The COVID-19 pandemic has presented youth and families with a broad spectrum of unique stressors. Given that adolescents are at increased risk for mental health and emotional difficulties, it is critical to explore family processes that confer resilience for youth in the face of stress. The current study investigated caregiver emotion regulation (ER) as a familial factor contributing to youth ER and risk for psychopathology following stressful life events. In a longitudinal sample of 224 youth (Mage = 12.65 years) and their caregivers, we examined whether caregiver and youth engagement in ER strategies early in the pandemic mediated the associations of pandemic-related stress with youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms six months later. Leveraging serial mediation analysis, we demonstrated that caregiver and youth rumination, but not expressive suppression or cognitive reappraisal, mediated the prospective associations of pandemic-related stress with youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Greater exposure to pandemic-related stressors was associated with greater caregiver rumination, which, in turn, related to greater rumination in youth, and higher levels of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms thereafter. Family interventions that target caregiver ER, specifically rumination, may buffer against the consequences of stress on youth engagement in maladaptive ER strategies and risk for psychopathology.

Stress affects executive functions and exploring the association between stress-induced physiological reactivity and executive functions could highlight the potential mechanism of the stress-cognitive function link. Our study examined the linear and nonlinear associations between cardiovascular stress reactivity and cool and hot executive functions among adolescents. In November 2021 (T1), 273 Chinese adolescents between 11 and 14 (Mage = 12.93, SDage = 0.79) underwent a speech task during which their cardiovascular data were recorded, and they completed a Flanker task and an Emotional Stroop task. In May 2023 (T2), 253 adolescents again completed the Flanker and Emotional Stroop tasks. Cool and hot executive functions were assessed using the intra-individual reaction time variability of the Flanker task and Emotional Stroop task, respectively. Results showed that cardiovascular stress reactivity was positively linearly associated with cool executive functions at T1 and quadratically (inverted U-shaped) associated with cool executive functions at T1 and hot executive functions at T1 and T2. These findings suggest that compared to very high and very low cardiovascular reactivity, moderate to high cardiovascular reactivity to a structured social challenge is associated with better cool and hot executive functions.

Although there is strong evidence supporting the association between childhood adversity and symptomatology during adolescence, the extent to which adolescents present with distinct patterns of co-occurring post-traumatic stress (PTS) and externalizing symptoms remains unclear. Additionally, prior research suggests that experiencing nonviolent, negative life events may be more salient risk factors for developing some forms of psychopathology than exposure to violence. The current study used latent profile analysis to identify subgroups of early adolescents with distinct patterns of PTS, physical aggression, delinquency, and substance use, and examined subgroup differences in exposure to three forms of violent and nonviolent childhood adversity. Participants were a predominantly low-income, African American sample of 2,722 urban middle school students (M age = 12.9, 51% female). We identified four symptom profiles: low symptoms (83%), some externalizing (8%), high PTS (6%), and co-occurring PTS and externalizing symptoms (3%). A higher frequency of witnessing violence was associated with increased odds of membership in subgroups with externalizing symptoms, whereas a higher frequency of nonviolent, negative life events was associated with increased odds of membership in subgroups with PTS symptoms. Interventions aimed to address childhood adversity may be most effective when modules addressing both PTS and externalizing symptoms are incorporated.

Previous research indicates that parental emotion socialization (ES) practices play important roles in adolescents’ social and emotional development. However, longitudinal studies testing bidirectional effects are relatively scarce. Additionally, most studies have focused on people from Western societies. In the current 3-year, multi-informant, longitudinal study of Chinese adolescents and their parents, we investigated prospective bidirectional effects between parental positive ES practices and adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment (i.e., self-esteem and depressive symptoms). Adolescents (N = 710 at T1, 50% boys, Mage = 12.41, SD = 0.59) reported on parental positive ES practices and their own depressive symptoms and self-esteem when they were in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade. Mothers and fathers reported on their own use of positive ES practices at all three time points. We utilized a random intercept cross-lagged panel model to examine between- and within-family effects. Overall results showed robust effects of adolescent depressive symptoms on parental positive ES practices and bidirectional effects between parental ES and adolescent self-esteem. Effects differed by informants whether using adolescent-perceived data, or mother- or father-reported data. However, these child effects and bidirectional effects did not differ by adolescent sex. Our findings add to the understanding of parental ES and adolescent psychosocial adjustment.

