Maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, maternal insensitivity to child distress, and young children's blunted emotional reactivity

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to the lives of families andchildren, affecting children’s adjustment. We examined the impact COVID-19 had on families and how child-rearing disagreements might be linked to child adjustment. Furthermore, given the role that children play in evoking parent responses within the family context, we also investigated how children’s temperament trait of anger/frustration might moderate the indirect pathway through child-rearing disagreements. We recruited 516 parents with a child between the ages 3 and 7 to complete an online survey measuring their perceived COVID-19 impact, and family and child functioning. Results indicate that greater COVID-19 impact, and child temperamental anger/frustration were each linked to greater child-rearing disagreements, and thereby, greater child stress. In addition, families reporting the most COVID-19 impact and having a child with high anger/frustration experienced the most child-rearing disagreements, and thereby, greater child anxiety during the pandemic. This work highlights how the COVID pandemic might have disrupted family processes, which in turn had negative consequences on the family, and suggest that less coparenting conflict might be a protective factor on the effect of the pandemic on child outcomes.

Family process

This study investigated whether interparental conflict was differentially related to forms of emotional security (i.e., family, interparental, parent–child) and whether forms of emotional security were differentially associated with mental health problems for adolescents in married versus divorced/separated families. Participants were 1032 adolescents (ages 10–15; 51% male, 49% female; 82% non‐Hispanic White, 9% Black/African American, 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% Native American) recruited from a public school in a middle‐class suburb of a United States metropolitan area. We used multiple group multivariate path analysis to assess (1) associations between interparental conflict and multiple measures of emotional insecurity (i.e., family, interparental, and parent–child), (2) associations between measures of emotional insecurity and internalizing and externalizing problems, and (3) moderation …

Developmental Psychology

Temperamental sensitivity (TS), which is a correlated suite of traits reflecting a lower threshold of environmental stimulation and heightened responsivity to a range of environmental contexts, is an empirically documented susceptibility factor that increases children’s plasticity to supportive and harsh family environments. To expand the limited options for assessing TS, this article tested the psychometric properties of a new Q-set measure (ie, TS Q-scale) derived from the California Child Q-Set (CCQ-Set) and completed by experimenters. Participants in Study 1 consisted of 243 mothers, their partners, and their preschool children (M age= 4.60 years; 56% girls; 54% Black or multiracial; 16% Latinx). For Study 2, participants included 201 mothers and their young children (M age= 2.25 years; 44% girls; 63% Black or multiracial; 11% Latinx). Both longitudinal studies utilized multimethod, multiinformant measurement …

Development and Psychopathology

This multi-method longitudinal study sought to investigate linkage in parental neuroendocrine functioning – indicated by cortisol – over two measurement occasions. In addition, we examined how parental cortisol linkage may operate as an intermediate factor in the cascade of contextual risks and parenting. Participants were 235 families with a young child (Mage = 33.56, 36.00 years for mothers and fathers respectively), who were followed for two annual measurement occasions. Parental cortisol linkage was measured around a laboratory conflict discussion task at both measurement occasions (i.e., pre-discussion, 20- and 40-minute post-discussion for each measurement occasion). Maternal and paternal parenting behavior was observed during a parent-child discipline discussion task. Findings indicated similar levels of cortisol linkage between parents over the two measurement occasions. Furthermore, cortisol …

Development and Psychopathology

Developmental psychopathology has successfully advanced an understanding of risk and protective factors in multivariate models. However, many areas have relied on top-down approaches that define psychological constructs based largely or solely on their physical form. In this paper, we first describe how top-down approaches have significantly hindered progress by generating generic risk and protective models that yield little more than the conclusion that axiomatically positive and negative factors respectively beget an interchangeable array of positive and negative child sequelae. To advance precision and novelty as central priorities, we describe behavioral systems frameworks rooted in evolutionary theory that infuse both form (i.e., what it looks like) and function (what it is designed to do) into psychological constructs. We further address how this paradigm has generated new growing points for …

