Growth mixture modeling (GMM) and its variants, which group individuals based on similar longitudinal growth trajectories, are quite popular in developmental and clinical science. However, research addressing the validity of GMM-identified latent subgroupings is limited. This Monte Carlo simulation tests the efficiency of GMM in identifying known subgroups (k = 1–4) across various combinations of distributional characteristics, including skew, kurtosis, sample size, intercept effect size, patterns of growth (none, linear, quadratic, exponential), and proportions of observations within each group. In total, 1,955 combinations of distributional parameters were examined, each with 1,000 replications (1,955,000 simulations). Using standard fit indices, GMM often identified the wrong number of groups. When one group was simulated with varying skew and kurtosis, GMM often identified multiple groups. When two groups were simulated, GMM performed well only when one group had steep growth (whether linear, quadratic, or exponential). When three to four groups were simulated, GMM was effective primarily when intercept effect sizes and sample sizes were large, an uncommon state of affairs in real-world applications. When conditions were less ideal, GMM often underestimated the correct number of groups when the true number was between two and four. Results suggest caution in interpreting GMM results, which sometimes get reified in the literature.

African American emerging adults face unique contextual risks that place them at heightened risk for poor psychosocial outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify profiles of contextual risks among rural African American emerging adults and determine how risk profiles relate to psychosocial outcomes. Our representative sample included 667 fifth graders who live in the rural South and were followed from preadolescence into emerging adulthood. Contextual risks were assessed at ages 19–21 years via six indicators: perceived stress, daily stress, community disadvantage, parent–child conflict, racial discrimination, and childhood trauma. Four psychosocial variables were also assessed at ages 19–21 years: self-regulation, racial identity, parent support, and friend support. Psychosocial outcomes were assessed at age 25 years: education, substance use, future orientation, depressive symptoms, and externalizing behaviors. Latent profile analysis results indicated that the sample could be characterized by three patterns of contextual risk: low contextual risk, high contextual risk, and high contextual risk–childhood trauma. Risk profiles were associated with psychosocial outcomes, with the childhood trauma and high-risk profiles faring worse than the low-risk profile. Further, childhood trauma was particularly predictive of worse outcomes for emerging adults. Findings highlight the need for research and prevention programs that mitigate the effects of contextual risks on psychosocial outcomes for African American emerging adults in rural areas.

Adolescents who hold an entity theory of personality – the belief that people cannot change – are more likely to report internalizing symptoms during the socially stressful transition to high school. It has been puzzling, however, why a cognitive belief about the potential for change predicts symptoms of an affective disorder. The present research integrated three models – implicit theories, hopelessness theories of depression, and the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat – to shed light on this issue. Study 1 replicated the link between an entity theory and internalizing symptoms by synthesizing multiple datasets (N = 6,910). Study 2 examined potential mechanisms underlying this link using 8-month longitudinal data and 10-day diary reports during the stressful first year of high school (N = 533, 3,199 daily reports). The results showed that an entity theory of personality predicted increases in internalizing symptoms through tendencies to make fixed trait causal attributions about the self and maladaptive (i.e., “threat”) stress appraisals. The findings support an integrative model whereby situation-general beliefs accumulate negative consequences for psychopathology via situation-specific attributions and appraisals.

Social cognitive deficits can have many negative consequences, spanning social withdrawal to psychopathology. Prior work has shown that child maltreatment may associate with poorer social cognitive skills in later life. However, no studies have examined this association from early childhood into adolescence. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; n = 4,438), we examined the association between maltreatment (caregiver physical or emotional abuse; sexual or physical abuse), assessed repeatedly (every 1–3 years) from birth to age 9, and social cognitive skills at ages 7.5, 10.5, and 14 years. We evaluated the role of both the developmental timing (defined by age at exposure) and accumulation of maltreatment (defined as the number of occasions exposed) using a least angle regression variable selection procedure, followed by structural equation modeling. Among females, accumulation of maltreatment explained the most variation in social cognitive skills. For males, no significant associations were found. These findings underscore the importance of early intervention to minimize the accumulation of maltreatment and showcase the importance of prospective studies to understand the development of social cognition over time.

Parent-Child interaction therapy (PCIT) has been shown to improve positive, responsive parenting and lower risk for child maltreatment (CM), including among families who are already involved in the child welfare system. However, higher risk families show higher rates of treatment attrition, limiting effectiveness. In N = 120 child welfare families randomized to PCIT, we tested behavioral and physiological markers of parent self-regulation and socio-cognitive processes assessed at pre-intervention as predictors of retention in PCIT. Results of multinomial logistic regressions indicate that parents who declined treatment displayed more negative parenting, greater perceptions of child responsibility and control in adult–child transactions, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) increases to a positive dyadic interaction task, and RSA withdrawal to a challenging, dyadic toy clean-up task. Increased odds of dropout during PCIT's child-directed interaction phase were associated with greater parent attentional bias to angry facial cues on an emotional go/no-go task. Hostile attributions about one's child predicted risk for dropout during the parent-directed interaction phase, and readiness for change scores predicted higher odds of treatment completion. Implications for intervening with child welfare-involved families are discussed along with study limitations.

