peer problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity and inattention problems were long-term longitudinally and bidirectionally related at inter- and or intra-individual levels from early childhood through mid-adolescence. Parents in the United Kingdom reported their child's prosocial behavior and multidimensional psychopathology at ages 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years (N = 16,984, 51% male, 83% White). Four random intercepts cross-lagged panel models were fitted. Higher levels of earlier prosocial behavior were associated with greater than expected decrements in psychopathology. At an intraindividual, within-person level, prosocial behavior was negatively bidirectionally associated with peer, conduct, and hyperactivity and inattention problems. Also at an intraindividual, within-person level, prosocial behavior was unidirectionally protective against emotional problems. At an interindividual level, prosocial behavior and each dimension of psychopathology were negatively associated. Therefore, engaging in prosocial behavior can reduce psychopathological symptoms over time (and vice versa), and youth who are more prosocial also tend to experience fewer psychopathological symptoms. Intraindividual associations were small while interindividual associations were moderate to large. Implications for theory, future research, and evidence-based interventions are discussed.

Digital Phenotype for Childhood Internalizing Disorders: Less Positive Play and Promise for a Brief Assessment Battery

Childhood internalizing disorders, like anxiety and depression, are common, impairing, and difficult to detect. Universal childhood mental health screening has been recommended, but new technologies are needed to provide objective detection. Instrumented mood induction tasks, designed to press children for specific behavioral responses, have emerged as means for detecting childhood internalizing psychopathology. In our previous work, we leveraged machine learning to identify digital phenotypes of childhood internalizing psychopathology from movement and voice data collected during negative valence tasks (pressing for anxiety and fear). In this work, we develop a digital phenotype for childhood internalizing disorders based on wearable inertial sensor data recorded from a Positive Valence task during which a child plays with bubbles. We find that a phenotype derived from features that capture reward responsiveness is able to accurately detect children with underlying internalizing psychopathology (AUC = 0.81). In so doing, we explore the impact of a variety of feature sets computed from wearable sensors deployed to two body locations on phenotype performance across two phases of the task. We further consider this novel digital phenotype in the context of our previous Negative Valence digital phenotypes and find that each task brings unique information to the problem of detecting childhood internalizing psychopathology, capturing different problems and disorder subtypes. Collectively, these results provide preliminary evidence for a mood induction task battery to develop a novel diagnostic for childhood internalizing disorders.

Genetic and Environmental Structure of Altruism Characterized by Recipients in Relation to Personality

Background and Objectives: Altruism is a form of prosocial behavior with the goal of increasing the fitness of another individual as a recipient while reducing the fitness of the actor. Although there are many studies on its heterogeneity, only a few behavioral genetic studies have been conducted to examine different recipient types: family members favored by kin selection, the dynamic network of friends and acquaintances as direct reciprocity, and strangers as indirect reciprocity. Materials and Methods: This study investigated the genetic and environmental structure of altruism with reference to recipient types measured by the self-report altruism scale distinguished by the recipient (the SRAS-DR) and examine the relationship to personality dimensions measured by the NEO-FFI with a sample of 461 adult Japanese twin pairs. Results: The present study shows that there is a single common factor of altruism: additive genetic effects explain 51% of altruism without a shared environmental contribution. The genetic contribution of this single common factor is explained by the genetic factors of neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness to experience (O), and conscientiousness (C), as well as a common genetic factor specific to altruism. Only altruism toward strangers is affected by shared environmental factors. Conclusions: Different types of altruistic personality are constructed by specific combinational profiles of general personality traits such as the Big Five as well as a genetic factor specific to altruism in each specific way.

The Relationship Between Family Functioning and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

Research has consistently found that poor family functioning is a risk factor for adolescents' internalizing problems. However, studies of the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation are insufficient. In this study, we explore the association between family functioning and adolescents' internalizing problems by testing the mediating roles of positive youth development (PYD) attributes and the moderating role of migrant status. A large cross-sectional sample of 11,865 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 14.45 years, standard deviation = 1.55 years) were used to measure internalizing problems, family functioning, PYD, migrant status, and other demographic information. After controlling for covariates (age, gender, grade, and socioeconomic status), the results revealed that PYD mediated the relation between family functioning and internalizing problems. Moreover, migrant status moderated the relationship between family functioning and internalizing problems. Specifically, the effects of family functioning on internalizing problems were stronger among local-born adolescents than among migrant adolescents. The findings indicate that improving family functioning and PYD attributes may be promising approaches to prevent/reduce adolescent internalizing problems.

Associations between prosocial behavior, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing symptoms during adolescence: A meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis investigating the consistency and strength of relations between prosocial behavior, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing symptoms from preadolescence (i.e., 1-9 years) to late adolescence (i.e., 19-25 years). This study directly addresses inconsistencies and gaps in the available literature by providing the field with a detailed, synthesized description of these associations.

