Developmental interplay between children's biobehavioral risk and the parenting environment from toddler to early school age: Prediction of socialization outcomes in preadolescence

The parent's and the child's internal working models of each other moderate cascades from child difficulty to socialization outcomes: Preliminary evidence for dual moderation?

Infants' difficulty, typically characterized as proneness to negative emotionality, is commonly considered a risk for future maladaptive developmental trajectories, mostly because it often foreshadows increased parental power assertion, typically linked to future negative child outcomes. However, growing evidence of divergent developmental paths that unfold from infant difficulty has invigorated research on causes of such multifinality. Kochanska et al. (2019) proposed that parent and child Internal Working Models (IWMs) of each other are key, with the parent's IWM of the child moderating the link between child difficulty and parental power assertion, and the child's IWM of the parent moderating the link between power assertion and child outcomes. In Children and Parents Study (200 community mothers, fathers, and children), child difficulty was observed at 8 months, parents' power assertion at 16 months, and children's outcomes rated by parents at age 3. Parents' IWMs were assessed with a mentalization measure at 8 months and children's IWMs were coded from semi-projective narratives at age 3. The cascade from infant difficulty to maternal power assertion to negative child outcomes was present only when both the mother's and the child's IWMs of each other were negative. We did not support the model for father-child dyads.

Coping Skills in Pre- and Early Adolescents: The Role of Temperament and Character

Coping skills represent cognitive, emotional, and behavioral resources to overcome developmental challenges and tasks. Based on Cloninger's model of personality, the main aim of this study was to analyze the relation among temperament, character, and coping skills in nonclinical pre- and early adolescents by also considering adolescents' gender and age. One hundred and thirty-eight Italian pre- and early adolescents (52.2% boys and 47.8% girls), aged between 10-14 years (M = 12.33 ± 0.87 SD), filled out the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory and the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist Revision 1. Regression and relative weights analyses showed that several of adolescents' personality dimensions did predict their coping skills. Specifically, Harm Avoidance was negatively related to Positive Reframing and Distraction; this latter (i.e., Distraction) was also negatively associated with Novelty Seeking, Self-Directedness, and Cooperativeness. On the contrary, Cooperativeness was positively related to the use of Problem Focus strategy, and Reward Dependence was positively related to Distraction and Social Support. Significant gender and age differences in personality as well as in coping skills emerged. Girls scored higher on Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence and Problem Focus, and boys scored higher on Novelty Seeking and Distraction. Moreover, pre-adolescents (10-12 years) reported lower scores on Novelty Seeking and higher on Problem Focus than early adolescents (13-14 years). Overall, the results suggest that bio-psycho-social individual factors linked to personality, gender, and age have an important role in shaping pre- and early adolescents' coping and adaptation responses. Practical implications of the results and future developments are discussed.

Role of Callous and Unemotional (CU) Traits on the Development of Youth with Behavioral Disorders: A Systematic Review

Numerous studies have shown that youth with behavioral disorders (BD) present an increased risk for developing severe and persistent antisocial behaviors in adulthood. Retrospective research notes that not all children and adolescents follow a negative trajectory and explains this heterogeneity in particular by the severity of CU traits. Our study examines how these traits affect the functioning of children and adolescents with BD. Method: A systematic literature review conducted through various databases and using different keywords made it possible to analyze 52 studies published from 2015 to 2020 that measured the bidirectional effects of CU traits on the functioning of young. Results: Out of the 52 studies, 47 analyzed links between CU traits and neurobiological or mental health, 20 examined family and school contexts, eight focused on social adjustment, 10 on social interactions and 19 measured links with cognitive functioning, especially executive functions. Conclusion: Consistent with previous recommendations in the field, our findings emphasize the importance of assessing the presence of UC traits in early childhood to prevent the emergence of comorbid disorders and to target multimodal (early) interventions to influence the life trajectories of youth with high CU traits.

Parenting and toddler self-regulation in low-income families: What does sleep have to do with it?

Toddlerhood is a sensitive period in the development of self-regulation, a set of adaptive skills that are fundamental to mental health and partly shaped by parenting. Healthy sleep is known to be critical for self-regulation; yet, the degree to which child sleep alters interactive child-parent processes remains understudied. This study examines associations between observed parenting and toddler self-regulation, with toddler sleep as a moderator of this association. Toddlers in low-income families (N = 171) and their mothers were videotaped during free play and a self-regulation challenge task; videos were coded for mothers' behavior and affect (free play) and toddlers' self-regulation (challenge task). Mothers reported their child's nighttime sleep duration via questionnaire. Results revealed significant Sleep × Maternal Negative Affect and Sleep × Maternal Negative Control interactions. Children who did not experience negative parenting had good self-regulation regardless of their nighttime sleep duration. For children who did experience negative parenting, self-regulation was intact among those who obtained more nighttime sleep, but significantly poorer among children who were getting less nighttime sleep. Thus, among children who were reported to obtain less nighttime sleep, there were more robust associations between negative parenting and poorer self-regulation than among toddlers who were reported to obtain more sleep.

