This study aimed to specify the neural mechanisms underlying the link between low household income and diminished executive control in the preschool period. Specifically, we examined whether individual differences in the neural processes associated with executive attention and inhibitory control accounted for income differences observed in performance on a neuropsychological battery of executive control tasks. The study utilized a sample of preschool-aged children (N = 118) whose families represented the full range of income, with 32% of families at/near poverty, 32% lower income, and 36% middle to upper income. Children completed a neuropsychological battery of executive control tasks and then completed two computerized executive control tasks while EEG data were collected. We predicted that differences in the event-related potential (ERP) correlates of executive attention and inhibitory control would account for income differences observed on the executive control battery. Income and ERP measures were related to performance on the executive control battery. However, income was unrelated to ERP measures. The findings suggest that income differences observed in executive control during the preschool period might relate to processes other than executive attention and inhibitory control.

Developmental psychopathology is not characterized by adherence to one specific theory but instead serves as an organizational framework in which research is driven by a number of key assumptions. In the developmental psychopathology approach, two primary assumptions emphasize the importance of systems thinking and the utility of multilevel analyses. As will be illustrated here, these emphases are inextricably linked: a systems approach necessitates a multilevel approach, such that a level of organization must bring coherence to a level of mechanisms. Given this assumption, coming to an integrative understanding of the relation between levels is of central importance. One broad framework for this endeavor is relational developmental systems, which has been proposed by certain theorists as a new paradigm for developmental science. The implications of embracing this framework include the potential to connect developmental psychopathology with other approaches that emphasize systems thinking and that take an integrative perspective on the problem of levels of analysis.

There has been a longstanding debate about the link between callous-unemotional traits and fearlessness. However, biological evidence for a relationship in adolescents is lacking. Using two adolescent samples, we measured emotional reactivity and cardiac measures of sympathetic (pre-ejection period) and parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) reactivity during 3D TV and virtual reality fear induction. Study 1 included 62 community adolescents from a stratified sample. Study 2 included 60 adolescents from Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties schools. Results were consistent across both studies. Adolescents with high callous-unemotional traits showed coactivation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Consistent with these results, youths with callous-unemotional traits self-reported that they felt more in control after the fear induction. Thus, in both samples, youth with callous-unemotional traits displayed a physiological and emotional profile suggesting they maintained control during fear induction. Therefore, it is proposed here that a shift in thinking of youth with callous-unemotional traits as fearless to youth with callous-unemotional traits are better able to manage fearful situations, may be more appropriate.

The term self-organization has at least two meanings for developmental psychopathologists: the spontaneous emergence of order in developing systems and the consolidation of that part of the person called the self. The first meaning is shared across the sciences at large, and it denotes a general model of change and growth in complex systems. We review principles of self-organization from the natural sciences and discuss their application to the study of human development. We then suggest possible sources and consequences of terminological confusion in developmental psychology and offer some potential resolutions. The “self” in self-organization seems a special case of this confusion, and it can be addressed by modeling the self as both autonomous agent and emergent form. We outline preliminary directions for this modeling and then go on to a more general discussion of how principles of self-organization can help bring developmental psychopathology closer to its goals.

Application of theoretically based tasks to the study of the development of selective attention has led to intriguing new findings concerning the role of inhibitory mechanisms. This study examined inhibitory mechanisms using a countermanding task and an inhibition of return task to compare deficits in intentionally, versus reflexively, controlled inhibition of attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Fifty children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were classified into one of three subtypes: predominantly inattentive (ADHD/PI), combined (ADHD/C), and those children with ADHD/C who also met criteria for comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ADHD/C + ODD). The groups were compared to a comparison group of children (n = 21). The countermanding task showed that the ADHD groups required more time to inhibit responses and this impairment did not differ among subtypes. With respect to reflexively controlled inhibition, compared with controls ADHD/C and ADHD/C + ODD groups showed impaired reflexive inhibition, whereas the ADHD/PI group was considerably less impaired. The findings highlight a dissociation between the two forms of inhibitory deficits among children with the inattentive subtype, and raise the possibility that the efficient operation of reflexive inhibitory mechanisms might be necessary for the development of effective intentional control of inhibition.

