Allostatic Load in Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood: Are Assumptions of Measurement Invariance Warranted?

OVERVIEW

Allostatic load represents the cumulative toll of chronic mobilization of the body's stress response systems, as indexed by biomarkers. Higher levels of stress and disadvantage predict higher levels of allostatic load, which, in turn, predict poorer physical and mental health outcomes. To maximize the efficacy of prevention efforts, screening for stress- and disadvantage-associated health conditions must occur before middle age-that is, during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. However, this requires that models of allostatic load display properties of measurement invariance across age groups. Because most research on allostatic load has featured older adults, it is unclear if these requirements can be met.

METHODS

To address this question, we fit a series of exploratory and confirmatory analytic models to data on eight biomarkers using a nationally representative sample of N = 4260 children, adolescents, and young adults drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dataset.

RESULTS

Exploratory and confirmatory models indicated that, consistent with allostatic load theory, a unidimensional model was a good fit to the data. However, this model did not display properties of measurement invariance; post-hoc analyses suggested that the biomarkers included in the final confirmatory model were most strongly intercorrelated among young adults and most weakly intercorrelated among adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

These results underscore the importance of testing assumptions about measurement invariance in allostatic load before drawing substantive conclusions about stress, disadvantage, and health by directly comparing levels of allostatic load across different stages of development, while underscoring the need to expand investigations of measurement invariance to samples of longitudinal data.

Maternal prenatal lead levels and neonatal brain volumes: Testing moderations by maternal depressive symptoms and family income

There is considerable evidence that prenatal lead exposure is detrimental to child cognitive and socio-emotional development. Further evidence suggests that the effects of prenatal lead on developmental outcomes may be conditional upon exposure to social stressors, such as maternal depression and low socioeconomic status. However, no studies have examined associations between these co-occurring stressors during pregnancy and neonatal brain volumes. Leveraging a sample of 101 mother-infant dyads followed beginning in mid-pregnancy, we examined the main effects of prenatal urinary lead levels on neonatal lateralized brain volumes (left and right hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, frontal lobes) and total gray matter. We additionally tested for moderations between lead and depressive symptoms and between lead and family income relative to the federal poverty level (FPL) on the same neurodevelopmental outcomes. Analyses of main effects indicated that prenatal lead was significantly (ps < 0.05) associated with reduced right and left amygdala volumes (βs = -0.23- -0.20). The testing and probing of cross-product interaction terms using simple slopes indicated that the negative effect of lead on the left amygdala was conditional upon mothers having low depressive symptoms or high income relative to the FPL. We interpret the results in the context of trajectories of prenatal and postnatal brain development and susceptibility to low levels of prenatal lead in the context of other social stressors.

The Mood, Mother and Child Study: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study and Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Perinatal depression affects >400,000 mother-child dyads in the United States every year and is associated with numerous adverse maternal and child developmental outcomes. Previous research implicates the dysregulation of oxytocin and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in mothers and children as potential mechanisms mediating or moderating the transmission of risk associated with maternal depression.

OBJECTIVE

The Mood, Mother and Child study will examine the psychobiological sources of risk and resilience within mother-child dyads affected by maternal depression. This manuscript describes (1) the study rationale and aims, (2) the research design and procedures and how they were altered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and (3) the data analysis plan to test the study hypotheses.

METHODS

This is a prospective longitudinal study with an embedded randomized controlled trial that examines (1) correlations among postpartum depression and anxiety symptoms, maternal and child oxytocin and HPA axis functioning, and child developmental outcomes and (2) the causal relationship between exogenous oxytocin and HPA reactivity. This study is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development with institutional review board approval.

RESULTS

Recruitment and data collection have commenced, and the expected results will be available in 2024. Analyses are presented for testing the proposed hypotheses.

CONCLUSIONS

The unique combination of a prospective longitudinal research design with an embedded randomized controlled trial will allow the Mood, Mother and Child study to apply a developmental lens to the study of maternal depression and anxiety symptoms from birth to middle childhood and the psychobiological mechanisms promoting risk and resiliency for both mother and child outcomes. This will be the first study that simultaneously evaluates (1) the role of oxytocin using multiple methodologies, (2) the causal relationships between exogenous oxytocin and HPA axis functioning among mothers with differing levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, and (3) the multiple mediating and moderating roles of parenting behaviors and maternal and child psychobiological characteristics. The goals of these aims are to provide insights into the psychobiological effects of oxytocin in women and inform future clinical trials to treat perinatal mood disorders.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03593473; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03593473.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/51132.

Vagal Flexibility Moderates the Links between Observed Sensitive Caregiving in Infancy and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Middle Childhood

This study explored how patterns of physiological stress reactivity underpin individual differences in sensitivity to early rearing experiences and childhood risk for psychopathology. To examine individual differences in parasympathetic functioning, past research has largely relied on static measures of stress reactivity (i.e., residual and change scores) in infancy which may not adequately capture the dynamic nature of regulation across contexts. Using data from a prospective longitudinal study of 206 children (56% African Americans) and their families, this study addressed these gaps by employing the latent basis growth curve model to characterize the dynamic, non-linear patterns of change in infants' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (i.e., vagal flexibility) across the Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm. Furthermore, it investigated whether and how infants' vagal flexibility moderates the links between sensitive parenting, observed during a free play task when children were 6 months of age, and parent-report of children's externalizing problems at 7 years of age. Results of the structural equation models revealed that infants' vagal flexibility moderates the predictive relations between sensitive parenting in infancy and children's later externalizing problems. Simple slope analyses revealed that low vagal flexibility, characterized by less suppression and flatter recovery patterns, exacerbated risk for externalizing psychopathology in the context of insensitive parenting. Children with low vagal flexibility also benefited most from sensitive parenting, as indicated by the lower number of externalizing problems. Findings are interpreted in the light of the biological sensitivity to context model and provide evidence for vagal flexibility as a biomarker of individual's sensitivity to early rearing contexts.

