Social threat processing in adults and children: Faster orienting to, but shorter dwell time on, angry faces during visual search

Attention to emotional signals conveyed by others is critical for gleaning information about potential social partners and the larger social context. Children appear to detect social threats (e.g., angry faces) faster than non-threatening social signals (e.g., neutral faces). However, methods that rely on behavioral responses alone are limited in identifying different attentional processes involved in threat detection or responding. To address this question, we used a visual search paradigm to assess behavioral (i.e., reaction time to select a target image) and attentional (i.e., eye-tracking fixations, saccadic shifts, and dwell time) responses in children (ages 7-10 years old, N = 42) and adults (ages 18-23 years old, N = 46). In doing so, we compared behavioral responding and attentional detection and engagement with threatening (i.e., angry and fearful faces) and non-threatening (i.e., happy faces) social signals. Overall, children and adults were faster to detect social threats (i.e., angry faces), but spent a smaller proportion of time dwelling on them and had slower behavioral responses. Findings underscore the importance of combining different measures to parse differences between processing versus responding to social signals across development. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Children and adults are slower to select angry faces when measured by time to mouse-click but faster to detect angry faces when measured by time to first eye fixation. The use of eye-tracking addresses some limitations of prior visual search tasks with children that rely on behavioral responses alone. Results suggest shorter time to first fixation, but subsequently, shorter duration of dwell on social threat in children and adults.

Why Should I? Examining How Childhood Callous-Unemotional Traits Relate to Prosocial and Affiliative Behaviors and Motivations

Childhood callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by low empathy, limited prosocial behavior, and restricted social affiliation. However, few studies have investigated whether CU traits are associated with different subtypes of prosocial and affiliative behavior or the specific motivational difficulties underlying these behaviors. We addressed these questions using data from 135 young children (M = 5.48 years old; 58% female) who viewed depictions of adults or children in instrumental need, emotional need, or neutral situations. We assessed recognition, suggested initiation of, and motivation for prosocial or affiliative behavior in response to each depiction. We distinguished between subtypes of prosocial (instrumental and emotional) and affiliative (parallel, cooperative, associative) behavior, as well as self- versus other-orientated motivations. Parents reported on child CU traits and conduct problems. Overall, children accurately recognized prosocial and neutral situations, offered help, and expressed other-orientated motivations for prosocial behavior and social motivations for affiliative behavior. Higher CU traits were related to lower overall recognition accuracy, which was more pronounced for emotional need. Higher CU traits were also related to fewer offers of help and more denial of prosocial behavior, particularly for instrumental need. Finally, CU traits were related to lower probability of initiating affiliative behavior. CU traits were not differentially related to self- versus other-orientated motivations for prosocial or affiliative behavior. Findings demonstrate difficulties of children with CU traits in recognizing need and offering help. Interventions for CU traits could include modules that explicitly scaffold and shape prosociality and social affiliation.

Evaluating the sensitivity to threat and affiliative reward (STAR) model in relation to the development of conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits across early adolescence

BACKGROUND

The Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward (STAR) model proposes low threat sensitivity and low affiliation as risk factors for callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Preliminary evidence for the STAR model comes from work in early childhood. However, studies are needed that explore the STAR dimensions in late childhood and adolescence when severe conduct problems (CP) emerge. Moreover, it is unclear how variability across the full spectrum of threat sensitivity and affiliation gives rise to different forms of psychopathology beyond CU traits.

METHODS

The current study addressed these gaps using parent- and child-reported data from three waves and a sub-study of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study® of 11,878 youth (48% female; ages 9-12).

RESULTS

Consistent with the STAR model, low threat sensitivity and low affiliation were independently related to CU traits across informants and time. Moreover, there was significant interaction between the STAR dimensions, such that children with lower sensitivity to threat and lower affiliation had higher parent-reported CU traits. Unlike CU traits, children with higher threat sensitivity had higher parent-reported CP and anxiety. Finally, children with lower affiliation had higher parent-reported CP, anxiety, and depression. Results largely replicated across informants and time, and sensitivity analysis revealed similar findings in children with and without DSM-5 defined CP.

CONCLUSIONS

Results support the STAR model hypotheses as they pertain to CU traits and delineate threat sensitivity and affiliation as independent transdiagnostic risk factors for different types of psychopathology. Future research is needed to develop fuller and more reliable and valid measures of affiliation and threat sensitivity across multiple assessment modalities.

Increased cardiac vagal tone in childhood-only, adolescent-only, and persistently antisocial teenagers: the mediating role of low heart rate

BACKGROUND

Cardiac vagal tone is an indicator of parasympathetic nervous system functioning, and there is increasing interest in its relation to antisocial behavior. It is unclear however whether antisocial individuals are characterized by increased or decreased vagal tone, and whether increased vagal tone is the source of the low heart rate frequently reported in antisocial populations.

METHODS

Participants consisted of four groups of community-dwelling adolescent boys aged 15.7 years: (1) controls, (2) childhood-only antisocial, (3) adolescent-only antisocial, and (4) persistently antisocial. Heart rate and vagal tone were assessed in three different conditions: rest, cognitive stressor, and social stressor.

RESULTS

All three antisocial groups had both lower resting heart rates and increased vagal tone compared to the low antisocial controls across all three conditions. Low heart rate partially mediated the relationship between vagal tone and antisocial behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that increased vagal tone and reduced heart rate are relatively broad risk factors for different developmental forms of antisocial behavior. Findings are the first to implicate vagal tone as an explanatory factor in understanding heart rate - antisocial behavior relationships. Future experimental work using non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation or heart rate variability biofeedback is needed to more systematically evaluate this conclusion.

Newborn Brain Function and Early Emerging Callous-Unemotional Traits

Importance

Children with high callous-unemotional traits are more likely to develop severe and persistent conduct problems; however, the newborn neurobiology underlying early callous-unemotional traits remains unknown. Understanding the neural mechanisms that precede the development of callous-unemotional traits could help identify at-risk children and encourage development of novel treatments.

Objective

To determine whether newborn brain function is associated with early-emerging empathy, prosociality, and callous-unemotional traits.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this prospective, longitudinal cohort study, pregnant women were recruited from obstetric clinics in St Louis, Missouri, from September 1, 2017, to February 28, 2020, with longitudinal data collected until March 20, 2023. Mothers were recruited during pregnancy. Newborns underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging shortly after birth. Mothers completed longitudinal follow-up when the children were aged 1, 2, and 3 years.

Exposures

The sample was enriched for exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage.

Main Outcome and Measure

Functional connectivity between hypothesized brain regions was assessed using newborn-specific networks and voxel-based connectivity analyses. Children's callous-unemotional traits were measured using the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits. Empathy and prosociality were assessed using the Infant and Toddler Socio-Emotional Assessment.

Results

A total of 283 children (mean [SD] gestational age, 38 [2] weeks; 159 male [56.2%]; 2 Asian [0.7%], 171 Black [60%], 7 Hispanic or Latino [2.5%], 106 White [38%], 4 other racial or ethnic group [1.4%]) were included in the analysis. Stronger newborn functional connectivity between the cingulo-opercular network (CO) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was associated with higher callous-unemotional traits at age 3 years (β = 0.31; 95% CI, 0.17-0.41; P < .001). Results persisted when accounting for parental callous-unemotional traits and child externalizing symptoms. Stronger newborn CO-mPFC connectivity was also associated with lower empathy and lower prosociality at ages 1, 2, and 3 years using multilevel models (β = -0.12; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.04; P = .004 and β = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.30 to -0.10; P < .001, respectively).

Conclusions and Relevance

Newborn functional connectivity was associated with early-emerging empathy, prosociality, and callous-unemotional traits, even when accounting for parental callous-unemotional traits and child externalizing symptoms. Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of empathy, prosociality, and callous-unemotional traits at the earliest developmental point may help early risk stratification and novel intervention development.

Parasympathetic Nervous System Functioning Moderates the Associations between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Emotion Understanding Difficulties in Late Childhood

BACKGROUND

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by low empathy, guilt, and prosociality, putting children at risk for lifespan antisocial behavior. Elevated CU traits have been linked separately to difficulties with emotion understanding (i.e., identifying emotional states of others) and disrupted parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) functioning. However, no study has investigated how PNS functioning and emotion understanding are jointly related to CU traits.