We investigated (a) whether psychosocial factors (experienced stress, anticipatory worry, social detachment, sleeping disturbances, alcohol use) predict the course of paranoid ideation between the ages of 24 to 50 years and (b) whether the predictive relationships are more likely to proceed from the psychosocial factors to paranoid ideation, or vice versa. The participants (N = 1534–1553) came from the population-based Young Finns study. Paranoid ideation and psychosocial factors were assessed by reliable self-report questionnaires in 2001, 2007, and 2011/2012. The data were analyzed using growth curve and structural equation models. High experienced stress, anticipatory worry, social detachment, frequent sleeping disturbances, and frequent alcohol use predicted more paranoid ideation. More risk factors predicted increasing paranoid ideation. There were bidirectional predictive relationships of paranoid ideation with experienced stress, anticipatory worry, social detachment, and sleeping disturbances. The link between alcohol use and paranoid ideation was only correlative. In conclusion, paranoid ideation increases by reciprocal interactions with stress, worry, social detachment, and sleeping disturbances. The findings support the threat–anticipation model of paranoid ideation, providing important implications for treatment of paranoia.

In the past decades, there has been an overemphasis of a descriptive/behavioral approach to study conduct disorder. In an equifinal perspective, we aimed to examine the developmental multitrajectory groups of psychological features (irritability, interpersonal callousness, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and depressive–anxiety symptoms) and their associations with conduct problems. In a population-based cohort (n = 1,309 participants followed from 5 months to 17 years old), latent-class growth analysis was performed for each psychological feature to identify a two-trajectory model (from ages 6 to 12 years). Based on parameter estimates of the two-trajectory models for each of the four psychological features, a parallel process growth mixture model identified eight significant developmental patterns that were subsequently compared with typically developing children. Furthermore, we observed that while interpersonal callousness conferred an increased risk for childhood and adolescence conduct problems, its co-occurrence with hyperactivity/impulsivity, irritability, and/or depressive–anxiety symptoms heightened the general risk, but also predicted distinct subtypes of conduct problems (i.e., aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors). Thus, by studying complex developmental combinations of psychological features, we observed qualitatively distinct pathways towards conduct problems. A multitrajectory framework of psychological features should be considered as a significant step towards unveiling the multiple etiological pathways leading to conduct disorder and its substantial clinical heterogeneity.

Comorbidity between anxiety and depression symptoms is often high in children. Person-oriented statistical approaches are useful to detect heterogeneity of individuals and diverse patterns of response to treatment. This study aimed to explore the different profiles in a sample of Spanish children who received the Super Skills for Life (SSL) transdiagnostic program, to identify which profile of individuals benefited most from the intervention and the likelihood of transition of symptom patterns over time. Participants were 119 children (42.9% were female) aged 8–12 years old (M = 9.39; SD = 1.26). Children completed anxiety and depression measures at the baseline, postintervention, and 12-months follow-up. Results from latent transition analysis (LTA) revealed two groups depending on the severity of the anxiety and depression symptoms: low symptoms (LS) and high symptoms (HS). LS group remained stable and HS decreased by 25%, switching to the LS group. Children with greater social anxiety benefited most from the program over time. Furthermore, older children were more likely to improve rapidly one year after the intervention compared to younger children. This study provides information to consider when implementing preventive interventions for schoolchildren and to tailor them according to the target population characteristics to increase their effectiveness.

The current study examined the effects of attachment on autonomy, relatedness, and emotion regulation during an attachment interview (Friends and Family Interview; FFI) and a Parent×Child Conflict interaction (Family Interaction Task; FIT) in 49 adolescents (11 to 17 years old). Disorganized adolescents displayed behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness less frequently and at a lower extent than organized ones in the FIT with mothers but not with fathers. Disorganized adolescents also showed a steeper decrease in heart rate variability (HRV) than organized ones, during both the FFI and the FITs. Moreover, disorganized adolescents responded with a more marked increase in skin conductance level to the FIT with mothers than organized individuals. Dismissing adolescents showed behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness less frequently and to a lesser extent than secure ones, while displaying more often behaviors undermining autonomy and relatedness in the FITs. Dismissing adolescents also showed a more pronounced decrease in HRV during the FFI than secure and preoccupied individuals; no differences were found between these groups in HRV during the FITs. The results suggest that disorganized adolescents had more difficulties in regulating their emotions during both the FFI and the FITs, whereas dismissing individuals seemed effectively challenged only during the interview.

