Fearful Inhibition, Inhibitory Control, and Maternal Negative Behaviors During Toddlerhood Predict Internalizing Problems at Age 6

Assessing anxiety problems in a community sample during toddlerhood: The impact of child temperament and maternal intrusiveness

Previous research indicates that child temperament and maternal behaviors are related to internalizing behaviors in children. We assessed whether maternal intrusiveness (MI) observed at 10-months would moderate the impact of temperamental fear and the impact of inhibitory control (IC) at 24 months on anxiety problems at 36 months. A mother-child interaction task was coded for MI. Behavioral tasks were given to assess children's IC. Parents completed questionnaires about their children's temperamental fear and anxiety problems. Results showed that greater temperamental fear reported at 24 months predicted greater anxiety problems reported at 36 months, regardless of MI levels. Lower levels of IC at 24 months predicted more anxiety problems reported at 36 months when children experienced greater MI. These findings illustrate the importance of examining both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, independently and interactively, that contribute to children's anxiety problems in toddlerhood.

Neurodevelopmental vulnerability to psychosis: developmentally-based methods enable detection of early life inhibitory control deficits that predict psychotic-like experiences at the transition to adolescence

BACKGROUND

Inhibitory control develops in early childhood, and atypical development may be a measurable marker of risk for the later development of psychosis. Additionally, inhibitory control may be a target for intervention.

METHODS

Behavioral performance on a developmentally appropriate Go/No-Go task including a frustration manipulation completed by children ages 3-5 years (early childhood; n = 107) was examined in relation to psychotic-like experiences (PLEs; 'tween'; ages 9-12), internalizing symptoms, and externalizing symptoms self-reported at long-term follow-up (pre-adolescence; ages 8-11). ERP N200 amplitude for a subset of these children (n = 34) with electrophysiological data during the task was examined as an index of inhibitory control.

RESULTS

Children with lower accuracy on No-Go trials compared to Go trials in early childhood (F(1,101) = 3.976, p = 0.049), evidenced higher PLEs at the transition to adolescence 4-9 years later, reflecting a specific deficit in inhibitory control. No association was observed with internalizing or externalizing symptoms. Decreased accuracy during the frustration manipulation predicted higher internalizing, F(2,202) = 5.618, p = 0.004, and externalizing symptoms, F(2,202) = 4.663, p = 0.010. Smaller N200 amplitudes were observed on No-Go trials for those with higher PLEs, F(1,101) = 6.075, p = 0.020; no relationship was observed for internalizing or externalizing symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Long-term follow-up demonstrates for the first time a specific deficit in inhibitory control behaviorally and electrophysiology, for individuals who later report more PLEs. Decreases in task performance under frustration induction indicated risk for internalizing and externalizing symptoms. These findings suggest that pathophysiological mechanisms for psychosis are relevant and discriminable in early childhood, and further, suggest an identifiable and potentially modifiable target for early intervention.

Inhibitory Control Development: A Network Neuroscience Perspective

As one of the core executive functions, inhibition plays an important role in human life through development. Inhibitory control is defined as the ability to suppress actions when they are unlikely to accomplish valuable results. Contemporary neuroscience has investigated the underlying neural mechanisms of inhibitory control. The controversy started to arise, which resulted in two schools of thought: a modulatory and a network account of inhibitory control. In this systematic review, we survey developmental mechanisms in inhibitory control as well as neurodevelopmental diseases related to inhibitory dysfunctions. This evidence stands against the modulatory perspective of inhibitory control: the development of inhibitory control does not depend on a dedicated region such as the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) but relies on a more broadly distributed network.

A meta-analytic approach to the association between inhibitory control and parent-reported behavioral adjustment in typically-developing children: Differentiating externalizing and internalizing behavior problems

Impairments in inhibitory control (IC) are traditionally seen as a vital aspect in the emergence and course of maladaptive behavior across early childhood. However, it is currently unclear whether this view applies to both the externalizing and internalizing domain of parent-reported behavioral adjustment. Furthermore, past (meta-analytic) developmental research and theory characterizing this association have largely neglected the vast heterogeneity of IC measures and conceptualizations. The present meta-analyses examined the association of IC with parent-reported externalizing (N = 3160, 21 studies) and internalizing (N = 1758, 12 studies) behavior problems, assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), in non-clinical populations of children aged 2-8 years. They further investigated the moderating effects of a priori IC categorization, according to a recently proposed two-factor model of IC ("Strength/Endurance" account, Simpson & Carroll, 2019). In line with previous research in the clinical domain, the current results corroborate the notion of a robust, but small association between IC and externalizing behavior problems (r = -0.11) in early childhood. However, although frequently proposed in the literature, no significant linear association could be identified with internalizing behavior problems. Furthermore, in both meta-analyses, no significant moderating effects of IC categorization could be revealed. These findings enhance our knowledge about the cognitive underpinnings of early-emerging maladaptive behavior, indicating that different subtypes of IC are statistically related with externalizing, but not internalizing behavior problems. Overall, the small association of IC ability with behavior problems in non-clinical populations provokes broader questions about the role of IC in behavioral adjustment.

