The present study examined several distinct indicators of regulation (i.e., task-based executive function, surveyed child effortful control, and surveyed household chaos) as moderators of longitudinal bidirectional links between developmental changes in harsh parenting (HP) and child externalizing behaviors (EXT) from age 9 to 14 years. The sample included 311 children (50.4% female; 111 White or European American; 97 Hispanic or Latino; 103 Black or African American). We conducted cross-lagged panel analyses and utilized multiple reporters (mother, father, and child). Regarding bidirectionality between HP and EXT, findings were mixed depending on informant, but overall more child effects than parent effects or bidirectional effects emerged. Child and household regulation moderated certain effects, providing initial evidence of the potential role of regulations in bidirectional links between HP and EXT. The present study adds impetus to considering child self-regulation and household chaos as critical features influencing the bidirectional link between parenting and child functioning.

The Circle of Security – Parenting (COSP™) is a psychoeducational intervention aiming at fostering secure child-parent attachment relationships. In a randomized controlled trial, we investigate the effect of COSP™ as an adjunct to care-as-usual compared to only care-as-usual for at-risk families. Mothers and their 2–12-month-old infants were randomized into COSP™ +care-as-usual (n = 197) for at-risk families in Copenhagen or only care-as-usual (n = 100). At-risk status was either mothers diagnosed with postpartum depression and/or infants showed social withdrawal. The primary outcome was maternal sensitivity which was coded with the Coding Interactive Behavior. Our secondary outcomes were maternal reflective functioning, assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire – Infant Version, and child-mother attachment, assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure. Results showed no significant differences between the RCT groups on either the primary or secondary outcomes (all ps ≥ .146). We discuss these findings in relation to the applicability and targeted population who can benefit from COSP™, and whether alternative programs would be more effective for at-risk families with infants.

Individuals on the autism spectrum or with elevated autistic traits have shown difficulty in recognizing people’s facial emotions. They also tend to gravitate toward anime, a highly visual medium featuring animated characters whose facial emotions may be easier to distinguish. Because autistic traits overlap with alexithymia, or difficulty in identifying and describing feelings, alexithymia might explain the association between elevated autistic traits and difficulty with facial emotion recognition. The present study used a computerized task to first examine whether elevated autistic traits in a community sample of 247 adults were associated with less accurate emotion recognition of human but not anime faces. Results showed that individuals higher in autistic traits performed significantly worse on the human facial emotion recognition task, but no better or worse on the anime version. After controlling for alexithymia and other potentially confounding variables, autistic traits were no longer associated with performance on the facial emotion recognition tasks. However, alexithymia remained a significant predictor and fully mediated the relationship between autistic traits and emotion recognition of both human and anime faces. Findings suggest that interventions designed to help individuals on the autism spectrum with facial emotion recognition might benefit from targeting alexithymia and employing anime characters.

Detrimental impacts of early ecological adversity on children’s development are known, but our understanding of their mechanisms and factors contributing to multifinality of developmental trajectories triggered by adversity is incomplete. We examined longitudinal pathways from ecological adversity parents experienced when children were infants, measured as a cumulative index of fine-grained scores on several ecological risks, to children’s future self-regulation (SR) in 200 U.S. Midwestern community families (96 girls). Parents’ observed power-assertive styles were modeled as mediators, and their negative internal working models (IWMs) of the child, coded from interviews – as moderators. Both were assessed twice, at 16 months and at 3 years, to inform our understanding of their developmental timing. Children’s SR was reported by parents and observed at 4.5 years. Path analyses revealed moderated mediation in mother-child relationships: A path from higher early ecological adversity to elevated power assertion to children’s poorer SR was significant only for mothers with highly negative IWMs of the child. Maternal negative IWMs assessed early, at 16 months, moderated the link between ecological adversity and power assertion. Once elevated, maternal power assertion was stable through age 3 and not moderated by IWM at age 3. There were no significant effects in father-child relationships.

