Adolescence is a time of heightened vulnerability for both peer victimization (PV) and internalizing symptoms. While the positive association between them is well established, there is little understanding of the mechanisms underpinning this relationship. To address this gap, the current study aimed to investigate sleep hygiene and school night sleep duration as individual and sequential mediators of the relationship between PV and both depressive and social anxiety symptoms during pre- to mid-adolescence. The study drew upon a community sample of 528 Australian youth aged 10–12 years at baseline (Mage = 11.19, SD = .55; 51.1% boys) and data were collected over five annual measurement occasions. Direct and indirect longitudinal and bidirectional associations were examined using cross-lagged panel analysis. There was no evidence of sequential mediation through both sleep hygiene and sleep duration to depression and social anxiety. Instead, the findings show that sleep hygiene mediated the prospective association between PV and both depressive and social anxiety symptoms, and between PV and sleep duration. Overall, sleep hygiene represents a modifiable transdiagnostic factor that can be targeted to break the cycle of PV, inadequate sleep, and internalizing symptoms.

Child maltreatment constitutes a significant environmental risk for children, with carryover effects into future generations. There is a need to characterize protective factors that may buffer against the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment. The current study addresses this gap through two primary aims: 1) the development and validation of a novel measure assessing resolution of maternal childhood maltreatment trauma using narrative coding methods and 2) the evaluation of maternal maltreatment trauma resolution as a buffering factor that may moderate associations between maternal neglect histories and sensitive parenting of offspring. Results of reliability analyses from this sample of 210 diverse, low-income mothers suggest the novel childhood maltreatment trauma resolution measure is highly reliable. Furthermore, results highlight the generalizability, criterion validity, and concurrent and predictive validity of the measure. Results from cross-sectional analyses show that trauma resolution moderates associations between maternal physical neglect histories and sensitive parenting, such that under high maternal trauma resolution, there is no longer a negative association between neglect histories and sensitive parenting. Results from longitudinal analyses also show a protective effect of maternal trauma resolution, such that trauma resolution has a protective-enhancing effect on maternal sensitivity. Implications for research and clinical practice with families are discussed.

Adaptation to intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure involves alterations in transdiagnostic processes including effortful control (EC), and yet little attention has been given to the ways such processes interact with family-level factors, such as caregivers’ psychopathology. This study used latent change score modeling to compare trajectories of EC and caregivers’ depressive (CD) symptoms between children and adolescents (N = 365) ages 7–17 who had witnessed IPV (IPV+; 45.3%) and those who had not (IPV−) across 3 years. Findings suggested that IPV exposure moderated relationships between EC and CD. CD was higher and EC was lower for IPV+ relative to IPV− participants, although there was significant variation around mean-level CD and EC in both groups. CD and EC were only linked for IPV+ participants, where higher baseline CD was associated with lower EC that lagged behind IPV− participants’ EC across the 3 years of the study. Rates of change for CD significantly varied for the IPV+ group only, indicating that individual difference factors interacted with IPV exposure to influence changes in CD. These findings inform literature on transdiagnostic adaptation processes and point to the potential utility of interventions to reduce IPV and CD in supporting EC in children and adolescents across contexts.

The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated stay-at-home orders resulted in a stark reduction in daily social interactions for children and adolescents. Given that peer relationships are especially important during this developmental stage, it is crucial to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social behavior and risk for psychopathology in children and adolescents. In a longitudinal sample (N=224) of children (7-10y) and adolescents (13-15y) assessed at three strategic time points (before the pandemic, during the initial stay-at-home order period, and six months later after the initial stay-at-home order period was lifted), we examine whether certain social factors protect against increases in stress-related psychopathology during the pandemic, controlling for pre-pandemic symptoms. Youth who reported less in-person and digital socialization, greater social isolation, and less social support had worsened psychopathology during the pandemic. Greater social isolation and decreased digital socialization during the pandemic were associated with greater risk for psychopathology after experiencing pandemic-related stressors. In addition, children, but not adolescents, who maintained some in-person socialization were less likely to develop internalizing symptoms following exposure to pandemic-related stressors. We identify social factors that promote well-being and resilience in youth during this societal event.