Sexual Minority Stressors and Intimate Partner Violence Among Same-Sex Couples: Commitment as a Resource

Accumulating evidence has been found for the associations from sexual minority stressors to intimate partner violence (IPV) among same-sex couples. Yet key gaps still exist, including the rare utilization of couple dyadic data, the understudied moderating and mediating mechanisms, and the few studies conducted during the transitional period of same-sex marriage legalization. To address these gaps, we used cross-sectional, dyadic data collected from 144 US same-sex couples during the 2014-2015 national campaign for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Guided by the systemic transactional model (STM), we examined associations from sexual minority stressors (including both internalized homophobia and discrimination) to same-sex IPV and tested whether commitment moderated or mediated these associations. Overall, we found evidence supporting the STM: (1) High internalized homophobia and discrimination were related to high prevalence and/or frequency of IPV perpetration; (2) high commitment attenuated positive associations between high discrimination and high prevalence and/or frequency of IPV perpetration; and (3) high internalized homophobia was related to low commitment, which in turn was related to high prevalence and/or frequency of IPV perpetration. Collectively, our study identified commitment as both a moderator and mediator in associations from sexual minority stressors to same-sex IPV. Further, the roles of commitment (i.e., moderator or mediator) depend on whether the focal sexual minority stressors are distal and more intermittent (i.e., heterosexist discrimination) or proximal and more constant (i.e., internalized homophobia).

Parenting and maternal reported child sleep problems in infancy predict school-age aggression and inattention

OBJECTIVE

To examine caregiving predictors of maternal reported sleep problems and child behavioral and cognitive outcomes in early childhood.

DESIGN

A prospective longitudinal study from 6 to 84 months of age.

SETTING

Lab visits, assessments, and questionnaires conducted with a community-based sample.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred sixty-four African American and White children, their mothers, and teachers.

MEASUREMENT

Parenting behavior was measured during a free-play task at 6 months of age, maternal-report of child sleep problems was completed at 6 timepoints, and teacher report of child aggression and attention was collected in kindergarten and second grade.

RESULTS

Latent growth curve modeling revealed that maternal reported sleep problems decreased in children from 18 to 84 months and harsh-intrusive parenting at 6 months predicted sleep problems at 18 months. Maternal reported sleep problems at 18 months predicted aggressive behaviors in kindergarten and second grade.

CONCLUSION

Parenting at 6 months of age exerts an influence on sleep quality at 18 months which is associated with aggressive behavior in early childhood.

Profiles of family-based social experiences in the first 3 years predict early cognitive, behavioral, and socioemotional competencies

This study utilized latent profile analyses to identify unique configurations of children's family-based social experiences during the first 3 years of life and examine differences across profiles with respect to developmental outcomes at 36 and 48 months of age. Seven family process variables were used: maternal emotional functioning, maternal sensitivity, negative controlling parenting, cognitive stimulation, corporal punishment, adult-adult aggression, and household disorganization. Data were collected by the Family Life Project (N = 1,087), a longitudinal study of families living in low-wealth, nonurban areas, for whom the biological mother was the child's primary caregiver from 6 to 36 months of age. On average, mothers were 26 years of age at 2 months of child age. Approximately 36% of the families lived below the federal poverty limit, and 41% identified as Black; 49% of children were female. Latent profile analyses identified four groups: (a) positive exposure (b) average exposure, (c) problematic adult functioning, and (d) problematic parenting . Comparisons indicate that children in the positive exposure profile had the highest levels of socioemotional and cognitive outcomes compared to overall profiles. Children in the problematic adult functioning and problematic parenting profiles had the most problematic child outcomes, with children in the problematic parenting profile scoring lowest overall. Results indicate that there is configural heterogeneity in family-based social experiences at the highest levels of risk and that exposures to problematic parenting may be more consequential for later child outcomes than exposures to problematic adult functioning in the absence of compromised caregiving. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Attachment quality assessed from children's family drawings links to child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors

OBJECTIVE

Recently, there has been considerable research on the origins of childhood conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors. This study examined associations between children's attachment representations and CP and CU behaviors during middle childhood.

METHOD

At 1st grade, 1,292 children (57% European American, 42.5% African American, 0.5% other race; 50.9% girls) completed a drawing of their family, which was coded by trained raters to assess attachment representations. Primary caregivers reported on children's CP and CU behaviors.

RESULTS

Children with disorganized representations showed more CP and CU behaviors than children with secure and resistant representations. They were also more likely than those with secure representations to show elevated CP without CU behaviors, CU behaviors only, and co-occurring CP and CU behaviors.

CONCLUSION

These findings provide support for attachment disorganization as a correlate of CP and CU behaviors and suggest that attachment representations are likely important proximal influences on children's behavior.

Towards an understanding of neurophysiological self-regulation in early childhood: A heuristic and a new approach

Self-regulation in early childhood encompasses both "top down," volitional processes, as well as the "bottom up" activity of three neurophysiological systems: the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In this paper we briefly review the structure, function, and early development of each of these systems and then explain why neurophysiological self-regulation is most accurately defined as a function of their joint activity. We note that while there are a number of predictive models that employ this definition, the field would benefit from a straightforward heuristic and aligned methods of visualization and analysis. We then present one such heuristic, which we call neurophysiological space, and outline how it may facilitate a new, collaborative approach to building a better understanding of self-regulation in early childhood. We conclude with a presentation of early education as one setting in which our heuristic and methods could be applied.