Developmental Psychology

There is a well-documented interdependency between destructive interparental conflict (IPC) and parenting difficulties (ie, spillover effect), yet little is known about the mechanisms that “carry” spillover between IPC and parenting. Guided by a cascade model framework, the current study used a longitudinal, multimethod, multi-informant design to examine a process model of spillover that tested whether parental executive functioning (working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) served as a mediator of the prospective associations between IPC and subsequent changes in parenting over a 2-year period. Mothers and fathers were separated into differentiated models and multiple domains of parenting were examined (ie, authoritarian discipline and scaffolding behavior). Participants included 231 families (both mothers and fathers of preschoolers). Race was reported as White (62%), Black (21%), Mixed (8 …

Developmental Psychology

Temperamental sensitivity (TS), which is a correlated suite of traits reflecting a lower threshold of environmental stimulation and heightened responsivity to a range of environmental contexts, is an empirically documented susceptibility factor that increases children’s plasticity to supportive and harsh family environments. To expand the limited options for assessing TS, this article tested the psychometric properties of a new Q-set measure (ie, TS Q-scale) derived from the California Child Q-Set (CCQ-Set) and completed by experimenters. Participants in Study 1 consisted of 243 mothers, their partners, and their preschool children (M age= 4.60 years; 56% girls; 54% Black or multiracial; 16% Latinx). For Study 2, participants included 201 mothers and their young children (M age= 2.25 years; 44% girls; 63% Black or multiracial; 11% Latinx). Both longitudinal studies utilized multimethod, multiinformant measurement …

Developmental psychology

This study examined parental romantic attachment security as a mediator of prospective associations between hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline (ie, power-assertive, permissive, and inductive discipline) for mothers and fathers of young children. Furthermore, this study utilized a novel, automatic assessment of romantic attachment security in examining whether romantic attachment assessed at controlled (ie, self-reported) and automatic (ie, a rapid word-sorting task) levels of representation differentially serve as spillover mechanisms. Participants included 235 mothers (62% White), fathers (55% White), and a target child between the ages of 2 and 4 (M age= 2.97; 55% girls) recruited from a moderate-sized metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States. Families were assessed annually across three waves of data collection. Results from autoregressive structural equation model analyses …

Development and Psychopathology

This study examined children’s exposure to family adversity, hostile reactivity to parental conflict, and negative family representations as mediators of the prospective relation between their temperamental exuberance and externalizing symptoms. Participants included 243 preschool children (Mage = 4.60 years; 56% girls) and parents (48% Black; 16% Latinx) in a multi-method and multi-informant study with three annual measurement occasions. Structural equation model results specifically supported children’s hostile reactivity to parental conflict and negative family representations as mediators. Exuberance predicted residualized increases in children’s hostile reactivity and negative family representations over a 1-year period. In turn, children’s hostile reactivity and negative family representations predicted their greater externalizing symptoms 1 year later after controlling for prior externalizing symptoms. Results …

Development and Psychopathology

Developmental psychopathology has successfully advanced an understanding of risk and protective factors in multivariate models. However, many areas have relied on top-down approaches that define psychological constructs based largely or solely on their physical form. In this paper, we first describe how top-down approaches have significantly hindered progress by generating generic risk and protective models that yield little more than the conclusion that axiomatically positive and negative factors respectively beget an interchangeable array of positive and negative child sequelae. To advance precision and novelty as central priorities, we describe behavioral systems frameworks rooted in evolutionary theory that infuse both form (i.e., what it looks like) and function (what it is designed to do) into psychological constructs. We further address how this paradigm has generated new growing points for …