We investigate how early exposure to parental externalizing behaviors (EB) may contribute to development of alcohol use disorders (AUD) in young adulthood, testing a developmental cascade model focused on competencies in three domains (academic, conduct, and work) in adolescence and emerging adulthood, and examining whether high parental education can buffer negative effects of parental EB and other early risk factors. We use data from 451,054 Swedish-born men included in the national conscript register. Structural equation models showed parental EB was associated with academic and behavioral problems during adolescence, as well as with lower resilience, more criminal behavior, and reduced social integration during emerging adulthood. These pathways led to elevated rates of AUD in emerging and young adulthood. Multiple groups analysis showed most of the indirect pathways from parental EB to AUD were present but buffered by higher parental education, suggesting early life experiences and competencies matter more for young men from lower socioeconomic status (SES) families than from higher SES families. Developmental competencies in school, conduct, and work are important precursors to the development of AUD by young adulthood that are predicted by parental EB. Occupational success may be an overlooked source of resilience for young men from low-SES families.

This study provides insights into the roles played by perceived stress and social support in the relationship between cumulative risk exposure (CRE) and adolescent emotional distress. Preregistered longitudinal moderated mediation analyses were used to test hypotheses relating to the association between CRE and later emotional distress; the mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between CRE and later emotional distress; and, the moderating effects of peer and adult-level family support on the relationship between CRE and later perceived stress, among N = 19,159 adolescents over three annual waves (at ages 11/12, 12/13, 13/14). Analyses revealed that CRE significantly predicted later adolescent emotional distress. This relationship was partially mediated by perceived stress. Both peer and adult-level family support significantly moderated the impact of CRE on later perceived stress (i.e., adolescents reporting higher levels of support perceived significantly lower levels of stress resulting from CRE compared to those reporting lower levels of support). These findings provide critical empirical evidence of the roles played by perceived stress and social support in the relationship between CRE and adolescent emotional distress, with consequent implications for intervention.

The moral self-concept (MSC) describes how children view themselves as moral agents. Research suggests that the MSC may relate to moral behavior, yet little is known about how MSC relates to moral behavior in preschoolers. One hundred six low-income children (Mage = 52.78 months, SD = 6.61 months) and their teachers participated in this study. In the fall, children completed a MSC puppet task measure. In the fall and spring, teachers reported via children’s survey prosocial behavior and aggressive behavior. We used a person-centered approach to identify profiles of MSC, which revealed two profiles of behavior: comforting prosocials and helpful aggressors. Comforting prosocials showed a moderate preference for comforting, a slight preference for helping, and a slight preference for avoiding aggression. Helpful aggressors had a moderate aversion to comforting, a strong preference for helping, and a slight preference for aggressive behavior. Subsequent analysis of covariance analysis revealed that MSC profiles did not differ in concurrent behavior but did differ in behavior 6 months later. The comforting prosocial group participated in more aggression than the helpful aggressors. Additionally, analysis of covariance analysis of change in aggression scores over time showed that comforting prosocials aggression increased, while helpful aggressors aggression decreased. Both groups over time decreased in prosocial behavior, but to different degrees. Overall, findings reveal that the MSC in preschoolers may relate to future not concurrent moral behavior.

The majority of children with maltreatment histories do not go on to develop depression in their adolescent and adult years. These individuals are often identified as being “resilient”, but this characterization may conceal difficulties that individuals with maltreatment histories might face in their interpersonal relationships, substance use, physical health, and/or socioeconomic outcomes in their later lives. This study examined how adolescents with maltreatment histories who exhibit low levels of depression function in other domains during their adult years. Longitudinal trajectories of depression (across ages 13–32) in individuals with (n = 3,809) and without (n = 8,249) maltreatment histories were modeled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The same “Low,” “increasing,” and “declining” depression trajectories in both individuals with and without maltreatment histories were identified. Youths with maltreatment histories in the “low” depression trajectory reported lower romantic relationship satisfaction, more exposure to intimate partner and sexual violence, more alcohol abuse/dependency, and poorer general physical health compared to individuals without maltreatment histories in the same “low” depression trajectory in adulthood. Findings add further caution against labeling individuals as “resilient” based on a just single domain of functioning (low depression), as childhood maltreatment has harmful effects on a broad spectrum of functional domains.