Intervention effects on reflectivity explain change in positive parenting in military families with young children

Military families with young children often experience stress related to the unique circumstances of military families (e.g., deployment), and there is a need for interventions that are specifically tailored to military families with young children. The Strong Military Families (SMF) intervention responds to this need, and consists of two versions: A Multifamily Group (N = 34), and a Homebased psychoeducational written material program (N = 42; treated as the comparison group in this report). The Multifamily Group utilized an attachment-based parenting education curriculum and in vivo support of separations and reunions, encouraged peer support among parents, and connected families to additional services. In the present nonrandomized trial, we examine intervention effects on observed parenting behavior and affect, and test whether changes in parenting reflectivity account for intervention-related changes in observed parenting. Observed parenting behavior and affect were coded from the Caregiver-Child Structured Interaction Procedure (Crowell & Fleischmann, 1993), and parenting reflectivity was coded from the Working Model of the Child Interview (Zeanah & Benoit, 1995). Results suggest that relative to Homebased participants, Multifamily Group participants showed pre- and post- improvements in aspects of positive parenting (Emotional Responsivity, Positive Affect), but no decreases in negative parenting. The efficacy of the SMF Multifamily Group intervention does not appear to depend on parent risk level or preintervention parent behavior and affect. Further, a mediation model demonstrated that the intervention effects on parents' observed positive affect in an interaction task with their child were partially accounted for by intervention-related changes in their parenting reflectivity. (PsycINFO Database Record

Oxytocin and parenting behavior among impoverished mothers with low vs. high early life stress

Recent work suggests that key aspects of sensitive parenting (e.g., warmth, emotional attunement) may be shaped in part by biology, specifically the neuropeptide oxytocin. However, some studies have found that oxytocin may not act in expected ways in higher-risk populations (e.g., those with postnatal depression or borderline personality disorder). This study examined the relation between oxytocin and parenting among mothers with varying levels of early life stress. Forty low-income mothers and their 34- to 48-month-old child participated in this study. Mother-child dyads were observed in an interaction task in their home, and videos of these interactions were later coded for parenting behaviors. Mothers' oxytocin production before and after the interaction task was assessed through saliva. Mothers' early stress was assessed via the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale (ACES; Felitti et al. Am J Prev Med 14:245-258, 1998). For mothers with low ACEs, higher oxytocin secretion was associated with more positive parenting. For mothers with high ACEs, higher oxytocin secretion was associated with lower levels of positive parenting. Oxytocin may be operating differently for mothers who experienced harsh early social environments, supporting more defensive behaviors and harsh parenting than anxiolytic and prosocial behaviors.

Interplay between children's biobehavioral plasticity and interparental relationship in the origins of internalizing problems

The present study demonstrates the interplay between interparental relationship satisfaction and child plasticity in the origins of internalizing problems in 99 community mothers, fathers, and children. Our cumulative measure of plasticity integrated genetics (5-HTTLPR polymorphism), psychophysiology (skin conductance level), and observed behavior (inhibition, sadness, joy). The interaction between plasticity and interparental relationship satisfaction reflected differential susceptibility. Compared with low-plasticity peers, high-plasticity children had more internalizing problems from 5.5 to 12 years when the interparental relationship at 4.5 years was acrimonious, but fewer problems when it was harmonious. Further, almost half of the children in this sample were "differentially affected" by the interaction such that greater plasticity was associated with fewer internalizing problems when their parents had a harmonious relationship, a key feature of differential susceptibility. (PsycINFO Database Record

Conduct problems in youth and the RDoC approach: A developmental, evolutionary-based view

Problems related to aggression in young people are traditionally subsumed under the header of conduct problems, which include conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Such problems in children and adolescents are an important societal and mental health problem. In this paper we present an evolutionarily informed developmental psychopathology view of conduct problems inspired by the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative. We assume that while there are many pathways to conduct problems, chronic or temporary impairments in the domain of social cognition or mentalizing are a common denominator. Specifically, we conceptualize conduct problems as reflecting temporary or chronic difficulties with mentalizing, that is, the capacity to understand the self and others in terms of intentional mental states, leading to a failure to inhibit interpersonal violence through a process of perspective-taking and empathy. These difficulties, in turn, stem from impairments in making use of a normally evolutionarily protected social learning system that functions to facilitate intergenerational knowledge transmission and protect social collaborative processes from impulsive and aggressive action. Temperamental, biological, and social risk factors in different combinations may all contribute to this outcome. This adaptation then interacts with impairments in other domains of functioning, such as in negative and positive valence systems and cognitive systems. This view highlights the importance of a complex interplay among biological, psychological, and environmental factors in understanding the origins of conduct problems. We outline the implications of these views for future research and intervention.