Developmental Psychology

There is a well-documented interdependency between destructive interparental conflict (IPC) and parenting difficulties (ie, spillover effect), yet little is known about the mechanisms that “carry” spillover between IPC and parenting. Guided by a cascade model framework, the current study used a longitudinal, multimethod, multi-informant design to examine a process model of spillover that tested whether parental executive functioning (working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) served as a mediator of the prospective associations between IPC and subsequent changes in parenting over a 2-year period. Mothers and fathers were separated into differentiated models and multiple domains of parenting were examined (ie, authoritarian discipline and scaffolding behavior). Participants included 231 families (both mothers and fathers of preschoolers). Race was reported as White (62%), Black (21%), Mixed (8 …

Child Development

This study tested children's emotion recognition as a mediator of associations between their exposure to hostile and cooperative interparental conflict and their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. From 2018 to 2022, 238 mothers, their partners, and preschool children (Mage = 4.38, 52% female; 68% White; 18% Black; 14% Multiracial or another race; and 16% Latinx) participated in three annual measurement occasions. Path analyses indicated that Wave 1 observations of hostile interparental conflict predicted residualized increases in children's emotion recognition accuracy (i.e., angry, sad, and happy) at Wave 2 (β = .27). Wave 2 emotion recognition, in turn, predicted residualized decreases in children's internalizing symptoms at Wave 3 (β = −.22). Mediational findings were partly attributable to children's accuracy in identifying angry and high‐intensity expressions.

Development and Psychopathology

This multi-method longitudinal study sought to investigate linkage in parental neuroendocrine functioning – indicated by cortisol – over two measurement occasions. In addition, we examined how parental cortisol linkage may operate as an intermediate factor in the cascade of contextual risks and parenting. Participants were 235 families with a young child (Mage = 33.56, 36.00 years for mothers and fathers respectively), who were followed for two annual measurement occasions. Parental cortisol linkage was measured around a laboratory conflict discussion task at both measurement occasions (i.e., pre-discussion, 20- and 40-minute post-discussion for each measurement occasion). Maternal and paternal parenting behavior was observed during a parent-child discipline discussion task. Findings indicated similar levels of cortisol linkage between parents over the two measurement occasions. Furthermore, cortisol …

Development and Psychopathology

This study examined children’s exposure to family adversity, hostile reactivity to parental conflict, and negative family representations as mediators of the prospective relation between their temperamental exuberance and externalizing symptoms. Participants included 243 preschool children (Mage = 4.60 years; 56% girls) and parents (48% Black; 16% Latinx) in a multi-method and multi-informant study with three annual measurement occasions. Structural equation model results specifically supported children’s hostile reactivity to parental conflict and negative family representations as mediators. Exuberance predicted residualized increases in children’s hostile reactivity and negative family representations over a 1-year period. In turn, children’s hostile reactivity and negative family representations predicted their greater externalizing symptoms 1 year later after controlling for prior externalizing symptoms. Results …

Developmental psychology

This study examined parental romantic attachment security as a mediator of prospective associations between hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline (ie, power-assertive, permissive, and inductive discipline) for mothers and fathers of young children. Furthermore, this study utilized a novel, automatic assessment of romantic attachment security in examining whether romantic attachment assessed at controlled (ie, self-reported) and automatic (ie, a rapid word-sorting task) levels of representation differentially serve as spillover mechanisms. Participants included 235 mothers (62% White), fathers (55% White), and a target child between the ages of 2 and 4 (M age= 2.97; 55% girls) recruited from a moderate-sized metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States. Families were assessed annually across three waves of data collection. Results from autoregressive structural equation model analyses …

Developmental Psychology

Temperamental sensitivity (TS), which is a correlated suite of traits reflecting a lower threshold of environmental stimulation and heightened responsivity to a range of environmental contexts, is an empirically documented susceptibility factor that increases children’s plasticity to supportive and harsh family environments. To expand the limited options for assessing TS, this article tested the psychometric properties of a new Q-set measure (ie, TS Q-scale) derived from the California Child Q-Set (CCQ-Set) and completed by experimenters. Participants in Study 1 consisted of 243 mothers, their partners, and their preschool children (M age= 4.60 years; 56% girls; 54% Black or multiracial; 16% Latinx). For Study 2, participants included 201 mothers and their young children (M age= 2.25 years; 44% girls; 63% Black or multiracial; 11% Latinx). Both longitudinal studies utilized multimethod, multiinformant measurement …