Temperamental Shyness and Anger/Frustration in Childhood: Normative Development, Individual Differences, and the Impacts of Maternal Intrusiveness and Frontal Electroencephalogram Asymmetry

This study used latent growth curve modeling to identify normative development and individual differences in the developmental patterns of shyness and anger/frustration across childhood. This study also examined the impacts of maternal intrusiveness and frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry at age 4 on the developmental patterns of shyness and anger/frustration. 180 children (92 boys, 88 girls; M_age  = 4.07 years at baseline; 75.6% White, 18.3% Black, 6.1% multiracial/other) participated in the study. Normative development included significant linear decreases in shyness and anger/frustration. Individual variation existed in the developmental patterns. Children with left frontal EEG asymmetry showed a faster decreasing pattern of shyness. Children who experienced higher maternal intrusiveness and had left frontal EEG asymmetry showed a slower decreasing pattern of anger/frustration.

Fearful Temperament and the Risk for Child and Adolescent Anxiety: The Role of Attention Biases and Effortful Control

Fearful temperament represents one of the most robust predictors of child and adolescent anxiety; however, not all children with fearful temperament unvaryingly develop anxiety. Diverse processes resulting from the interplay between automatic processing (i.e., attention bias) and controlled processing (i.e., effortful control) drive the trajectories toward more adaptive or maladaptive directions. In this review, we examine the associations between fearful temperament, attention bias, and anxiety, as well as the moderating effect of effortful control. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose a two-mechanism developmental model of attention bias that underlies the association between fearful temperament and anxiety. We propose that the sub-components of effortful control (i.e., attentional control and inhibitory control) play different roles depending on individuals' temperaments, initial automatic biases, and goal priorities. Our model may help resolve some of the mixed findings and conflicts in the current literature. It may also advance our knowledge regarding the cognitive mechanisms linking fearful temperament and anxiety, as well as facilitate the continuing efforts in identifying and intervening with children who are at risk. Finally, we conclude the review with a discussion on the existing limitations and then propose questions for future research.

Infant temperament, early-childhood parenting, and early-adolescent development: Testing alternative models of Parenting × Temperament interaction

Here we evaluate whether infant difficult temperament (6 months) functions as a vulnerability or more general plasticity factor when investigating effects of early-childhood parenting (8-42 months) on both positive and negative early-adolescent socioemotional development (age 8-11 years). Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, N = 14,541) and a re-parameterized model-testing approach to distinguish alternative person × environment conceptual models, results indicated that temperament × parenting interacted in predicting externalizing (i.e., hyperactivity, conduct problems), but not other behavior (i.e., emotional symptoms, peer problems), in a (weak) differential susceptibility manner. While more and less supportive parenting predicted, respectively, fewer and more behavior problems, it did so more strongly for children who were more difficult as infants.

The roles of temperamental inhibition in affective and cognitive empathy in Chinese toddlers

Empathy, crucial to harmonious interpersonal relationships and moral development, has both affective and cognitive components. Previous studies found that toddlers' temperamental inhibition may influence their empathy, but mainly focused on emotional response to others' distress. Little is known about whether inhibited children's poor empathy is due to high reactivity and social withdrawal when sharing others' affective states, such as distress (affective empathy), or to a difficulty in comprehending and inferring others' perspective (cognitive empathy). The current study investigated the role of behavioral inhibition (BI) in affective empathy (response to pain simulation) and cognitive empathy (performance in perspective-taking task) among 163 Chinese toddlers and tested in both only and non-only children. Correlation analyses showed that BI was only negatively associated with affective empathy. The relation between BI and cognitive empathy was moderated by self-regulation and inhibited children who were low in self-regulation presented low cognitive empathy. Additionally, only children presented advanced cognitive empathy but poorer affective empathy than non-only children. These findings imply different roles of BI in affective versus cognitive empathy in early childhood. Although highly inhibited children rarely show positive social expression toward others' distress, caution is needed in inferring that they lack a capacity for cognitive empathy.

