Adulthood personality correlates of childhood adversity

The Effect of Childhood Poly-Victimization on Adulthood Aggression: The Mediating Role of Different Impulsivity Traits

This study investigated the effect of the poly-victimization pattern of traumatic childhood experiences on aggression via the impulsivity traits positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, and sensation-seeking in 102 poly-victims of childhood trauma (71.57% were females; Mage = 35.76; SDage = 15.91). Analyses with poly-victimization as an independent variable, impulsivity traits as parallel mediators, (1) reactive aggression or (2) proactive aggression as dependent variables, and gender as a covariate revealed that the poly-victimization did not have a direct or indirect effect on reactive or proactive aggression, nor did it have an effect on any of the impulsivity traits. Moreover, lack of premeditation had a positive direct effect on reactive aggression, while gender was a significant covariate in both models, with males reporting more aggression than females. Findings suggest that the poly-victimization does not influence impulsivity traits and aggression in adulthood. However, in males, the poly-victimization had a positive and moderate correlation with reactive aggression and negative urgency, while these correlations were absent in females. This finding implies that males are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of childhood poly-victimization than females.

The Effect of Income and Wealth on Behavioral Strategies, Personality Traits, and Preferences

Individuals living in either harsh or favorable environments display well-documented psychological and behavioral differences. For example, people in favorable environments tend to be more future-oriented, trust strangers more, and have more explorative preferences. To account for such differences, psychologists have turned to evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology, in particular, the literature on life-history theory and pace-of-life syndrome. However, critics have found that the theoretical foundations of these approaches are fragile and that differences in life expectancy cannot explain vast psychological and behavioral differences. In this article, we build on the theory of optimal resource allocation to propose an alternative framework. We hypothesize that the quantity of resources available, such as income, has downstream consequences on psychological traits, leading to the emergence of behavioral syndromes. We show that more resources lead to more long-term orientation, more tolerance of variance, and more investment in low marginal-benefit needs. At the behavioral level, this translates, among others, into more large-scale cooperation, more investment in health, and more exploration. These individual-level differences in behavior, in turn, account for cultural phenomena such as puritanism, authoritarianism, and innovation.

Does sports participation affect the mediating role of impulsivity in the association between adverse childhood experiences and aggression?

Introduction

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and self-reported aggression have often been associated, however, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association are not fully understood. In addition, less is known about potential factors that could serve as protection against the development of aggressive behavior. In this study, we investigated a moderated mediation model of sports participation and five impulsivity traits including positive and negative urgency, sensation seeking, and lack of premeditation and perseverance, in the association between ACEs and two forms of aggression.

Methods and results

The sample comprised 651 (68.5% females) individuals from a Dutch community ranging in age from 18 to 82 years (M = 34.08). Contrary to our expectations, sports participation did not affect the associations of ACEs, the five impulsivity traits, and reactive and proactive aggression, except the association between ACEs and lack of premeditation. Specifically, the detrimental effect of ACEs on the propensity to act without thinking, increases among individuals with lower levels of sports participation. In addition, it was also found that sports participation directly contributed to higher levels of sensation seeking. Finally, after controlling for sociodemographic variables, the positive association between ACEs and reactive aggression was significantly mediated by negative urgency, lack of perseverance, and lack of premeditation, while the positive association between ACEs and proactive aggression was significantly mediated by lack of premeditation and positive urgency.

Conclusion

The findings of this study add to the body of knowledge about the role of sports participation and impulsivity traits in the development of both forms of aggression, however, replication studies among multiple populations are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.

Childhood adversity and educational attainment: Evidence from Zambia on the role of personality

Introduction

We examine whether personality traits mediate the association between childhood adversity and educational attainment using longitudinal data from a cohort in Zambia.

Methods

We fit a structural equation model using data on three forms of childhood adversity-household poverty, stunting as a measure of chronic malnutrition, and death of a parent-and data on the "Big Five" personality traits and educational attainment assessed at 15 years of age.

Results

We find that childhood poverty and death of a parent are associated with lower openness to experience. Furthermore, openness to experience mediates 93% of the negative association between death of a parent and school enrollment and 19% of the negative association between childhood poverty and enrollment.