METHOD

We explored associations between CU traits, emotion understanding, and PNS functioning (indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) among children aged 7-10 years old (n = 55). We also tested whether deficits in emotion understanding differ across specific emotions (i.e., fear, pain, happiness, anger). Each child's RSA was continuously recorded while they watched a film that included emotionally evocative social interactions. To assess emotion understanding, children identified emotions replayed in 1s animations of scenes from the film. Parents reported on child CU traits, conduct problems, and demographic information.

RESULTS

Higher CU traits were related to lower emotion understanding (β = -0.43, p = 0.03). PNS activity during the film moderated this association (β = -0.47, p < 0.001), such that CU traits were associated with lower emotion understanding among children with mean (B = -0.01, t = -2.46, p = 0.02) or high (i.e., 1 SD > M; B = -0.02, t = -3.00, p < 0.001) RSA levels during the film, but not among children with low RSA levels (i.e., 1 SD < M; B = 0.00, t = -0.53, p = 0.60). Moreover, we found that the observed moderated associations are driven by deficits in fear, specifically.

CONCLUSIONS

The link between poorer emotion understanding, fear understanding in particular, and CU traits was attenuated for children who demonstrated patterns of PNS functioning consistent with attentional engagement while viewing the emotion stimuli.

Children's knowledge and feelings align in response to emotional music

Examining emotion recognition and response to music can isolate recognition of and resonance with emotion from the confounding effects of other social cues (e.g., faces). In a within-sample design, participants aged 5-6 years in the eastern region of the United States (N = 135, Mage = 5.98, SDage = .54; 78 female, 56 male; eight Asian, 43 Black, 62 White, 13 biracial, and nine "other") listened to clips of calm, scary, and sad music. In separate sessions, participants identified the emotional content of the music or reported on the feelings elicited by the music clip, with above-chance accuracy. Emotion recognition was associated with age and higher levels of child emotional verbal expressivity. Children with higher parent-reported empathy reported greater resonance with the emotion conveyed by music, specifically for sad music. Recognition and resonance were correlated (i.e., alignment), although the relationship varied as a function of the emotion expressed, with the greatest alignment for sad music. Results provide insights into emotion recognition and resonance in the absence of direct social signals and provide evidence that children's ability to recognize and resonate with emotion differs depending on characteristics of the music and the child. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood conduct problems and parent-child talk during social and nonsocial play contexts: a naturalistic home-based experiment

Parent-child interactions are a critical pathway to emotion socialization, with disruption to these processes associated with risk for childhood behavior problems. Using computational linguistics methods, we tested whether (1) play context influenced parent-child socioemotional language, and (2) child conduct problems or callous-unemotional traits were associated with patterns of socioemotional or nonsocial language across contexts. Seventy-nine parent-child dyads (children, 5-6 years old) played a socioemotional skills ("social context") or math ("nonsocial context") game at home. We transcribed and analyzed game play, which had been audio recorded by participants. The social context elicited more socioemotional and cognitive words, while the nonsocial context elicited more mathematical words. The use of socioemotional language by parents and children was more strongly correlated in the social context, but context did not moderate the degree of correlation in cognitive or mathematical word use between parents and children. Children with more conduct problems used fewer socioemotional words in the social context, while children with higher callous-unemotional traits used fewer cognitive words in both contexts. We highlight the role of context in supporting socioemotionally rich parent-child language interactions and provide preliminary evidence for the existence of linguistic markers of child behavior problems. Our results also inform naturalistic assessments of parent-child interactions and home-based interventions for parents and children facing socioemotional or behavioral challenges.

The impact of the pandemic on mothers and children, with a focus on syndemic effects on black families: the "Prenatal to Preschool" study protocol

Introduction

Racism, a known social determinant of health, affects the mental health and well-being of pregnant and postpartum women and their children. Convincing evidence highlights the urgent need to better identify the mechanisms and the ways in which young children's development and mental health are adversely impacted by their mothers' experiences of racism. With the additional stressor of the COVID-19 pandemic, the criticality of improving knowledge of these domains has never been starker. The proposed project will address these questions and move the field forward to create targeted, culturally informed preventative interventions, thus achieving mental health equity for all children and families.

Methods

This prospective research is a cohort study that will longitudinally observe the outcomes of a cohort of mothers and their children recruited during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data will be parent/caregiver questionnaires assessing mental health, racism, support, and resilience at multiple time points with the first beginning at 24 months, clinical interviews with mothers, electronic medical records of mothers, and videotaped dyadic interactions at child age 24 and 48 months. A subset of Black participants will be asked to participate in qualitative interviews at child age 36 months.

Results

Analyze will be performed within and across Black and Non-Latino/a/e/x white (NLW) groups, and comparing mothers and fathers/secondary caregivers. Descriptive and multivariate analyzes will be run to better characterize how young children's development and mental health may be adversely impacted by their caregiver's experiences of racism.

Discussion

This prospective longitudinal mixed-methods study evaluates the simultaneous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and racism on mothers and their developing children to characterize cross-racial differences, providing insight into risk and resilience factors in early development and the peripartum period.

Observations of Positive Parenting from Online Parent-Child Interactions at Age 1

Objective

Brief, reliable, and cost-effective methods to assess parenting are critical for advancing parenting research.

Design

We adapted the Three Bags task and Parent Child Interaction Rating System (PCIRS) for rating online visits with 219 parent-child dyads (White, n = 104 [47.5%], Black, n = 115 [52.5%]) and combined the video data with survey data collected during pregnancy and when children were aged 1.

Results

The PCIRS codes of positive regard, stimulation of child cognitive development, and sensitivity showed high reliability across the three parent-child interaction tasks. A latent positive parenting factor combining ratings across codes and tasks showed good model fit, which was similar regardless of parent self-identified race or ethnicity, age, socioeconomic disadvantage, marital/partnered status, and parity, as well as methodological factors relevant to the online video assessment method (e.g., phone vs. laptop/tablet). In support of construct validity, observed positive parenting was related to parent-reported positive parenting and child socioemotional development. Finally, parent reports of supportive relationships in pregnancy, but not neighborhood safety or pandemic worries, were prospectively related to higher positive parenting observed at age 1. With the exception of older parental age and married/partnered status, no other parent, child, sociodemographic, or methodological variables were related to higher overall video exclusions across tasks.

Conclusions

PCIRS may provide a reliable approach to rate positive parenting at age 1, providing future avenues for developing more ecologically valid assessments and implementing interventions through online encounters that may be more acceptable, accessible, or preferred among parents of young children.

Maternal emotional intelligence and negative parenting affect are independently associated with callous-unemotional traits in preschoolers

Deficits in emotion intelligence (EI) are a key component of early-childhood callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Children's EI may be influenced by their mother's EI through both familial genetic and environmental mechanisms; however, no study has directly tested the role of maternal EI in the development of CU traits. This study investigated whether maternal EI had a direct relationship with children's CU traits when controlling for the potential influence of parenting affect and other psychiatric diagnoses. Mothers and their 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers (N = 200) were recruited as part of a parent-child interaction-emotion development therapy treatment trial for preschool clinical depression and comorbid psychopathology. Using data collected prior to treatment, regression models tested whether maternal EI was related to children's CU traits, which specific aspects of maternal EI were most strongly associated with CU traits, and whether associations held after accounting for observed parenting affect. Maternal EI (p < 0.005), specifically the ability to understand others' emotions (p < 0.01), was significantly associated with children's CU traits. This relationship was specific, as maternal EI did not predict depression or oppositional defiant disorder. Both maternal EI and observed negative parenting affect were independently and significantly related to CU traits (p < 0.05) in a combined model. Given that maternal EI and observed negative parenting affect were independent predictors of CU traits in preschoolers with comorbid depression, findings suggest that current treatments for CU traits that focus solely on improving parenting could be made more effective by targeting maternal EI and helping mothers better model emotional competence.