Development and Psychopathology

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 …

Development and psychopathology

Limited analyses based on national samples have assessed whether early attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms predict later internalizing and externalizing symptoms in youth and the influence of sex and pubertal timing on subsequent psychiatric symptoms. This study analyzed data (n = 2818) from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program national cohort. Analyses used data from early childhood (mean age = 5.3 years) utilizing parent-reported ADHD symptoms to predict rates of internalizing and externalizing symptoms from late childhood/adolescence (mean age = 11.9 years). Within a subsample age at peak height velocity (APHV) acted as a proxy to assess pubertal timing from early childhood (mean age = 5.4 years) to adolescence (mean age = 12.3 years). Early-childhood ADHD symptoms predicted later psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, depression …

Development and psychopathology

Limited analyses based on national samples have assessed whether early attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms predict later internalizing and externalizing symptoms in youth and the influence of sex and pubertal timing on subsequent psychiatric symptoms. This study analyzed data (n = 2818) from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program national cohort. Analyses used data from early childhood (mean age = 5.3 years) utilizing parent-reported ADHD symptoms to predict rates of internalizing and externalizing symptoms from late childhood/adolescence (mean age = 11.9 years). Within a subsample age at peak height velocity (APHV) acted as a proxy to assess pubertal timing from early childhood (mean age = 5.4 years) to adolescence (mean age = 12.3 years). Early-childhood ADHD symptoms predicted later psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, depression …

Development and Psychopathology

This study aimed to parse between-person heterogeneity in growth of impulsivity across childhood and adolescence among participants enrolled in five childhood preventive intervention trials targeting conduct problems. In addition, we aimed to test profile membership in relation to adult psychopathologies. Measurement items representing impulsive behavior across grades 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10, and aggression, substance use, suicidal ideation/attempts, and anxiety/depression in adulthood were integrated from the five trials (N = 4,975). We applied latent class growth analysis to this sample, as well as samples separated into nonintervention (n = 2,492) and intervention (n = 2,483) participants. Across all samples, profiles were characterized by high, moderate, low, and low-increasing impulsive levels. Regarding adult outcomes, in all samples, the high, moderate, and low profiles endorsed greater levels of …

Development and Psychopathology

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 …

Development and Psychopathology

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are associated with myriad adverse outcomes, including interpersonal difficulties, but factors that moderate the developmental course and functional impact of ADHD over time are not well understood. The present study evaluated developmental contributions of the triarchic neurobehavioral traits (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) to ADHD symptomatology and its subdimensions from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were twins and triplets assessed at ages 14, 17, and 19 (initial N = 1,185, 51.2% female). Path analyses using negative binomial regression revealed that boldness at age 14 was associated with more ADHD symptoms cross-sectionally (especially hyperactivity/impulsivity), but fewer symptoms (especially inattention) at age 19 in the prospective analysis. Notably, inclusion of interpersonal problems at ages 14 and 17 as …

Development and psychopathology

Evidence suggests bidirectional relations between stress, sleep, and depressive symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood. Less research has disaggregated within- and between-person variance in these associations over time or within Latino/a college students. This study examined longitudinal, within-person reciprocal relations between stress, sleep, and depressive symptoms among 181 Latino/a adolescents (Mage = 18.10; SD = 0.41, 35% male) transitioning to college. Participants were assessed in their senior year of high school and annually until their fourth year of college. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to parse out within- and between-person sources of variance. Results indicated overall (between-person) relations among depressive symptoms and school/college stress and sleep problems. There were reciprocal within-person links between stress and sleep …

