A robust association has been reported between childhood adverse life events (ALEs) and risky substance use in adolescence. It remains unclear, however, what the impact of type and timing of these ALEs is. We investigated the association between ALEs and substance use in adolescents. ALEs were operationalized as broad (e.g., moving, parental divorce, family sickness) or physically threatening (physical and/or sexual abuse). First, we examined lifetime ALEs, followed by an investigation into their timing. The sample consisted of 909 adolescents (aged 12–18 years) from a cohort oversampled on high levels of emotional and behavioral problems. The primary caregiver indicated which ALEs each adolescent experienced across their lifetime. Adolescents self-reported on number and frequency of substances used. Poisson and ordinal regression models were used to model the associations. The associations between lifetime ALEs and a substance used were observed only for physical ALEs (incidence rate ratio 1.18 [1.03, 1.35], p = 0.02). When investigating timing, physical ALEs after the age of 12 predicted number of substances used (IRR 1.36 [1.13, 1.63], p < .001). Recent ALEs (occurring after age 12) seem to have considerable impact on substance use. Alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism were considered a plausible explanation for the results.

DNA methylation of the elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein 2 (ELOVL2) was suggested as a biomarker of biological aging, while childhood maltreatment (CM) has been associated with accelerated biological aging. We investigated the association of age and CM experiences with ELOVL2 methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Furthermore, we investigated ELOVL2 methylation in the umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (UBMC) of newborns of mothers with and without CM. PBMC and UBMC were isolated from 113 mother–newborn dyads and genomic DNA was extracted. Mothers with and without CM experiences were recruited directly postpartum. Mass array spectrometry and pyrosequencing were used for methylation analyses of ELOVL2 intron 1, and exon 1 and 5′ end, respectively. ELOVL2 5′ end and intron 1 methylation increased with higher age but were not associated with CM experiences. On the contrary, overall ELOVL2 exon 1 methylation increased with higher CM, but these changes were minimal and did not increase with age. Maternal CM experiences and neonatal methylation of ELOVL2 intron 1 or exon 1 were not significantly correlated. Our study suggests region-specific effects of chronological age and experienced CM on ELOVL2 methylation and shows that the epigenetic biomarker for age within the ELOVL2 gene does not show accelerated biological aging years after CM exposure.

This study explored developmentally salient cognitive and emotional facets of personality during adolescence and their contribution to psychological functioning in young adulthood. Specifically, we examined the of relations among two kinds of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction during midadolescence and assessed their longitudinal contribution to young adult symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as self-worth. We drew upon a dataset that included both a group of youngsters who had been psychiatrically hospitalized at age 14 and a normative comparison group of high school students studied over an 11-year period. Findings demonstrated that the magnitude of particular actual-ideal discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differed between the groups. Contrary to expectation, actual-ideal self-discrepancies were not related to expressed negative emotions during midadolescence. For the psychiatric group, however, both self-discrepancies and expressed negative emotions made unique contributions to individuals' general sense of self-dissatisfaction. Moreover, particular types of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, specific expressed emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differentially predicted symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as diminished self-worth in young adulthood, albeit differently for the two groups. The importance of cognitions and emotions in the course diverse developmental pathways and future directions of the study are discussed.

Early adversity confers risk for depression in part through its association with recent (i.e., proximal) acute stress. However, it remains unresolved whether: a) early adversity predicts increases in recent acute stress over time; b) all – or only certain types – of recent events mediate the relationship between early adversity and depression; and c) early adversity places individuals at greater risk for depression via greater exposure to independent (i.e., fateful) interpersonal events or via greater generation of dependent (i.e., partially self-initiated) interpersonal events (i.e., stress generation) or both. These questions were examined in a 3-wave longitudinal study of early adolescent girls (N = 125; M = 12.35 years [SD = .77]) with no history of diagnosable depression using contextual life stress and diagnostic interviews. Path analyses indicated that increases in past-year acute interpersonal, but not non-interpersonal, stress mediated the link between early adversity and depressive symptoms. The mediating role of interpersonal events was limited to independent ones, suggesting increases in interpersonal event exposure, not interpersonal stress generation, acted as a mediator. Finally, findings support prior evidence that early adversity may not directly predict future depressive symptoms. Implications for understanding the role of recent stress in the association between early adversity and adolescent depression are discussed.