The Influence of Pandemic-Related Worries During Pregnancy on Child Development at 12 Months

The COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to increased risk for perinatal anxiety and depression among parents, as well as negative consequences for child development. Less is known about how worries arising from the pandemic during pregnancy are related to later child development, nor if resilience factors buffer negative consequences. The current study addresses this question in a prospective longitudinal design. Data was collected from a sub-study (n = 184) of a longitudinal study of pregnant individuals (total n = 1173). During pregnancy (April 17-July 8, 2020) and the early postpartum period (August 11, 2020-March 2, 2021), participants completed online surveys. At 12 months postpartum (June 17, 2021-March 23, 2022), participants completed online surveys and a virtual laboratory visit, which included parent-child interaction tasks. We found more pregnancy-specific pandemic worries were prospectively related to lower levels of child socioemotional development based on parent report (B = - 1.13, SE = .43, p = .007) and observer ratings (B = - 0.13, SE = .07, p = .045), but not to parent-reported general developmental milestones. Parental emotion regulation in the early postpartum period moderated the association between pregnancy-specific pandemic worries and child socioemotional development such that pregnancy-specific pandemic worries did not relate to worse child socioemotional development among parents with high (B = - .02, SE = .10, t = - .14, p = .89) levels of emotion regulation. Findings suggest the negative consequences of parental worry and distress during pregnancy on the early socioemotional development of children in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results highlight that parental emotion regulation may represent a target for intervention to promote parental resilience and support optimized child development.

Promoting Empathy and Affiliation in Relationships (PEAR) study: protocol for a longitudinal study investigating the development of early childhood callous-unemotional traits

INTRODUCTION

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits are at high lifetime risk of antisocial behaviour. Low affiliation (ie, social bonding difficulties) and fearlessness (ie, low threat sensitivity) are proposed risk factors for CU traits. Parenting practices (eg, harshness and low warmth) also predict risk for CU traits. However, few studies in early childhood have identified attentional or physiological markers of low affiliation and fearlessness. Moreover, no studies have tested whether parenting practices are underpinned by low affiliation or fearlessness shared by parents, which could further shape parent-child interactions and exacerbate risk for CU traits. Addressing these questions will inform knowledge of how CU traits develop and isolate novel parent and child targets for future specialised treatments for CU traits.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The Promoting Empathy and Affiliation in Relationships (PEAR) study aims to establish risk factors for CU traits in children aged 3-6 years. The PEAR study will recruit 500 parent-child dyads from two metropolitan areas of the USA. Parents and children will complete questionnaires, computer tasks and observational assessments, alongside collection of eye-tracking and physiological data, when children are aged 3-4 (time 1) and 5-6 (time 2) years. The moderating roles of child sex, race and ethnicity, family and neighbourhood disadvantage, and parental psychopathology will also be assessed. Study aims will be addressed using structural equation modelling, which will allow for flexible characterisation of low affiliation, fearlessness and parenting practices as risk factors for CU traits across multiple domains.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval was granted by Boston University (#6158E) and the University of Pennsylvania (#850638). Results will be disseminated through conferences and open-access publications. All study and task materials will be made freely available on lab websites and through the Open Science Framework (OSF).

Psychometric Properties, Factor Structure, and Validity of the Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward Scale in Children and Adults

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits identify children at high risk of antisocial behavior. A recent theoretical model proposed that CU traits arise from low sensitivity to threat and affiliation. To assess these dimensions, we developed the parent- and self-reported Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward Scale (STARS) and tested its psychometric properties, factor structure, and construct validity. Samples 1 (N =3 03; age 3-10; United States) and 2 (N = 854 age 5-9; Spain) were children and Sample 3 was 514 young adults (Mage = 19.89; United States). In Sample 1, differential item functioning and item response theory techniques were used to identify the best-performing items from a 64-item pool, resulting in 28 items that functioned equivalently across age and gender. Factor analysis indicated acceptable fit for the theorized two-factor structure with separate threat and affiliation factors in all three samples, which showed predictive validity in relation to CU traits in children and psychopathic traits in young adults.

Treatment of childhood disruptive behavior disorders and callous-unemotional traits: a systematic review and two multilevel meta-analyses

BACKGROUND

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits are at high lifetime risk of antisocial behavior. It is unknown if treatments for disruptive behavior disorders are as effective for children with CU traits (DBD+CU) as those without (DBD-only), nor if treatments directly reduce CU traits. Separate multilevel meta-analyses were conducted to compare treatment effects on DBD symptoms for DBD+CU versus DBD-only children and evaluate direct treatment-related reductions in CU traits, as well as to examine moderating factors for both questions.

METHODS

We systematically searched PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochran Library (Trials), EMBASE, MEDLINE, APA PsycNet, Scopus, and Web of Science. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials, controlled trials, and uncontrolled studies evaluating child-focused, parenting-focused, pharmacological, family-focused, or multimodal treatments.

RESULTS

Sixty studies with 9,405 participants were included (Mage  = 10.04, SDage  = 3.89 years, 25.09% female, 44.10% racial/ethnic minority). First, treatment was associated with similar reductions in DBD symptoms for DBD+CU (SMD = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.45, 1.72) and DBD-only (SMD = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.38, 1.64). However, DBD+CU started (SMD = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.57, 1.80) and ended (SMD = 0.73, p < .001; 95% CI = 0.43, 1.04) treatment with more DBD symptoms. Second, although there was no overall direct effect of treatment on CU traits (SMD = .09, 95% CI = -0.02, 0.20), there were moderating factors. Significant treatment-related reductions in CU traits were found for studies testing parenting-focused components (SMD = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.06, 0.35), using parent-reported measures (SMD = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.04, 0.28), rated as higher quality (SMD = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.13, 0.39), conducted outside the United States (SMD = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.32), and with less than half the sample from a racial/ethnic minority group (SMD = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.002, 0.30).

CONCLUSIONS

DBD+CU children improve with treatment, but their greater DBD symptom severity requires specialized treatment modules that could be implemented alongside parenting programs. Conclusions are tempered by heterogeneity across studies and scant evidence from randomized controlled trials.

The impact of postpartum social support on postpartum mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Social support is an influential component of postpartum recovery, adjustment, and bonding, which was disrupted by social distancing recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports on changes in the availability of social support for postpartum women during the pandemic, investigates how those changes may have contributed to postpartum mental health, and probes how specific types of social support buffered against poor postpartum mental health and maternal-infant bonding impairment. Participants were 833 pregnant patients receiving prenatal care in an urban USA setting and using an electronic patient portal to access self-report surveys at two time points, during pregnancy (April-July 2020) and at ~12 weeks postpartum (August 2020-March 2021). Measures included an assessment of COVID-19 pandemic-related change in social support, sources of social support, ratings of emotional and practical support, and postpartum outcomes including depression, anxiety, and maternal-infant bonding. Overall self-reported social support decreased during the pandemic. Decreased social support was associated with an increased risk of postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and impaired parent-infant bonding. Among women reporting low practical support, emotional support appeared to protect against clinically significant depressive symptoms and impaired bonding with the infant. Decreases in social support are associated with a risk for poor postpartum mental health outcomes and impaired maternal-infant bonding. Evaluation and promotion of social support are recommended for healthy adjustment and functioning of postpartum women and families.

The role of dominance in sibling relationships: differences in interactive cooperative and competitive behavior

Siblings strongly influence each other in their social development and are a major source of support and conflict. Yet, studies are mostly observational, and little is known about how adult sibling relationships influence social behavior. Previous tasks exploring dynamically adjusting social interactions have limitations in the level of interactivity and naturalism of the interaction. To address these limitations, we created a cooperative tetris puzzle-solving task and an interactive version of the chicken game task. We validated these two tasks to study cooperative and competitive behavior in real-time interactions (N = 56). Based on a dominance questionnaire (DoPL), sibling pairs were clustered into pairs that were both low in dominance (n = 7), both high in dominance (n = 8), or one low and one high in dominance (n = 13). Consistent with our hypothesis, there were significantly more mutual defections, less use of turn-taking strategies, and a non-significant trend for reduced success in solving tetris puzzles together among high dominance pairs compared to both other pair types. High dominant pairs also had higher Machiavellian and hypercompetitiveness traits and more apathetic sibling relationships. Both tasks constitute powerful and reliable tools to study personality and relationship influences on real and natural social interactions by demonstrating the different cooperative and competitive dynamics between siblings.

