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.

Parental mentalizing, or the parent’s capacity to think about the child as having an inner psychological world, has been shown to play an important role in sensitive parenting and child socioemotional development. Studies suggest that high levels of stress impair (parental) mentalizing, yet surprisingly few studies have experimentally investigated this. The present study aimed to address this gap by investigating the impact of child-focused stress on parental mentalizing measured using a newly developed self-report questionnaire, following an experimental design with a computer-controlled baby simulator in a sample of 29 community mothers. Both subjective arousal, measured by a self-report item, and biological arousal, assessed through galvanic skin response, were measured throughout the experiment. Attachment dimensions, childhood trauma, and borderline personality disorder (BPD) features were assessed at baseline. Results demonstrated that the induction of child-focused stress was associated with an increase in parental mentalizing difficulties. Increases in mentalizing difficulties were, in turn, associated with increases in subjective and biological arousal following the simulator task. Finally, attachment anxiety and childhood trauma were positively correlated with both arousal and parental mentalizing difficulties in the simulator task, whereas attachment avoidance and BPD features were not. The implications of these findings for early intervention are discussed.

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.

Frameworks are widespread in developmental psychology. They provide general ideas about what to study in human development: which concepts to focus on (e.g., systems, timescales), which processes to test (e.g., micro–macro, bidirectional), and which methods to use (e.g., interview, dynamical equations). However, despite their prominence, there exists very little consensus or guidance on how to use frameworks in research. As such, they have an obscure role, influencing our research questions, methods, and theory, but often in ways we cannot articulate for ourselves, let alone for others. This Views paper presents our perspective on how different frameworks can inform the assumptions, targets, goals, context, timing, and methods of a research project. As an illustrative example, we use Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological framework to inform research investigating how parent–child relationships shape the development of executive self-regulation. We also show how different frameworks relevant to developmental psychopathology can inform a research project in distinct ways. Thus, this Views paper provides a practical guide for developmental researchers to more explicitly use and benefit from frameworks in their research.

Previous research has suggested bidirectional relations between depressive symptoms and both internal and external core beliefs (self-esteem and optimism, respectively) in adolescence. However, little work has examined the cultural commonality versus specificity of these developmental pathways in adolescence across diverse contexts. To address this gap, the current study traced bidirectional associations among depressive symptoms and two forms of core beliefs (self-esteem and optimism) in adolescents from 12 cultural groups in nine countries. Longitudinal data were collected from 1,090 adolescents at ages 15 and 17. Significant associations emerged between age 15 depressive symptoms and both age 17 core beliefs across all cultural groups except Sweden. No significant associations between age 15 core beliefs and age 17 depressive symptoms were found in the multigroup model. However, the pathways from core beliefs to depressive symptoms and from depressive symptoms to core beliefs did not significantly differ in strength. These findings provide cross-cultural evidence for the scar theory (depressive symptoms → core beliefs), but no clear support for the vulnerability theory (core beliefs → depressive symptoms), perhaps due to the measurement and stability of depression. These findings have implications for understanding the adolescent development of psychopathology and cognitions, such as core beliefs, across diverse cultures.

Despite the growing body of research on the intergenerational transmission of problem behavior, there is a need for more integrative approaches that consider the interplay between genetic and environmental factors. This study uses unique longitudinal data from TRAILS (analytic sample n = 2202), a prospective multiple-generation cohort study in the Netherlands to examine whether parents’ problem behavior (parents’ self-reported lifetime antisocial behavior and substance use, reported at mean age 40 years) predicts offspring problem behavior nearly two decades later (offspring self-reported aggression and delinquency at mean ages 29 and 32 years). In path analyses, independent and relative contributions of genetic (polygenic scores of parents and offspring) and environmental (harsh parenting) pathways were tested. Results confirm intergenerational transmission and consistently point to genetic nurture whereby genetic predisposition predicts parental problem behavior, which in turn predicts harsh parenting, which in turn predicts offspring problem behavior, all while accounting for offspring genetic predisposition, sex and family socioeconomic position. Though these findings are surprising in light of genetic contributions to behavior, they allow for tentative considerations regarding implication for practice to help reduce the continuation of problem behaviors across generations.

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.