Maternal perinatal depression (PND) and partnership problems have been identified to influence the development of later child adjustment difficulties. However, PND and partnership problems are closely linked which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the exact transmission pathways. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent PND symptoms and partnership problems influence each other longitudinally and to examine the influence of their trajectories on child adjustment difficulties at the age of three. Analyses were based on publicly available data from the German family panel “pairfam”. N = 354 mothers were surveyed on depressive symptoms and partnership problems annually from pregnancy (T0) until child age three (T4). Child adjustment difficulties were assessed at age three. Results of latent change score modeling showed that partnership problems predicted change in PND symptoms at T0 and T3 while PND symptoms did not predict change in partnership problems. Child adjustment difficulties at age three were predicted by PND symptoms, but not by partnership problems. Partnership problems predicted externalizing, but not internalizing symptoms. Results underline the effects of family factors for the development of child adjustment difficulties and emphasize the importance of early interventions from pregnancy onwards

The early caregiving environment can have lasting effects on child mental health. Animal models suggest that glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) DNA methylation plays a mediating role in linking more responsive caregiving to improved behavioral outcomes by its impact on the stress regulatory system. In this longitudinal study, we examined whether children’s NR3C1 methylation levels mediate an effect of maternal sensitivity in infancy on levels of child internalizing and externalizing behavior in a community sample. Maternal sensitivity of 145 mothers was rated at infant age 5 weeks, 12 months, and 30 months by observing mother–infant interactions. Buccal DNA methylation was assessed in the same children at age 6 years and maternal-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior was assessed at age 6 and 10 years. Higher sensitivity at age 5 weeks significantly predicted lower DNA methylation levels at two NR3C1 CpG loci, although methylation levels at these loci did not mediate an effect of maternal sensitivity on levels of child internalizing and externalizing behavior. Overall, the study provides evidence that maternal sensitivity in early infancy is associated with DNA methylation levels at loci involved in stress regulation, but the significance of this finding for child mental health remains unclear.

Interpretation biases and inflexibility (i.e., difficulties revising interpretations) have been linked to increased internalizing symptoms. Although adolescence is a developmental period characterized by novel social situations and increased vulnerability to internalizing disorders, no studies have examined interpretation inflexibility in adolescents. Additionally, no studies (on adolescents or adults) have examined interpretation flexibility as a protective factor against adverse outcomes of interpersonal events. Using a novel task and a 28-day diary we examined relations among interpretation bias and inflexibility, internalizing symptoms, and negative interpersonal events in a sample of children and adolescents (N = 159, ages 9–18). At baseline, negative interpretation bias was positively correlated with social anxiety symptoms, and positive interpretation bias negatively correlated with social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Inflexible positive interpretations were correlated with higher social anxiety and depressive symptoms, while inflexible negative interpretations were correlated with higher social anxiety. Finally, interpretation inflexibility moderated daily associations between negative interpersonal events and depressive symptoms in daily life, such that higher inflexibility was associated with stronger associations between interpersonal events and subsequent depressive symptoms, potentially increasing depressive symptom instability. These results suggest that interpretation biases and inflexibility may act as both risk and protective factors for adolescent anxiety and depression.

There is limited evidence on heterogenous co-developmental trajectories of internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) problems from childhood to adolescence and predictors of these joint trajectories. We utilized longitudinal data from Raine Study participants (n = 2393) to identify these joint trajectories from 5 to 17 years using parallel-process latent class growth analysis and analyze childhood individual and family risk factors predicting these joint trajectories using multinomial logistic regression. Five trajectory classes were identified: Low-problems (Low-INT/Low-EXT, 29%), Moderate Externalizing (Moderate-EXT/Low-INT, 26.5%), Primary Internalizing (Moderate High-INT/Low-EXT, 17.5%), Co-occurring (High-INT/High-EXT, 17%), High Co-occurring (Very High-EXT/High-INT, 10%). Children classified in Co-occurring and High Co-occurring trajectories (27% of the sample) exhibited clinically meaningful co-occurring problem behaviors and experienced more adverse childhood risk-factors than other three trajectories. Compared with Low-problems: parental marital problems, low family income, and absent father predicted Co-occurring and High Co-occurring trajectories; maternal mental health problems commonly predicted Primary Internalizing, Co-occurring, and High Co-occurring trajectories; male sex and parental tobacco-smoking uniquely predicted High Co-occurring membership; other substance smoking uniquely predicted Co-occurring membership; speech difficulty uniquely predicted Primary Internalizing membership; child’s temper-tantrums predicted all four trajectories, with increased odds ratios for High Co-occurring (OR = 8.95) and Co-occurring (OR = 6.07). Finding two co-occurring trajectories emphasizes the importance of early childhood interventions addressing comorbidity.