Poverty, Caregiving, and HPA-Axis Activity in Early Childhood

The association between poverty and the activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis in early childhood is well established. Both ecological and transactional theories suggest that one way in which poverty may influence children's HPA-axis activity is through its effects on parents' behaviors, and over the past three decades a substantial literature has accumulated indicating that variations in these behaviors are associated with individual differences in young children's HPA-axis activity. More recent research suggests that non-parental caregiving behaviors are associated with HPA-axis activity in early childhood as well. Here we systematically review the literature on the association between both parental and non-parental caregiving behaviors in the context of poverty and the activity of the HPA-axis in early childhood. We conclude by noting commonalities across these two literatures and their implications for future research.

Parenting and Cortisol in Infancy Interactively Predict Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Behaviors in Childhood

This study examines observed maternal sensitivity, harsh-intrusion, and mental-state talk in infancy as predictors of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in middle childhood, as well as the extent to which infants' resting cortisol and cortisol reactivity moderate these associations. Using data from the Family Life Project (n = 1,292), results indicate that maternal sensitivity at 6 months predicts fewer CP at first grade, but only for infants who demonstrate high levels of cortisol reactivity. Maternal harsh intrusion predicts fewer empathic-prosocial behaviors, a component of CU behaviors, but only for infants who demonstrate high resting cortisol. Findings are discussed in the context of diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility models.

Sociodemographic risk, parenting, and inhibitory control in early childhood: the role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia

BACKGROUND

Deficits of inhibitory control in early childhood are linked to externalizing behaviors and attention problems. While environmental factors and physiological processes are associated with its etiology, few studies have examined how these factors jointly predict inhibitory control. This study examined whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) functioned as a mediator or moderator of both cumulative sociodemographic risk and parenting behaviors on inhibitory control during early childhood.

METHODS

The sample included 206 children and their biological mothers. At 24, 30, and 36 months of child age dyads participated in a series of laboratory visits in which sociodemographic, parenting, and baseline RSA (RSAB) data were collected. Inhibitory control was assessed at 36 months using a gift-wrap delay task.

RESULTS

A series of structural equation models yielded no evidence that RSAB mediated the relations of risk or parenting and inhibitory control. RSAB moderated the effects of risk, such that high-risk children with low RSAB performed more poorly on tasks of inhibitory control, while high-risk children with high RSAB did not.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that higher levels of RSAB may mitigate the influence of environmental risk on the development of inhibitory control early childhood.

The Significance of Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships for Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents

Adolescents in 21st century America are experiencing the emergence of their sexual and gender identities in a heteronormative society that is steadily adopting more progressive views and policies related to sexual orientation and gender. However, despite these sociocultural changes, parent-child relationships remain as one of the strongest predictors of LGBT adolescent adjustment. This article reviews the extant literature on this topic from family systems and attachment perspectives while highlighting the significance of family experiences within a minority stress framework. The presentation is oriented around the coming out process, including factors influencing this experience and how postdisclosure parenting affects the health and well-being of LGBT adolescents. We end by discussing future directions and the challenges inherent to this research.

Sexual Minority Stress and Same-Sex Relationship Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Research Prior to the U.S. Nationwide Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

Meta-analytic methods were used to analyze 179 effect sizes retrieved from 32 research reports on the implications that sexual minority stress may have for same-sex relationship well-being. Sexual minority stress (aggregated across different types of stress) was moderately and negatively associated with same-sex relationship well-being (aggregated across different dimensions of relationship well-being). Internalized homophobia was significantly and negatively associated with same-sex relationship well-being, whereas heterosexist discrimination and sexual orientation visibility management were not. Moreover, the effect size for internalized homophobia was significantly larger than those for heterosexist discrimination and sexual orientation visibility management. Sexual minority stress was significantly and negatively associated with same-sex relationship quality but not associated with closeness or stability. Sexual minority stress was significantly and negatively associated with relationship well-being among same-sex female couples but not among same-sex male couples. The current status of research approaches in this field was also summarized and discussed.

Sexual Minority Stress and Same-Sex Relationship Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Research Prior to the U.S. Nationwide Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

Meta-analytic methods were used to analyze 179 effect sizes retrieved from 32 research reports on the implications that sexual minority stress may have for same-sex relationship well-being. Sexual minority stress (aggregated across different types of stress) was moderately and negatively associated with same-sex relationship well-being (aggregated across different dimensions of relationship well-being). Internalized homophobia was significantly and negatively associated with same-sex relationship well-being, whereas heterosexist discrimination and sexual orientation visibility management were not. Moreover, the effect size for internalized homophobia was significantly larger than those for heterosexist discrimination and sexual orientation visibility management. Sexual minority stress was significantly and negatively associated with same-sex relationship quality but not associated with closeness or stability. Sexual minority stress was significantly and negatively associated with relationship well-being among same-sex female couples but not among same-sex male couples. The current status of research approaches in this field was also summarized and discussed.

Emotion Recognition Deficits among Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Behaviors

Deficits in emotion recognition have been associated with psychopathic and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors among adults, adolescents, and children. However, few previous studies have examined such associations exclusively during early and middle childhood, or demographic differences in emotion recognition that may result from early emotion socialization experiences. The current study used a large, population-stratified, randomly-selected sample of 2^nd grade children living in areas of high rural poverty to examine group differences in emotion recognition among children showing no conduct problems or CU behaviors (typical), conduct problems without CU behaviors (CP-only), and both CP and CU behaviors (CP+CU). Primary caregivers reported on children's conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors at 1^st grade and children completed a computerized facial emotion recognition task at 2^nd grade. Results indicated that CP/CU group differences in emotion recognition accuracy were moderated by child race, with children in the typical group showing better overall accuracy and better recognition of fearful and happy faces among European American children, whereas no group differences were found among African American children. Implications for emotion socialization, etiology of CP and CU behaviors, and future directions for research and treatment are discussed.