Development and Psychopathology

This retrospective cohort study examined prosocial skills development in child welfare-involved children, how intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure explained heterogeneity in children’s trajectories of prosocial skill development, and the degree to which protective factors across children’s ecologies promoted prosocial skill development. Data were from 1,678 children from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being I, collected between 1999 and 2007. Cohort-sequential growth mixture models were estimated to identify patterns of prosocial skill development between the ages of 3 to 10 years. Four diverse pathways were identified, including two groups that started high (high subtle-decreasing; high decreasing-to-increasing) and two groups that started low (low stable; low increasing-to-decreasing). Children with prior history of child welfare involvement, preschool-age IPV exposure, school-age IPV …

Development and psychopathology

Neuroscience research underscores the critical impact of adverse experiences on brain development. Yet, there is limited understanding of the specific pathways linking adverse experiences to accelerated or delayed brain development and their ultimate contributions to psychopathology. Here, we present new longitudinal data demonstrating that neurocognitive functioning during adolescence, as affected by adverse experiences, predicts psychopathology during young adulthood. The sample included 167 participants (52% male) assessed in adolescence and young adulthood. Adverse experiences were measured by early maltreatment experiences and low family socioeconomic status. Cognitive control was assessed by neural activation and behavioral performance during the Multi-Source Interference Task. Psychopathology was measured by self-reported internalizing and externalizing symptomatology …

Development and Psychopathology

Both cortical and parasympathetic systems are believed to regulate emotional arousal in the service of healthy development. Systemic coordination, or coupling, between putative regulatory functions begins in early childhood. Yet the degree of coupling between cortical and parasympathetic systems in young children remains unclear, particularly in relation to the development of typical or atypical emotion function. We tested whether cortical (ERN) and parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) markers of regulation were coupled during cognitive challenge in preschoolers (N = 121). We found no main effect of RSA predicting ERN. We then tested children’s typical and atypical emotion behavior (context-appropriate/context-inappropriate fear, anxiety symptoms, neuroendocrine reactivity) as moderators of early coupling in an effort to link patterns of coupling to adaptive emotional development. Negative …

Development and Psychopathology

Research on serious mental disorders, particularly psychosis, has revealed highly variable symptom profiles and developmental trajectories prior to illness-onset. As Dante Cicchetti pointed out decades before the term “transdiagnostic” was widely used, the pathways to psychopathology emerge in a system involving equifinality and multifinality. Like most other psychological disorders, psychosis is associated with multiple domains of risk factors, both genetic and environmental, and there are many transdiagnostic developmental pathways that can lead to psychotic syndromes. In this article, we discuss our current understanding of heterogeneity in the etiology of psychosis and its implications for approaches to conceptualizing etiology and research. We highlight the need for examining risk factors at multiple levels and to increase the emphasis on transdiagnostic developmental trajectories as a key variable …

Development and Psychopathology

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 …

Development and psychopathology

We took a multilevel developmental contextual approach and characterized trajectories of alcohol misuse from adolescence through early midlife, examined genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in those trajectories, and identified adolescent and young adult factors associated with change in alcohol misuse. Data were from two longitudinal population-based studies. FinnTwin16 is a study of Finnish twins assessed at 16, 17, 18, 25, and 35 years (N = 5659; 52% female; 32% monozygotic). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) is a study of adolescents from the United States, who were assessed at five time points from 1994 to 2018 (N = 18026; 50% female; 64% White, 21% Black, 4% Native American, 7% Asian, 9% Other race/ethnicity). Alcohol misuse was measured as frequency of intoxication in FinnTwin16 and frequency of binge drinking in Add …

Development and Psychopathology

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 …

Development and Psychopathology

Sensory-based subtypes among autistic children have been well documented, but little is known about longitudinal sensory subtypes beyond autistic populations. This prospective study aimed to identify subtypes based on trajectories of parent-reported sensory features measured at 6–19 months, 3–4, and 6–7 years of age among a community-based birth cohort (N = 1,517), and to examine their associations with school-age clinical and adaptive/maladaptive outcomes on a subset sample (N = 389). Latent class growth analysis revealed five trajectory subtypes varying in intensity and change rates across three sensory domains. In contrast to an Adaptive-All Improving subtype (35%) with very low sensory features and overall better school-age outcomes, an Elevated-All Worsening subtype (3%), comprised of more boys and children of parents with less education, was associated with most elevated autistic traits and …