Discussion

Our findings reinforce a diverse and growing body of evidence linking childhood adversity to educational attainment while also placing it in a new light. Future work should continue to examine the biological and psychosocial pathways that determine openness to experience and other personality traits, as well as their role in shaping important life outcomes.

Social thinning and stress generation after childhood maltreatment: a neurocognitive social transactional model of psychiatric vulnerability

Childhood maltreatment is associated with significant, enduring risk of psychiatric disorder. In this paper, we review how neurocognitive alterations after maltreatment might indirectly increase the risk of psychiatric disorder via their impact on social functioning. We propose a neurocognitive social transactional model, within which the neurocognitive sequelae of maltreatment are postulated to affect how an individual's social architecture is constructed across development, including the quality and quantity of relationships in an individual's social network. We review extant evidence in two areas in relation to maltreatment: stress generation (a process by which individuals are more likely to experience interpersonal stressor events) and social thinning (an attenuation in the number and quality of relationships over time). We consider how neurocognitive alterations could contribute to these interactive and autocatalytic social processes, which gradually impoverish an individual's actual or potential social environment and ultimately increase psychiatric risk. We conclude by considering the implications of this neurocognitive social transactional model for the prevention of psychiatric disorder after childhood maltreatment.

Retrospective Self-Reported Childhood Experiences in Enriched Environments Uniquely Predict Prosocial Behavior and Personality Traits in Adulthood

What features of people's childhood environments go on to shape their prosocial behavior during adulthood? Past studies linking childhood environment to adult prosocial behavior have focused primarily on adverse features, thereby neglecting the possible influence of exposure to enriched environments (e.g., access to material resources, experiences with rich cooperative relationships, and interactions with morally exemplary role models). Here, we expand the investigation of childhood environmental quality to include consideration of enriching childhood experiences and their relation to adult prosociality. In two cross-sectional studies, we found promising evidence that enriched childhood environments are associated with adult moral behavior. In study 1 (N = 1,084 MTurk workers), we adapted an existing measure of enriched childhood environmental quality for retrospective recall of childhood experiences and found that subjects' recollections of their enriched childhood experiences are distinct from their recollections of adverse childhood experiences. In Study 2 (N = 2,208 MTurk workers), we found that a formative composite of subjects' recollections of enriched childhood experiences is positively associated with a variety of morally relevant traits in adulthood, including agreeableness, honesty-humility, altruism, endorsement of the principle of care, empathic responding to the plights of needy others, and charitable donations in an experimental setting, and that these associations held after controlling for childhood environmental adversity, childhood socioeconomic status, sex, and age. We also found evidence suggesting that some, but not all, of the relationship between enrichment and adult prosociality can be explained by a shared genetic correlation. We include a new seven-item measure as an appendix.

Early adversity, adult lifestyle, and posttraumatic stress disorder in a military sample

Early adversity is considered a major risk factor for adult posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Simultaneously, however, early adversity is also known to contribute to psychological resilience, and, indeed, some high-adversity groups do not display elevated PTSD risk. We explored correlates of PTSD in the Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers military dataset to evaluate contrasting accounts of the relationship between early adversity and PTSD. The standard deficit model depicts ontogeny as inherently vulnerable to insult, such that early adversity yields a less robust adult phenotype. A complementary life history theory account holds that adverse early experiences cue a fast life history orientation that reduces investment in maintenance, yielding an adult phenotype less able to recover from trauma. An opposing life history theory account holds that early adversity cues expectations of an adverse adult environment, adaptively reducing reactivity to adverse events. We use principal component analysis to extract a latent variable representing several childhood experiences and multiple lifestyle factors that plausibly proxy life history orientation. After correcting for covariates, we find a strong positive influence of such proxies on PTSD risk, suggesting that early adversity may indeed increase risk for PTSD, and thus that either the standard deficit model, the reduced maintenance account or a combination are correct.

Childhood trauma, dissociation, alexithymia, and anger in people with autoimmune diseases: A mediation model

BACKGROUND

Despite research linking dissociation, alexithymia, and anger with childhood trauma and ADs, the investigation addressing the relationships between the potential mediators has not yet been established within the literature.