Associations between early caregiving and rural, low-SES, African-American children's representations of attachment relationships

Little research has examined the legacy of early maternal care for later attachment representations among low-income and ethnic minority school-aged children. Using data from a sample of 276 rural, low-income, African-American families, this study examined associations between maternal care in infancy and children's representations of attachment figures in middle childhood. Maternal care was coded from 10-min home-based observations at 6, 15, and 24 months of age. Representations of attachment figures were assessed using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task at 6 years of age. Sensitive maternal care in infancy was not significantly related to attachment security or episodic disorganized behaviors in children's representations. However, children exposed to more harsh-intrusive parenting during infancy displayed less secure representations of attachment figures in middle childhood and more episodic disorganized behaviors, even after controlling for numerous child and family contextual covariates. Findings inform conceptualizations of attachment formation among rural, low-income, African-American parent-child dyads.

Individual differences in the activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis: Relations to age and cumulative risk in early childhood

This study examined individual differences in the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis with regard to age and cumulative risk during challenging laboratory tasks administered at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Saliva samples were collected from a majority-minority sample of N=185 children (57% African American, 50% female) prior to and following these tasks and later assayed for cortisol. Cumulative distal risk was indexed via a composite of maternal marital status, maternal education, income-to-needs ratio, the number of children in the household, and maternal age at childbirth. Probing of hierarchical models in which cortisol levels and age were nested within child revealed significant differences in cortisol as a function of both age and cumulative risk, such that children exposed to high levels of risk exhibited higher levels of cortisol both within and across age. These results highlight the sensitivity of the HPA axis to environmental context at the level of the individual, even as that sensitivity is manifest against the background of species-typical biological development.

Intimate Partner Violence and Children's Attachment Representations during Middle Childhood

Despite long-standing hypotheses that intimate partner violence (IPV) may undermine children's ability to form secure attachment representations, few studies have empirically investigated this association. Particularly lacking is research that examines IPV and attachment during middle childhood, a time when the way that children understand, represent, and process the behavior of others becomes particularly important. Using data from a sample of African American children living in rural, low-income communities (n = 98), the current study sought to address this gap by examining the association between physical IPV occurring early in children's lives and their attachment security during the first grade. Results indicate that, even after controlling for child- and family-level covariates, physical IPV was associated with a greater likelihood of being rated insecurely attached. This effect was above and beyond the influence of maternal parenting behaviors, demonstrating a unique effect of physical IPV on children's attachment representations during middle childhood.

Associations between Infant Behaviors during the Face-To-Face Still-Face Paradigm and Oppositional Defiant and Callous-Unemotional Behaviors in Early Childhood

Deficits in social orienting (i.e., gazing toward caregivers) during dyadic interactions and reactivity to stressful stimuli have been identified as behavioral correlates of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in older children. The goal of the current study was to investigate infants' mother-directed gaze and reactivity during the face-to-face and still-face episodes of the face-to-face stillface paradigm performed at 6 months in the prediction of ODD and CU behaviors in early childhood. Using data from the Durham Child Health and Development study (n = 206), hierarchical regression analyses revealed that infants' negative reactivity during the still-face episode and mother-directed gaze during the face-to-face episode predicted fewer ODD behaviors in early childhood. Examination of interaction effects suggested that mother-directed gaze attenuated the negative relation between reactivity and ODD and CU behaviors in early childhood. The current study is one of the first to extend downward the investigation of ODD and CU behaviors into infancy.

Maternal sensitivity and adrenocortical functioning across infancy and toddlerhood: Physiological adaptation to context?

Theory suggests that early experiences may calibrate the "threshold activity" of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in childhood. Particularly challenging or particularly supportive environments are posited to manifest in heightened physiological sensitivity to context. Using longitudinal data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,292), we tested whether links between maternal sensitivity and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity aligned with these predictions. Specifically, we tested whether the magnitude of the within-person relation between maternal sensitivity and children's cortisol levels, a proxy for physiological sensitivity to context, was especially pronounced for children who typically experienced particularly low or high levels of maternal sensitivity over time. Our results were consistent with these hypotheses. Between children, lower levels of mean maternal sensitivity (7-24 months) were associated with higher mean cortisol levels across this period (measured as a basal sample collected at each visit). However, the magnitude and direction of the within-person relation was contingent on children's average levels of maternal sensitivity over time. Increases in maternal sensitivity were associated with contemporaneous cortisol decreases for children with typically low-sensitive mothers, whereas sensitivity increases were associated with cortisol increases for children with typically high-sensitive mothers. No within-child effects were evident at moderate levels of maternal sensitivity.

