Relating individual differences in internalizing symptoms to emotional attention set-shifting in children

To be or not to be flexible: A hierarchical model of affective flexibility in typical development and internalizing problems

Affective flexibility is defined as a complex executive function which enables individuals to successfully alternate between distinct emotional and non-emotional features of a given situation in order to attain a specific goal. A large body of research has focused exclusively on flexibility in a non-emotional context, although most of our interactions with our environment are emotionally satiated. Our main aim was to propose a hierarchical framework to describe this construct from a macro-level perspective to a more nuanced and micro-level perspective, including three different levels of affective flexibility: elementary, shifting, and generative. Next, we employed this hierarchical framework to examine the role played by affective flexibility in typical development and different forms of developmental psychopathology. Lastly, we discuss how this knowledge could inform future prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing cognitive vulnerability to developmental psychopathology.

Mental Health in Women Victims of Gender Violence: Descriptive and Multivariate Analysis of Neuropsychological Functions and Depressive Symptomatology

Female victims of abuse, as well as suffering from psychopathological disorders such as depression, can have neuropsychological sequelae affecting memory and attention, with serious consequences, both physical and psychological, in their daily lives. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse these sequelae that affect attention and memory, as well as the possible association of these sequelae to depression. A total of 68 women, victims of gender-based violence, between the ages of 15 and 62 participated in this study. The Luria DNA Battery (Neuropsychological Diagnosis of Adults) by Manga and Ramos (2000); and the Beck Depression Inventory (2011) were applied. It is shown that female victims of gender-based violence present poor short-term memory, attentional control, and score low on the Luria-DNA battery. Of these women, 60% suffer from some relevant type of depression. Through HJ-Biplot analysis, a direct relationship was found between memory and attentional control with the total score of the Luria battery. However, an inverse relationship was found between short-term memory and depression. In addition, three well-differentiated clusters of female victims of gender-based violence were identified. It is concluded that a lower rate of depression is observed in female victims of abuse when they have a more intact short-term memory.

Systematic review of executive functions in children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

Self-limited Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (ECTS) is a self-limiting childhood epilepsy with an overall good prognosis. The neurocognitive profile of ECTS shows various degrees of neuropsychological impairment, with speech impairment and executive dysfunction being the most prominent. This review aimed to clarify the executive function (EF) profile of children with ECTS and the clinical variables' impact on these abilities. We conducted a systematic review of the relevant literature for articles published up to January 2021. Demographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted from the original records. EF tasks used in the studies were classified according to Diamond's model, which identified four components: working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and higher order EFs. Twenty-three studies were included. Among the included records, 14 studies examined working memory, 15 inhibitory control, 15 flexibility, 4 higher order EFs, and 2 general EFs. Results confirmed the presence of a specific impairment in two abilities: inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. This review confirms the need to assess each EF both in verbal and visual-spatial tasks. The early detection of children with ECTS at risk of developing neuropsychological impairment could activate interventions and prevent worse school achievement, social functioning, and a poor quality of life. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO: CRD42021245959.

The relationship between affective flexibility, spontaneous emotion regulation and the response to induced stress

Effective emotion regulation contributes to adapting well to challenging situations. One of the proposed cognitive mechanisms underlying emotion regulation is cognitive flexibility in processing of affective material (i.e. affective flexibility). We investigated (n = 118) effects of affective flexibility on the response to a stressor and on spontaneous use of 'adaptive' and 'maladaptive' emotion regulation strategies. Additionally, we examined how emotion regulation influences stress reactivity and recovery. Affective flexibility was measured with a task-switching paradigm in which participants shift attention between affective and non-affective aspects of emotional material. We investigated changes in emotion and heart rate variability to a stress induction. Affective flexibility did not influence the response to stress, but less efficient shifting of attention towards affective aspects of negative information, and more efficient shifting of attention towards non-affective aspects of positive information were related to more use of maladaptive strategies. Emotion regulation strategy use had limited influence on the perceived and actual physiological response to a stress induction, but especially more use of adaptive regulation strategies reduced negative emotional reactivity. Our findings suggest that individual differences in affective flexibility have limited influence on the (acute) response to a stressful event and recovery afterwards, but do influence spontaneous use of emotion regulation strategies.

Salivary cytokine cluster moderates the association between caregivers perceived stress and emotional functioning in youth

Some individuals exposed to early life stress show evidence of enhanced systemic inflammation and are at greater risk for psychopathology. In the current study, caregivers and their offspring (0-17 years) were recruited at a pediatric clinic visit at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Mothers and seven-year-old children from the Growing Up inSingaporeTowards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) prospective birth cohort were used as a replication cohort. Caregivers perceived stress was measured to determine potential intergenerational effects on the children's functioning and inflammation levels. Children's emotional functioning in the UCSF cohort was evaluated using the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) inventory. Child emotional and behavioral functioning was measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in GUSTO. Saliva was collected from the children and salivary levels of IL-6, IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α were measured using an electrochemiluminescent cytokine multiplex panel. Child IL-6, IL-1β, IL-8 cytokine levels were clustered into low, average, and high cytokine cluster groups using hierarchical cluster analysis. We did not find that salivary cytokine clusters were significantly associated with children's emotional or behavioral function. However, cytokine clusters did significantly moderate the association between increased caregiver perceived stress and reduced child emotional functioning (UCSF cohort) and increased Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity (ADH) problems (GUSTO cohort, uncorrected Cohen's F2 = 0.02). Using a cytokine clustering technique may be useful in identifying those children exposed to increased caregiver perceived stress that are at risk of emotional and attention deficit hyperactivity problems.