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined the relationship between childhood trauma and autoimmune disorders, using a multiple mediation model that included dissociation, alexithymia, and anger as hypothesized mediators.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

306 autoimmune patients and 292 self-declared healthy controls were included in the study. They completed self-report questionnaires regarding childhood abuse, alexithymia, dissociation, and anger.

METHODS

Multiple mediation analysis was conducted to investigate the study's proposed model.

RESULTS

The results of the Structural Equation Model (SEM) suggest an indirect relationship between childhood trauma and autoimmune disorders, mediated by dissociation [z = 4.57, p < .01, β = 0.19, 90% CI (0.08-0.10)], alexithymia [z = 10.74, p < .01, β = 0.43, 90% CI (0.08-0.10)], but not by anger [z = 1.58, p = .11, 90% CI (0.08-0.10)].

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are in line with previous studies that show associations between childhood trauma, dissociation, alexithymia, and ADs. They indicate that mental health professionals and medical doctors should assess childhood trauma in autoimmune patients. They also should consider the possible maintaining role of dissociation and alexithymia in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Early life adversity and increased antisocial and depressive tendencies in young adults with family histories of alcohol and other substance use disorders: Findings from the Family Health Patterns project

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Family histories of alcohol/drug use disorders are linked to risk-related traits.

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Early life adversity was linked to additive increases in antisocial tendencies.

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Similar results were seen for depressive tendencies.

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Early life adversity may strongly contribute to family history associated risk.

Background

Individuals with a family history of alcohol and other substance use disorders (FH+) are several times more likely to develop alcohol problems compared to individuals with no such family histories (FH–). Here we sought to evaluate associations of early life adversity (ELA) with two key risk-related FH+ phenotypic characteristics: increased antisocial and depressive tendencies.

Methods

We examined data from 1187 FH+ and FH– young adults (average age 23.6 years old) with and without personal histories of substance use disorders. Antisocial tendencies were evaluated with the Socialization scale of the California Personality Inventory (CPI-So), while depressive tendencies were evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI).

Results

In general, being FH+, having a personal substance use disorder history, and experiencing greater levels of ELA were associated with lower CPI-So scores (indicating more antisocial tendencies) and higher BDI scores (indicating more depressive tendencies).

Conclusions

These results suggest that ELA is linked to increased antisocial and depressive tendencies observed in FH+ persons. Given that FH+ individuals are disproportionately exposed to ELA, this increased exposure may be a major contributor to these and other risk-related characteristics commonly present in FH+ individuals. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the impact of ELA on risk-related phenotypic characteristics, including prospective studies in early childhood and mechanistic studies evaluating pathways by which ELA exerts its effects on FH phenotypic characteristics.

Sensitization or inoculation: Investigating the effects of early adversity on personality traits and stress experiences in adulthood

Cumulative evidence has been found for the associations between personality traits and stress experiences in adulthood. However, less is known about the moderating mechanisms underlying these associations. The present study tested whether the stress sensitization and stress inoculation hypotheses could be applied to the relationship between early adversity and personality in adulthood. Specifically, we tested the linear and curvilinear relations between early adversity (measured retrospectively) and adulthood personality traits, as well as the linear and curvilinear moderating effects of early adversity on the associations between adulthood stress and personality traits. Samples of older adults from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 6098) and middle-aged adults from the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS; N = 6186) were used. Across the two samples, positive linear associations were found between retrospective early adversity and neuroticism. The results also suggested significant linear effects of early adversity on the association between ongoing chronic stressors and neuroticism such that individuals with moderate exposure to early adversity showed stronger associations between ongoing chronic stressors and neuroticism. Results from the current research were more in line with the stress sensitization model. No support was found for the stress inoculation effects on personality.