The effects of school and classroom racial/ethnic diversity on peer victimization, self-blame, and perceived school safety were examined in a racially/ethnically diverse sample of students followed over the three years of middle school. Sixth grade students (N = 5,991, 52% female; M = 11.63 years) were recruited from 26 urban middle schools that systematically varied in racial/ethnic diversity. Based on student self-report, the sample was 31.6% Latino/Mexican, 19.6% White, 17.4%, Multiethnic/Biracial, 13% East/Southeast Asian, 10.9% Black, and 6.9% Other very small racial/ethnic groups. Each school had a structural diversity score based on the number and size of racial/ethnic groups enrolled. Using a novel method based on course schedules and class rosters, each student’s individual exposure to diversity in their classes was assessed to capture dynamic diversity. Latent growth modeling showed that structural school diversity and dynamic classroom diversity were both related to less victimization at the start of middle school and a decrease over time. Dynamic classroom diversity buffered the associations between victimization and self-blame and between victimization and perceiving school as unsafe. Dynamic classroom diversity was more protective than structural school diversity. Implications for practice, intervention and policies to promote school racial/ethnic diversity were discussed.

This study replicated and extended Narayan and colleagues’ (2018) original benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) study. We examined associations between adverse and positive childhood experiences and mental health problems in a second sample of low-income, ethnically diverse pregnant individuals (replication). We also examined effects of childhood experiences on perinatal mental health problems while accounting for contemporaneous support and stress (extension). Participants were 175 pregnant individuals (M = 28.07 years, SD = 5.68, range = 18–40; 38.9% White, 25.7% Latina, 16.6% Black, 12.0% biracial/multiracial, 6.8% other) who completed standardized instruments on BCEs, childhood maltreatment and exposure to family dysfunction, sociodemographic stress, and perinatal depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. They completed the Five-Minute Speech Sample at pregnancy and postpartum to assess social support from the other biological parent. Higher family dysfunction predicted higher prenatal depression symptoms, while higher BCEs and prenatal social support predicted lower prenatal PTSD symptoms. Prenatal depression and prenatal PTSD symptoms were the most robust predictors of postnatal depression and PTSD symptoms, respectively, although higher postnatal social support also predicted lower postnatal PTSD symptoms. Findings replicated many patterns found in the original BCEs study and indicated that contemporaneous experiences are also associated with perinatal mental health problems.

Inhibitory control plays an important role in children’s cognitive and socioemotional development, including their psychopathology. It has been established that contextual factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and parents’ psychopathology are associated with children’s inhibitory control. However, the relations between the neural correlates of inhibitory control and contextual factors have been rarely examined in longitudinal studies. In the present study, we used both event-related potential (ERP) components and time-frequency measures of inhibitory control to evaluate the neural pathways between contextual factors, including prenatal SES and maternal psychopathology, and children’s behavioral and emotional problems in a large sample of children (N = 560; 51.75% females; Mage = 7.13 years; Rangeage = 4–11 years). Results showed that theta power, which was positively predicted by prenatal SES and was negatively related to children’s externalizing problems, mediated the longitudinal and negative relation between them. ERP amplitudes and latencies did not mediate the longitudinal association between prenatal risk factors (i.e., prenatal SES and maternal psychopathology) and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Our findings increase our understanding of the neural pathways linking early risk factors to children’s psychopathology.

Children who have experienced maltreatment are more likely to have disrupted attachments, fewer psychosocial strengths, and poorer long-term psychosocial outcomes. However, few studies have examined the interplay between attachment security and psychosocial strengths among children involved in therapeutic services in the context of the child welfare system. The present longitudinal study examines the insecure attachment behaviors and psychosocial strengths of 555 children referred to the Therapeutic Family Care program (TFCP) in Cobourg, Ontario between 2000 and 2019. The children were assessed by their caregivers on a regular basis using the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) and the complementary strengths-focused ACC+ measure. Average age of children at baseline was 9.57 years (SD = 3.51) and 229 (41.26%) were female. We conducted growth curve and random intercepts cross-lagged panel models to test the longitudinal interplay between insecure attachment behaviors and strengths. Results suggest that females’ attachment security improved, males’ attachment security worsened, and both males and females developed strengths over time. Further, analyses revealed a directional effect, whereby fewer insecure attachment behaviors predicted more psychosocial strengths approximately 6 months later. Implications for attachment-oriented and strengths-based services in the context of child welfare are discussed.