Research points to the substantial impact of parents' exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on parents and their children. However, most studies have been conducted in North America, and research on ACEs effects on observed parenting or on intergenerational transmission of ACE effects is limited. We therefore studied families from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds in Israel and examined whether mothers’ ACEs hampered maternal sensitivity and the quality of the home environment and whether mothers’ psychological distress mediated these links. We also explored whether mothers’ ACEs predicted children’s behavior problems indirectly through maternal psychological distress and whether maternal sensitivity and the home environment attenuated this mediating path. Participants were 232 mothers (Mchild age = 18.40 months, SD = 1.76; 63.36% non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish, 17.24% ultra-Orthodox Jewish, 19.40% Arab Muslim). Results showed mothers’ ACEs were directly associated with decreased maternal sensitivity. Mothers’ ACEs were indirectly associated with more behavior problems in children through mothers’ higher psychological distress, and maternal sensitivity moderated this indirect link; it was significant only for mothers who showed lower sensitivity. Findings emphasize the significant role ACEs play in early mother-child relationships. The importance of including ACE assessment in research and practice with families of infants and toddlers is discussed.

Parental depression is a risk factor for children’s cognitive and psychological development. Literature has found reciprocal relations between parental depression and child psychopathology and effects of parental depression on children’s cognition. The present study is the first to examine reciprocity among parental depression and child cognition, and pathways to child psychopathology. Structural equation models were conducted using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a nationally representative sample of 3,001 economically marginalized families. Measures were collected in four waves from 14 months to 10–11 years. Reciprocal associations emerged between maternal and paternal depression at from 14 months to 5 years. Reciprocal parental depression was associated with greater psychopathology at age 10–11. Maternal depression predicted poorer child cognition, which indirectly predicted increased depression in mothers of children aged 3–5 through paternal depression, and in fathers at age 3, through earlier paternal depression. This study was unable to parse within- and between-person effects. Additionally, data for paternal depression was limited to ages 2 and 3. Findings emphasize the transactional nature of child cognition and child and parent psychopathology, supporting family focused intervention and prevention efforts that target parent psychopathology and child cognition.

Maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) in the postnatal period may impact children’s later development through poorer quality parent-child interactions. The current study tested a specific pathway from MDS (child age 9 months) to child receptive vocabulary (4 ½ years) through both self-reported and observed parent-child verbal interactions (at both 2 and 4 ½ years). Participants (n = 4,432) were part of a large, diverse, contemporary pre-birth national cohort study: Growing Up in New Zealand. Results indicated a direct association between greater MDS at 9 months and poorer receptive vocabulary at age 4 ½ years. There was support for an indirect pathway through self-reported parent-child verbal interactions at 2 years and through observed parent-child verbal interactions at 4 ½ years. A moderated mediation effect was also found: the indirect effect of MDS on child vocabulary through observed verbal interaction was supported for families living in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation. Overall, findings support the potential role of parent-child verbal interactions as a mechanism for the influence of MDS on later child language development. This pathway may be particularly important for families experiencing socioeconomic adversity, suggesting that effective and appropriate supportive parenting interventions be preferentially targeted to reduce inequities in child language outcomes.

Developmental models of borderline personality disorder (BPD) emphasize the effects of youths’ biological vulnerabilities and their experiences of parental responses to emotion, as well as the interaction between these two elements. The current study evaluated the independent and interactive effects of two indices of autonomic nervous system response and parental responses to youth negative emotions on severity and exacerbation of youths’ BPD features during the transition to adolescence. The sample consisted of 162 psychiatric youth (10–14 years; 47.2% female) and their parents. At baseline, youth and their parents completed a lab-based conflict discussion during which parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system response were measured and indices of sympathetic-parasympathetic balance and coactivation/coinhibition were calculated. Youth also reported on supportive and non-supportive parental responses. At baseline and after 9 months, youth self-reported on their BPD features. Results demonstrated that shifting toward sympathetic dominance independently predicted exacerbation of BPD across 9 months. Additionally, fewer experiences of supportive parental responses and more non-supportive parental responses were associated with greater severity of BPD features in youth. This study highlights the role of autonomic response to parent-child conflict as well as the significance of parental responses to youth emotion for the development of BPD during this developmental window.