Mothers living in low-income families are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and parenting stress which in turn can undermine mother–child interactions adversely influencing child outcomes. Previous studies demonstrate that social support is beneficial for low-income mothers to fulfill caregiving responsibilities and promote positive child outcomes. However, the longitudinal application of the Family Stress Model with protective factors remains unexplored in the literature. Thus, we examined the association between parenting stress and depressive symptoms at year 1 with harsh and responsive parenting at year 3. Then, we examined whether parenting practices at year 3 predicted child outcomes at year 5 and the main and moderating effects of social support at year 1 and year 3 on parenting and child outcomes. The sample included 1,968 mothers from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Results showed that parenting stress significantly predicted harsh parenting. Harsh parenting was associated with more internalizing behavior problems and decreased adaptive social behavior. Responsive parenting was associated only with fewer internalizing behavior problems. The main effects of social support on responsive and harsh parenting and child outcomes were significant. Specific intervention programs targeted at reducing parenting stress, enhancing parenting skills, and improving the social support network should be designed to support mothers in the context of economic adversity.

Emotion recognition, the ability to interpret others’ emotional expressions and infer mental states, is crucial for caregiver–child interactions. The ability to accurately recognize infant emotions may facilitate attuned and responsive caregiving. Across two studies, we validate a novel measure to assess the recognition of infants’ emotions (Reading the Mind in Infant Eyes Test [RMIET]) and investigate how this ability relates to observed caregiving. Study 1 examined item-level performance in 55 infant mental health experts and 100 undergraduate students. Study 2 examined RMIET scores in 133 pregnant people and their later caregiving when their children were 18-month-old. In Study 1, agreement was high among both mental health experts (ICC = .82) and undergraduate students (ICC = .93), providing evidence of the content validity of the RMIET. In Study 2, scores assessing the recognition of adult and infant emotions were positively correlated (r = .22, p = .012). After accounting for covariates, RMIET scores were statistically significantly associated with higher sensitivity and warmth and lower negative regard. Taken together, these studies provide preliminary evidence of content and predictive validity for the RMIET.

Parent factors impact adolescent’s emotion regulation, which has key implications for the development of internalizing psychopathology. A key transdiagnostic factor which may contribute to the development of youth internalizing pathology is parent anxiety sensitivity (fear of anxiety-related physiological sensations). In a sample of 146 adolescents (M/SDage = 12.08/.90 years old) and their parents (98% mothers) we tested whether parent anxiety sensitivity was related to their adolescent’s brain activation, over and above the child’s anxiety sensitivity. Adolescents completed an emotion regulation task in the scanner that required them to either regulate vs. react to negative vs. neutral stimuli. Parent anxiety sensitivity was associated with adolescent neural responses in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate, and paracingulate, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, such that higher parent anxiety sensitivity was associated with greater activation when adolescents were allowed to embrace their emotional reaction(s) to stimuli. In the right OFC region only, higher parent anxiety sensitivity was also associated with decreased activation when adolescents were asked to regulate their emotional responses. The findings are consistent with the idea that at-risk adolescents may be modeling the heightened attention and responsivity to environmental stimuli that they observe in their parents.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often struggle with theory of mind (ToM). This study explored the link between parental reflective functioning (PRF) and children’s ToM, focusing on the mediating role of parental stress (PS). A total of 80 children aged 4–7 years (40 with DLD and 40 with typical language development, TLD) and their parents were included for analysis. Assessments included the WPPSI-IV, NEPSY-II, TEC, and ELT for children and the PRFQ and PSI-SF4 for parents. Results showed that children with DLD performed similarly to their TLD peers in terms of nonverbal intelligence but faced difficulties with cognitive and affective ToM and understanding of emotional terms (UET). Parents of DLD children exhibited low interest and curiosity (PRF components) and high PS, particularly due to dysfunctional interactions and challenging behaviors. Mediation analysis revealed that low parental interest and curiosity negatively affected children’s cognitive ToM and UET through increased PS from dysfunctional interactions. These findings highlight the need for early interventions to enhance ToM in children with DLD and support parents in better understanding and interacting with their child. Such interventions can reduce parent–child stress and promote ToM development of children with DLD, aligning with bioecological models of development.