A longitudinal model that linked involved–supportive parenting and siblings' ability-camouflaging self-presentations to peers with the development of externalizing and internalizing symptoms was tested with 152 pairs of first- and second-born African American siblings (mean ages 12.7 years and 10.2 years at the first wave of data collection). Three waves of data were collected at 1-year intervals. Teachers assessed siblings' externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and academic competence; siblings reported their own self-presentations and desire for peer acceptance; and mothers and siblings provided multiinformant assessments of involved–supportive parenting. Involved–supportive parenting at Wave 1 was linked with peer-directed self-presentations at Wave 2. Wave 2 self-presentations were linked indirectly with changes from Wave 1 to Wave 3 in externalizing and internalizing symptoms through their association with academic competence.This study was supported by a grant (2 R01 HD30588) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

In this randomized controlled trial, 508 5-year-old kindergarten children participated, of whom 257 were delayed in literacy skills because they belonged to the lowest quartile of a national standard literacy test. We tested the hypothesis that some children are more susceptible to school-entry educational interventions than their peers due to their genetic makeup, and thus whether the dopamine receptor D4 gene moderated intervention effects. Children were randomly assigned to a control condition or one of two interventions involving computer programs tailored to the literacy needs of delayed pupils: Living Letters for alphabetic knowledge and Living Books for text comprehension. Effects of Living Books met the criteria of differential susceptibility. For carriers of the dopamine receptor D4 gene seven-repeat allele (about one-third of the delayed group), the Living Books program was an important addition to the common core curriculum in kindergarten (effect size d = 0.56), whereas the program did not affect the other children (d = –0.09). The same seven-repeat carriers benefited more from Living Letters than did the noncarriers, as reflected in effect sizes of 0.63 and 0.34, respectively, although such differences did not fulfill the statistical criteria for differential susceptibility. The implications of differential susceptibility for education and regarding the crucial question “what works for whom?” are discussed.

There is controversy over the existence and nature of blind children's limitations in symbolic play. In this study we tested 13 5- to 9-year-old congenitally blind children for the ability to symbolize when an adult provided scaffolding for their play. The blind children were selected on the basis that they did not have the syndrome of autism, and they comprised two groups matched for age (MA) and verbal ability on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children who contrasted in their ability to engage in social relations. We also tested a group of sighted children who were MA matched with the more socially able blind children. On the basis of an hypothesis about the social–developmental sources of symbolic play deficits in congenitally blind children, we predicted differences between the socially able and socially impaired groups of blind children in the following respects: the attribution of symbolic meanings to play materials, the ascription of individual roles to play figures, and the anchorage of play in the scenario as presented by the adult. The results accorded with these predictions. Whereas the more socially able blind children showed symbolic play that was very similar to that of sighted children, the MA- and IQ-matched socially impaired blind children were limited in the three aspects of their play. On the other hand, even the socially impaired children showed instances of symbolizing. The findings suggest a way to reconcile conflicting reports of symbolic play deficits in young blind children, and may be relevant for explaining the association between autism and congenital blindness.This study was supported by a PhD studentship from the Mary Kitzinger Trust to Martin Bishop. The Hayward Foundation also contributed financial support. We thank the pupils and staff of the following schools, who were so generous in making the study possible: Dorton House School, Sevenoaks; West of England School, Exeter; Joseph Clarke School, London; Linden Lodge School, Wimbledon; Temple Bank School, Bradford; St. Vincent's School for the Blind, Liverpool; RNIB Sunshine House School, Northwood; and Priestley Smith School, Birmingham.

Findings as to whether individuals’ experiences of physical maltreatment from their parents in childhood predict their own perpetration of physical maltreatment toward their children in adulthood are mixed. Whether the maltreatment experienced is severe versus moderate or mild may relate to the strength of intergenerational associations. Furthermore, understanding of the roles of possible mediators (intervening mechanisms linking these behaviors) and moderators of the intervening mechanisms (factors associated with stronger or weaker mediated associations) is still relatively limited. These issues were examined in the present study. Mediating mechanisms based on a social learning model included antisocial behavior as assessed by criminal behaviors and substance use (alcohol and drug use), and the extent to which parental angry temperament moderated any indirect effects of antisocial behavior was also examined. To address these issues, data were used from Generations 2 and 3 of a prospective three-generational study, which is an extension of the Oregon Youth Study. Findings indicated modest intergenerational associations for severe physical maltreatment. There was a significant association of maltreatment history, particularly severe maltreatment with mothers’ and fathers’ delinquency. However, neither delinquency nor substance use showed significant mediational effects, and parental anger as a moderator of mediation did not reach significance.

