Overgeneral autobiographical memory, the tendency to report general memories when asked to report specific event recollections, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. The dominant model of overgeneral memory, the CaR-FA-X model (Williams et al., 2007), proposes that three cognitive processes (increased rumination and avoidance, and reduced executive control) either independently, or in interaction, interfere with successful memory retrieval. Although psychopathology increases significantly during adolescence, no research has tested this model in its entirety, including interaction effects, longitudinally in community youth. We tested the model with 323 adolescents (152 females, 171 males) across four annual assessment points. Increased avoidance predicted higher proportions of overgeneral memories from Time 3 to Time 4, but this association was stronger for youth with elevated depressive symptoms across the four waves, and limited to memories generated in response to negative cue words. This finding may indicate that youth with stable higher levels of depression remember in an overgeneral way to avoid re-elicitation of negative event-related emotions. In youth with lower depression levels across time, the CaR-FA-X mechanisms did not predict overgeneral memory.

Alcohol and other substance use problems are common, and the efficacy of current prevention and intervention programs is limited. Genetics may contribute to differential effectiveness of psychosocial prevention and intervention programs. This paper reviews gene-by-intervention (G×I) studies of alcohol and other substance use, and implications for integrating genetics into prevention science. Systematic review yielded 17 studies for inclusion. Most studies focused on youth substance prevention, alcohol was the most common outcome, and measures of genotype were heterogeneous. All studies reported at least one significant G×I interaction. We discuss these findings in the context of the history and current state of genetics, and provide recommendations for future G×I research. These include the integration of genome-wide polygenic scores into prevention studies, broad outcome measurement, recruitment of underrepresented populations, testing mediators of G×I effects, and addressing ethical implications. Integrating genetic research into prevention science, and training researchers to work fluidly across these fields, will enhance our ability to determine the best intervention for each individual across development. With growing public interest in obtaining personalized genetic information, we anticipate that the integration of genetics and prevention science will become increasingly important as we move into the era of precision medicine.

Contamination, when members of a comparison or control condition are exposed to the event or intervention under scientific investigation, is a methodological phenomenon that downwardly biases the magnitude of effect size estimates. This study tested a novel approach for controlling contamination in observational child maltreatment research. Data from The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN; N = 1354) were obtained to estimate the risk of confirmed child maltreatment on trajectories of internalizing and externalizing behaviors before and after controlling contamination. Baseline models, where contamination was uncontrolled, demonstrated a risk for greater internalizing (b = .29, p < .001, d = .40) and externalizing (b = .14, p = .040, d = .19) behavior trajectories. Final models, where contamination was controlled by separating the comparison condition into subgroups that did or did not self-report maltreatment, also demonstrated risks for greater internalizing (b = .37, p < .001, d = .51) and externalizing (b = .22, p = .028, d = .29) behavior trajectories. However, effect size estimates in final models were 27.5%–52.6% larger compared to baseline models. Controlling contamination in child maltreatment research can strengthen effect size estimates for child behavior problems, aiding future child maltreatment research design and analysis.

Adolescents’ peer networks provide an important context that can contribute to increases in antisocial behavior. By a process called deviancy training, peers can both model and reinforce these behaviors, thereby conveying group norms about the acceptability of such behaviors. This research examined the relationship between the proportion of adolescents’ peers who exchanged antisocial text messages and externalizing behaviors during high school. In Study 1, parent-, teacher-, and self-reports of rule-breaking and aggression were collected for a sample of adolescents (n = 167, 80 girls; 22.2% Black, 51.5% Caucasian, 18.7% Hispanic) during the summers before and after 9th grade. Total text frequency, frequency of antisocial texts, and the proportion of the peer network who exchanged antisocial messages were examined as predictors of antisocial behavior. The proportion of peers who exchanged antisocial texts significantly predicted rule-breaking, but not aggression. Study 2 examined the direction of the relationship documented in Study 1 more thoroughly. Externalizing behaviors at 9th, 10th, and 11th grade were evaluated as predictors of the proportion of the peer network that exchanged texts about antisocial topics (n = 205, 98 girls; 22.4% Black, 53.7% Caucasian, 16.9% Hispanic). Externalizing behaviors predicted the proportion of adolescents’ peer network that exchanged antisocial texts in each of the subsequent years, but this proportion of the peer network exchanging antisocial communication did not predict subsequent externalizing behaviors. The findings suggest that the extent to which antisocial communication permeates the peer group is a selection effect.