Social reward, punishment, and prosociality in paranoia

Paranoia is the exaggerated belief that harm will occur and is intended by others. Although commonly framed in terms of attributing malicious intent to others, recent work has explored how paranoia also affects social decision-making, using economic games. Previous work found that paranoia is associated with decreased cooperation and increased punishment in the Dictator Game (where cooperating and punishing involve paying a cost to respectively increase or decrease a partner's income). These findings suggest that paranoia might be associated with variation in subjective reward from positive and/or negative social decision-making, a possibility we explore using a preregistered experiment with U.S.-based participants (n = 2,004). Paranoia was associated with increased self-reported enjoyment of negative social interactions and decreased self-reported enjoyment of prosocial interactions. More paranoid participants attributed stronger harmful intent to a partner. Harmful intent attributions and the enjoyment of negative social interactions positively predicted the tendency to pay to punish the partner. Cooperation was positively associated with the tendency to enjoy prosocial interactions and increased with participant age. There was no main effect of paranoia on tendency to cooperate in this setting. We discuss these findings in light of previous research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Early maladaptive schemas and harm avoidance as mediating factors between early life stress and psychiatric symptoms in adults

Objective:

This study investigated how factors of temperament and early maladaptive schemas predict psychiatric symptoms, as well as how they mediate the relation between early life stress and psychiatric symptoms in adults.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 200 university students. Data was collected through a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Adult Self-Report Inventory, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Young Schema Questionnaire, and the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised.

Results:

A model including early maladaptive schemas, harm avoidance (temperament factor), and early life stress explained 69% of the variation of the psychiatric symptoms; among the predictors, early maladaptive schemas explained 31% of psychiatric symptoms, while harm avoidance explained 25%. Most of the predictive power associated with early life stress can be better explained by early maladaptive schemas and, to a lesser extent, harm avoidance.

Conclusion:

By managing these processes therapeutically, deleterious effects associated with early life stress can be minimized.

Effects Of Early Trauma and Recent Stressors on Depression, Anxiety, and Anger

BACKGROUND

Early life traumatic events and recent stressful events are known to have especially strong effects on emotional wellbeing. However, little is known about the interaction of early and recent stressors on emotions. We aimed to examine the interactive effects of early trauma and recent stressors on depression, anxiety, and anger.

METHODS

One hundred and seventy adults were recruited and asked to complete the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the state anxiety subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), and the state anger subscale of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-S). Early traumas and recent stressors were assessed during face-to-face interviews. Multiple regression analysis was performed to test whether early trauma, recent stressors, and the interaction of the two would predict CES-D, STAI-S, and STAXI-S scores.

RESULTS

In the multiple regression models, STAI-S scores were predicted only by recent stressors (R² = 0.063, p = 0.001). In contrast, CES-D and STAXI-S scores were predicted only by the synergistic interaction of early trauma with recent stressors (R² = 0.075, p < 0.001; R² = 0.039, p = 0.01, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

A synergistic interaction effect between early trauma and recent stressful events on current depression and anger was observed, indicating that the combined effects of early trauma and recent stressors are stronger than their individual effects. In contrast, anxiety was affected mainly by recent stressors. Our findings suggest that the form that emotional disturbance takes can vary depending on the timing of stressors.

A Model of Aggressive Behavior: Early Adversity, Impulsivity, and Response Inhibition

Exposure to adverse environments during childhood is robustly linked to future aggressive behavior. In this study we tested a model of emotional and neurocognitive mechanisms related to aggressive behavior in the context of childhood adversity. More specifically, we used path analysis to assess the distal contribution of childhood adversity and the more proximal contributions of emotion-related and non-emotion-related forms of impulsivity, and behavioral response inhibition to aggressive behavior. Participants were 180 undergraduates who completed well-validated self-report measures and an emotional version of the Go/No-Go task. The structural equation model was a poor fit for the data (χ²(3) = 23.023, p <. 001; RMR = .131; CFI = .682; RMSEA = .142), though several significant paths emerged. Childhood adversity, emotion-related impulsivity, and behavioral response inhibition displayed direct effects on aggression, collectively accounting for 16.3% of variance. Findings demonstrate the specificity of emotional subtypes of impulsivity in linking childhood adversity and aggression. This study extends work on pathways to aggressive behavior by illustrating the complex relationships of early environmental, cognitive, and emotional mechanisms related to aggression.