This study utilized a novel, observational paradigm to identify functional patterns of father responsiveness to child distress. In particular, we sought to identify a pattern of caregiving deactivation characterized by parenting behavior that functioned to minimize activation of the caregiving behavioral system. We also sought to identify a pattern of caregiving hyperactivation characterized by parenting behavior that functioned to maintain or heighten caregiving system activation. In turn, we examined whether caregiving deactivation and hyperactivation were differentially associated with children’s socioemotional development over a two-year period. Participants included 235 fathers (55% White) and children (Mage = 2.97; 55% female) who visited the laboratory at two measurement occasions spaced approximately two years apart. A path model analysis revealed that caregiving deactivation was uniquely associated with decreases in children’s oppositional defiance and hostility over a two-year period. In contrast, caregiving hyperactivation was uniquely associated with increases in children’s anxiety and social disengagement two years later. The findings highlight the importance of considering both form and function in parenting behavior and provide evidence on the importance of considering fathers’ caregiving behavior.

Exposure to adversity during the perinatal period has been associated with cognitive difficulties in children. Given the role of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in attention and impulsivity, we examined whether NAcc volume at age six mediates the relations between pre- and postnatal adversity and subsequent attention problems in offspring. 306 pregnant women were recruited as part of the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes Study. Psychosocial stress was assessed during pregnancy and across the first 5 years postpartum. At six years of age, children underwent structural MRI and, at age seven years, mothers reported on their children’s attention problems. Separate factor analyses conducted on measures of pre- and postnatal adversity each yielded two latent factors: maternal mental health and socioeconomic status. Both pre- and postnatal maternal mental health predicted children’s attention difficulties. Further, NAcc volume mediated the relation between prenatal, but not postnatal, maternal mental health and children’s attention problems. These findings suggest that the NAcc is particularly vulnerable to prenatal maternal mental health challenges and contributes to offspring attention problems. Characterizing the temporal sensitivity of neurobiological structures to adversity will help to elucidate mechanisms linking environmental exposures and behavior, facilitating the development of neuroscience-informed interventions for childhood difficulties.

Resilience is the dynamic process of adapting to or recovering from stressors, maintaining positive mental health. While most studies have investigated resilience after major life events, less is known about resilience in everyday life. To understand how individuals recover from everyday stressors, and associations with other psychosocial variables, well-being and mental health, we conducted a systematic review of studies to daily resilience, i.e., recovery from daily stressors, using the experience sampling method (ESM). Out of 36 included studies, 11 studies investigated daily resilience in youth (10.9–24.7 years) and 25 in adult samples. Daily resilience was operationalized either with self-report items adapted from trait measures (17 studies) or in terms of affective recovery from daily stressors (20 studies). The self-reported ability to recover from daily stressors reflects subjective experiences of coping with stressors, whereas daily resilience as recovery from daily stressors captures the dynamic process, but is understudied in youth. Daily resilience was associated with psychosocial variables, including better sleep quality and greater optimism. Furthermore, individuals with mental health problems consistently showed longer recovery times after daily stressors. Overall, ESM studies highlight that daily resilience could help to identify individuals at-risk for mental health problems. The findings may facilitate timely interventions.

Using the dual-pathway framework (Beach et al., 2022a), we tested a Neuro-immune Network (NIN) hypothesis: i.e., that chronically elevated inflammatory processes may have delayed (i.e., incubation) effects on young adult substance use, leading to negative health outcomes. In a sample of 449 participants in the Family and Community Health Study who were followed from age 10 to age 29, we examined a non-self-report index of young adult elevated alcohol consumption (EAC). By controlling self-reported substance use at the transition to adulthood, we were able to isolate a significant delayed (incubation) effect from childhood exposure to danger to EAC (β = −.157, p = .006), which contributed to significantly worse aging outomes. Indirect effects from danger to aging outcomes via EAC were: GrimAge (IE = .010, [.002, .024]), Cardiac Risk (IE = −.004, [−.011, −.001]), DunedinPACE (IE = .002, [.000, .008]). In exploratory analyses we examined potential sex differences in effects, showing slightly stronger incubation effects for men and slightly stronger effects of EAC on aging outcomes for women. Results support the NIN hypothesis that incubation of immune pathway effects contributes to elevated alcohol consumption in young adulthood, resulting in accelerated aging and elevated cardiac risk outcomes via health behavior.