Anxiety and verbal learning in typically developing primary school children: Less efficient but equally effective

BACKGROUND

Despite evidence that high levels of anxiety can impair Working Memory (WM) functioning, little is known about how anxiety is associated with classroom learning activities, which make high demands on verbal WM.

AIMS

To investigate the association between anxiety and learning on a task which makes high demands on verbal WM.

SAMPLE

Participants were 119 typically developing, Australian elementary school children (M age = 9.25 years; SD = 7.6 months).

METHOD

In individual testing sessions, measures of trait anxiety (Spence Childhood Anxiety Scales) and state anxiety (Visual Analogue scale) were made. The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, which makes similar demands on WM to many classroom activities, was administered.

RESULTS

Neither trait nor state anxiety alone was associated with mean recall across trials, however their interaction showed a significant effect. In children high on both measures of anxiety, learning followed a different trajectory. They learned more slowly on the first three trials than less anxious peers, then caught up on the remaining trials. While their mean recall scores across trials were significantly lower than those of less anxious peers, they retained as many words on the delayed learning trial.

CONCLUSION

In a group of typically developing children, learning on the early, more demanding learning trials of a verbal learning task was vulnerable to heightened anxiety. However, the extra opportunities to learn on later trials enabled more anxious children to learn as much as their less anxious peers. While they learnt less efficiently, they learnt equally effectively.

An Investigation of Executive Functioning in Pediatric Anxiety

Although science's understanding (e.g., etiology, maintaining factors, etc.) of pediatric anxiety and related problems has grown substantially over recent years, several aspects to anxiety in youths remain elusive, particularly with relation to executive functioning. To this end, the current study sought to examine several facets to executive functioning (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibition, planning, working memory) within a transdiagnostic sample of youths exhibiting varying degrees of anxiety symptoms. One hundred six youths completed a comprehensive battery, including several self-report measures (e.g., Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children [MASC] or MASC-2) and an automated neurocognitive battery of several executive functioning tasks (Intradimensional/Extradimensional [IDED], Stop Signal [SST], Spatial Span [SSP], Stockings of Cambridge [SOC] tasks). Regression analyses indicated that youths exhibiting marked anxiety symptoms demonstrated increased planning time and probability of inhibition compared with youths with minimal or no anxiety symptoms. Youths with marked anxiety symptoms similarly demonstrated better cognitive flexibility (i.e., set shifting) compared with youths with minimal anxiety. In addition, analyses indicated a trend such that youths exhibiting marked anxiety symptoms demonstrated poorer working memory compared with youths with no anxiety symptoms. Group classification did not predict remaining outcomes. Limitations and future areas of research are discussed.

Inflexibility as a Vulnerability to Depression: A Systematic Qualitative Review

The study of vulnerabilities to depression typically identifies factors that are thought to be universally maladaptive or adaptive. In contrast, researchers recently have theorized that the ability to flexibly engage in different thoughts and behaviors that fit situational demands may be most indicative of psychological health. We review empirical evidence from 147 studies reporting associations between five components of flexibility (set-shifting, affective set-shifting, cardiac vagal control, explanatory flexibility, and coping flexibility) and depression and classify studies according to strength of study design. Evidence from correlational and case-controlled studies suggests cross-sectional relationships, but few prospective studies have been conducted. We discuss limitations of existing studies, identify new directions for programmatic research, and discuss implications that flexibility has for the prevention and treatment of depression.

A FISTful of Emotion: Individual Differences in Trait Anxiety and Cognitive-Affective Flexibility During Preadolescence

Cognitive-affective flexibility represents the ability to switch between alternative ways of processing emotional stimuli according to situational demands and individual goals. Although reduced flexibility has been implicated as a mechanism for the development of anxiety, there is very limited data on this relationship in children and adolescents. The aim of the current study was to investigate cognitive-affective flexibility in preadolescents (N = 112, 50 girls, 11-12 and 13-14 years old) and to examine if this ability is related to individual differences in trait anxiety. Their interplay was assessed using the modified version of the Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST; Jacques and Zelazo 2001) with non-emotional stimuli (geometrical shapes) and the Emotional FIST (EM-FIST) with emotional stimuli (emotional facial expressions). Performance on the EM-FIST indicated that across the whole age range, trials requiring greater cognitive flexibility were more demanding than nonflexible ones, as revealed by both response time and accuracy performance. Moreover, flexibility demands were higher for younger children than for older ones but only in terms of response speed. Individual differences in trait anxiety moderated the impact of flexibility only on the EM-FIST. Being flexible on the EM-FIST was more demanding for high trait anxious children than for their low trait anxious peers. Lastly, overall girls responded faster than boys, but only in the EM-FIST. These findings extend the presently limited literature concerning variability in cognitive-affective flexibility during this sensitive developmental window.

Utilizing a unique animal model to better understand human temperament

Individual differences in temperament are associated with psychopathology in humans. Moreover, the relationship between temperament and anxiety-, depression-, PTSD- and addiction-related behaviors can be modeled in animals. This review will highlight these relationships with a focus on individual differences in the response to stressors, fear conditioning and drugs of abuse using animals that differ in their response to a novel environment. We will discuss behavioral and neurobiological commonalities amongst these behaviors with a focus on the hippocampus and, in particular, growth factors as promising novel targets for therapeutic intervention.