Following a network analysis approach, the present study aims to explore the pattern of mutual relationships between failure in reflective functioning (RF) – defined as hypomentalization – problematic social networking sites use (PSNSU), attachment anxiety and avoidance, and childhood maltreatment among emerging adults, with a focus on gender differences. The study sample comprises N = 1,614 emerging adults (Mage = 23.84; SD = 3.21; 50% identified themselves as women) who completed online self-assessment measures. Results showed significantly greater PSNSU, hypomentalization, childhood emotional abuse, and both attachment avoidance and anxiety among women. Indeed, within the network analysis, performed separately for men and women, network-specific associative patterns were observed; yet also similarities have emerged. Within the women’s network, differently from males, attachment avoidance connects, through attachment anxiety, to emotional abuse, mood modification related to PSNSU, and hypomentalization. Nonetheless, hypomentalization was central in both networks, functioning as a hub between attachment anxiety, the PSNSU cluster, and the childhood maltreatment cluster. These results shed light on the use of social network sites as a potential maladaptive emotion regulation strategy, particularly among women. In this regard, the role of RF should be considered as a key treatment target to reduce PSNSU and support the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies.

Prenatal maternal stress and mental health problems are known to increase risk for developmental psychopathology in offspring, yet pathways leading to risk or resiliency are poorly understood. In a quasi-experimental design, we prospectively examined associations between disaster-related prenatal stress, maternal mental health symptoms, and infant temperament outcomes. Mothers who were pregnant during Hurricane Harvey (N = 527) reported on objective hardships (e.g., loss of belongings or income, evacuation, home flooding) related to the storm and subsequent mental health symptoms (anxiety/depression, posttraumatic stress) across time. At a postpartum assessment, mothers reported on their infant’s temperament (negative affect, positive affect, orienting/regulatory capacity). Greater objective hardship indirectly predicted higher levels of infant orienting/regulatory capacity through its association with increased maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms. Greater objective hardship also indirectly predicted higher levels of infant negative affect through its association with increased maternal anxiety/depression symptoms across time. Our findings suggest a psychological mechanism linking prenatal stress with specific temperamental characteristics via maternal mental health symptoms. Findings point to the importance of high-quality assessment and mental health services for vulnerable women and young children.

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.

The present study examined high-risk personality traits and associations with psychopathology across multiple levels of a hierarchical-dimensional model of psychopathology in a large adolescent, general population sample. Confirmatory factor analyses were run using data from two randomized controlled trials of Australian adolescents (N = 8,654, mean age = 13.01 years, 52% female). A higher-order model – comprised of general psychopathology, fear, distress, alcohol use/harms, and conduct/inattention dimensions – was selected based on model fit, reliability, and replicability. Indirect-effects models were estimated to examine the unique associations between high-risk personality traits (anxiety sensitivity, negative thinking, impulsivity, and sensation seeking) and general and specific dimensions and symptoms of psychopathology. All personality traits were positively associated with general psychopathology. After accounting for general psychopathology, anxiety sensitivity was positively associated with fear; negative thinking was positively associated with distress; impulsivity was positively associated with conduct/inattention; and sensation seeking was positively associated with alcohol use/harms and conduct/inattention, and negatively associated with fear. Several significant associations between personality traits and individual symptoms remained after accounting for general and specific psychopathology. These findings contribute to our understanding of the underlying structure of psychopathology among adolescents and have implications for the development of personality-based prevention and early intervention programs.

Family dysfunction plays an important role in cyberbullying and cybervictimization. However, little research has investigated the longitudinal relations and the mediating mechanisms between them during adolescence. This study examined the longitudinal relations between family dysfunction and cyberbullying and cybervictimization, along with whether depressive symptoms function as mediators between them at the within-person level. A total of 3,743 Chinese adolescents (46.2% females; Mage = 9.92 years; SD = 0.51) participated a five-wave longitudinal study with a 6-month time interval. The results of random intercept cross-lagged panel model found that: (1) family dysfunction directly predicted depressive symptoms and vice versa at the within-person level; (2) depressive symptoms directly predicted cyberbullying and cybervictimization at the within-person level, but not vice versa; (3) family dysfunction indirectly predicted cyberbullying and cybervictimization via depressive symptoms at the within-person level; (4) at the between-person level, there were significant associations among family dysfunction, depressive symptoms, cyberbullying and cybervictimization. The results are discussed on the basis of the mechanisms that lead to cyberbullying and cybervictimization.