The present longitudinal study investigated cascade effects linking the longitudinal trajectories of shyness and aggressiveness between age 4 and 23 and individual differences in this longitudinal relationship. Results demonstrated that there were cascade effects from shyness to adjacent measures of aggressiveness at three moments in time, and that the dynamics of these relationships changed over time. Children who were shy at age 6 became less aggressive at age 7 and the same effect was found between age 8 and age 10. From adolescence to early adulthood, the direction of the relationship changed and shy adolescents at age 17 became increasingly aggressive 5 years later. Interindividual differences were found in the latter cascade effect in that shyness at age 17 only predicted an increase in aggressiveness at age 23 for adolescents receiving low levels of support from their parents and for adolescents spending little time in part-time work. Together, findings suggest the importance of examining the development of normal variations in personality and personality disorders from a developmental perspective and taking into account person–environment interactions.

We examined genetic and environmental contributions to the development of symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children. ADHD symptoms in siblings at 1.5, 3, and 5 years of age were investigated in a population-based sample from the prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The longitudinal contributions of additive genetic, shared, twin-specific, and unique environmental influences were estimated using biometric structural equation models. Heritability of ADHD symptoms ranged from 54% to 70%. There was evidence of partially new genetic influences at successive ages, with genetic correlations ranging from .58 to .89. Contributions from shared environmental factors and twin-specific factors were minor. The importance of unique environmental effects appeared to increase across ages, and was mostly specific to a given age. There was no evidence suggesting that this pattern differs across males and females. Symptoms of ADHD are highly heritability in young children from as early as 1.5 years of age. Longitudinal stability of ADHD symptoms is mainly attributable to genetic influences, but there is also some evidence for age-specific genetic influences. These findings contribute to our understanding of development of ADHD early in life, and can guide future molecular genetics studies.

This study investigated the longitudinal associations among prenatal substance use, socioeconomic adversity, parenting (maternal warmth, sensitivity, and harshness), children's self-regulation (internalization of rules and conscience), and conduct problems from infancy to middle childhood (Grade 2). Three competing conceptual models including cascade (indirect or mediated), additive (cumulative), and transactional (bidirectional) effects were tested and compared. The sample consisted of 216 low-income families (primary caretaker and children; 51% girls; 74% African American). Using a repeated-measures, multimethod, multi-informant design, a series of full panel models were specified. Findings primarily supported a developmental cascade model, and there was some support for additive effects. More specifically, maternal prenatal substance use and socioeconomic adversity in infancy were prospectively associated with lower levels of maternal sensitivity. Subsequently, lower maternal sensitivity was associated with decreases in children's conscience in early childhood, and in turn, lower conscience predicted increases in teacher-reported conduct problems in middle childhood. There was also a second pathway from sustained maternal depression (in infancy and toddlerhood) to early childhood conduct problems. These findings demonstrated how processes of risk and resilience collectively contributed to children's early onset conduct problems.

All six person-oriented principles identified by Sterba and Bauer's Keynote Article can be tested by means of dynamic factor analysis in its current form. In particular, it is shown how complex interactions and interindividual differences/intraindividual change can be tested in this way. In addition, the necessity to use single-subject methods in the analysis of developmental processes is emphasized, and attention is drawn to the possibility to optimally treat developmental psychopathology by means of new computational techniques that can be integrated with dynamic factor analysis.

It is well established that mothers’ parenting impacts children's adjustment. However, much less is known about how children's psychopathology impacts their mothers’ parenting and how parenting and child symptoms relate either bidirectionally (i.e., a relationship in both directions over two time points) or transactionally (i.e., a process that unfolds over time) to one another over a span of several years. In addition, relatively little research addresses the role of fathers’ parenting in the development of children's symptoms and, conversely, how children may elicit certain types of parenting from fathers. In this study, data were collected from 491 families on mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles (authoritarianism, authoritativeness, permissiveness, and overprotectiveness) and children's symptoms of psychopathology (attention deficit, oppositional defiant, depression, and anxiety) when children were age 3, 6, and 9 years old. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that parents and children affected one another in a bidirectional and transactional fashion over the course of the six years studied. Results suggest that children's symptoms may compound over time partially because they reduce exposure to adaptive and increase exposure to maladaptive parenting styles. Likewise, maladaptive parenting may persist over time due to the persistence of children's symptoms.

Predictors and concurrent correlates of childhood-onset and adolescent-onset antisocial behavior were studied in a sample of 165 boys and 151 girls, followed from age 6 to age 15. An integrated general growth mixture model was used to determine the number and shape of developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior exhibited by boys and girls. Associations of these trajectories with trajectories of attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADH) problems and deviant peer affiliation were examined. A childhood-onset, an adolescent-onset, and a low antisocial behavior trajectory were identified. A minority of the sample (11%), mostly males, followed the childhood-onset trajectory. This trajectory was predicted by prior membership in the high ADH trajectory in childhood. The adolescent-onset trajectory (46%) was associated with increases in friends' antisocial behavior but not with ADH problems. Most females (60%) followed the low antisocial trajectory. A substantial proportion of females, however, followed the childhood (5%) and adolescent-onset trajectories (35%). The male–female ratios in the childhood and adolescent-onset trajectories were similar. The results largely supported theories that distinguish between childhood and adolescent onsets of antisocial behavior, but they did not suggest that boys and girls differ in the age of onset of antisocial behavior.This study was supported by grants from the Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale and the Canada Social Sciences Research Council. We thank Ted Barker and Sara Pedersen for their helpful comments and suggestions on this manuscript.