Childhood malnutrition and maltreatment are linked with personality disorder symptoms in adulthood: Results from a Barbados lifespan cohort

Both childhood malnutrition and maltreatment are associated with mental health problems that can persist into adulthood. Previously we reported that in Barbados, those with a history of infant malnutrition were more likely to report having experienced childhood maltreatment. Few studies, however, address the long-term outcomes of those who have been exposed to both. We assessed the unique and combined associations of a history of early malnutrition and childhood maltreatment with personality pathology in mid-adulthood in participants of the 47-year longitudinal Barbados Nutrition Study. We used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis II Personality Disorders Personality Questionnaire (SCID-II-PQ) and NEO Personality Inventory-Revised derived Five-Factor Model (NEO PI-R FFM) personality disorder (PD) scores to assess personality pathology, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) to assess childhood maltreatment, and clinical documentation of malnutrition in infancy. We tested the associations of malnutrition and maltreatment with PD scores using linear regression models, unadjusted and adjusted for other childhood adversities. We found increased scores for paranoid, schizoid, avoidant, and dependent PDs among those who had been malnourished and increased scores for paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, and avoidant PDs among those with higher childhood maltreatment scores. Overall, those exposed to both adversities had even greater PD scores.

Comparing the Efficacy of CBASP with Two Versions of CBT for Depression in a Routine Care Center: A Randomized Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND

The cognitive-behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP) was developed for the treatment of chronic, early-onset depression. However, it is unclear whether this approach can be recommended for depression in general (episodic and chronic), and no direct comparisons between CBASP with different versions of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) exist.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial compared 3 treatment conditions (all lasting 16 sessions) with a waiting list group (WL): CBASP, CBT with a focus on physical exercise (CBT-E), and CBT with a focus on pleasurable, low-energy and mindful activities (CBT-M). We included 173 patients and involved 41 therapists. Assessments were at baseline, after session 8, and at the end of treatment.

RESULTS

Our primary outcome Beck Depression Inventory-II indicated a general advantage of the CBT arms compared to CBASP [F(6, 154.5) = 4.2, p = 0.001], with significant contrasts in particular in favor of CBT-E. Effect sizes against WL were d = 0.91 (CBT-E), 0.87 (CBT-M), and 0.47 (CBASP). A triple interaction with an additional factor "chronic versus episodic depression" [F(6, 142.7) = 2.2, p = 0.048] indicated that the treatments resulted in different outcomes, with best results again for CBT-E in particular in episodic depression. Responder rates indicated significant improvements (56% in both CBT arms, 34% in the CBASP arm, 3.4% in WL; intention-to-treat samples). As compared to CBASP, response rates were significantly higher for CBT-E (OR = 2.48; 95% CI = 1.02-6.00) and CBT-M (OR = 2.46; 95% CI = 1.01-6.01).

CONCLUSIONS

CBASP was more effective than WL, but less effective than the 2 CBT arms. This was mainly caused by an advantage of CBT interventions in episodic depression.

Parental socioeconomic position and midlife allostatic load: a study of potential mediators

BACKGROUND

The mechanisms underlying the association of parental socioeconomic position with later life allostatic load remain unclear. The present study aims to examine potential pathways underlying this association: personality, social relations, intelligence and education.

METHODS

The study comprised 361 members of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort who participated in two subsequent follow-ups: the Prenatal Development Project (mean age 27 years) and the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank study (mean age 50 years). Allostatic load was based on 14 biomarkers representing the inflammatory, metabolic and cardiovascular system measured at midlife. Information on potential mediators was collected in young adulthood, and their role in the association of parental socioeconomic position with midlife allostatic load were examined in linear regression path analyses.

RESULTS

Parental socioeconomic position at one year was inversely associated with midlife allostatic load (β = - 0.238, p < .001). No mediation effects were found for personality or social relations. In a model including intelligence and education, a significant indirect effect was found for education (β = - 0.151, p < .001). A significant direct effect remained (β = - 0.111, p = .040).

CONCLUSIONS

Parental socioeconomic position was inversely associated with allostatic load in midlife. Results suggest that part of this association was mediated by education. A better understanding of the non-cognitive pathways related to education is an important prerequisite for the development of effective intervention strategies.