Worldwide, research has demonstrated that maternal experiences of violence can adversely affect infant development, but moderating and mediating effects on this pathway are less understood, particularly within low- and middle-income countries. Using longitudinal structural equation modeling, the present study analyzed data from 251 Peruvian mothers during the prenatal and postpartum periods. We evaluated the relations between mothers’ experiences of childhood violence (CV), prenatal intimate partner violence (IPV), posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and resilience, and how these factors influenced domains of their infants’ temperament (i.e., surgency, negative affectivity, and regulatory capacity). Consistent with hypotheses, analyses revealed that mothers’ CV exposure was associated with increased prenatal IPV and PTSS, and prenatal IPV was linked to increased prenatal PTSS and lower resilience. Prenatal PTSS was linked to lower infant regulatory capacity. Maternal prenatal resilience was negatively associated with prenatal PTSS. High postpartum maternal resilience mitigated the adverse effects of maternal CV on infant regulatory capacity. Inconsistent with hypotheses, postpartum PTSS was associated with higher infant regulatory capacity, though sensitivity testing suggested this finding may be spurious. Findings underscore the need for violence prevention and prenatal mental health interventions to reduce maternal PTSS and bolster resilience to support positive infant outcomes in Peru.

Physical and sexual abuse have far-reaching mental and behavioral health consequences, extending across the lifespan and, in some cases, across generations. However, empirical work in this area is limited by cross-sectional study designs, short follow-up durations, and data analytic techniques that fail to capture the nuanced developmental processes through which caregivers and children impact one another. The present study investigated the cross-lagged and bidirectional pathways between maternal childhood victimization, depression, harsh parenting, and their children’s externalizing symptoms over a 10-year period. Participants were 818 mother-child dyads prospectively identified as at-risk for family violence when children were four years old. Traditional cross-lagged panel modeling (CLPM) and random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) documented that maternal depression, harsh parenting, and child externalizing problems — all predicted by mothers’ early abuse experiences — exacerbated one another across time. Discrepancies between the CLPM and RI-CLPM highlighted the advantages, disadvantages, and methodological implications of each approach. Findings highlight maternal psychopathology and parenting as key mechanisms in the intergenerational impact of abuse, emphasizing the importance of trauma-informed, parent-mediated interventions for breaking long-term cycles of family dysfunction. The present findings support separating out between-person, trait-like components when interpreting cross-lagged associations, as these may confound within-person effects.

Adolescents who experience bereavement following suicide are at increased risk for adverse outcomes, including depression. However, there is limited research on the heterogeneity of depressive symptoms or its long-term course among this population. Using a self-reported 3-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) administered across five waves spanning from adolescence to adulthood (1994–2018, with intervals of 1, 5, 7, and 9 years), we identified trajectories of depressive symptoms over a 24-year span in a sample of adolescents (n = 236) who reported at baseline having lost a family member or friend to suicide in the last 12 months. We identified three distinct depressive symptom trajectories: Stable low symptoms (77.5%), initially high but gradually declining symptoms (16.9%), and initially low but gradually increasing symptoms (5.5%). Race, neuroticism, sleep quality, and age were significant predictors that differentiated membership among the three trajectory groups. Implications for developing personalized assessment and intervention are discussed.

Childhood maltreatment is a key risk factor for conduct disorder (CD), and the “ecophenotype hypothesis” suggests that maltreatment-related versus non-maltreatment-related CD are neurobiologically distinct. This may explain inconsistent findings in previous structural connectivity studies of CD. We tested this hypothesis by comparing youth with CD with (CD/+) versus without (CD/−) childhood physical or sexual abuse in white-matter microstructure. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected from 100 CD and 169 control participants aged 9–18 years. Using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, we compared the CD and control groups in fractional anisotropy, and axial, radial and mean diffusivity, then compared the CD/+ (n = 39) and CD/− (n = 61) subgroups and controls. The combined CD group had higher fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum than controls. When divided by abuse history, only the CD/− subgroup exhibited higher corpus callosum fractional anisotropy than controls; the CD/+ subgroup did not differ from controls. Comparing the CD subgroups, the CD/+ subgroup displayed higher superior longitudinal fasciculus axial diffusivity than the CD/− subgroup. Notably, sex-stratified analyses yielded different findings in all-male and all-female samples. Findings support the ecophenotype hypothesis, demonstrating microstructural differences between the CD/+ and CD/− subgroups and emphasizing the importance of considering abuse/maltreatment (and sex) in future studies.

Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by a sense of being more important and entitled than others. Narcissism is high in adolescence and puts adolescents at risk of psychopathology and problematic social relationships. Why is narcissism persistent in adolescence? Bridging insights from developmental, clinical, social, and personality psychology, we examined whether adolescents (ages 11–15) high in narcissism maintain narcissism through downward social comparisons (e.g., “I am better than my classmates”), not downward temporal comparisons (e.g., “I am better now than when I was younger”). A cross-sectional study (N = 382, 97% Dutch) showed that adolescents higher in narcissism made more downward social and temporal comparisons. In a longitudinal study (N = 389, 99% Dutch), we assessed adolescents’ narcissism levels at the beginning of the school year and at 3-month follow-up. In-between, we captured adolescents’ comparisons through daily diary assessments. Adolescents higher in narcissism made more downward social and temporal comparisons. Downward social – but not temporal – comparisons partially mediated the 3-month stability of narcissism. In both studies, self-esteem was unrelated to downward comparisons. Thus, downward social – but not temporal – comparisons contribute to the maintenance of adolescent narcissism, and these comparisons constitute a potentially malleable developmental mechanism to curtail narcissism.

This study investigates the caregiver–child relationship as a proximal risk factor in the transactional development of youth personality pathology. 129 girls (aged 11–13 years), two-thirds of whom were oversampled for shy and fearful temperament, and their primary caregiver, participated in laboratory-based conflictual interactions. Trained observers rated positive and negative escalation, mutuality, relationship quality, and satisfaction. Concurrently and two years later, girls’ maladaptive traits were assessed via self- and caregiver-reports based on the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) domains (negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism). Using a series of path models, we assessed whether dyadic interactions predicted changes in maladaptive traits. In dyads exhibiting reduced positive interaction patterns, specifically a lack of mutuality and relationship satisfaction, we observed increases in girls’ negative affect, detachment, disinhibition, and psychoticism. These patterns were more pronounced in girls’ self-reports. Negative escalation predicted girl- and caregiver-rated increases in antagonism. The study illustrates the importance of the caregiver–child relationship in the etiology of developmental personality pathology by establishing a link between observed caregiver–adolescent interactions and prospective changes in key domains of maladaptive traits. It expands the literature on dyadic interaction and developmental personality pathology to the dimensional framework of the AMPD.

This study examined associations between paternal, maternal, and dual-parental attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and child socioemotional functioning over the first two years of life, combined and separated by child sex. The sample included mothers (N = 3,207) and fathers (N = 3,211) from a prospective cohort in Canada. Parents completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale within two weeks of childbirth. Children’s socioemotional functioning was assessed using the ASQ-SE at 6 months and the BITSEA at 12, 18, and 24 months. Paternal and maternal ADHD symptoms were associated with problems in child socioemotional development in the first two years of life, with significant differences based on parent and child sex. Paternal ADHD symptoms were associated with more socioemotional difficulties in boys (aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.13–2.51) and fewer socioemotional difficulties in girls, while maternal ADHD symptoms were associated with more socioemotional problems in girls (aOR 2.09, 95% CI 1.24–3.52) and the entire sample, including both boys and girls, between 12 and 24 months. Dual-parental ADHD symptoms had the largest effect on socioemotional development (OR 4.43, 95% CI 1.14–17.16). Our findings provide evidence that exposure to paternal and maternal ADHD symptoms, especially when both parents exhibit symptoms, is associated with worse socioemotional outcomes during early childhood.