"But not the music": psychopathic traits and difficulties recognising and resonating with the emotion in music

Recognising and responding appropriately to emotions is critical to adaptive psychological functioning. Psychopathic traits (e.g. callous, manipulative, impulsive, antisocial) are related to differences in recognition and response when emotion is conveyed through facial expressions and language. Use of emotional music stimuli represents a promising approach to improve our understanding of the specific emotion processing difficulties underlying psychopathic traits because it decouples recognition of emotion from cues directly conveyed by other people (e.g. facial signals). In Experiment 1, participants listened to clips of emotional music and identified the emotional content (Sample 1, N = 196) or reported on their feelings elicited by the music (Sample 2, N = 197). Participants accurately recognised (t(195) = 32.78, p < .001, d = 4.69) and reported feelings consistent with (t(196) = 7.84, p < .001, d = 1.12) the emotion conveyed in the music. However, psychopathic traits were associated with reduced emotion recognition accuracy (F(1, 191) = 19.39, p < .001) and reduced likelihood of feeling the emotion (F(1, 193) = 35.45, p < .001), particularly for fearful music. In Experiment 2, we replicated findings for broad difficulties with emotion recognition (Sample 3, N = 179) and emotional resonance (Sample 4, N = 199) associated with psychopathic traits. Results offer new insight into emotion recognition and response difficulties that are associated with psychopathic traits.

The Influence of Pandemic-Related Worries During Pregnancy on Child Development at 12 Months

The COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to increased risk for perinatal anxiety and depression among parents, as well as negative consequences for child development. Less is known about how worries arising from the pandemic during pregnancy are related to later child development, nor if resilience factors buffer negative consequences. The current study addresses this question in a prospective longitudinal design. Data was collected from a sub-study ( n  = 184) of a longitudinal study of pregnant individuals (total n  = 1,173). During pregnancy (April 17-July 8, 2020) and the early postpartum period (August 11, 2020-March 2, 2021), participants completed online surveys. At 12 months postpartum (June 17, 2021-March 23, 2022), participants completed online surveys and a virtual laboratory visit, which included parent-child interaction tasks. We found more pregnancy-specific pandemic worries were prospectively related to lower levels of child socioemotional development based on parent report (B=-1.13, SE = .43, p  = .007) and observer ratings (B=-0.13, SE = .07, p  = .045), but not to parent-reported general developmental milestones. Parental emotion regulation in the early postpartum period moderated the association between pregnancy-specific pandemic worries and child socioemotional development such that pregnancy-specific pandemic worries did not related to worse child socioemotional development among parents with high (B=-.02, SE = .10, t=-.14, p = .89) levels of emotion regulation. Findings suggest the negative consequences of parental worry and distress during pregnancy on the early socioemotional development of children in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results highlight that parental emotion regulation may represent a target for intervention to promote parental resilience and support optimized child development.

Prospective associations between pandemic-related adversity, harsh parenting, and the development of prosociality across middle to late childhood

Parenting behaviors and children's prosociality (i.e., voluntary behaviors intended to benefit others) are linked across development. Contextual risk and environmental stressors may undermine parenting behaviors known to promote children's prosocial behavior. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique context in which to examine how stress and contextual risk disrupt parenting practices and the development of children's prosociality over time. To explore the associations between pandemic-related adversity, parenting practices, and child prosocial behavior, we used survey data from 303 families (child Mage = 6.43; 51.4% female, 48.6% male; 65.7% White) who participated in a three-wave longitudinal study during the first year of the pandemic. Families were recruited from two northeastern cities in the United States. Growth mixture modeling identified two groups of parents who varied in their experience of pandemic-related adversity. The high-adversity group reported significantly more symptoms of depression and anxiety, parental burnout, and pandemic-related worries than the low-adversity group. At baseline, parents in the high-adversity group reported harsher parenting and perceived less prosocial behavior in their children. Across the full sample, there were no significant changes in harsh parenting and parental perceptions of child's prosociality across the first year of the pandemic. However, within the high-adversity group, increases in harsh parenting were related to reductions in children's prosociality over time. Results are interpreted in the context of family systems theory and contribute to our understanding of the links between parenting and children's prosociality and patterns of risk and resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Callous-unemotional Traits and Emotion Recognition Difficulties: Do Stimulus Characteristics Play a role?

Emotion recognition difficulties are linked to callous-unemotional (CU) traits, which predict risk for severe antisocial behavior. However, few studies have investigated how stimulus characteristics influence emotion recognition performance, which could give insight into the mechanisms underpinning CU traits. To address this knowledge gap, children aged 7-10 years old (N = 45; 53% female, 47% male; 46.3% Black/African-American, 25.9% White, 16.7% Mixed race or Other, 9.3% Asian) completed an emotion recognition task featuring static facial stimuli from child and adult models and facial and full-body dynamic stimuli from adult models. Parents reported on CU traits of children in the sample. Children showed better emotion recognition for dynamic than static faces. Higher CU traits were associated with worse emotion recognition, particularly for sad and neutral expressions. Stimulus characteristics did not impact associations between CU traits and emotion recognition.

Association Between State-Level Access to Reproductive Care and Suicide Rates Among Women of Reproductive Age in the United States

Importance

Many states in the United States enforce restrictions to reproductive care, with access to abortion remaining a highly divisive issue. Denial of abortion is linked with heightened stress and anxiety among reproductive-aged women. However, no studies have tested whether access to reproductive care is linked to suicide.

Objective

To evaluate whether state-level restrictions in access to reproductive care in the United States were associated with suicide rates among reproductive-aged women from 1974 to 2016.

Design, Setting, and Participants

A longitudinal ecologic study with a difference-in-differences analysis assessed whether annual changes in the enforcement of state-level restrictions to reproductive care were related to annual state-level suicide rates vs rates of death due to motor vehicle crashes. Duration of follow-up varied between different states (range, 4-40 years), contingent on the first year that restrictions were implemented. Models controlled for year and state fixed effects and other relevant demographic and economic factors. Analyses were conducted between December 2021 and January 2022.

Exposures

Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws index measuring state-year-level restrictions to reproductive care.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Annual state-level suicide rates and motor vehicle crash death rates among reproductive-aged women (ages 20-34 years; target group) vs women of postreproductive age (ages 45-64 years; control group).

Results

Twenty-one US states enforced at least 1 TRAP law between 1974 and 2016. Annual rates of death by suicide ranged from 1.4 to 25.6 per 100 000 women of reproductive age to 2.7 to 33.2 per 100 000 women of postreproductive age during the study period (1974-2016). Annual motor vehicle crash death rates among women of reproductive age ranged from 2.4 to 42.9 per 100 000. Enforcement of TRAP laws was associated with higher suicide rates among reproductive-aged women (β = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.32; P = .02) but not women of postreproductive age (β = 0.06; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.24; P = .47) nor to deaths due to motor vehicle crashes (β = 0.03, 95% CI, -0.04 to 0.11; P = .36). Among reproductive-aged women, the weighted average annual-state level suicide death rate when no TRAP laws were enforced was 5.5 per 100 000. Enforcement of a TRAP law was associated with a 5.81% higher annual rate of suicide than in pre-enforcement years. Findings remained significant when using alternative, broader indices of reproductive care access and different age categorizations.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this study with a difference-in-differences analysis of US women, restrictions on access to reproductive care from 1974 to 2016 were associated with suicide rates among reproductive-aged women. Given the limitations of the ecologic design of this study, further research is needed to assess whether current factors affecting access to reproductive care services are related to suicide risk among women of reproductive age and to inform suicide prevention strategies.

Genetic versus environmental influences on callous-unemotional traits in preadolescence: The role of parenting and parental psychopathology

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits are at risk for severe conduct problems. While CU traits are moderately heritable, parenting also predicts risk. However, few studies have investigated whether parenting factors (e.g., acceptance, conflict, parental psychopathology) moderate the etiology of CU traits, while accounting for gene-environment correlations. To address this knowledge gap, we used data from 772 twin pairs from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study to test bivariate models that explored overlapping etiological influences on CU traits and child reports of their parenting environment. We also used gene-by-environment interaction models to test whether parenting moderated genetic versus environmental influences. There were no overlapping etiological influences on CU traits and parental acceptance, but modest genetic and non-shared environmental overlap between CU traits and family conflict. Parental acceptance and psychopathology moderated non-shared environmental influences, with stronger non-shared environmental influences on CU traits among children who experienced lower parental acceptance and greater parental psychopathology. Family conflict only moderated environmental influences when models did not covary for conduct problems. Parental acceptance and parental psychopathology may be specific environmental protective and risk factors for CU traits, whereas family conflict may represent a general environmental risk factor for both CU traits and conduct problems.