Dimensions of Maternal Parenting and Infants' Autonomic Functioning Interactively Predict Early Internalizing Behavior Problems

Developmental pathways to childhood internalizing behavior problems are complex, with both environmental and child-level factors contributing to their emergence. The authors use data from a prospective longitudinal study (n = 206) to examine the associations between dimensions of caregiving experiences in the first year of life and anxious/depressed and withdrawn behaviors in early childhood. Additionally, the authors examine the extent to which these associations were moderated by infants' autonomic functioning in the first year of life indexed using measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and heart period (HP). Findings suggest that higher levels of maternal sensitivity in infancy are associated with fewer anxious/depressed and withdrawn behaviors at age 3 years. Negative intrusiveness was found to be positively associated with children's anxious/depressed behaviors but not withdrawn behaviors. Further, moderation analyses suggested that the link between negative intrusive parenting during infancy and subsequent anxious/depressed behaviors is exacerbated for infants with average or low baseline HP and that positive engaging parenting during infancy was negatively related to withdrawn behaviors for infants demonstrating average to high levels baseline HP. Interestingly, RSA was not found to moderate the associations between parenting in infancy and later internalizing behavior problems suggesting that, during infancy, overall autonomic functioning may have greater implications for the development of internalizing behaviors than do parasympathetic influences alone. Implications of these findings and future directions for research are discussed.

Intimate Partner Violence, Maternal Gatekeeping, and Child Conduct Problems

We examined the mediating role of parenting behavior on the relationship between intimate partner violence and child conduct problems, as well as the moderating role of maternal gatekeeping to these associations. The sample (N = 395) is from a longitudinal study of rural poverty in the eastern United States, exploring the ways in which child, family, and contextual factors shape child development over time. Study findings indicate that a father's harsh-intrusive parenting behavior may be a key mediating pathway linking intimate partner violence and child conduct problems. Study findings further provide evidence for problematic outcomes for children when mothers encourage fathers with high levels of harsh-intrusive parenting to interact with their children.

The interplay among socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting in the prediction of child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors

Child conduct problems (CP) reflect a heterogeneous collection of oppositional, aggressive, norm-violating, and sometimes violent behaviors, whereas child callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors reflect interpersonal styles of interactions reflecting a lack of guilt and empathy as well as uncaring and shallow emotional responses to others. Taken together, high levels of child CP and CU behaviors are thought to identify a relatively homogenous group of children at elevated risk for persistent and more severe problem behaviors across childhood and into adulthood. Although a large body of research has examined the developmental etiology of CP behaviors, only recently has a developmental psychopathology approach been applied to early CU behaviors. The current study examines multiple levels of contextual influences during the first years of life, including family socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting behaviors, on CP and CU behaviors assessed during the first-grade year. Whereas previous studies found associations between parenting behaviors and child problem behaviors moderated by household chaos, the current study found no evidence of moderation. However, path analyses suggest that the associations between child CP and CU behaviors and the contextual variables of socioeconomic status (family income and parental education) and household chaos (disorganization and instability) were mediated by maternal sensitive and harsh-intrusive parenting behavior. Analyses are presented, interpreted, and discussed with respect to both bioecological and family stress models of development.

Maternal Childhood Sexual Trauma and Early Parenting: Prenatal and Postnatal Associations

Existing research suggests that approximately 19% of females experience childhood sexual trauma (CST). Little is known, however, about the parenting behaviour of mothers who have experienced CST. Using propensity-matched controls, the present study examines prenatal psychosocial distress, postnatal depressive symptomatology, and caregiving behaviours of women reporting CST at or before the age of 14. Data for these analyses were obtained from mother reports and from observational protocols from a longitudinal study of low-income, rural families. Propensity score methodology was used to create a contrast group matched on family of origin variables in an effort to isolate and examine the long-term associations of CST beyond the effects of other childhood adversities such as poverty. Study findings provide evidence that women with CST histories report greater prenatal psychosocial distress compared to women without trauma histories. Findings further provide evidence for a spillover process from prenatal distress to the broader caregiving system including less sensitive parenting through postnatal depressive symptoms for women with CST histories. These results highlight the importance of screening for CST and psychosocial distress and depression prenatally. Interventions for women with CST histories and directions for future study are proposed.

Identity Transformation During the Transition to Parenthood Among Same-Sex Couples: An Ecological, Stress-Strategy-Adaptation Perspective

This article reviews the current research on the potential stressors associated with identity transformation experienced by same-sex couples during the transition to parenthood and the coping strategies they employ. By integrating disparate findings into an ecological, stress-strategy-adaptation framework, we demonstrate that the identity transformation experiences among same-sex couples during the transition to parenthood (a) involve various adaptive processes of navigating different stressors via their human agency within multiple nested contexts; (b) are products of the intersections of individual characteristics, relational dynamics, LGBT community culture, and heterosexual sociostructural norms; and (c) are complicated by social contextual factors such as social class, race/ethnicity, family structure, and the sociocultural environment associated with geographic location. Last, several avenues for future inquiry are suggested.

Household Chaos and Children's Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development in Early Childhood: Does Childcare Play a Buffering Role?

Evidence suggests that household chaos is associated with less optimal child outcomes. Yet, there is an increasing indication that children's experiences in childcare may buffer them against the detrimental effects of such environments. Our study aims were to test: (1) whether children's experiences in childcare mitigated relations between household chaos and children's cognitive and social development, and (2) whether these (conditional) chaos effects were mediated by links between chaos and executive functioning. Using data from The Family Life Project (n = 1,235)-a population-based sample of families from low-income, rural contexts-our findings indicated that household disorganization in early childhood was predictive of worse cognitive and social outcomes at approximately age five. However, these relations were substantially attenuated for children attending greater childcare hours. Subsequent models indicated that the conditional associations between household disorganization and less optimal outcomes at age five were mediated by conditional links between disorganization and less optimal executive functioning.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia and heart period in infancy as correlates of later oppositional defiant and callous-unemotional behaviors

Extant literature suggests that oppositional defiant (ODD) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in childhood and adolescence are associated with distinct patterns of psychophysiological functioning and that individual differences in these patterns have implications for developmental pathways to disorder. Very little is known about the associations between psychophysiological functioning in infancy and later ODD and CU behaviors. This study examined associations between basal autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning in infancy and ODD and CU behaviors in later childhood. Using longitudinal heart period (HP) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) data from the Durham Child Health and Development Study (N = 206), the current study tested associations, within a structural equation modeling framework, between continuous measures of HP and RSA across the first two years of life and later ODD and CU behaviors at first grade. Results indicate that ODD and CU behaviors in childhood are associated with lower baseline RSA, but not HP, across infancy. The implications of these findings for developmental models of ODD and CU behaviors are discussed.