Maternal antenatal anxiety is an emerging risk factor for child emotional development. Both sex and epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, may contribute to the embedding of maternal distress into emotional outcomes. Here, we investigated sex-dependent patterns in the association between antenatal maternal trait anxiety, methylation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF DNAm), and infant negative emotionality (NE). Mother–infant dyads (N = 276) were recruited at delivery. Maternal trait anxiety, as a marker of antenatal chronic stress exposure, was assessed soon after delivery using the Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y). Infants’ BDNF DNAm at birth was assessed in 11 CpG sites in buccal cells whereas infants’ NE was assessed at 3 (N = 225) and 6 months (N = 189) using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R). Hierarchical linear analyses showed that higher maternal antenatal anxiety was associated with greater 6-month-olds’ NE. Furthermore, maternal antenatal anxiety predicted greater infants’ BDNF DNAm in five CpG sites in males but not in females. Higher methylation at these sites was associated with greater 3-to-6-month NE increase, independently of infants’ sex. Maternal antenatal anxiety emerged as a risk factor for infant’s NE. BDNF DNAm might mediate this effect in males. These results may inform the development of strategies to promote mothers and infants’ emotional well-being.

Although atypical theta and alpha activity may be biomarkers of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) outcomes such as atypical affective processing and attention, the exact nature of the relations of these characteristics is unknown. We examined in age- and sex-matched adolescents (N = 132; Mage = 14.944, years, SD = .802) with and without ADHD, whether resting state (RS) theta and alpha power or theta and alpha event-related synchronization (ERS) during affect regulation (1) differ between adolescents with and without ADHD; (2) are differentially associated with event-related potential (ERP) and parent- and self-report measures of affective processing and inattention, given ADHD status and sex, and (3) are differentially lateralized, given ADHD status and sex. Adolescents with ADHD exhibited lower RS frontal-midline alpha power than adolescents without ADHD. In adolescents with ADHD, right parietal theta ERS was positively associated with the ERP measure of elaborate affective/motivational processing and right parietal RS alpha power was negatively associated with self-reported positive affectivity. In adolescents without ADHD, associations were nonsignificant. There was no disassociation of theta and alpha activity with affective processing and inattention. Consistent with clinical impressions, the between-group difference in frontal-midline theta ERS was more marked in boys than girls.

Studies found support for a link between pubertal timing and self-regulation in low-resource environments. This link could potentially explain a link between pubertal timing and early risk behavior. This study builds on this body of research by examining the mediated effect of pubertal timing on sexual activity through self-regulation in 728 adolescents and their families in a group with poor resources and a group with adequate resources. Income-to-Needs (ITN) was measured at age 7.5 to establish two groups (low-ITN and Medium/High-ITN). Pubertal timing was measured at age 10.5, self-regulation was assessed at age 14 and operationalized with effortful control, and sexual activity was assessed at age 16. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized model in both groups. The link between pubertal timing and sexual activity mediated by effortful control was only significant in the low-ITN group. Specifically, more advanced pubertal maturity was associated with lower levels of adolescents’ effortful control, which in turn was associated with more sexual activity at age 16. Findings were partially replicated with a drug use index replacing sexual activity. This study shows a different operating link from pubertal timing to effortful control and subsequent risk behavior in resource-poor environments. Implications are discussed.

There is a wealth of literature characterizing social difficulties in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little work has replicated longitudinal findings from typical development that adolescent social competence predicts positive adult outcomes in ASD. The current study examined social competence trajectories from 2 to 26 and the utility of three social competence measures collected in adolescence in predicting work, residential status, friendship, and romantic outcomes in a longitudinal cohort (n = 253) of ASD. Using group-based trajectory modeling, we identified two patterns of social competence development: a low trajectory characterized by slow linear gains throughout childhood and plateauing in adulthood, and a high trajectory characterized by steeper linear gains in childhood followed by decline in adulthood. Regression models indicated one social competence measure, Vineland Social-AE scores, significantly predicted employment, residential status, and friendships in adulthood. One other social competence measure, SSQ total scores, also significantly predicted friendship in adulthood. Only nonverbal IQ at 9 predicted the likelihood of having ever had a romantic relationship. These findings highlight the role of social competence in both atypical and typical development and suggest the social impairments associated with ASD do not necessarily impact all realms of social functioning equally.

Sipping, an early form of alcohol initiation, is associated with aspects of psychopathology and personality that reflect long-term risk for harmful alcohol use. In the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development cohort (N = 11,872), sipping by age 9–10 was concurrently associated with impulsivity, other aspects of externalizing, and prodromal schizophrenia symptoms. Still, these associations were cross-sectional in nature, leaving open the possibility that these features of psychopathology and personality might not reflect long-term risk for alcohol consumption and related harm across development. Here, we attempted to replicate baseline concurrent associations across three waves of data to extend concurrent associations to prospective ones. Most cross-sectional associations replicated across waves, such that impulsivity, other aspects of externalizing, reward sensitivity (e.g., surgency, sensation seeking), and prodromal schizophrenia symptoms were associated with increased odds of having sipped alcohol by the age of 12. Nevertheless, not all concurrent associations replicated prospectively; impulsigenic features did not reflect long-term risk for sipping. Thus, some psychopathology features appeared to reflect stable risk factors, whereas others appeared to reflect state-dependent risk factors. All told, sipping might not reflect long-term risk for harmful alcohol use, and the nature of sipping may change across development.