Emotional Faces Facilitate Statistical Learning

Detecting regularities and extracting patterns is a vital skill to organize complex information in our environments. Statistical learning, a process where we detect regularities by attending to relationships between cues in our environment, contributes to knowledge acquisition across myriad domains. However, less is known about how emotional cues-specifically facial configurations of emotion-influence statistical learning. Here, we tested two pre-registered aims to advance knowledge about emotional signals and statistical learning: (1) we examined statistical learning in the context of emotional compared to non-emotional information, and (2) we assessed how emotional congruency (i.e., whether facial stimuli conveyed the same, or different emotions) influenced regularity extraction. We demonstrated statistical learning in the context of emotional signals. Further, we showed that statistical learning occurs more efficiently in the context of emotional faces. We also established that congruent cues benefited an online measure of statistical learning, but had varied effects when statistical learning was assessed via post-exposure recognition test. The results shed light on how affective signals influence well-studied cognitive skills and address a knowledge gap about how cue congruency impacts statistical learning, including how emotional cues might guide predictions in our social world.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00130-9.

The COVID-19 pandemic, mask-wearing, and emotion recognition during late-childhood

Face masks are an effective and important tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including among children. However, occluding parts of the face can impact emotion recognition, which is fundamental to effective social interactions. Social distancing, stress, and changes to routines because of the pandemic have also altered the social landscape of children, with implications for social development. To better understand how social input and context impact emotion recognition, the current study investigated emotion recognition in children (7-12 years old, N = 131) using images of both masked and unmasked emotional faces. We also assessed a subsample of participants ("pre-pandemic subsample," n = 35) who had completed the same emotion recognition task with unmasked faces before and during the pandemic. Masking of faces was related to worse emotion recognition, with more pronounced effects for happy, sad, and fearful faces than angry and neutral faces. Masking was more strongly related to emotion recognition among children whose families reported greater social disruption in response to the pandemic. Finally, in the pre-pandemic subsample, emotion recognition of sad faces was lower during versus before the pandemic relative to other emotions. Together, findings show that occluding face parts and the broader social context (i.e., global pandemic) both impact emotion-relevant judgments in school-aged children.

Longitudinal Associations between Callous-unemotional (CU) Traits and School-based Affiliative Relationships among South Korean Children

OBJECTIVE

Callous-unemotional traits (CU) traits are characterized by low empathy, guilt, and reduced sensitivity to others' feelings, along with a reduced drive for social affiliation. However, little is known about the relationships between CU traits and social affiliation in the school context, or the influence of gender on these associations. This study tested reciprocal associations between CU traits and school-based affiliative relationships and explored gender as a potential moderator.

METHOD

The sample included South Korean children aged 10 to 12 years (N = 218, M = 11.03, SD = .65, 52% boys). Children reported on CU traits, antisocial behavior, teacher-student relationship quality, and peer affiliation. Three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged models tested reciprocal associations between CU traits and affiliation with both teachers and peers, with multi-group modeling employed to test the moderating effect of gender.

RESULTS

Higher CU traits at time 1 predicted decreases in teacher affiliation at time 2 controlling for CU traits, teacher-child affiliation, and antisocial behavior at time 1, while lower teacher-child affiliation at time 2 predicted increases in CU traits at time 3 accounting for CU traits, teacher-child affiliation, and antisocial behavior at time 2. However, there were no reciprocal associations between CU traits and teacher affiliation nor significant associations between CU traits and peer affiliation. Gender did not moderate any pathways between CU traits and teacher or peer affiliation.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate CU traits may reduce teacher-child affiliation, potentially escalating risk for further increases in CU traits. Thus, teacher-child affiliation may represent an important target for school-based intervention for children with elevated CU traits regardless of gender.

Association of COVID-19 and Endemic Systemic Racism With Postpartum Anxiety and Depression Among Black Birthing Individuals

IMPORTANCE

The intersection of endemic structural racism and the global health crisis secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic represents a syndemic, defined as the aggregation of 2 or more endemic and epidemic conditions leading to adverse repercussions for health. Long-standing inequities have placed Black individuals at disproportionate risk for negative postpartum mental health outcomes. Studies are urgently needed to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has added to this risk (eg, syndemic associations).

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between the syndemic and the postpartum mental health of Black birthing individuals.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

A longitudinal cohort of Black birthing individuals were followed up from pregnancy (April 17 to July 8, 2020) through the early postpartum period (August 11, 2020, to March 2, 2021) from urban university medical center prenatal clinics. Pregnant Black participants were recruited via email and completed 2 online surveys.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Composite variables capturing negative experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and racism (structural racism [general], structural racism [neighborhood], and interpersonal racism) were created. Logistic regressions examined main and interactive associations between these variables and postpartum depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale).

RESULTS

The mean (SD) age of 151 Black participants was 30.18 (5.65) years. The association between higher negative COVID-19 pandemic experiences and postpartum depression may be influenced by experiences of interpersonal racism and general systemic racism. Negative COVID-19 pandemic experiences were associated with greater likelihood of screening positive for depression only at higher levels of systemic racism (odds ratio, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.38-4.60) and interpersonal racism (odds ratio, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.04-3.48) but not at lower levels of systemic or interpersonal racism. Similarly, negative COVID-19 experiences were associated with anxiety only at higher levels of interpersonal racism (odds ratio, 1.85; 95% CI, 0.86-4.01) but not at lower levels of interpersonal racism. Overall, 44 (29%) met screening criteria for postpartum depression and 20 (13%) for postpartum anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this longitudinal cohort study of Black birthing individuals, the experience of the syndemic was associated with negative postpartum mental health. Associations between interpersonal racism, structural racism, and negative COVID-19 pandemic experiences were associated with greater risk for postpartum depression and anxiety. Research is needed to address how systemic racism perturbs biobehavioral pathways to magnify associations between acute stressors and mental health. Such research can inform the creation of effective, culturally informed preventive interventions to improve the postpartum mental health of Black individuals.

The Cognitive, Affective and Somatic Empathy Scales for Adults

The Cognitive, Affective and Somatic Empathy Scales (CASES) assess three forms of empathy, each with subscales for positive and negative empathy. The present study extends this child instrument to adults and examines its factor structure and construct validity. A secondary aim is to investigate the under-researched area of positive empathy. Community samples totaling 2,604 adults completed the CASES for adults, together with scales assessing construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor cognitive-affective-somatic model and a two-factor positive-negative empathy model. Findings were replicated in a second independent sample. Internal reliabilities ranged from .80 to .92. Individuals with higher psychopathy and stimulation-seeking scores were less impaired in their empathic reactions to positive relative to negative valence events, suggesting that they are relatively capable of responding emotionally to rewarding events. Somatic empathy was most strongly associated with pleasure in affective touch and with female > male gender differences. While proactive aggression was associated with reduced cognitive and affective empathy, reactive aggression was associated with increased empathy. Findings provide initial support for the utility of CASES for assessing different forms of empathy and suggest that the balance between positive and negative empathy could provide new insights into psychological traits.

Engagement in and Benefits of a Short-Term, Brief Psychotherapy Intervention for PTSD During Pregnancy

Trauma-related symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common during pregnancy and have adverse effects on pregnancy and birth outcomes, post-partum maternal mental health, and child development. The arousal symptoms associated with PTSD, including heightened or dysregulated physiology, may contribute to these adverse outcomes. Low-income minoritized women may be at highest risk given more lifetime exposure to trauma and limited access to mental health care. While evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD exist, none are targeted to non-treatment seeking individuals nor specifically integrated with prenatal care. Thus, we developed and tested the efficacy of a short-term (four sessions) brief (30-45 min) psychotherapeutic intervention designed to address PTSD symptoms in pregnant women receiving prenatal care at two urban medical centers. Participants were 32 pregnant women with an average gestational age of 18.5 weeks at the time of enrollment. The sample was overwhelmingly non-Caucasian, single, and reported very low income. Participants completed measures of trauma-related symptoms (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, PCL), and depression (Edinburgh post-natal Depression Scale, EPDS) at baseline, twice during treatment, post-treatment, and at 10-14 weeks post-partum. The intervention was successful at significantly decreasing symptoms of PTSD (PCL score = -20.27, 95% CI: -25.62, -14.92, P < 0.001, W = -7.43) and depression (EPDS score = -4.81, 95% CI: -7.55, -2.06, P = 0.001, W = -3.23) by the final session. These benefits were sustained at post-treatment and post-partum follow ups. Future research should further explore the effectiveness of this treatment in a randomized controlled trial.