In this three-generation longitudinal study of familial depression, we investigated the continuity of parenting styles, and major depressive disorder (MDD), temperament, and social support during childrearing as potential mechanisms. Each generation independently completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), measuring individuals’ experiences of care and overprotection received from parents during childhood. MDD was assessed prospectively, up to 38 years, using the semi-structured Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). Social support and temperament were assessed using the Social Adjustment Scale – Self-Report (SAS-SR) and Dimensions of Temperament Scales – Revised, respectively. We first assessed transmission of parenting styles in the generation 1 to generation 2 cycle (G1→G2), including 133 G1 and their 229 G2 children (367 pairs), and found continuity of both care and overprotection. G1 MDD accounted for the association between G1→G2 experiences of care, and G1 social support and temperament moderated the transmission of overprotection. The findings were largely similar when examining these psychosocial mechanisms in 111 G2 and their spouses (G2+S) and their 136 children (G3) (a total of 223 pairs). Finally, in a subsample of families with three successive generations (G1→G2→G3), G2 experiences of overprotection accounted for the association between G1→G3 experiences of overprotection. The results of this study highlight the roles of MDD, temperament, and social support in the intergenerational continuity of parenting, which should be considered in interventions to “break the cycle” of poor parenting practices across generations.

Very little work has examined potential moderating effects in the link between prenatal intimate partner violence (IPV) and infant adjustment, especially in the first critical weeks following delivery. The current study evaluated the protective role of breastfeeding in the relationship between prenatal IPV and infant temperament at 4 months. Pregnant women (n = 82) were interviewed during pregnancy and at 6 weeks and 4 months postpartum. It was hypothesized that (a) prenatal IPV would predict infant temperament outcomes at the 4-month postpartum visit, and (b) breastfeeding continuation at 6 weeks acts as a protective factor such that breastfed infants will be less affected by the risk posed by prenatal IPV. Results indicated direct and negative effects of prenatal IPV on positive affectivity/surgency and orienting/regulatory capacity at 4 months. A significant moderating effect of breastfeeding at 6 weeks postpartum was identified. Mothers who were not breastfeeding at 6 weeks postpartum demonstrated the expected negative relationship between prenatal IPV exposure and infant adjustment, but if mothers were breastfeeding at 6 weeks postpartum, the relationship between IPV exposure and infant positive affectivity/surgency and orienting/regulatory capacity was not significantly different from zero. Results indicate a significant protective effect of breastfeeding in the intergenerational transmission of risk for infants born to mothers exposed to IPV.

For African American emerging adult men, developmental challenges are evident in their escalating substance abuse and depressive symptoms; this is particularly true for men from low-resource communities. The present study tests a developmental model linking childhood adversity and contemporaneous contextual stressors to increases in emerging adults’ substance use and depressive symptoms, indirectly, via increases in defensive/hostile relational schemas and social developmental risk factors (e.g., risky peers and romantic partners, lack of involvement in school or work). We also advance exploratory hypotheses regarding DNA methylation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) as a moderator of the effects of stress on relational schemas. Hypotheses were tested with three waves of data from 505 rural African American men aged 19–25 years. Adverse childhood experiences predicted exposure to emerging adult contextual stressors. Contextual stressors forecast increases in defensive/hostile relational schemas, which increased social developmental risk factors. Social developmental risk factors proximally predicted increases in substance abuse and depressive symptoms. OXTR DNA methylation moderated the effects of contextual stressors on defensive/hostile relational schemas. Findings suggest that early exposures to stress carry forward to affect the development of social developmental risk factors in emerging adulthood, which place rural African American men at risk for increased substance abuse and depressive symptoms during the emerging adult years.

