The country has been gripped by the events that have unfolded in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In response to these new examples of long-standing police violence, there have been calls to substantially reimage policing to reduce the number of violent incidents that occur between officers and the public and to combat officers’ disproportionate use of force with Black Americans. In this article, we call on industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists to leverage their expertise to help actuate meaningful change within law enforcement. To help guide our collective efforts as a field, we provide a review of the current state of affairs as they relate to recruitment, selection, training, performance management, occupational stress, and organizational culture in law enforcement and then offer recommendations for ways to change current practices to encourage more equitable and responsible policing. We also highlight areas in which further investigation is needed and urge I-O psychologists to invest in building the knowledge necessary to inform future practices. We hope this article can facilitate a discussion about how our field can contribute to achieving evidence-based and lasting change that benefits officers and the members of the communities they serve.

There is evidence for intergenerational transmission of substance use and disorder. However, it is unclear whether separation from a parent with substance use disorder (SUD) moderates intergenerational transmission, and no studies have tested this question across three generations. In a three-generation study of families oversampled for familial SUD, we tested whether separation between father (G1; first generation) and child (G2; second generation) moderated the effect of G1 father SUDs on G2 child SUDs. We also tested whether separation between father (G2) and child (G3; third generation) moderated the effect of G2 SUDs on G3 drinking. Finally, we tested whether G1-G2 or G2-G3 separation moderated the mediated effect of G1 SUDs on G3 drinking through G2 SUDs. G1 father-G2 child separation moderated intergenerational transmission. In families with G1-G2 separation, there were no significant effects of father SUD on G2 SUD or G3 drinking. However, in nonseparated families, greater G1 father SUDs predicted heightened G2 SUDs and G3 grandchild drinking. In nonseparated families, G1 father SUDs significantly predicted G2 SUDs, which predicted G3 drinking. However, G2-G3 separation predicted heightened G3 drinking regardless of G2 and G1 SUDs. Parental separation may introduce risk for SUDs and drinking among youth with lower familial risk.

It remains unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mother–infant relationship and associations between maternal postpartum depression (PPD) and offspring temperament. This study examined the impact of the pandemic on these links and how maternal ratings of the mother–infant relationship mediated associations between PPD and infant temperament in a sample of treatment-seeking mothers in Ontario, Canada before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers with infants <12 months of age and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scores ≥10 enrolled in two separate randomized controlled trials of 1-day cognitive behavioral therapy-based workshops for PPD conducted before COVID-19 (n = 392) and during the pandemic (n = 403). Mothers reported on depressive symptomatology, infant temperament, and the mother–infant relationship. Maternal PPD was associated with more infant negative affectivity and mother–infant relationship difficulties. While associations between PPD and infant-focused anxiety were stronger during COVID-19, the pandemic did not otherwise affect associations between PPD and infant temperament. Mediation analyses suggested that aspects of the mother-infant relationship mediated associations between PPD and infant negative affectivity. Findings highlight the importance of detecting PPD and intervening to potentially improve outcomes for mothers and their children.

Attachment theory has played an important role in attempts to understand the “cycle of violence,” where maltreated children are at increased risk for perpetrating violence later in life. However, little is known empirically about whether adult attachment insecurity in close relationships may partly explain the link between childhood maltreatment and violent behavior. This study aimed to address this gap using data from a prospective longitudinal study of documented childhood abuse and neglect cases and demographically matched controls (ages 0–11 years), who were followed into adulthood and interviewed (N = 892). Participants completed the Relationship Scales Questionnaire assessing adult attachment styles at mean age 39.54. Criminal arrest data were used to determine arrests for violence after the assessment of attachment through mean age 50.54. There were significant direct paths from childhood maltreatment and adult attachment insecurity to violent arrests after attachment measurement. Attachment insecurity partly explained the higher levels of violence in individuals with maltreatment histories. Analyses of maltreatment subtypes and attachment styles revealed that attachment anxiety appeared to mediate paths between neglect and physical abuse and later violence. There were no significant indirect paths from neglect or physical abuse to violence via attachment avoidance. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Despite recent applications of a developmental psychopathology perspective to the perinatal period, these conceptualizations have largely ignored the role that childbirth plays in the perinatal transition. Thus, we present a conceptual model of childbirth as a bridge between prenatal and postnatal health. We argue that biopsychosocial factors during pregnancy influence postnatal health trajectories both directly and indirectly through childbirth experiences, and we focus our review on those indirect effects. In order to frame our model within a developmental psychopathology lens, we first describe “typical” biopsychosocial aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. Then, we explore ways in which these processes may deviate from the norm to result in adverse or traumatic childbirth experiences. We briefly describe early postnatal health trajectories that may follow from these birth experiences, including those which are adaptive despite traumatic childbirth, and we conclude with implications for research and clinical practice. We intend for our model to illuminate the importance of including childbirth in multilevel perinatal research. This advancement is critical for reducing perinatal health disparities and promoting health and well-being among birthing parents and their children.