In the decades since Nolen-Hoeksema’s (1991) original work on response styles, research on rumination has flourished within psychological science. This literature often emphasizes the association of impaired problem-solving with rumination. Spikes in the prevalence of rumination coincide with the entry into adolescence, as youth become increasingly sensitive to social feedback and interpersonal relationships. This article introduces the idea that rumination represents a socially reinforced process in adolescent girls, who are particularly likely to engage in rumination and to find interpersonal stress aversive. In the event that relationships evoke distress, girls may be able to generate solutions through ruminative coping; however, they are unwilling to accept and enact these solutions when these solutions have the potential to be further socially disruptive. Although ruminative inaction may have grave consequences for the moods of youth, it maintains an interpersonal harmony that some youth may prioritize and, in the process, avoids changing a social milieu, angering or displeasing others, or generating unwanted social controversy or conflict. This serves as reinforcement for ruminative coping, creating the risk that rumination will become an entrenched habit with the potential to further erode mood over time.

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.

The quality of research across psychology needs improvement. Ample evidence has indicated that publication bias, specifically making publication decisions based on a study’s results, has led to a distorted literature (e.g., high rates of false positives). Registered Reports, which can now be submitted to Development and Psychopathology, are a recent publication format designed to combat publication bias and problematic research practices. The format represents a shift from a system in which publication decisions are based on the nature of the findings, to one that is based on the quality of the study conceptualization and design. In this invited Views article, we introduce the Registered Reports format to Development and Psychopathology by arguing that they can and should be used in developmental psychopathology research. We first describe what Registered Reports are and why they are useful. We then review 10 commonly expressed concerns about publishing Registered Reports – including that they are not appropriate for studies using preexisting data, that they do not allow for exploratory analyses, and that they take too long to publish – explaining why these concerns are unwarranted. We hope that this article will allay concerns about publishing Registered Reports, and that readers will submit them to Development and Psychopathology.

This study examined longitudinal associations between maternal mindful parenting and child social–emotional, behavioral, and language development. Maternal mindful parenting at 18 months was tested for associations with concurrent observed maternal responsivity and lack of punishment toward the child and as a predictor of child internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, social competence and productive language 6 months later, independent of maternal depressive symptoms (a known predictor of both parenting and child outcomes). We also tested whether child negative emotionality (NE) moderated associations between mindful parenting and child outcomes. Participants (N = 316 mothers) were low-income (mean annual income = $19,024), racially and ethnically diverse mothers (48.4% Black; 43.0% Latinx) recruited from Pittsburgh, PA and New York City, NY. Higher mindful parenting was concurrently associated with higher observed maternal responsiveness toward the child and longitudinally associated with all four child outcomes in expected directions; maternal depression was a significant predictor of child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Contrary to hypotheses, at moderately high levels of child NE, the positive effects of mindful parenting on child outcomes were attenuated. Results provide preliminary evidence that mindful parenting is meaningfully associated with parenting behaviors and early childhood developmental outcomes above and beyond symptoms of maternal depression.

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.

Refugee youth are at high risk for trauma-related disorders – outcomes not only the result of pre-migration trauma, but consequences of diverse post-migration stressors. This study identified individual, parental, and environmental factors – some potentially modifiable – associated with trajectories of psychological risk and resilience in 291 Syrian and Iraqi refugee youth during resettlement in the U.S. Data was collected at arrival and at two follow-up visits up to 7 years post-arrival. Linear mixed modeling assessed predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression trajectories. Victimization trauma (i.e., assault) and lower maternal subjective social status predicted more severe PTSD (p = .046, f 2 = .07; p < .001, f 2 = .23) and anxiety (p = .008, f2 = .05; p = .002, f 2 = .11) trajectories in youth. Paternal unemployment predicted less stable PTSD (p = .009, f2 = .13) and anxiety (p < .001, f 2 = .10) trajectories. More severe depression trajectories were associated with female sex (p = .045, f 2 = .06) and death threat traumas (p = .014, f 2 = .07). Findings identified predictors of long-term risk and resilience for refugee youth, as well as potentially modifiable ecological risk factors. Victimization and death threat trauma exposure could be salient in identifying youth at high risk for trauma-related symptoms early in resettlement. Indicators of financial security were also associated with symptoms, suggesting environmental intervention targets.