Although new mothers are at risk of heightened vulnerability for depressive symptoms, there is limited understanding regarding changes in maternal depressive symptoms over the course of the postpartum and early childhood of their child’s life among rural, low-income mothers from diverse racial backgrounds. This study examined distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms among rural low-income mothers during the first five years of their child’s life, at 6, 15, 24, and 58 months, using data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,292). Latent class growth analysis identified four distinct trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms, including Low-decreasing (50%; n = 622), Low-increasing (26%; n = 324), Moderate-decreasing (13%; n = 156), and Moderate-increasing (11%; n = 131) trajectories. Multinomial logistic regression demonstrated that higher perceived financial strain and intimate partner violence, and lower social support predicted higher-risk trajectories (Low-increasing, Moderate-decreasing, and Moderate-increasing) relative to the Low-decreasing trajectory. Compared to the Low-decreasing trajectory, lower neighborhood safety/quietness predicted to the Low-increasing trajectory. Moreover, lower social support predicted the Moderate-increasing trajectory, the highest-risk trajectory, compared to those in Moderate-decreasing. The current analyses underscore the heterogeneity on patterns of depressive symptoms among rural, low-income mothers, and that the role of both proximal and broader contexts contributing to distinct trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms over early childhood.

Difficulties with emotion regulation are integral to borderline personality disorder (BPD) and its hypothesized developmental pathway. Here, we prospectively assess trajectories of emotion processing across childhood, how BPD symptoms impact these trajectories, and whether developmental changes are transdiagnostic or specific to BPD, as major depressive (MDD) and conduct disorders (CD) are also characterized by emotion regulation difficulties. This study included 187 children enriched for those with early symptoms of depression and disruptive behaviors from a longitudinal study. We created multilevel models of multiple components of emotional processing from mean ages 9.05 to 18.55 years, and assessed the effect of late adolescent BPD, MDD, and CD symptoms on these trajectories. Linear trajectories of coping with sadness and anger, and quadratic trajectories of dysregulated expressions of sadness and anger were transdiagnostic, but also exhibited independent relationships with BPD symptoms. Only inhibition of sadness was related to BPD symptoms. The quadratic trajectories of poor emotional awareness and emotional reluctance were also independently related to BPD. Findings support examining separable components of emotion processing across development as potential precursors to BPD, underscoring the importance of understanding these trajectories as not only a marker of potential risk but also potential targets for prevention and intervention.

Autism is associated with challenges in emotion recognition. Yet, little is known about how emotion recognition develops over time in autistic children. This four-wave longitudinal study followed the development of three emotion-recognition abilities regarding four basic emotions in children with and without autism aged 2.5 to 6 years over three years. Behavioral tasks were used to examine whether children could differentiate facial expressions (emotion differentiation), identify facial expressions with verbal labels (emotion identification), and attribute emotions to emotion-provoking situations (emotion attribution). We confirmed previous findings that autistic children experienced more difficulties in emotion recognition than non-autistic children and the group differences were present already from the preschool age. However, the group differences were observed only when children processed emotional information from facial expressions. When emotional information could be deduced from situational cues, most group differences disappeared. Furthermore, this study provided novel longitudinal evidence that emotion recognition improved with age in autistic children: compared to non-autistic children, autistic children showed similar learning curves in emotion discrimination and emotion attribution, and they showed greater improvements in emotion identification. We suggest that inclusion and respect in an environment free of stereotyping are likely to foster the development of emotion recognition among autistic children.

Intensity in adolescent romantic relationships was examined as a long-term predictor of higher adult blood pressure in a community sample followed from age 17 to 31 years. Romantic intensity in adolescence – measured via the amount of time spent alone with a partner and the duration of the relationship – was predicted by parents’ psychologically controlling behavior and was in turn found to predict higher resting adult systolic and diastolic blood pressure even after accounting for relevant covariates. The prediction to adult blood pressure was partially mediated via conflict in nonromantic adult friendships and intensity in adult romantic relationships. Even after accounting for these mediators, however, a direct path from adolescent romantic intensity to higher adult blood pressure remained. Neither family income in adolescence nor trait measures of personality assessed in adulthood accounted for these findings. The results of this study are interpreted both as providing further support for the view that adolescent social relationship qualities have substantial long-term implications for adult health, as well as suggesting a potential physiological mechanism by which adolescent relationships may be linked to adult health outcomes.

McGee and Wolfe's (1991) article has emerged at a critical time, a period during which child abuse and neglect has been declared a national emergency. In the last decade, reports of child abuse have increased dramatically. Unfortunately, the resources available to address the needs of maltreated children have not kept pace with the demand. This distressing state of affairs has caused some social policy theorists to conclude that only the most seriously abused and neglected children should be identified and served so as not to weaken further an already fragile service delivery system (Besharov, 1988; Wald, 1975). In fact, in the absence of greatly enhanced resources, some child advocates have argued that intervention into family life in other than life threatening circumstances may prove to be more detrimental than helpful (Goldstein, Freud, & Solnit, 1979).