The current study examined how parenting and adolescent interpersonal styles jointly influence youths’ abilities to form close relationships – a central developmental milestone – yet avoid substance use, which predominantly occurs in the presence of peers. Nine annual waves from an adolescent sample (N = 387) were used to assess (a) combinations of interpersonal and parenting styles from early to middle adolescence using longitudinal latent profile analysis, (b) the validity of these profiles on indicators of adjustment, and (c) the relationships between the profiles and growth in substance use across adolescence as well as substance-related consequences in late adolescence. The results supported five distinct combinations of interpersonal and parenting styles, and validity analyses identified both risk and protective profiles. The protective profile submissive–communal interpersonal style + high-warmth–authoritative parenting style was associated with indicators of positive social adjustment (e.g., friendship quality, resistance to peer influence) as well as lower levels of substance use. Significant differences also emerged with respect to substance-related consequences. The findings of this study highlight how combinations of adolescent interpersonal style and parenting render adolescents more or less successful at navigating peer relationships while avoiding substance use behaviors.

There is a need to understand how the joint development of externalizing and internalizing behaviors is related to substance use, particularly among historically understudied and often disadvantaged populations. Latent class models were used to estimate patterns of externalizing behaviors and internalizing behaviors in the form of depressive and anxious symptoms from age 6 to 14 among 390 Black and Hispanic youth. Then, growth curve models of substance use between the ages of 15 and 19 were estimated as a function of joint latent class membership. Only elevated levels of externalizing behaviors were associated with higher levels of substance use through age 18. Internalizing behaviors appeared to serve as a protective factor among those with moderate displays of externalizing behavior only. Additionally, growth in substance use from ages 15 to 19 was slower among those who displayed the highest level of externalizing behaviors, and internalizing behaviors appeared to moderate growth (and serve as protective factor) among those who displayed moderate levels of externalizing behaviors. The findings underscore the importance of pattern profiles based on observations of the joint development of problem behaviors to assess risk for substance use, particularly in understudied populations where risk/protective factors may operate in a unique manner.

Adverse childhood experiences are significant risk factors in the development of adolescent borderline personality disorder symptoms (BPDs). Theorists have posited that two personality vulnerabilities factors, self-criticism and dependency, may inform our understanding of this relationship. However, no research has examined the associations between early negative experiences, personality vulnerabilities, and adolescent BPDs. The current study aimed to identify profiles of dependency and self-criticism to examine the associations of these profiles with cumulative forms of childhood maltreatment (CM) and BPDs as well as to explore the mediating and moderating role of vulnerable personality profiles in the relationship between cumulative CM and BPDs. Two hundred and forty-one nonclinical and clinical adolescents participated in the study (Mage = 16.37, SD = 1.84). The findings indicated three different profiles: average dependent profile, dependent and self-critical profile, and self-critical profile. Individuals in the average dependent profile presented lower levels of CM and BPDs. Mediation analyses showed that relative to the average dependent profile, a higher cumulative CM history predicted a higher probability of belonging in the dependent and self-critical profile or the self-critical profile and, in turn, this was associated with higher levels of BPDs. No moderating effects of profiles of dependency and self-criticism were found.

Family Minds is a brief group psychoeducational parenting intervention designed to increase the reflective functioning (RF) and mentalization skills of foster parents. RF is important for foster parents who have to build relationships with children whose adverse experiences increase their risk for psychosocial challenges. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) for Family Minds was conducted in Texas with 89 foster parents. The main aims of this study were to examine whether the intervention could significantly increase the RF/mentalization skills of the foster parents and decrease their parenting stress. After 6 weeks, compared with the control group, intervention foster parents improved their RF via a lowering of pre-mentalizing and also significantly decreased parenting stress related to parent–child dysfunctional interactions. Other measures of RF and parenting stress showed no significant differences between groups. Foster child behavior was not significantly different between groups, although data at 6 months showed a possible lowering of internalizing symptoms for children of intervention parents. This RCT provides some encouraging evidence that Family Minds may increase RF in foster parents, improve parental sensitivity and their ability to emotionally regulate, decrease parenting stress related to challenging interactions with their foster children, and possibly decrease children's internalizing behavior.

Although there has been significant work on the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attachment orientation, this is less the case for complex PTSD (CPTSD). The primary aim of this paper was to assess the strength of the association between the four adult attachment styles (i.e., secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful) and severity of CPTSD symptoms (i.e., symptoms of PTSD and disturbances in self-organization [DSO]). We hypothesized that attachment orientation would be more strongly associated with DSO symptoms compared to PTSD symptoms. A trauma exposed clinical sample (N = 331) completed self-report measures of traumatic life events, CPTSD symptoms, and attachment orientation. It was found that secure attachment and fearful attachment were significantly associated with DSO symptoms but not with PTSD symptoms. Dismissing attachment style was significantly associated with PTSD and DSO symptoms. Preoccupied attachment was not significantly associated with CPTSD symptoms. Treatment implications for CPTSD using an attachment framework are discussed.