Guided by steeling and hormesis models, this paper examined parenting adversity as a quadratic predictor of children’s emotion knowledge and effortful control and, in turn, their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Participants were 238 mothers, partners, and their preschool children (Mage = 4.38 years; 52% female). Multiple methods (i.e., observations, interviews, surveys, q-sorts) and informants (i.e., trained observers, experimenters, mothers, children, teachers) were used in a longitudinal design with three annual measurement occasions. Supporting the first link in the mediational cascade, lagged, autoregressive analyses indicated that a quadratic composite of parenting adversity derived from trained observer ratings of parenting at Wave 1 was a significant predictor of children’s emotion knowledge and effortful control at Wave 2. In the second part of the proposed cascade, children’s Wave 2 emotion knowledge predicted lower levels of their Wave 3 internalizing symptoms, while their Wave 2 effortful control predicted lower levels of their Wave 3 externalizing symptoms. Consistent with steeling effects, curvilinear findings in the first part of the cascade indicated that moderate levels of exposure to parenting adversity predicted the highest levels of children’s subsequent emotion knowledge and effortful control. Children also exhibited substantially diminished emotion knowledge and effortful control as their exposure to family adversity increased from moderate to high levels.

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.

Although depression can be transmitted across generations, less is known about how this cycle can be interrupted. This study examines whether the multilevel Fast Track intervention (clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01653535) disrupts intergenerational transmission of depression. Children at high risk for aggression were randomly assigned to a 10-year control group or intervention targeting parenting and children’s intrapersonal, interpersonal, and academic skills. The original sample included 891 first-generation (G1) participants who reported on their depression and their children’s (second-generation; G2) internalizing problems. At age 34, 374 G2 participants (n = 191 intervention, n = 183 control) reported on their and their children’s (third-generation; G3) emotional difficulties. Mediated path models showed that a cascading model where higher G1 depressive symptoms influence higher G2 childhood depressive symptoms, leading to higher G2 adulthood depressive symptoms, which in turn is connected with greater G3 emotional difficulties, emerged only in the control group. The Fast Track intervention disrupted the pathways from G1 depressive symptoms to G3 emotional difficulties, from G2 childhood depressive symptoms to G2 adulthood depressive symptoms, and from G2 adulthood depressive symptoms to G3 emotional difficulties, highlighting the importance of preventive interventions in altering developmental trajectories of psychopathology.

Trust judgments involve rapidly evaluating others’ appearance and are critical in psychosocial development. Trust biases may be linked to psychopathology risk, particularly in vulnerable, adversity-affected populations, but very little is known about trust perception in refugee context. Here, we measured trust perception of Syrian refugee children (N = 324, Mage = 6.32 years) displaced in Jordan, using a validated trust task with computer-generated faces varying in perceived trustworthiness (data collection: May-August 2021). Mothers (N = 324, Mage = 32.59) reported on child and mothers’ mental health, and mother-child relationship. Child trust perception was not associated with child or mothers’ mental health, or mother-child relationship (all p > .10), but we found age-related changes in perceived trust, with older children reporting faces as less trustworthy than younger children (B = .32, p < .001). Although children’s social judgments might be associated with socio-emotional functioning in non-refugee populations, our results suggest that refugee children’s mental health does not seem to be linked to their perception of trust, and that trusting others might diminish with age in displaced, at-risk children.

The present study examined developmental pathways beginning in pregnancy and extending into early childhood that contribute to child emotion regulation (ER). Leveraging data from a sample of 157 mixed-sex couples, who largely identified as White and non-Hispanic/Latino, and their typically developing children (50.3% female), we examined whether parental emotion-related socialization behaviors (ERSBs; i.e., general emotion talk, specific supportive and nonsupportive responses to children’s negative emotions) at preschool age (child age 3) mediated the link between parental trauma-related distress spanning pregnancy to toddler age (2-years postpartum) and child maladaptive ER at the transition to formal schooling (age 5). Chronic elevations in maternal trauma-related distress contributed directly and indirectly to child maladaptive ER at age 5, and maternal nonsupportive responses emerged as a potential pathway driving the intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation. In contrast, paternal trauma-related distress neither undermined ERSBs nor contributed to child maladaptive ER. Instead, chronic elevations in paternal trauma-related distress predicted more supportive responses to children’s negative emotions. Results highlight the utility of repeated screening for trauma-related distress and prevention and early intervention efforts targeting parental trauma-related distress and nonsupportive responses to children’s negative emotions. These strategies may help promote adaptive ER at school entry and reduce risk for later psychopathology.