Low social affiliation predicts increases in callous-unemotional behaviors in early childhood

BACKGROUND

Callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors predict risk for aggression and rule-breaking. Low social affiliation (i.e. reduced motivation for and enjoyment of social closeness) is hypothesized to be a phenotypic marker for CU behaviors in early childhood. However, studies need to establish observational methods to objectively assess social affiliation as well as to establish parenting practices that can buffer pathways from low social affiliation to CU behaviors.

METHODS

Using data from a longitudinal twin study of 628 children (age 2, 47% females; age 3, 44.9% females), we examined reciprocal associations between observed social affiliation, CU behaviors, and oppositional-defiant behaviors. We tested whether positive parenting moderated associations over time.

RESULTS

We established that an observed measure of social affiliation derived from the Bayley's Behavior Rating Scale and Infant Behavior Record showed high inter-rater reliability and expected convergence with parent-reported temperament measures. Lower social affiliation at age 2 uniquely predicted CU behaviors, but not oppositional-defiant behaviors, at age 3. Finally, low social affiliation at age 2 predicted CU behaviors at age 3 specifically among children who experienced low, but not high, levels of parental positivity.

CONCLUSIONS

An objective rating scale that is already widely used in pediatric settings reliably indexes low social affiliation and risk for CU behaviors. The dynamic interplay between parenting and low child social affiliation represents an important future target for novel individual- and dyadic-targeted treatments to reduce risk for CU behaviors.

Gross motor impairment and its relation to social skills in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and two meta-analyses

Gross motor ability is associated with profound differences in how children experience and interact with their social world. A rapidly growing literature on motor development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) indicates that autistic individuals exhibit impairment in gross motor skills. However, due to substantial heterogeneity across studies, it remains unclear which gross motor skills are impaired in ASD, when and for whom these differences emerge, and whether motor and social impairments are related. The present article addressed these questions by synthesizing research on gross motor skills in ASD in two separate meta-analyses. The first examined gross motor deficits in ASD compared to neurotypical (NT) controls, aggregating data from 114 studies representing 6,423 autistic and 2,941 NT individuals. Results demonstrated a significant overall deficit in gross motor skills in ASD (Hedges' g = -1.04) that was robust to methodological and phenotypic variation and was significant at every level of the tested moderators. However, moderation analyses revealed that this deficit was most pronounced for object control skills (i.e., ball skills), clinical assessment measures, and movements of the upper extremities or the whole body. The second meta-analysis investigated whether gross motor and social skills are related in ASD, synthesizing data from 21 studies representing 654 autistic individuals. Findings revealed a modest but significant overall correlation between gross motor and social skills in ASD (r = 0.27). Collectively, results support the conclusion that motor deficits are tied to the core symptoms of ASD. Further research is needed to test the causality and directionality of this relationship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children's Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered family life, but whether family exposures to and worries about the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted child conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits is unknown. Thus, we evaluated 303 parents (Mage = 38.04; SD = 5.21; 92.4% biological mothers) and children (Mage = 6.43; SD = 2.13; 51.8% female) during a four-month period early in the pandemic. We examined associations between parental exposures to COVID-19, parental worries about the pandemic, harsh and warm parenting practices, and child CP and CU traits. Although more parental worries were not directly related to parenting practices, more worry about COVID-19 was specifically related to higher levels of child CP, particularly parental worries about themselves or family members contracting the virus. Our findings add to a growing literature demonstrating the burden that the pandemic has placed on families and its implications for children's mental health.

Are you laughing with me or at me? Psychopathic traits and the ability to distinguish between affiliation and dominance laughter cues

OBJECTIVE

Laughter conveys important information that supports social communication and bonding. Research suggests that unique acoustic properties distinguish laughter that promotes affiliation from laughter that conveys dominance, but little is known about potential individual differences in laughter interpretation or contagion based on these specified social functions of laughter. Psychopathy is associated with both affiliative deficits (e.g., lack of empathy and impaired social bonding) and behaviors that assert social dominance (e.g., manipulativeness). Thus, relationships between psychopathic traits and impaired laughter interpretation or contagion could give insight into etiological pathways to psychopathy.

METHOD

In two studies conducted with four independent samples (total N = 770), participants categorized laughter clips that varied in the degree of affiliation or dominance conveyed.

RESULTS

Participants overall drew rich and accurate social inferences from dominant and affiliative laughter and modulated their interest in joining in with laughter based on the type and degree of affiliation and dominance conveyed. However, individuals higher in psychopathic traits failed to distinguish between laughter types and did not modulate their level of engagement based on laughter features.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest a potential mechanism that underlies the broader social difficulties associated with psychopathic traits.

Risk And Resilience Factors Influencing Postpartum Depression And Mother-Infant Bonding During COVID-19

Acute stress during pregnancy can have adverse effects on maternal health and increase the risk for postpartum depression and impaired mother-infant bonding. The COVID-19 pandemic represents an acute environmental stressor during which it is possible to explore risk and resilience factors that contribute to postpartum outcomes. To investigate prenatal risk and resilience factors as predictors of postpartum depression and impaired mother-infant bonding, this study recruited a diverse cohort of 833 pregnant women from an urban medical center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and assessed them once during pregnancy in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-July 2020) and again at approximately twelve weeks postpartum. Adverse childhood experiences, prenatal depression and anxiety, and COVID-19-related distress predicted a greater likelihood of postpartum depression. Prenatal depression was the only unique predictor of impaired maternal-infant bonding after postpartum depression was controlled for. Women reporting greater emotion regulation, self-reliance, and nonhostile relationships had healthier postpartum outcomes. Policies to increase the number of nonspecialty providers providing perinatal mental health services as well as reimbursement for integrated care and access to mental health screening and care are needed to improve lifelong outcomes for women and their children.

Interactive relations between maternal prenatal stress, fetal brain connectivity, and gestational age at delivery

Studies reporting significant associations between maternal prenatal stress and child outcomes are frequently confounded by correlates of prenatal stress that influence the postnatal rearing environment. The major objective of this study is to identify whether maternal prenatal stress is associated with variation in human brain functional connectivity prior to birth. We utilized fetal fMRI in 118 fetuses [48 female; mean age 32.9 weeks (SD = 3.87)] to evaluate this association and further addressed whether fetal neural differences were related to maternal health behaviors, social support, or birth outcomes. Community detection was used to empirically define networks and enrichment was used to isolate differential within- or between-network connectivity effects. Significance for χ2 enrichment was determined by randomly permuting the subject pairing of fetal brain connectivity and maternal stress values 10,000 times. Mixtures modelling was used to test whether fetal neural differences were related to maternal health behaviors, social support, or birth outcomes. Increased maternal prenatal negative affect/stress was associated with alterations in fetal frontoparietal, striatal, and temporoparietal connectivity (β = 0.82, p < 0.001). Follow-up analysis demonstrated that these associations were stronger in women with better health behaviors, more positive interpersonal support, and lower overall stress (β = 0.16, p = 0.02). Additionally, magnitude of stress-related differences in neural connectivity was marginally correlated with younger gestational age at delivery (β = -0.18, p = 0.05). This is the first evidence that negative affect/stress during pregnancy is reflected in functional network differences in the human brain in utero, and also provides information about how positive interpersonal and health behaviors could mitigate prenatal brain programming.

Evaluation of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medications, Externalizing Symptoms, and Suicidality in Children

IMPORTANCE

Childhood suicidality (ie, suicidal ideation or attempts) rates are increasing, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and externalizing symptoms are common risk factors associated with suicidality. More data are needed to describe associations of ADHD pharmacotherapy with childhood suicidality.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the associations of ADHD pharmacotherapy with externalizing symptoms and childhood suicidality.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

In this cohort study, cross-sectional and 1-year-longitudinal associations were examined using data (collected during 2016-2019) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large, diverse US sample of children aged 9 to 11 years. Data analysis was performed from November to December 2020.

EXPOSURES

Main and interaction associations of externalizing symptoms (hyperactivity ADHD symptoms, oppositional defiant, and conduct disorder symptoms) and ADHD medication treatment (methylphenidate and amphetamine derivatives, α-2-agonists, and atomoxetine) at baseline assessment.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Child-reported suicidality (past and present at baseline; current at longitudinal assessment). Covariates were age, sex, race/ethnicity, parents' education, marital status, and concomitant child psychiatric pharmacotherapy (antidepressants and antipsychotics).