Parenting and children's representations of family predict disruptive and callous-unemotional behaviors

Data from a large prospective longitudinal study (n = 1,239) was used to investigate the association between observed sensitive parenting in early childhood and children's representations of family relationships as measured by the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP) in first grade as well as the extent to which these representations partially mediate the influences of early caregiving experiences on later conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors. A structural equation modeling approach revealed that less sensitive parenting at 24, 36, and 58 months predicts higher levels of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in first grade controlling for earlier measures of CP and CU behaviors. Results also indicated that greater dysfunctional family representations, as assessed with the FDP, are significantly associated with higher CU behaviors in the first grade, but not CP. Finally, a test of the indirect pathway suggests that children's dysfunctional family representations may, in part, account for the association between sensitive parenting and CU behaviors.

Childhood sexual trauma and subsequent parenting beliefs and behaviors

Using propensity-matched controls, the present study examines the long-term adjustment of women reporting childhood sexual trauma (CST) at or before the age of 14 in terms of parenting efficacy and parenting behavior. Data for these analyses were obtained from mother reports and from observational protocols from a longitudinal study of low-income, rural families. The novel use of propensity-matched controls to create a control group matched on family of origin variables provides evidence that when women with CST are compared with the matched comparison women, females who experienced CST show poorer functioning across multiple domains of parenting (sensitivity, harsh intrusiveness, boundary dissolution), but not in parenting efficacy. Follow-up moderation analyses suggest that the potential effects of trauma on parenting behaviors are not attenuated by protective factors such as higher income, higher education, or stable adult relationships. Implications for interventions with childhood sexual trauma histories and directions for future study are proposed.

The Interdependence of Adult Relationship Quality and Parenting Behaviours among African American and European Couples in Rural, Low-Income Communities

The present study extends the spillover and crossover hypotheses to more carefully model the potential interdependence between parent-parent interaction quality and parent-child interaction quality in family systems. Using propensity score matching, the present study attempted to isolate family processes that are unique across African American and European American couples that are independent of other socio-demographic factors to further clarify how interparental relationships may be related to parenting in a rural, low-income sample. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), a statistical analysis technique that accounts for the interdependence of relationship data, was used with a sample of married and non-married cohabiting African American and European American couples (n = 82 dyads) to evaluate whether mothers' and fathers' observed parenting behaviours are related to their behaviours and their partner's behaviours observed in a couple problem-solving interaction. Findings revealed that interparental withdrawal behaviour, but not conflict behaviour, was associated with less optimal parenting for fathers but not mothers, and specifically so for African American fathers. Our findings support the notion of interdependence across subsystems within the family and suggest that African American fathers may be specifically responsive to variations in interparental relationship quality.

Mothers' and Fathers' Sensitivity and Children's Cognitive Development in Low-Income, Rural Families

This study examines associations between maternal and paternal sensitive parenting and child cognitive development across the first 3 years of life using longitudinal data from 630 families with co-residing biological mothers and fathers. Sensitive parenting was measured by observational coding of parent-child interactions and child cognitive development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence. There were multiple direct and indirect associations between parenting and cognitive development across mothers and fathers, suggesting primary effects, carry-forward effects, spillover effects across parents, and transactional effects across parents and children. Associations between parenting and cognitive development were statistically consistent across mothers and fathers, and the cumulative effects of early parenting on later cognitive development were comparable to the effects of later parenting on later cognitive development. As interpreted through a family systems framework, findings suggest additive and interdependent effects across parents and children.

The developmental course of salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol from 12 to 36 months: Relations with early poverty and later behavior problems

This study examined the development of baseline autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) physiological activity from 12 to 36 months as well as antecedents (poverty) and consequents (behavior problems) of individual differences in physiological development. Children (N=179; 50% poor; 56% African American; 52% male) provided saliva samples at 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age. Latent growth curve models indicated that nonlinear change was evident for both sAA and cortisol, with sAA increasing and cortisol decreasing with age. Children residing in poor households exhibited lower initial levels of sAA, but not cortisol. African-American children showed slightly smaller decreases in cortisol over time. Initial levels of sAA predicted higher levels of internalizing behaviors at 36 months and both initial levels of and total change in sAA predicted higher levels of externalizing behaviors at 36 months. There was no evidence that sAA or cortisol mediated the relationship between poverty and later behavior problems.

Greater fear reactivity and psychophysiological hyperactivity among infants with later conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits

BACKGROUND

Approximately one third of children who meet criteria for conduct problems (CP) are also characterized by elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. This subgroup is at elevated risk for more pervasive and extreme levels of later antisocial behavior and has been characterized by a fearlessness temperament and blunted stress psychophysiology at older ages. The objective of this study was to examine group differences in fear reactivity and stress psychophysiology in infancy among children classified as having CP with CU (CP + CU), CP without CU (CP only), or no CP in later childhood.

METHODS

A birth cohort study (n = 1,292) was followed longitudinally from birth through first grade. Behavioral fear, baseline heart period (HP) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and pretask, 20-min posttask, and 40-min posttask salivary cortisol were assessed at 6 and 15 months of age around a fear challenge task. CP and CU were assessed by maternal report at first grade and children were classified into CP and CU groups if they scored in the upper 10(th) percentile of these ratings.