Personality traits as possible mediators in the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents

Childhood trauma has been found to be a critical risk factor for depression in adolescents. Personality traits have been linked with mental health. However, the relationship between childhood trauma, personality traits, and depressive symptoms in adolescents is largely unclear. This study tried to examine the mediating effect of personality traits between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms among adolescents. Meanwhile, the possible bidirectional association between personality traits and depression was considered in the study. A group of community-based adolescents aged 10-17 years (N = 5793) were recruited from nine schools in Wuhan city, China. The participants completed self-report questionnaires, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results showed that childhood trauma experiences were positively related with depressive symptoms and neuroticism, and negatively related with extraversion and conscientiousness; depressive symptoms were related with high neuroticism, low extraversion, and conscientiousness. Neuroticism and extraversion partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms. And 'childhood trauma-personality traits-depression' models showed better property than the alternative models of 'childhood trauma-depression-personality traits'. The current study provides preliminary evidence for mediation roles of neuroticism and extraversion in the effect of childhood trauma to depressive symptoms in adolescents. These findings may contribute to better prevention and interventions for depressive symptoms among adolescents with childhood trauma via personality traits improvement.

Psychological origins of the Industrial Revolution

Since the Industrial Revolution, human societies have experienced high and sustained rates of economic growth. Recent explanations of this sudden and massive change in economic history have held that modern growth results from an acceleration of innovation. But it is unclear why the rate of innovation drastically accelerated in England in the eighteenth century. An important factor might be the alteration of individual preferences with regard to innovation resulting from the unprecedented living standards of the English during that period, for two reasons. First, recent developments in economic history challenge the standard Malthusian view according to which living standards were stagnant until the Industrial Revolution. Pre-industrial England enjoyed a level of affluence that was unprecedented in history. Second, behavioral sciences have demonstrated that the human brain is designed to respond adaptively to variations in resources in the local environment. In particular, Life History Theory, a branch of evolutionary biology, suggests that a more favorable environment (high resources, low mortality) should trigger the expression of future-oriented preferences. In this paper, I argue that some of these psychological traits - a lower level of time discounting, a higher level of optimism, decreased materialistic orientation, and a higher level of trust in others - are likely to increase the rate of innovation. I review the evidence regarding the impact of affluence on preferences in contemporary as well as past populations, and conclude that the impact of affluence on neurocognitive systems may partly explain the modern acceleration of technological innovations and the associated economic growth.

Defining the phenotype of young adults with family histories of alcohol and other substance use disorders: Studies from the family health patterns project

Individuals with a family history of alcohol and other drug use disorders (FH+) are at increased risk for developing substance use disorders themselves relative to those with no such histories (FH-). Here we sought to identify key characteristics associated with FH+ status and alcohol and other drug use disorder status in a large cohort of FH+ and FH- young adults. We conducted principal component analyses on demographic, temperament, and cognitive measures differentiating 506 FH+ and 528 FH- young adults. Three principal components were identified, and these component scores were then used to predict the odds of being FH+ and the odds of having an alcohol or other drug use disorder. Component 1 consisted of measures indexing internalizing traits, with higher component scores indicating greater depressive, anxious, and emotional instability tendencies. Component 2 consisted of measures of externalizing traits as well as exposure to early life adversity (ELA), with higher scores indicating less impulse control, more antisocial behavior, and greater ELA exposure. Component 3 consisted of estimated intelligence, delay discounting, and demographic characteristics, with higher scores indicating lower estimated intelligence, greater discounting of delayed rewards, less education, and lower childhood socioeconomic status. For each 1-point increase in the Component 1, 2, and 3 scores, the odds of being classified FH+ increased by 2%, 8%, and 4%, respectively. Similar findings were observed when individuals with alcohol or other drug use disorders were removed from the analyses. Finally, greater Component 2 scores were also associated with increased odds of having an alcohol or other drug use disorder. Collectively, these findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the FH+ phenotype in young adults and help form a basis for further studies on biological mechanisms underlying risk for substance use disorders. The present findings also provide further support for a prominent role of ELA in promoting risk for problem alcohol and other drug use.