Longitudinal associations between inhibitory control and externalizing and internalizing symptoms in school-aged children

Inhibitory control (IC) deficits have been associated with psychiatric symptoms in all ages. However, longitudinal studies testing the direction of the associations in childhood are scarce. We used a sample of 2,874 children (7 to 9 years old) to test the following three hypotheses: (a) IC deficits are an underlying risk factor with a potentially causal role for psychopathology, (b) IC deficits are a complication of psychopathology, and (c) IC deficits and psychopathology are associated at the trait level but not necessarily causally related. We used the go/no-go task to assess IC, the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to evaluate externalizing/internalizing symptoms, and the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model to test the hypotheses. The results showed no support for the underlying risk factor hypothesis, suggesting that IC unlikely has a causal role in this age group's psychopathology. The complication hypothesis received support for externalizing symptoms, suggesting that externalizing symptoms may hamper the normal development of IC. IC deficits and both externalizing and internalizing symptoms were correlated at the trait level, indicating a possible common origin. We suggest that it may be useful to support children with externalizing symptoms to promote and protect their IC development.

Frontal EEG asymmetry moderates the associations between negative temperament and behavioral problems during childhood

Fearful inhibition and impulsivity-anger significantly predict internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. An important moderator that may affect these associations is frontal EEG asymmetry (FA). We examined how temperament and FA at 6 years interactively predicted behavioral problems at 9 years. A community sample of 186 children (93 boys, 93 girls) participated in the study. Results indicated that the effect of fearful inhibition on parent-reported internalizing problems increased as children exhibited greater right FA. The effect of impulsivity-anger on parent-reported externalizing problems increased as children showed greater left FA. Because FA was allowed to vary rather than children being dichotomized into membership in left FA and right FA groups, we observed that children's FA contributed to the resilience process only when FA reached specific asymmetry levels. These findings highlight the importance of considering the different functions of FA in combination with specific dimensions of temperament in predicting children's socioemotional outcomes. Clinical implications include providing suggestions for intervention services by demonstrating the role of FA in developing behavioral problems and inspiring research on whether it is possible to alter EEG activation and thus potentially improve developmental outcomes.

Sex Differences in Associations between Early Adversity, Child Temperament, and Behavior Problems

Early adversity is associated with both internalizing and externalizing problems among children, and effects of adversity on dimensions of child temperament may underlie these links. However, very little is known about the role of child sex in these processes. The current study examined if there are indirect effects of early adversity on behavior problems through dimensions of child temperament and if these indirect effects vary across child sex. Participants in this multimethod (parent-report survey, semi-structured interview, child protection records) study included 274 preschool-aged children (M _age = 50.86 months; 52% with documented case of moderate-severe maltreatment) and their primary caregivers assessed at two time-points spaced 6 months apart. Results of multi-group path analyses revealed that while anger mediated associations between lifetime stress and behavior problems for the full sample, inhibitory control and appropriate attentional allocation were significant intermediary mechanisms of lifetime stress for boys, but not for girls. Inhibitory control mediated associations between maltreatment and behavior problems for the full sample, but appropriate attentional allocation mediated these associations for boys only. Results suggest that early adversity influences child behavior problems through child temperament, particularly for boys. This work supports the perspective that temperament is influenced by characteristics of the early rearing environment, and the indirect effects of adversity on behavior problems through temperament vary across sex.

Positive Maternal Mental Health, Parenting, and Child Development

While maternal mental health is an important influence on child development, the existing literature focuses primarily on negative aspects of maternal mental health, particularly symptoms of depression, anxiety, or states of distress. We provide a review of the evidence on the potential importance of positive mental health for both mother and child. The evidence suggests that positive mental health is a distinct construct that is associated with improved birth outcomes and potentially with specific forms of parenting that promote both academic achievement and socioemotional function. We review studies that provide a plausible biological basis for the link between positive mental health and parenting, focusing on oxytocin-dopamine interactions. We caution that the evidence is largely preliminary and suggest directions for future research, noting the importance of identifying the operative dimensions of positive maternal mental health in relation to specific outcomes. We suggest that the inclusion of positive maternal mental health provides the potential for a more comprehensive understanding of parental influences on child development.

Mother-child behavioral and physiological synchrony

The interactive, give and take "dance" that highlights the synchrony between parents and young infants during social interaction occurs at the behavioral as well as the physiological level. These dyadic processes seen across infancy and early childhood appear to contribute to children's development of self-regulation and general socio-emotional outcomes. The focus of this chapter is on dyadic synchrony, the temporal coordination of social behaviors and the associated physiology. Research on behavioral, brain, and cardiac synchrony is reviewed within a bio-behavioral synchrony model. Tutorials for analyzing these types of complex social interaction data are noted.