RESULTS

Among 11 878 children at baseline assessment (mean [SD] age, 9.9 [0.6] years; 6196 boys [52.2%]; 8805 White [74.1%]), 1006 (8.5%) were treated with ADHD medication and 1040 (8.8%) reported past or current suicidality. Externalizing symptoms (median [range], 1 [0-29] symptom count) were associated with suicidality (for a change of 1 SD in symptoms, odds ratio [OR], 1.34; 95% CI, 1.26-1.42; P < .001), as was ADHD medication treatment (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.06-1.64; P = .01). ADHD medication use was associated with less suicidality in children with more externalizing symptoms (significant symptom-by-medication interaction, B = -0.250; SE = 0.086; P = .004), such that for children who were not receiving ADHD medications, there was an association between more externalizing symptoms and suicidality (for a change of 1 SD in symptoms, OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.33-1.52; P < .001); however, for children who were receiving ADHD medication, there was no such association (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.97-1.35; P = .10). The association with medication remained even when covarying for multiple confounders, including risk and protective factors for suicidality in ABCD, and was replicated in 1-year longitudinal follow-up. Sensitivity analyses matching participants with high numbers of externalizing symptoms taking and not taking ADHD medication treatment confirmed its association with less suicidality.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

These findings suggest that ADHD medication treatment is associated with less suicidality in children with substantial externalizing symptoms and may be used to inform childhood suicide prevention strategies.

The Influence of Antisocial Behavior and Callous-Unemotional Traits on Trajectories of School Engagement and Achievement in South-Korean Children

Poor educational outcomes are common among children with antisocial behavior problems, including among a subgroup of antisocial children with callous-unemotional traits, who show deficits in empathy, guilt, and prosociality. However, few studies have explored the unique contributions of antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits to school outcomes and most prior studies have been conducted in Western countries. The current study thus tested associations between callous-unemotional traits, antisocial behavior, and trajectories of school outcomes among South Korean children. Participants aged 10-12 years (N = 218; 52% boys) completed questionnaires assessing antisocial behavior, callous-unemotional traits, verbal ability, and school engagement, and teachers provided children's Math and Korean grades at three time points during a single academic year. Prospective associations were explored in conditional latent growth curve models. Both antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits were related to lower school engagement at the start of the academic year, but the magnitude of the associations was greater for callous-unemotional traits, suggesting a greater adverse effect of callous-unemotional traits on engagement than antisocial behavior. Moreover, children with high levels of callous-unemotional traits showed stable and low levels of school engagement. There were no significant predictive associations between antisocial behavior or callous-unemotional traits and trajectories of academic grades. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving educational outcomes among antisocial children should be tailored according to the presence of callous-unemotional traits to target the specific needs of individual students, particularly at the start of the school year.

Fearlessness and low social affiliation as unique developmental precursors of callous-unemotional behaviors in preschoolers

BACKGROUND

Early callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors identify children at risk for severe and persistent aggression and antisocial behavior. Recent work suggests that fearlessness and low social affiliation are implicated in the etiology of CU behaviors, although more research is needed to clarify these etiological pathways, as well as the role of parenting.

METHOD

Using a sample of preschoolers (N = 620), we examined pathways between observed fear in response to social and non-social stimuli and observed social affiliation during social interactions at age 3 and increases child CU behaviors and oppositional-defiant behaviors from ages 3 to 5. To elucidate the role of parenting in exacerbating or buffering the relationships between low fear and social affiliation and CU behaviors, we tested whether parental harshness or low warmth moderated these pathways.

RESULTS

Fearlessness and low social affiliation uniquely predicted increases in CU behaviors, but not oppositional-defiant behaviors, from ages 3 to 5. Moreover, there was evidence for differential moderation of the fear pathway by harsh parenting, such that harsh parenting predicted increases in CU behaviors in fearless children but increases in oppositional-defiant behaviors in fearful children.

CONCLUSIONS

Fearlessness and low social affiliation contribute to the development of CU behaviors. Harsh parenting can exacerbate the risky fearlessness pathway. Preventative interventions aimed at reducing risk for CU behaviors and persistent aggression and antisocial behavior should target socioaffiliative processes and provide parents with strategies and training to manage and scaffold rule-compliant behavior when children show low fearful arousal.

Reward Processing in Children With Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Callous-Unemotional Traits in the ABCD Study

OBJECTIVE

Disrupted reward processing is implicated in the etiology of disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) and callous-unemotional traits. However, neuroimaging investigations of reward processing underlying these phenotypes remain sparse. The authors examined neural sensitivity in response to reward anticipation and receipt among youths with DBDs, with and without callous-unemotional traits.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study (mean age=9.51 years [SD=0.50]; 49% female). Reward-related activation during the monetary incentive delay task was examined across 16 brain regions, including the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), nucleus accumbens (NAcc), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Latent variable modeling was used to examine network-level coactivation. The following diagnostic groups were compared: typically developing youths (N=693) and youths with DBDs (N=995), subdivided into those with callous-unemotional traits (DBD+CU, N=198) and without callous-unemotional traits (DBD only, N=276).

RESULTS

During reward anticipation, youths in the overall DBD group (with and without callous-unemotional traits) showed decreased dorsal ACC activation compared with typically developing youths. The DBD-only group exhibited reduced ventral and dorsal striatal activity compared with the DBD+CU and typically developing groups. During reward receipt, youths with DBDs showed increased cortical (e.g., OFC) and subcortical (e.g., NAcc) regional activation compared with typically developing youths. The DBD+CU group demonstrated greater activation in several regions compared with those in the typically developing (e.g., amygdala) and DBD-only (e.g., dorsal ACC) groups. At the network level, the DBD-only group showed reduced anticipatory reward activation compared with the typically developing and DBD+CU groups, whereas youths in the DBD+CU group showed increased activation during reward receipt compared with those in the typically developing group.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings advance our understanding of unique neuroetiologic pathways to DBDs and callous-unemotional traits.

A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Test of the Low Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward (STAR) Model of Callous-Unemotional Traits Among Spanish Preschoolers

Despite advances in the theoretical and empirical literature, a better understanding of the etiological determinants of callous-unemotional (CU) traits is needed. In this study, we tested the hypotheses advanced by the Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward (STAR) model, a theoretical framework, which proposes that individual differences in two temperament dimensions, fearlessness and low affiliation, jointly contribute to the development of CU traits. Specifically, we examined the unique and interactive effects of fearlessness and low affiliation on CU traits, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally and within and across informants (teachers and parents) in a large community sample of Spanish preschoolers (N = 2467, 48.1% girls, M = 4.25 years; SD = 0.91). Both fearlessness and low affiliation were independently related to higher CU traits across models. Consistent with the purported relationships outlined in the STAR model, we also found that a significant interaction between fearlessness and low affiliation explained unique variance in CU traits. The results suggested that main and interactive effects were specific to CU traits and not to other related dimensions of psychopathic traits that are measurable in early childhood (i.e. grandiose-deceitfulness and impulse need of stimulation). Thus, we provide new empirical support to the hypotheses generated by the STAR model in relation to the development of CU traits. Fearlessness and low affiliation are potential targets of future child-focused interventions to prevent or treat the development of CU traits and childhood conduct problems.

Integrating the study of personality and psychopathology in the context of gene-environment correlations across development

OBJECTIVE

A key principle of individual differences research is that biological and environmental factors jointly influence personality and psychopathology. Genes and environments interact to influence the emergence and stability of both normal and abnormal behavior (i.e., genetic predisposition, X, is exacerbated or buffered under environmental conditions, Y, or vice versa), including by shaping the neural circuits underpinning behavior. The interplay of genes and environments is also reflected in various ways in which they are correlated (i.e., rGE). That is, the same genetic factors that give rise to personality or psychopathology also shape that person's environment.

METHODS

In this review, we outline passive, evocative, and active rGE processes and review the findings of studies that have addressed rGE in relation to understanding individual differences in personality and psychopathology across development.

RESULTS

Throughout, we evaluate the question of whether it is possible, not only to differentiate the person from their problems, but also to differentiate the person from their problems and their environment.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide recommendations for future research to model rGE and better inform our ability to study personality and psychopathology, while separating the influence of the environment.