RESULTS

No group differences were observed in children at 6 months of age. However, at 15 months of age children with later CP + CU displayed greater high-intensity fear behavior, higher pretask and overall cortisol levels, and lower levels of HP and RSA compared to children with CP only and children with no CP.

CONCLUSIONS

The discrepancy between the biobehavioral correlates of conduct problems with callous-unemotional traits in infancy and those reported from studies of older children and adults suggests that the etiology of this behavioral phenotype may be more complex than a simple genetic maturation model.

Fathers' sensitive parenting and the development of early executive functioning

Using data from a diverse sample of 620 families residing in rural, predominately low-income communities, this study examined longitudinal links between fathers' sensitive parenting in infancy and toddlerhood and children's early executive functioning, as well as the contribution of maternal sensitive parenting. After accounting for the quality of concurrent and prior parental care, children's early cognitive ability, and other child and family factors, fathers' and mothers' sensitive and supportive parenting during play at 24 months predicted children's executive functioning at 3 years of age. In contrast, paternal parenting quality during play at 7 months did not make an independent contribution above that of maternal care, but the links between maternal sensitive and supportive parenting and executive functioning seemed to operate in similar ways during infancy and toddlerhood. These findings add to prior work on early experience and children's executive functioning, suggesting that both fathers and mothers play a distinct and complementary role in the development of these self-regulatory skills.

The mediating role of parenting in the associations between household chaos and children's representations of family dysfunction

Children's drawings are thought to reflect their mental representations of self and their interpersonal relations within families. Household chaos is believed to disrupt key proximal processes related to optimal development. The present study examines the mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relations between two measures of household chaos, instability and disorganization, and how they may be evidenced in children's representations of family dysfunction as derived from their drawings. The sample (N = 962) is from a longitudinal study of rural poverty exploring the ways in which child, family, and contextual factors shape development over time. Findings reveal that, after controlling for numerous factors including child and primary caregiver covariates, there were significant indirect effects from cumulative family disorganization, but not cumulative family instability, on children's representation of family dysfunction through parenting behaviors. Results suggest that the proximal effects of daily disorganization outweigh the effects of periodic instability overtime.

Family Violence and Children's Behavior Problems: Independent Contributions of Intimate Partner and Child-Directed Physical Aggression

Using data from a diverse sample of 581 families living in predominantly low-income, rural communities, the current study sought to investigate the longitudinal associations among father-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) and child-directed physical aggression perpetrated by the mother. The unique contributions of each of these types of family violence on children's behavioral problems at school entry were also examined. Results confirm bidirectional associations between father-perpetrated IPV and maternal physical aggression directed toward the child, and indicate that both types of physical aggression contribute to child behavior problems at school entry.

An examination of the parent report version of the inventory of callous-unemotional traits in a community sample of first-grade children

BACKGROUND

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits is a self- and other report questionnaire of callous-unemotional behaviors that is increasingly widely used in research and clinical settings. Nonetheless, questions about the factor structure and validity of scales remain.

METHOD

This study provided the first large-scale (N = 1,078) investigation of the parent report version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a community sample of school-age (first-grade) children.

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor model that distinguished empathic-prosocial (EP) from callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors provided the best fit to the data. EP and CU were moderately to strongly correlated with each other (ϕ = -.67, p < .001) and with oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (ODD/CD) behaviors (ϕODD/CD, EP = -.55; ϕODD/CD, CU = .71, ps < .001). Individual differences in EP and CU behaviors explained unique variation, beyond that attributable to ODD/CD behaviors, in peer-, teacher-, and parent relationship quality. Moreover, whereas EP moderated the effects of ODD/CD in the prediction of student-teacher relationship quality, CU moderated the effects of ODD/CD in the prediction of peer and parent relationship quality.

CONCLUSIONS

Results are discussed with respect to the use of the ICU with school-age children.

Parenting behaviors and vagal tone at six months predict attachment disorganization at twelve months

The authors investigated the relationships among parenting behaviors, infant vagal tone, and subsequent attachment classification. Vagal tone was assessed among 6-month olds (n = 95) during the still-face paradigm (SFP) via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), while attachment security and disorganization were measured at 12 months during the strange situation procedure (SSP). Infants demonstrating higher levels of RSA during the normal interaction and reunion episodes of the SFP whose mothers were also rated as negative-intrusive exhibited higher levels of attachment disorganization at 12 months, while infants with lower RSA and mothers who were negative-intrusive did not exhibit higher levels of disorganization. These results suggest that high levels of RSA may not be adaptive within the context of negative-intrusive parenting.

Measuring Callous Unemotional Behaviors in Early Childhood: Factor Structure and the Prediction of Stable Aggression in Middle Childhood

This study sought to replicate the results of our earlier study, which were published in this Journal (Willoughby et. al 2011), that used mother-reported items from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment to develop a screening measure of callous unemotional (CU) behaviors for use with preschool-aged children. We further sought to extend those results by exploring the predictive validity of the CU measure with aggression trajectories in early-/mid-childhood. The current study involved secondary data analysis of the NICHD Study of Early Childhood and Youth Development (NICHD-SECCYD) dataset. Factor analyses included N = 1176 children who participated in the age 3 year assessment of the NICHD-SECCYD. Predictive models included N = 1081 children for whom four of the six possible teacher ratings of aggressive behavior were available from annual assessments spanning 1st-6th grades. Consistent with prior work, a three-factor confirmatory factor model, which differentiated CU from oppositional defiant (ODD) and attention deficit/hyperactive-impulsive (ADHD) behaviors, provided the best fit to the data. Among children with disorganized attachment status, the combination of high levels of mother-rated ODD behaviors and CU behaviors, was predictive of stable elevated levels of teacher-rated aggression from 1st-6th grade (predicted probability = .38, compared with a base rate of .07). These results demonstrate that CU behaviors can be reliably measured by parent report in young children and are dissociable from more commonly assessed dimensions of disruptive behavior. Three-year-old children who exhibit elevated levels of ODD and CU behaviors, and who have disorganized attachments, are at increased risk for exhibiting elevated levels of aggression across middle childhood. Results are discussed from the perspective of early assessment and intervention.

