Dimensional models of early life adversity highlight the distinct roles of deprivation and threat in shaping neurocognitive development and mental health. However, relatively little is known about the role of unpredictability within each dimension. We estimated both the average levels of, and the temporal unpredictability of deprivation and threat exposure during adolescence in a high-risk, longitudinal sample of 1354 youth (Pathways to Desistance study). We then related these estimates to later life psychological distress, and Antisocial and Borderline personality traits, and tested whether any effects are mediated by future orientation. High average levels of both deprivation and threat exposure were found to be associated with worse mental health on all three outcomes, but only the effects on Antisocial and Borderline personality traits were mediated by decreased future orientation, a pattern consistent with evolutionary models of psychopathology. Unpredictability in deprivation exposure proved to be associated with increased psychological distress and a higher number of Borderline traits, but with increased future orientation. There was some evidence of unpredictability in threat exposure buffering against the detrimental developmental effects of average threat levels. Our results suggest that the effects of unpredictability are distinct within different dimensions of early life adversity.

Growing evidence supports the unique pathways by which threat and deprivation, two core dimensions of adversity, confer risk for youth psychopathology. However, the extent to which these dimensions differ in their direct associations with youth psychopathology remains unclear. The primary aim of this preregistered meta-analysis was to synthesize the associations between threat, deprivation, internalizing, externalizing, and trauma-specific psychopathology. Because threat is proposed to be directly linked with socioemotional development, we hypothesized that the magnitude of associations between threat and psychopathology would be larger than those with deprivation. We conducted a search for peer-reviewed articles in English using PubMed and PsycINFO databases through August 2022. Studies that assessed both threat and deprivation and used previously validated measures of youth psychopathology were included. One hundred and twenty-seven articles were included in the synthesis (N = 163,767). Results of our three-level meta-analyses indicated that adversity dimension significantly moderated the associations between adversity and psychopathology, such that the magnitude of effects for threat (r’s = .21–26) were consistently larger than those for deprivation (r’s = .16–.19). These differences were more pronounced when accounting for the threat-deprivation correlation. Additional significant moderators included emotional abuse and youth self-report of adversity. Findings are consistent with the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology, with clinical, research, and policy implications.

A government's decision to communicate in a native tongue rather than a commonly used and understood but non-native language can prompt perception through an ethnically-tinted lens. While native-language communication is commonplace and typically benign, we argue that conveying a threat posed by an outgroup in a native tongue can trigger dehumanizing attitudes. We conducted a pre-registered survey experiment focusing on attitudes toward Muslim and Chinese people in India to test our expectations. In our two-stage design, we randomly assigned respondents to a survey language (Hindi or English) and, after that, to threat-provoking or control conditions. While Muslims and China are associated with recent violence against India, the government has routinely portrayed only the former as threatening. Likely due to this divergence, Hindi language assignment alone triggers Muslim dehumanization. Indians' more innocuous views of Chinese are responsive to exogenously-induced threat, particularly when conveyed in Hindi.

Childhood adversity is common and associated with elevated risk for transdiagnostic psychopathology. Reward processing has been implicated in the link between adversity and psychopathology, but whether it serves as a mediator or moderator is unclear. This study examined whether alterations in behavioral and neural reward processing function as a mechanism or moderator of psychopathology outcomes following adversity experiences, including threat (i.e., trauma) and deprivation. A longitudinal community sample of 10–15-year-old youths was assessed across two waves (Wave 1: n = 228; Wave 2: n = 206). Wave 1 assessed adverse experiences, psychopathology symptoms, reward processing on a monetary incentive delay task, and resting-state fMRI. At Wave 2, psychopathology symptoms were reassessed. Greater threat experiences were associated with blunted behavioral reward sensitivity, which, in turn, predicted increases in depression symptoms over time and mediated the prospective association between threat and depression symptoms. In contrast, reward sensitivity moderated the association between deprivation experiences and prospective externalizing symptoms such that the positive association of deprivation with increasing externalizing symptoms was absent for children with high levels of reward sensitivity.