The Disproportionate Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Pregnant Black Women

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the well-being of vulnerable populations in the US, including Black people. The impact on pregnant women is of special concern for the intrauterine and post-natal development of their offspring. We evaluated in an online survey a sample of 913 pregnant women, 216 Black, 571 White, 126 Other, during a 2-week stay-at-home mandate in the Philadelphia region. We applied logistic regression models and analysis of covariance to examine general and pregnancy-specific worries and negative consequences arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and resilience. Black pregnant women reported greater likelihood of having their employment negatively impacted, more concerns about a lasting economic burden, and more worries about their prenatal care, birth experience, and post-natal needs. In the full sample, 11.1% of women met screening criteria for anxiety and 9.9% met criteria for depression. Black women were more likely to meet criteria for depression than White women, but this difference was not significant accounting for covariates. Resilience factors including self-reliance and emotion regulation were higher in Black women. Racial disparities related to COVID-19 in pregnant women can advance the understanding of pregnancy related stressors and improve early identification of mental health needs.

Effects of Parenting and Community Violence on Aggression-Related Social Goals: a Monozygotic Twin Differences Study

Community violence exposure and harsh parenting have been linked to maladaptive outcomes, possibly via their effects on social cognition. The Social Information Processing (SIP) model has been used to study distinct socio-cognitive processes, demonstrating links between community violence exposure, harsh parenting, and maladaptive SIP. Though much of this research assumes these associations are causal, genetic confounds have made this assumption difficult to rigorously test. Comparisons of discordant monozygotic (MZ) twins provide one empirical test of possible causality, as differences between MZ twins must be environmental in origin. The present study examined effects of parenting and community violence exposure on SIP - specifically aggressive and avoidant social goals - in a sample of 426 MZ twin dyads (N = 852 twins, 48% female). Phenotypically, we found that lower positive parenting and greater harsh parenting were associated with greater endorsement of dominance and revenge goals. We also found that indirect and direct community violence exposure was associated with greater endorsement of avoidance goals. Using an MZ difference design, we found that the relationships between lower levels of positive parenting and endorsement of dominance and revenge goals were due, in part, to environmental processes. Moreover, the relationships between the impact of indirect and direct community violence exposure and avoidance goals, as well as between the impact of indirect community violence exposure and revenge goals, appeared to be due to non-shared environmental processes. Our results establish social and contextual experiences as important environmental influences on children's social goals, which may increase risk for later psychopathology.

Callous-Unemotional Behaviors and Harsh Parenting: Reciprocal Associations across Early Childhood and Moderation by Inherited Risk

Callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors increase children's risk for subsequent antisocial behavior. This risk process may begin in early childhood with reciprocal pathways between CU behaviors and harsh parenting. In a sample of 561 linked triads of biological mothers, adoptive parents, and adopted children, the present study examined bidirectional links between CU behaviors and harsh parenting across three time points from 18 to 54 months and investigated moderation by inherited risk for psychopathic traits. Child CU behaviors and harsh parenting were measured using adoptive mother and adoptive father reports, and biological mothers provided reports of their personality characteristics. Findings supported reciprocal associations between harsh parenting and CU behaviors during early childhood, especially during the transition from toddlerhood (27 months) to the preschool period (54 months). Moreover, multiple-group analyses showed that level of inherited risk moderated associations between CU behaviors and harsh parenting. Specifically, there were statistically reliable associations between CU behaviors at 27 months and adoptive mothers' harsh parenting at 54 months, and between adoptive fathers' harsh parenting at 27 months and CU behaviors at 54 months among children at higher inherited risk, but not among those at lower inherited risk. The findings illustrate the dynamic interplay between parenting, CU behaviors, and heritable risk.

Clarifying the Link Between Amygdala Functioning During Emotion Processing and Antisocial Behaviors Versus Callous-Unemotional Traits Within a Population-Based Community Sample

Prominent theories suggest that disruptions in amygdala reactivity and connectivity when processing emotional cues are key to the etiology of youth antisocial behavior (AB) and that these associations may be dependent on co-occurring levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. We examined the associations among AB, CU traits, and amygdala reactivity and functional connectivity while viewing emotional faces (fearful, angry, sad, happy) in 165 adolescents (46% male; 73.3% African American) from a representative, predominantly low-income community sample. AB was associated with increased amygdala activation in response to all emotions and was associated with greater amygdala reactivity to emotion only at low levels of CU traits. AB and CU traits were also associated with distinct patterns of amygdala connectivity. These findings demonstrate that AB-related deficits in amygdala functioning may extend across all emotions and highlight the need for further research on amygdala connectivity during emotion processing in relation to AB and CU traits within community populations.

Less imitation of arbitrary actions is a specific developmental precursor to callous-unemotional traits in early childhood

OBJECTIVE

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early childhood explain heterogeneity within conduct problems and are associated with higher risk for later diagnoses of childhood disruptive behavior disorders and antisocial behavior in adulthood. Emerging research implicates impairments in affiliative processes in the etiology of CU traits. The current study tests whether the imitation of intentional actions with no functional significance -a behavior that supports the acquisition of social conventions and affiliative bonds, is a specific developmental precursor to CU traits in early childhood.

METHODS

Data came from a longitudinal twin study of 628 children (Age 2: 47% females; Age 3: 44.9% females) with observations of arbitrary (i.e., nonfunctional actions) and instrumental (i.e., functional actions) imitation and parent reports of CU traits and oppositional defiant (ODD) behaviors at ages 2 and 3.

RESULTS

Lower arbitrary imitation at age 2, but not instrumental imitation, was related to increases in CU traits from ages 2 to 3 (β = -.10, p = .02).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings establish early social and affiliative processes in the etiology of CU traits, highlighting that novel personalized treatment and intervention strategies for CU traits may benefit from targeting these processes to help reduce CU traits and risk for persistent conduct problems in children.

Reduced sensitivity to affiliation and psychopathic traits

Psychopathy is characterized by affective and interpersonal deficits, deviant lifestyle, and antisocial behaviors. Much research has been dedicated to understanding the impairments in reinforcement learning, fear conditioning, and sensitivity to threat, distress, or fear in others, which are thought to underpin psychopathic traits. Fewer studies have examined deficits in affiliative processes, which could provide insight into mechanisms giving rise to the impairments in social bonding, closeness with others, and cooperation that also characterize individuals high on psychopathy. The current study examined whether reduced sensitivity to affiliation was related to psychopathic traits among 407 adults from the community (female, 59%). Sensitivity to affiliation was modeled as a latent construct capturing item-level variance shared across 4 measures that assessed sensitivity to emotional and physical cues of affiliation, including stimuli presented as videos or images, and via self-report ratings about sensitivity to positive affiliative and affective cues. Results indicated that lower sensitivity to affiliation was related to higher total psychopathy scores. In particular, in models parsing the overlap of psychopathy factor and facet scores, lower sensitivity to affiliation was uniquely related to higher Factor 1 and affective facet scores, as well as higher scores on a measure of callous-unemotional traits. Our findings provide support for the existence of important socioaffiliative and motivational deficits that may underpin the affective features of psychopathy and speak to the potential to target such mechanisms in interventions and treatments to reduce psychopathic traits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Antisocial Behavior in South Korean Children: Links with Academic Motivation, School Engagement, and Teachers' Use of Reward and Discipline

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been associated with atypical responses to reward and punishment cues, with evidence suggesting that such traits may shape caregiver use of reward and punishment practices over time. To date, research has predominantly focused on parental rewards and discipline, with far less attention paid to teacher behavior management strategies. The first aim of the current study was to investigate the potential moderating effect of CU traits on the relationship between teacher classroom management strategies (rewards and discipline) and two important school-related outcomes: student engagement and academic motivation. The second aim was to examine whether CU traits were related to teachers’ use of discipline and reward strategies over time. Children attending South Korean primary schools (N = 218; aged 10–12 years; 52% boys) reported on CU traits, antisocial behavior, teacher classroom management strategies, school engagement and academic motivation at two time points (the beginning and end of a single academic year). First, harsh teacher discipline predicted lower school engagement, but only for children low in CU traits. Second, cross-lagged longitudinal models showed that CU traits predicted decreased use of teacher rewards, over and above associations with antisocial behavior. CU traits were not related to harsh discipline cross-sectionally or longitudinally in models that accounted for antisocial behavior. Findings show that CU traits are related to reduced sensitivity to teacher discipline, suggesting that teachers may need additional support to implement both discipline and reward-based strategies with children high in these traits.