Human Life History Strategies

Human life history (LH) strategies are theoretically regulated by developmental exposure to environmental cues that ancestrally predicted LH-relevant world states (e.g., risk of morbidity-mortality). Recent modeling work has raised the question of whether the association of childhood family factors with adult LH variation arises via (i) direct sampling of external environmental cues during development and/or (ii) calibration of LH strategies to internal somatic condition (i.e., health), which itself reflects exposure to variably favorable environments. The present research tested between these possibilities through three online surveys involving a total of over 26,000 participants. Participants completed questionnaires assessing components of self-reported environmental harshness (i.e., socioeconomic status, family neglect, and neighborhood crime), health status, and various LH-related psychological and behavioral phenotypes (e.g., mating strategies, paranoia, and anxiety), modeled as a unidimensional latent variable. Structural equation models suggested that exposure to harsh ecologies had direct effects on latent LH strategy as well as indirect effects on latent LH strategy mediated via health status. These findings suggest that human LH strategies may be calibrated to both external and internal cues and that such calibrational effects manifest in a wide range of psychological and behavioral phenotypes.

The Unexpected Effects of Beneficial and Adverse Social Experiences during Adolescence on Anxiety and Aggression and Their Modulation by Genotype

Anxiety and aggression are part of the behavioral repertoire of humans and animals. However, in their exaggerated form both can become maladaptive and result in psychiatric disorders. On the one hand, genetic predisposition has been shown to play a crucial modulatory role in anxiety and aggression. On the other hand, social experiences have been implicated in the modulation of these traits. However, so far, mainly experiences in early life phases have been considered crucial for shaping anxiety-like and aggressive behavior, while the phase of adolescence has largely been neglected. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate how levels of anxiety-like and aggressive behavior are shaped by social experiences during adolescence and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genotype. For this purpose, male mice of a 5-HTT knockout mouse model including all three genotypes (wildtype, heterozygous and homozygous 5-HTT knockout mice) were either exposed to an adverse social situation or a beneficial social environment during adolescence. This was accomplished in a custom-made cage system where mice experiencing the adverse environment were repeatedly introduced to the territory of a dominant opponent but had the possibility to escape to a refuge cage. Mice encountering beneficial social conditions had free access to a female mating partner. Afterwards, anxiety-like and aggressive behavior was assessed in a battery of tests. Surprisingly, unfavorable conditions during adolescence led to a decrease in anxiety-like behavior and an increase in exploratory locomotion. Additionally, aggressive behavior was augmented in animals that experienced social adversity. Concerning genotype, homozygous 5-HTT knockout mice were more anxious and less aggressive than heterozygous 5-HTT knockout and wildtype mice. In summary, adolescence is clearly an important phase in which anxiety-like and aggressive behavior can be shaped. Furthermore, it seems that having to cope with challenge during adolescence instead of experiencing throughout beneficial social conditions leads to reduced levels of anxiety-like behavior.

The nature and dynamics of world religions: a life-history approach

In contrast with tribal and archaic religions, world religions are characterized by a unique emphasis on extended prosociality, restricted sociosexuality, delayed gratification and the belief that these specific behaviours are sanctioned by some kind of supernatural justice. Here, we draw on recent advances in life history theory to explain this pattern of seemingly unrelated features. Life history theory examines how organisms adaptively allocate resources in the face of trade-offs between different life-goals (e.g. growth versus reproduction, exploitation versus exploration). In particular, recent studies have shown that individuals, including humans, adjust their life strategy to the environment through phenotypic plasticity: in a harsh environment, organisms tend to adopt a 'fast' strategy, pursuing smaller but more certain benefits, while in more affluent environments, organisms tend to develop a 'slow' strategy, aiming for larger but less certain benefits. Reviewing a range of recent research, we show that world religions are associated with a form of 'slow' strategy. This framework explains both the promotion of 'slow' behaviours such as altruism, self-regulation and monogamy in modern world religions, and the condemnation of 'fast' behaviours such as selfishness, conspicuous sexuality and materialism. This ecological approach also explains the diffusion pattern of world religions: why they emerged late in human history (500-300 BCE), why they are currently in decline in the most affluent societies and why they persist in some places despite this overall decline.