Political conservatives' opposition to COVID-19 restrictions is puzzling given the well-documented links between conservatism and conformity, threat sensitivity, and pathogen aversion. We propose a resolution based on the Dual Foundations Theory of ideology, which holds that ideology comprises two dimensions, one reflecting trade-offs between threat-driven conformity and individualism, and another reflecting trade-offs between empathy-driven cooperation and competition. We test predictions derived from this theory in a UK sample using individuals' responses to COVID-19 and widely-used measures of the two dimensions – ‘right-wing authoritarianism’ (RWA) and ‘social dominance orientation’ (SDO), respectively. Consistent with our predictions, we show that RWA, but not SDO, increased following the pandemic and that high-RWA conservatives do display more concerned, conformist, pro-lockdown attitudes, while high-SDO conservatives display less empathic, cooperative attitudes and are anti-lockdown. This helps explain paradoxical prior results and highlights how a focus on unidimensional ideology can mask divergent motives across the ideological landscape.

A new theory of decision-making under risk, the Opportunity-Threat Theory is proposed. Analysis of risk into opportunity and threat components allows description of behavior as a combination of opportunity seeking and threat aversion. Expected utility is a special case of this model. The final evaluation is an integration of the impacts of opportunity and threat with this expectation. The model can account for basic results as well as several “new paradoxes” that refuted cumulative prospect theory in favor of configural weight models. The discussion notes similarities and differences of this model to the configural weight TAX model, which can also account for the new paradoxes.

Wildlife markets are hotspots for illegal wildlife trade, with traders operating as a result of weak monitoring and law enforcement. Knowledge of species traded, sources, and routes used for transport is needed to identify illegal wildlife trade markets and intervene to stem trade. We conducted surveys in 13 wildlife markets across Bangladesh every month during January-December 2019 to assess the abundance and diversity of wildlife taxa traded and the factors driving this trade. Passeriformes, Columbiformes, Psittaciformes, Artiodactyla, Carnivora and Testudines were the most traded orders. Wildlife markets were also centres of trade for high-value species, including the tiger Panthera tigris, crocodile Crocodylus porosus and tortoises. In hill markets and peri-urban markets the most commonly sold species originated from nearby forests, whereas urban markets included both native species and exotic species sourced internationally. Market type, road links to the market, the presence of law enforcement agencies, proximity to a port and form of sale (live animals or byproducts) all significantly influenced what is being traded. Trade of mammals, reptiles, high-value wildlife species and threatened species was less common in markets proximal to law enforcement agencies. Markets close to seaports or airports were more likely to sell mammals, threatened species and high-value wildlife. Based on our results, we recommend a set of interventions to help reduce market-based wildlife trade in Bangladesh.

Threat avoidance is a prominent symptom of affective disorders, yet its biological basis remains poorly understood. Here, we used a validated task, the Joystick Operated Runway Task (JORT), combined with fMRI, to explore whether abnormal function in neural circuits responsible for avoidance underlies these symptoms. Eighteen individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 17 unaffected controls underwent the task, which involved using physical effort to avoid threatening stimuli, paired with mild electric shocks on certain trials. Activity during anticipation and avoidance of threats was explored and compared between groups. Anticipation of aversive stimuli was associated with significant activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, superior frontal gyrus, and striatum, while active avoidance of aversive stimuli was associated with activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and prefrontal cortex. There were no significant group differences in neural activity or behavioral performance on the JORT; however, participants with depression reported more dread while being chased on the task. The JORT effectively identified neural systems involved in avoidance and anticipation of aversive stimuli. However, the absence of significant differences in behavioral performance and activation between depressed and non-depressed groups suggests that MDD is not associated with abnormal function in these networks. Future research should investigate the basis of passive avoidance in major depression. Further, the JORT should be explored in patients with anxiety disorders, where threat avoidance may be a more prominent characteristic of the disorder.