Development and Psychopathology

High-risk pregnancies elevate maternal stress, impacting offspring neurodevelopment and behavior. This study, involving 112 participants, aimed to compare perceived stress, neurodevelopment, and behavior in high-risk and low-risk pregnancies. Two groups, high-risk and low-risk, were assessed during pregnancy for stress using hair cortisol and psychological analysis. At 24 months post-birth, their children’s neurodevelopment and behavior were evaluated. Results revealed higher perceived stress and pregnancy-related concerns in high-risk pregnancies, contrasting with low-risk pregnancies. Offspring from high-risk pregnancies displayed elevated internalizing behavior scores, while low-risk pregnancies showed higher externalizing behavior scores. Additionally, women in low-risk pregnancies exhibited increased cortisol concentrations 24 months post-delivery. These findings underscore the necessity for …

Development and Psychopathology

The body of scientific knowledge accumulated by the scholarly disciplines such as Developmental Psychopathology can achieve meaningful public impact if wielded and used in policy decision-making. Scientific study of how policymakers use research evidence underscores the need for researchers’ policy engagement; however, barriers in the academy create conditions in which there is a need for infrastructure that increases the feasibility of researchers’ partnership with policymakers. This need led to the development of the Research-to-Policy Collaboration model, a systematic approach for developing “boundary spanning” infrastructure, which has been experimentally tested and shown to improve policymakers’ use of research evidence and bolster researchers’ policy skills and engagement. This paper presents original research regarding the optimization of the RPC model, which sought to better serve and …

Development and Psychopathology

Emerging adulthood is the time when identity questions are addressed. It is also a time of excessive stress and risk for mental health problems. Different identity statuses relate to different mental health outcomes. Yet, little research has addressed how identity status is interlinked with trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress reactions, especially in multicultural contexts. The current study aimed to explore whether different traumatic experiences are related to the current identity status of university students aged between 18 and 29 years and investigate to what extent trauma-exposed emerging adults of different identity statuses report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD). In total, 2237 university students from Lithuania (n = 791) and Japan (n = 1345) participated in the current study. Identity profiles were revealed by using the Latent Class Analysis approach. Lithuania and …

Development and Psychopathology

Early-life adversity as neglect or low socioeconomic status is associated with negative physical/mental health outcomes and plays an important role in health trajectories through life. The early-life environment has been shown to be encoded as changes in epigenetic markers that are retained for many years.We investigated the effect of maternal major financial problems (MFP) and material deprivation (MD) on their children’s epigenome in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort. Epigenetic aging, measured with epigenetic clocks, was weakly accelerated with increased MFP. In subsequent EWAS, MFP, and MD showed strong, independent programing effects on children’s genomes. MFP in the period from birth to age seven was associated with genome-wide epigenetic modifications on children’s genome visible at age 7 and partially remaining at age 15.These results support the …

Development and Psychopathology

The interdisciplinary field of developmental psychopathology has made great strides by including context into theoretical and empirical approaches to studying risk and resilience. Perhaps no context is more important to the developing child than their relationships with their caregivers (typically a child’s parents), as caregivers are a key source of stimulation and nurturance to young children. Coupled with the high degree of brain plasticity in the earliest years of life, these caregiving relationships have an immense influence on shaping behavioral outcomes relevant to developmental psychopathology. In this article, we discuss three areas within caregiving relationships: (1) caregiver–child interactions in everyday, naturalistic settings; (2) caregivers’ social cognitions about their child; and (3) caregivers’ broader social and cultural context. For each area, we provide an overview of its significance to the field, identify …