Effective social functioning requires a broad range of social communication skills that are impaired in psychosis populations. However, little is known about early childhood (4- to 5-year period) social communication during the premorbid (pre-illness) stage of psychosis. The present study utilized retrospective parent reports to examine total early childhood social communication deficits, as well as deficits in two distinct domains, reciprocal social interaction (social smiling/eye gaze) and communication (social chat/gesture), in youth at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (ages 13–21; 37.2% female). Furthermore, associations between early childhood social communication and CHR youth's current functioning (social, academic/work), symptoms (positive/negative), and risk for conversion to psychosis were examined. Compared to healthy controls, CHR individuals had greater deficits in total and communication-specific early childhood social communication. Early childhood total, communication, and reciprocal social interaction deficits were associated with worse current functioning and greater current negative symptom severity (amotivation/anhedonia) in CHR youth. Early childhood total and reciprocal social interaction deficits were also associated with increased risk for conversion. These findings inform the field's understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of psychosis by extending the current developmental literature on premorbid deficits in psychosis populations to specific domains of social behavior in a critical developmental period.

Inhibitory control (IC) deficits have been associated with psychiatric symptoms in all ages. However, longitudinal studies testing the direction of the associations in childhood are scarce. We used a sample of 2,874 children (7 to 9 years old) to test the following three hypotheses: (a) IC deficits are an underlying risk factor with a potentially causal role for psychopathology, (b) IC deficits are a complication of psychopathology, and (c) IC deficits and psychopathology are associated at the trait level but not necessarily causally related. We used the go/no-go task to assess IC, the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to evaluate externalizing/internalizing symptoms, and the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model to test the hypotheses. The results showed no support for the underlying risk factor hypothesis, suggesting that IC unlikely has a causal role in this age group's psychopathology. The complication hypothesis received support for externalizing symptoms, suggesting that externalizing symptoms may hamper the normal development of IC. IC deficits and both externalizing and internalizing symptoms were correlated at the trait level, indicating a possible common origin. We suggest that it may be useful to support children with externalizing symptoms to promote and protect their IC development.

This study examined whether a family-based preventive intervention for inner-city children entering the first grade could alter the developmental course of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Participants were 424 families randomly selected and randomly assigned to a control condition (n = 192) or Schools and Families Educating Children (SAFE) Children (n = 232). SAFE Children combined family-focused prevention with academic tutoring to address multiple developmental–ecological needs. A booster intervention provided in the 4th grade to randomly assigned children in the initial intervention (n =101) evaluated the potential of increasing preventive effects. Follow-up occurred over 5 years with parents and teachers reporting on attention problems. Growth mixture models identified multiple developmental trajectories of ADHD symptoms. The initial phase of intervention placed children on more positive developmental trajectories for impulsivity and hyperactivity, demonstrating the potential for ADHD prevention in at-risk youth, but the SAFE Children booster had no additional effect on trajectory or change in ADHD indicators.

This article provides an overview of selected ongoing international efforts that have been inspired by Edward Zigler's vision to improve programs and policies for young children and families in the United States. The efforts presented are in close alignment with three strategies articulated by Edward Zigler: (a) conduct research that will inform policy advocacy; (b) design, implement, and revise quality early childhood development (ECD) programs; and (c) invest in building the next generation of scholars and advocates in child development. The intergenerational legacy left by Edward Zigler has had an impact on young children not only in the United States, but also across the globe. More needs to be done. We need to work together with a full commitment to ensure the optimal development of each child.

To advance research from Dishion and others on associations between parenting and peer problems across childhood, we used a sample of 177 sibling pairs reared apart since birth (because of adoption of one of the siblings) to examine associations between parental hostility and children's peer problems when children were ages 7 and 9.5 years (n = 329 children). We extended conventional cross-lagged parent–peer models by incorporating child inhibitory control as an additional predictor and examining genetic contributions via birth mother psychopathology. Path models indicated a cross-lagged association from parental hostility to later peer problems. When child inhibitory control was included, birth mother internalizing symptoms were associated with poorer child inhibitory control, which was associated with more parental hostility and peer problems. The cross-lagged paths from parental hostility to peer problems were no longer significant in the full model. Multigroup analyses revealed that the path from birth mother internalizing symptoms to child inhibitory control was significantly higher for birth parent–reared children, indicating the possible contribution of passive gene–environment correlation to this association. Exploratory analyses suggested that each child's unique rearing context contributed to his or her inhibitory control and peer behavior. Implications for the development of evidence-based interventions are discussed.