Child care and cortisol across early childhood: context matters

A considerable body of literature suggests that children's child-care experiences may impact adrenocortical functioning in early childhood. Yet emerging findings also suggest that the magnitude and sometimes the direction of child-care effects on development may be markedly different for children from higher risk contexts. Using data from a large population-based sample of families from predominantly low-income backgrounds in rural communities, we tested the degree to which links between children's child-care experiences (at 7-36 months) and their subsequent cortisol levels (at 48 months) were moderated by their level of cumulative environmental risk. Our results provided evidence of a crossover interaction between cumulative risk and child-care quantity. For children from low-risk contexts, greater weekly hours in child care were predictive of higher cortisol levels. In contrast, for children facing several cumulative risk factors, greater hours in child care per week were predictive of lower cortisol levels. These effects were robust after adjusting for several controls, including children's cortisol levels in early infancy. Child-care quality and type were not predictive of children's cortisol levels, and neither mitigated the conditional effect of child-care quantity on cortisol. These findings suggest that links between child care and children's development may differ as a function of children's broader ecologies.

Trajectories of intrusive parenting during infancy and toddlerhood as predictors of rural, low-income African American boys' school-related outcomes

Stability and change in maternal intrusiveness during early childhood is rarely explored, particularly within African American families. The current study examined the prediction of maternal intrusiveness during the first 3 years of life among mothers of rural, low-income African American boys and its relation to school-related outcomes. Observations of mothers (N = 230) interacting with children at 6, 24, and 36 months were coded and analyzed. Predictors of the trajectories and child outcomes were assessed using questionnaires and various tasks. On average, mothers of African American boys increased in intrusiveness across the first 3 years of life. Cumulative sociodemographic risk was associated with initial levels of intrusiveness, and child fearfulness and maternal negative regard predicted increases in intrusiveness over time. After controlling for sociodemographic risk, child temperament, and parental negativity, increases in intrusiveness over the first 3 years of life were associated with lower levels of expressive communication, inhibitory control, and intellectual functioning but not with attention focusing. Comprehensive parenting intervention efforts aimed toward improving children's outcomes must take into consideration the broader socioeconomic and affective context in which parenting behaviors occur as well as stability and change in parenting over time.

Association between Maternal sensitivity and Externalizing Behavior from Preschool to Preadolescence

Using data from the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N=1364), this study examined the association between mothers' sensitivity and children's externalizing behavior from preschool to preadolescence. Externalizing behavior declined on average across this period with a slowing of this decline around middle childhood. Maternal sensitivity remained relatively stable on average, and there was significant variation across mothers. A decrease in maternal sensitivity from ages 3 to 11 was related to an increase in externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 12. A model-based test of the direction of the effect suggested that the association between changes in maternal sensitivity and externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 11 was driven by child effects on mothers and not vice-versa. Between late preschool age and preadolescence, the behavior problems of children appear to strongly influence the sensitive support of mothers. Practical implications were discussed in light of these findings.

The family model stress and maternal psychological symptoms: mediated pathways from economic hardship to parenting

Although much of the extant research on low-income families has targeted parental depression as the predominant psychological response to economic hardship, the current study examined a range of maternal psychological symptoms that may mediate the relations between early economic pressure and later parenting behaviors. A family stress model was examined using data from 1,142 mothers living in 2 areas of high rural poverty, focusing on the infancy through toddlerhood period. Maternal questionnaires and observations of mother-child interactions were collected across 4 time points (6, 15, 24, and 36 months). Results from structural equation analyses indicated that early economic pressure was significantly related to a variety of symptoms (depression, hostility, anxiety, and somatization), but only depression and somatization were significantly related to decreased levels of sensitive, supportive parenting behaviors. In contrast, anxiety was positively associated with sensitive parenting. Depression and anxiety were both found to mediate the relations between economic pressure and sensitive parenting behaviors. Results further suggest that mothers did not experience change in objective economic hardship over time but did experience a small decrease in economic pressure. Discussion centers on the apparent indirect influence of early economic hardship on later psychological symptoms and parenting behaviors, as well as detailing the need for broader and more complex perspectives on maternal psychological responses that arise as a result of economic disadvantage.

Interparental aggression and infant patterns of adrenocortical and behavioral stress responses

Drawing on emotional security theory, this study examined linkages between interparental aggression, infant self-regulatory behaviors, and patterns of physiological and behavioral stress responses in a diverse sample of 735 infants residing in predominately low-income, non-metropolitan communities. Latent profile analysis revealed four classes of adrenocortical and behavioral stress-response patterns at 7 months of age, using assessments of behavioral and cortisol reactivity to an emotion eliciting challenge, as well as global ratings of the child's negative affect and basal cortisol levels. The addition of covariates within the latent profile model suggested that children with more violence in the home and children who used less caregiver-oriented regulation strategies were more likely to exhibit a pattern of high cortisol reactivity with moderate signs of distress rather than the average stress response, suggesting possible patterns of adaptation in violent households.