Literature examining emotional regulation in infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has focused on parent report. We examined behavioral and physiological responses during an emotion-evoking task designed to elicit emotional states in infants. Infants at an increased likelihood for ASD (IL; have an older sibling with ASD; 96 not classified; 29 classified with ASD at age two) and low likelihood (LL; no family history of ASD; n = 61) completed the task at 6, 12, and 18 months. The main findings were (1) the IL-ASD group displayed higher levels of negative affect during toy removal and negative tasks compared to the IL non-ASD and LL groups, respectively, (2) the IL-ASD group spent more time looking at the baseline task compared to the other two groups, and (3) the IL-ASD group showed a greater increase in heart rate from baseline during the toy removal and negative tasks compared to the LL group. These results suggest that IL children who are classified as ASD at 24 months show differences in affect, gaze, and heart rate during an emotion-evoking task, with potential implications for understanding mechanisms related to emerging ASD.

Early-life adversity accelerates the maturation of affect-related circuitry, which might be a short-term adaptation with long-term tradeoffs. Sexual trauma is associated with a particularly strong impact on pubertal development and mental health outcomes. Our objective was to test the relations between trauma type, affective network maturity, and mental health outcomes in young women with trauma history. Trauma-exposed women aged 18–29 completed a clinical interview (n = 35) and an fMRI scan (n = 28). We used a public data set to train a machine learning algorithm to predict age from resting-state affective network connectivity and calculated network maturity as the difference between predicted and true age. We also performed principal component analysis on mental health outcomes and retained two components: clinical and state psychological outcomes. Compared to nonsexual trauma (n = 17), sexual trauma (n = 11) was associated with greater affective network maturity. In addition, for sexual trauma only, greater affective network maturity was associated with better clinical but not state psychological outcomes. These results suggest that sexual trauma during development might uniquely alter the maturational trajectory of affect-related circuitry, with distinct mental health consequences in emerging adulthood. Whereas delayed affective network maturation is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, accelerated affective network maturation might confer resilience in survivors.

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.

Children differ in their environmental sensitivity (ES), which can be measured observationally or by self-report questionnaire. A parent-report scale represents an important tool for investigating ES in younger children but has to be psychometrically robust and valid. In the current multistudy, we validated the parent-report version of the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC-PR) scale in Italian children, evaluating its factorial structure (Study 1, N = 1,857, 6.2 years, age range: 2.6–14 years) through a multigroup Confirmatory Factory Analysis in preschoolers (n = 1,066, 4.2 years) and school-age children (n = 791, 8.8 years). We then investigated the HSC-PR relationship with established temperament traits (Study 2, N = 327, 4.3 years), before exploring whether the scale moderates the effects of parenting stress on children’s emotion regulation (Study 3, N = 112, 6.5 years). We found support for a bi-factor structure in both groups, though in preschoolers minor adaptations were suggested for one item. Importantly, the HSC-PR did not fully overlap with common temperament traits and moderated the effects of parenting stress on children emotion regulation. To conclude, the HSC-PR performs well and appears to capture ES in children.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) represents a significant public health concern. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent one risk factor for IPV, however, the results of existing research on the association between ACEs and IPV demonstrate mixed findings. The present research sought to meta-analytically examine the association between ACEs and (a) IPV perpetration and (b) IPV victimization. Moderator analyses were conducted to determine factors that may impact the association between ACEs and IPV involvement. Electronic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO in August of 2021. One-hundred and twenty-three records were screened for inclusion. All studies included a measure of ACEs and IPV victimization or perpetration. Among the 27 studies and 41 samples included in the meta-analysis, 65,330 participants were included. The results of the meta-analyses demonstrated that ACEs were positively associated with IPV perpetration and victimization. Significant methodological and measurement moderators further inform our understanding of ACEs and IPV involvement. The present meta-analyses demonstrates that trauma-informed approaches to IPV screening, prevention, and intervention may be useful, given that individuals who are involved with IPV may be more likely to possess a history of ACEs exposure.