This paper argues that investigators should consider replacing the popular practice of comparing individuals varying in gender, social class, and/or ethnicity on one or more continuous measures with a search for kinds of individuals defined by patterns of properties that include not only their values on outcome measures but also their gender, social class, and ethnicity. Investigators who believe that a particular predictor contributes to an outcome independent of the gender, class, or ethnicity of the participants often implement statistical procedures that promise to remove the contributions of the above categories. These analyses lead to misleading conclusions when the controlled category is correlated with the dependent measures. The final sections summarize the properties of genders, classes, and ethnic groups that make distinctive contributions to many psychological outcomes. The paper ends by noting that a society's ethical beliefs constitute a defensible basis for ignoring the biological properties associated with these categories in order to allow members of these groups access to whatever educational or occupational goals they desire.

Many adolescents start using tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis. Genetic vulnerability, parent characteristics in young adolescence, and interaction (GxE) and correlation (rGE) between these factors could contribute to the development of substance use. Using prospective data from the TRacking Adolescent Individuals’ Lives Survey (TRAILS; N = 1,645), we model latent parent characteristics in young adolescence to predict young adult substance use. Polygenic scores (PGS) are created based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for smoking, alcohol use, and cannabis use. Using structural equation modeling we model the direct, GxE, and rGE effects of parent factors and PGS on young adult smoking, alcohol use, and cannabis initiation. The PGS, parental involvement, parental substance use, and parent–child relationship quality predicted smoking. There was GxE such that the PGS amplified the effect of parental substance use on smoking. There was rGE between all parent factors and the smoking PGS. Alcohol use was not predicted by genetic or parent factors, nor by interplay. Cannabis initiation was predicted by the PGS and parental substance use, but there was no GxE or rGE. Genetic risk and parent factors are important predictors of substance use and show GxE and rGE in smoking. These findings can act as a starting point for identifying people at risk.

The health status of children in the United States varies by racial and ethnic, shaped by an interrelated set of systems that disadvantage children of color in the United States. In this article, we argue for a broad view of resilience, in both research and policy, that views resilience not just as a property of individuals but also as a characteristic of social contexts and policies. Accordingly, we describe the empirical evidence for policies and contexts as factors that can improve health among children and families that are deprived of equal opportunities and resources due to structural racism. We discuss the evidence and opportunities for policies and interventions across a variety of societal systems, including programs to promote economic and food security, early education, health care, and the neighborhood and community context. Based on this evidence and other research on racism and resilience, we conclude by outlining some directions for future research.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is relatively stable across generations, but social policies may create opportunities for upward social mobility among disadvantaged populations during periods of economic growth. With respect to expanded educational opportunities that occurred in Québec (Canada) during the 1960s, we hypothesized that children's social and academic competence would promote upward mobility, whereas aggression and social withdrawal would have the opposite effect. Out of 4,109 children attending low-SES schools in 1976–1978, a representative subsample of 503 participants were followed until midadulthood. Path analyses revealed that parents’ SES predicted offspring's SES through associations with offspring's likeability, academic competence, and educational attainment. Interaction effects revealed individual risk factors that moderated children's ability to take advantage of intrafamilial or extrafamilial opportunities that could enhance their educational attainment. Highly aggressive participants and those presenting low academic achievement were unable to gain advantage from having highly educated parents. They reached lower educational attainment than their less aggressive or higher achieving peers who came from a similarly advantaged family background. Growing up with parents occupying low-prestige jobs put withdrawn boys and outgoing girls at risk for low educational attainment. In conclusion, social policies can raise SES across generations, with great benefits for the most disadvantaged segments of the population. However, children presenting with emerging psychopathology or academic weaknesses do not benefit from these policies as much as others, and should receive additional, targeted services.