METHOD

Fifty-five studies met the inclusion criteria, containing 742 independent correlational effect sizes. Statistical information and other study information was coded and entered into Comprehensive Meta-analysis III software, which was used to analyze results.

RESULTS

Results showed that higher levels of prosocial behavior were significantly associated with lower levels of externalizing behaviors, as expected. Additionally, more reported prosocial behavior was related to less reported internalizing symptoms. Follow-up analyses revealed specific relationships between prosocial behavior and aggression, deviant peer association, risky sexual behavior, substance use, delinquency/general externalizing behavior, depression, and general internalizing behaviors (i.e., emotional problems, negative emotionality). A variety of moderators of these associations were considered, including age and sex.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are discussed in the context of the broader research literature, weaknesses in the field are noted, and numerous meaningful directions for future research are presented.

Perinatal maternal mental health and infant socio-emotional development: A growth curve analysis using the MPEWS cohort

Pregnancy and the early post partum period are widely understood as a critical period for the infant's emotional development and the earliest influence shaping social interaction. The present study aims to understand the potential influence of both antenatal and postnatal maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms on socio-emotional outcomes in offspring aged 12 months. The study used longitudinal data from a prospective cohort study on Australian pregnant women and their children. Data were available for 282 mothers and their children. Maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured in early pregnancy, trimester three of pregnancy, six and 12 months postpartum. Social and emotional development in children was measured using the Brief Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) at 12 months. Using growth curve analysis of 4 waves of repeated measurement to examine intercept and slope, we found that both initial maternal depression and anxiety symptom levels, and the growth of these symptoms over time, predicted more problems with children's social and emotional development. In the final model anxiety accounted for 19% of the variance in child socio-emotional problems and depression 23% of variance. The results emphasise the importance of perinatal maternal mental health as a potential risk factor for child development. This carries important implications for policy development, such as the need to build early identification and early intervention models in to the current clinical practice for perinatal care, specifically, to develop targeted screening, assessment and interventions to address maternal mental health issues for at-risk parents during pregnancy, and continuing monitoring of young children whose mothers have experienced perinatal mental health difficulties.

Why Awe Promotes Prosocial Behaviors? The Mediating Effects of Future Time Perspective and Self-Transcendence Meaning of Life

Awe is an emotion experience when individuals encounter with such powerful stimulate beyond their own understanding. Guided by conceptual analysis of awe as a trait positive emotion, we tested the hypothesis that dispositional awe results in an improvement of individual's self-transcendence meaning of life (STML) and affects future time perspective, and increase prosocial behavior. Mediational data demonstrate that the effects of awe on prosociality are explained, by improving STML self and future time perspective. These findings indicate that awe may help situate individuals within broader social contexts and enhance collective concern.

Parent- and Observer-Rated Positive Affect in Early Childhood: Genetic Overlap and Environmental Specificity

The sources of individual differences in both observed and parent-rated positive affect (PA) were examined in a sample of 304 3-year-old twin pairs (140 MZ, 164 DZ). Based on model-fitting analyses, individual differences in observed PA were attributed to moderate genetic and high nonshared environmental factors, but not shared environmental factors. In contrast, shared environmental effects accounted for over half of the variance in parent-rated PA and genetic and nonshared environmental effects were more modest. The genetic correlation across the two measures was high, indicating substantial overlap between genetic factors influencing the two. It was these overlapping genetic effects that fully explained the phenotypic correlation between both measures. There was no significant covariance between the environmental influences on parent rated and observed PA. Thus, the two measures of PA in early childhood have common genetic underpinnings, whereas environmental influences are measure-specific. Measurement implications are discussed.

Transforming Life: A Broad View of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Concept from an Ecological Justice Perspective

The influential scientist Rene J. Dubos (1901–1982) conducted groundbreaking studies concerning early-life environmental exposures (e.g., diet, social interactions, commensal microbiota, housing conditions) and adult disease. However, Dubos looked beyond the scientific focus on disease, arguing that “mere survival is not enough”. He defined mental health as fulfilling human potential, and expressed concerns about urbanization occurring in tandem with disappearing access to natural environments (and elements found within them); thus modernity could interfere with health via “missing exposures”. With the advantage of emerging research involving green space, the microbiome, biodiversity and positive psychology, we discuss ecological justice in the dysbiosphere and the forces—financial inequity, voids in public policy, marketing and otherwise—that interfere with the fundamental rights of children to thrive in a healthy urban ecosystem and learn respect for the natural environment. We emphasize health within the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) rubric and suggest that greater focus on positive exposures might uncover mechanisms of resiliency that contribute to maximizing human potential. We will entrain our perspective to socioeconomic disadvantage in developed nations and what we have described as “grey space”; this is a mental as much as a physical environment, a space that serves to insidiously reinforce unhealthy behavior, compromise positive psychological outlook and, ultimately, trans-generational health. It is a dwelling place that cannot be fixed with encephalobiotics or the drug-class known as psychobiotics.