Preschoolers' genetic, physiological, and behavioral sensitivity factors moderate links between parenting stress and child internalizing, externalizing, and sleep problems

This study examined three potential moderators of the relations between maternal parenting stress and preschoolers' adjustment problems: a genetic polymorphism-the short allele of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR, ss/sl allele) gene, a physiological indicator-children's baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and a behavioral indicator-mothers' reports of children's negative emotionality. A total of 108 mothers (M_age  = 30.68 years, SD_age  = 6.06) reported on their parenting stress as well as their preschoolers' (M_age  = 3.50 years, SD_age  = 0.51, 61% boys) negative emotionality and internalizing, externalizing, and sleep problems. Results indicated that the genetic sensitivity variable functioned according to a differential susceptibility model; however, the results involving physiological and behavioral sensitivity factors were most consistent with a diathesis-stress framework. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts to counter the effects of parenting stress are discussed.

Proposal of auxiliary diagnosis index for autism spectrum disorder using near-infrared spectroscopy

Lack of a diagnostic index is a problem that needs to be overcome in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), because this problem prevents an objective assessment based on biomarkers. This paper describes the development of a diagnostic index for ASD using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). We investigated continuous prefrontal hemodynamic changes depending on reciprocal disposition of working memory and nonworking memory tasks using two-channel NIRS. NIRS signals in the prefrontal cortex were compared between high-functioning ASD subjects ([Formula: see text]) and typically developed (TD) subjects ([Formula: see text]). The brain activities of the TD subjects were related to experimental design. These results were not confirmed in brain activities of ASD subjects, although the task performance rate was almost equivalent. The brain activities of TD subjects and ASD subjects were evaluated using a weighted separability (WS) index obtained from the feature phase of oxy-hemoglobin and its differential value. Calculation of the [Formula: see text]-test (TD subject versus ASD subject) confirmed that WS was significant. This result showed that the proposed index was useful for evaluation of the brain activity of ASD subjects.

Paths from mother-child and father-child relationships to externalizing behavior problems in children differing in electrodermal reactivity: a longitudinal study from infancy to age 10

Electrodermal hyporeactivity (or low skin conductance level, SCL) has been long established as a correlate of and diathesis for antisocial behavior, aggression, disregard for rules of conduct and feelings of others, and generally, externalizing behavior problems in children and adults. Much less is known, however, about how individual differences in children's SCL and qualities of their early experiences in relationships with parents interact to produce antisocial outcomes. In a community sample of 102 families (51 girls), we examined children's SCL, assessed in standard laboratory tasks at age 8 (N = 81), as a moderator of the links between parent-child socialization history and children's externalizing behavior problems at ages 8 and 10, reported by mothers and fathers in well-established instruments and by children in clinical interviews. Mother- and father-child socialization history was assessed in frequent, intensive observations. Parent-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO) was observed from infancy to age 10, parental power assertion was observed from 15 months to age 6 ½, and children reported their attachment security in interviews at age 8 and 10. For children with lower SCL, variations in mothers' power assertion and father-child MRO were associated with parent-rated externalizing problems. The former interaction was consistent with diathesis-stress, and the latter with differential susceptibility. For children with higher SCL, there were no links between socialization history and externalizing problems.

Attachment in middle childhood: predictors, correlates, and implications for adaptation

Middle childhood is a relative lacuna in behavioral attachment research. We examined antecedents, correlates, and implications of parent-child attachment at age 10 in a longitudinal study of community families from a Midwestern US state (N = 102, mothers, fathers, and children). Dimensions of security, avoidance, ambivalence, and disorganization of children's attachment to each parent were observed in lengthy naturalistic interactions and assessed using Iowa Attachment Behavioral Coding (IABC). IABC scores were meaningfully associated with history of parental responsiveness (7-80 months) and with earlier and concurrent attachment security, assessed with other established instruments (parent- and observer-rated Attachment Q-Set at 25 months, children's reports at age 8 and 10). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the overall history of responsive care was meaningfully associated with Security, Avoidance, and Disorganization at age 10, in both mother-child and father-child relationships, and that most recent care uniquely predicted Security. IABC scores were also meaningfully related to a broad range of measures of child adaptation at ages 10-12. Cumulative history of children's security from infancy to middle childhood, integrating measures across relationships and methodologies, also predicted child adaptation at ages 10-12.