Risk factors for the childhood development of co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms are not well understood, despite a high prevalence and poor clinical outcomes associated with this co-occurring phenotype. We examined inherited and environmental risk factors for co-occurring symptoms in a sample of children adopted at birth and their birth mothers and adoptive mothers (N = 293). Inherited risk factors (i.e., birth mothers' processing speed and internalizing symptoms) and environmental risk factors (i.e., adoptive mothers' processing speed, internalizing symptoms, and uninvolved parenting) were examined as predictors for the development of internalizing-only, externalizing-only, or co-occurring symptoms using structural equation modeling. Results suggested a unique pattern of predictive factors for the co-occurring phenotype, with risk conferred by adoptive mothers' uninvolved parenting, birth mothers' slower processing speed, and the birth mothers' slower processing speed in tandem with adoptive mothers' higher internalizing symptoms. Additional analyses indicated that when co-occurring-symptom children were incorporated into internalizing and externalizing symptom groups, differential risk factors for externalizing and internalizing symptoms emerged. The findings suggest that spurious results may be found when children with co-occurring symptoms are not examined as a unique phenotypic group.

Although allostatic load has been investigated in mood and anxiety disorders, no prior study has investigated developmental change in allostatic load as a precursor to schizotypal personality. This study employed a multilevel developmental framework to examine whether the development of increased allostatic load, as indicated by impaired sympathetic nervous system habituation from ages 3 to 11 years, predisposes to schizotypal personality at age 23 years. Electrodermal activity to six aversive tones was recorded in 995 subjects at age 3 years and again at 11 years. Habituation slopes at both ages were used to create groups who showed a developmental increase in habituation (decreased allostatic load), and those who showed a developmental decrease in habituation (increased allostatic load). Children who showed a developmental increase in allostatic load from ages 3 to 11 years had higher levels of schizotypal personality at 23 years. A breakdown of total schizotypy scores demonstrated specificity of findings to cognitive–perceptual features of schizotypy. Findings are the first to document a developmental abnormality in allostasis in relation to adult schizotypal personality. The relative failure to develop normal habituation to repeated stressors throughout childhood is hypothesized to result in an accumulation of allostatic load and consequently increased positive symptom schizotypy in adulthood.

Justice sensitivity (JS), the tendency to perceive and negatively respond to alleged injustice, has been associated with a range of internalizing and externalizing problems and peer victimization; however, it remains unclear if it has an association with self-victimization. Participants (N = 769) reported on their JS longitudinally at 9–19 (T1), 11–21 (T2), and 14–22 years of age (T3). They further reported on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and illegal substance use as indicators of self-victimization as well as victimization by peers at T2 and T3. A cross-lagged latent model revealed that victim JS at T1 was positively associated with NSSI, substance use, and peer victimization at T2, and victim JS at T2 was positively associated with substance use at T3. Higher observer JS at T2 predicted higher illegal substance use at T3 and higher illegal substance use at T2 predicted higher observer JS at T3. Finally, higher peer victimization at T2 predicted less perpetrator JS at T3 in the total group. Multigroup models further revealed sex-specific effects. Our findings highlight that being sensitive to injustice, particularly the tendency to feel unfairly treated or being taken advantage of, contributes to individuals’ vulnerability to both engaging in behaviors reflecting self-victimization and being a target of peer victimization, which in turn have influences on JS.

Sterba and Bauer's Keynote Article does a superb job of reviewing the “… assumptions, strengths, and limitations of model-based person-oriented methods—clarifying which theoretical principles [researchers] can test and the compromises and trade-offs required to do so.” Their writing is exceptionally clear, and the examples given highly instructive. At the same time, their arguments may be so convincing that the reader may be reluctant to pursue person-oriented analyses in a longitudinal context. The purpose of this Commentary is not to contradict Sterba and Bauer's arguments but to briefly review the steps that substantive researchers can take in building a scientifically strong case for either assuming continuously varied growth “… or that [trajectory groups] actually exist” according to Raudenbush. These steps have been elaborated in a series of papers by Muthén and colleagues, but it is useful to briefly review them here.