Edward Zigler pioneered and insisted upon the integration of science, practice, and policy development to support vulnerable children and families, reduce poverty, and improve US wellbeing, writ large. His far-reaching scholarship in turn critically shaped developmental science and US policy in multiple areas. This review reflects upon Zigler's influence on US child care, Head Start, Early Head Start, and prekindergarten programs. It describes the integration of one major area of developmental science, the field of attachment theory, research, and intervention, with US child care and early childhood education programs and policy. The integration of attachment into these systems not only epitomizes Zigler's overarching canon but also has improved services and advanced attachment theory and research. Throughout the review, I suggest next steps for leveraging attachment theory, research, and intervention to improve US child care and early childhood education systems in ways that both reflect and carry forward the legacy of Edward Zigler.

We examined the long-term causal effects of an evidence-based parenting program delivered in infancy on children’s emotion regulation and resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) during middle childhood. Families were referred to the study by Child Protective Services (CPS) as part of a diversion from a foster care program. A low-risk group of families was also recruited. CPS-involved families were randomly assigned to receive the target (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up, ABC) or a control intervention (Developmental Education for Families, DEF) before infants turned 2. Both interventions were home-based, manualized, and 10-sessions long. During middle childhood, children underwent a 6-min resting-state functional MRI scan. Amygdala seed-based rs-fc analysis was completed with intervention group as the group-level predictor of interest. Fifty-seven children (NABC = 21; NDEF = 17; NCOMP = 19; Mage = 10.02 years, range = 8.08–12.14) were scanned successfully. The DEF group evidenced negative left amygdala↔OFC connectivity, whereas connectivity was near zero in the ABC and comparison groups (ABCvsDEF: Cohen’s d = 1.17). ABC may enhance high-risk children’s regulatory neurobiology outcomes ∼8 years after the intervention was completed.

Although child maltreatment is a major public health concern, which adversely affects psychological and physical development, we know relatively little concerning psychophysiological and personality factors that may modify risk in children exposed to maltreatment. Using a three-wave, short-term prospective design, we examined the influence of individual differences in two disparate psychophysiological measures of risk (i.e., resting frontal brain electrical activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia) on the trajectories of extraversion and neuroticism in a sample of female adolescents (N = 55; M age = 14.02 years) exposed to child maltreatment. Adolescents exposed to child maltreatment with relatively higher left frontal absolute alpha power (i.e., lower brain activity) at rest exhibited increasing trajectories of extraversion, and adolescents exposed to child maltreatment with relatively lower respiratory sinus arrhythmia at rest displayed increasing trajectories of neuroticism over 1 year. Individual differences in psychophysiological measures indexing resting central and peripheral nervous system activity may therefore differentially influence personality characteristics in adolescent females exposed to child maltreatment.

Children’s relationships inform their internal working models (IWMs) of the world around them. Attachment and emotional security theory (EST) emphasize the importance of parent–child and interparental relationships, respectively, for IWM. The current study examined (a) data-driven classes in child attachment and emotional security IWM, (b) associations between IWM classes and demographic variables, maltreatment, intimate partner violence (IPV), and maternal depressive symptoms, and (c) consistency in attachment and emotional security IWM classes, including as a function of maltreatment, IPV, and maternal depressive symptoms. Participants were 234 preschool-aged children (n = 152 experienced maltreatment and n = 82 had not experienced maltreatment) and their mothers. Children participated in a narrative-based assessment of IWM. Mothers reported demographics, IPV, and maternal depressive symptoms. Latent class analyses revealed three attachment IWM classes and three emotional security IWM classes. Maltreatment was associated with lower likelihood of being in the secure attachment class and elevated likelihood of being in the insecure dysregulated attachment class. Inconsistencies in classification across attachment and emotional security IWM classes were related to maltreatment, IPV, and maternal depressive symptoms. The current study juxtaposes attachment and EST and provides insight into impacts of family adversity on children’s IWM across different family relationships.

There is a pressing need for studies of large sample sizes and variable age ranges to delineate the mechanism underlying reduced visual attention to biological motion in autism. Here we focused on the basic movement of the eyes or mouth in guiding attention. The stimuli face blinked continuously or moved the mouth silently. In a large sample (145 autistic and 132 non-autistic participants) ranging from 3 to 17 years old, we assessed whether autistic participants showed reduced visual attention to basic movement of the eyes or mouth using a free-viewing eye-tracking task. We found that, like non-autistic participants, autistic participants increased their eye-looking time when viewing the blinking face and increased mouth-looking time when viewing the mouth-moving face. Furthermore, these effects were stable across ages, suggesting the presence of a developmentally stable attentional capture by basic face movements in both groups. We also found that autistic participants looked less at basic face movement than non-autistic participants. Our results suggest that autistic children and adolescents could modulate their visual attention to the basic face movements, but their modulation effect is weaker than non-autistic participants. These results further our understanding of the mechanism underlying visual attention-to-face movement in autistic people.