A sample of 356 children recruited from Head Start (58% European American, 25% African American, and 17% Hispanic; 54% girls; Mage = 4.59 years) were followed longitudinally from prekindergarten through fifth grade. Latent profile analyses of teacher-rated inattention from kindergarten through third grade identified four developmental trajectories: stable low (53% of the sample), stable high (11.3%), rising over time (16.4%), and declining over time (19.3%). Children with stable low inattention had the best academic outcomes in fifth grade, and children exhibiting stable high inattention had the worst, with the others in between. Self-regulation difficulties in preschool (poor executive function skills and elevated opposition–aggression) differentiated children with rising versus stable low inattention. Elementary schools characterized by higher achievement differentiated children with declining versus stable high inattention. Boys and children from single-parent families were more likely to remain high or rise in inattention, whereas girls and children from dual-parent families were more likely to remain low or decline in inattention.

Being able to control oneself in emotionally upsetting situations is essential for good relationship functioning. According to life history theory, childhood exposure to harshness and unpredictability should forecast diminished emotional control and lower relationship quality. We examined this in three studies. In Studies 1 and 2, greater childhood unpredictability (frequent financial, residential, and familial changes), but not harshness (low SES), was associated with lower emotional control in adolescents (N = 1041) and adults (N = 327). These effects were stronger during the participants’ reproductive years. Moreover, in Study 2, greater childhood unpredictability was indirectly associated with lower relationship quality through lower emotional control. In study 3, we leveraged the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (N = 160). Greater early-life unpredictability (ages 0–4) prospectively predicted lower relationship quality at age 32 via lower emotional control at the same age. This relation was serially mediated by less supportive observed early maternal care (ages 1.5–3.5) and insecure attachment representations (ages 19 and 26). Early unpredictability also predicted greater observed emotional distress during conflict interactions with romantic partners (ages 19–36). These findings point to the role of emotional control in mediating the effects of unpredictable childhood environments on relationship functioning in adulthood.

Child abuse is associated with elevated risk for psychopathology. The current study examined the role of automatic emotion regulation as a potential mechanism linking child abuse with internalizing psychopathology. A sample of 237 youth aged 8–16 years and their caregivers participated. Child abuse severity was assessed by self-report questionnaires, and automatic emotion regulation was assessed using an emotional Stroop task designed to measure adaptation to emotional conflict. A similar task without emotional stimuli was also administered to evaluate whether abuse was uniquely associated with emotion regulation, but not cognitive control applied in a nonemotional context. Internalizing psychopathology was assessed concurrently and at a 2-year longitudinal follow-up. Child abuse severity was associated with lower emotional conflict adaptation but was unrelated to cognitive control. Specifically, the severity of emotional and physical abuse, but not sexual abuse, were associated with lower emotional conflict adaptation. Emotional conflict adaptation was not associated with internalizing psychopathology prospectively. These findings suggest that childhood emotional and physical abuse, in particular, may influence automatic forms of emotion regulation. Future work exploring the socioemotional consequences of altered automatic emotion regulation among youth exposed to child abuse is clearly needed.

Studies have demonstrated that the effects of two well-known predictors of adolescent substance use, family monitoring and antisocial peers, are not static but change over the course of adolescence. Moreover, these effects may differ for different groups of youth. The current study uses time-varying effect modeling to examine the changes in the association between family monitoring and antisocial peers and marijuana use from ages 11 to 19, and to compare these associations by gender and levels of behavioral disinhibition. Data are drawn from the Raising Healthy Children study, a longitudinal panel of 1,040 youth. The strength of association between family monitoring and antisocial peers and marijuana use was mostly steady over adolescence, and was greater for girls than for boys. Differences in the strength of the association were also evident by levels of behavioral disinhibition: youth with lower levels of disinhibition were more susceptible to the influence of parents and peers. Stronger influence of family monitoring on girls and less disinhibited youth was most evident in middle adolescence, whereas the stronger effect of antisocial peers was significant during middle and late adolescence. Implications for the timing and targeting of marijuana preventive interventions are discussed.