Unpacking Inequities in ADHD Diagnosis: Examining Individual-Level Race/Ethnicity and State-Level Online Information-Seeking Patterns.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent, persistent, and costly mental health condition. The internet is an increasingly popular source for information related to ADHD. With a nationally representative sample (2018 NSCH), we aimed to separate individual- and state-level effects to examine inequities in ADHD diagnoses. We extracted state-level relative search volumes using "ADHD," "ADHD treatment," "ADHD medication," and "ADHD therapy" from Google Trends, and sociodemographic and clinical variables from the 2018 National Survey of Children's Health (N = 26,835). We examined state variation in ADHD-related information-seeking and applied multilevel modeling to examine associations among individual-level race/ethnicity, state-level information-seeking patterns, and ADHD diagnoses. Online information seeking related to ADHD varies by state and search term. Individual-level racial/ethnic background and state-level information-seeking patterns were associated with ADHD diagnoses; however, their cross-level interaction was not significant. This study adds to the strong body of evidence documenting geographical variation and diagnostic disparity in mental health and the growing literature on the impact of the digital divide on population health, indicating an urgent need for addressing inequities in mental health care. Increasing public interest in and access to empirically supported online information may increase access to care, especially among people of color.

Regulating digital therapeutics for mental health: Opportunities, challenges, and the essential role of psychologists.

With so many promising digital therapeutics for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum problems, there is an urgent need to consider how evolving regulatory oversight of digital therapeutics is poised to shift how these tools are developed, evaluated, reimbursed, and delivered. In this commentary, we discuss both opportunities and potential pitfalls associated with emerging government regulations of digital therapeutics for mental health, and we consider how applying the traditional 'prescription-based' medical approval paradigm to digital therapeutics for mental health could ultimately undermine and limit the broad accessibility of these software-based innovations that have been explicitly designed to expand the accessibility of care. For example, the vast majority of behavioural and mental health providers do not have 'prescription privileges' (a term originally rooted in pharmacologic practices), and as a result, under current regulations in the U.S. would not be authorized to make FDA-cleared digital therapeutics available to their patients. This is particularly concerning given that most digital therapeutics for mental health are directly rooted in psychological and behavioural science, yet psychologists would not be authorized to incorporate these innovations into their practice. We consider how synchronizing regulatory standards across countries may prove useful, and we conclude by arguing that multidisciplinary teams making regulatory decisions concerning digital therapeutics for mental health must include representation from the discipline and practice of psychology. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Emerging government regulations of digital therapeutics for mental health present both opportunities and potential pitfalls Applying the traditional 'prescription-based' medical approval paradigm to digital therapeutics for mental health could ultimately undermine the broad accessibility of these software-based innovations. Synchronizing regulatory standards across countries may prove useful. Multidisciplinary teams making regulatory decisions concerning digital therapeutics for mental health must include representation from the field of psychology.

Observed parent-adolescent coalitions and family hostilities during family discussions: Associations with marital aggression.

This study investigated bidirectional associations between observed parent-youth coalitions-wherein one parent and a child align themselves against the other parent-and family hostilities as they evolved in real-time during triadic family conflict discussions. Participants were 102 families with an adolescent child (50% girls, Mage  = 15.3 years, SD = 0.8). Using time-lagged, multilevel models, we tested immediate, temporal influences from hostility (within marital and mother-youth and father-youth relationships) to parent-youth coalitions and vice versa. Guided by sensitization theories, we also investigated whether a history of marital aggression moderated these links. Results indicated multiple concurrent links supporting the interconnectedness of cross generational coalitions and angry, critical exchanges within multiple family relationships. Moreover, time-linked effects demonstrated that hostility within both the marital and parent-adolescent domains preceded subsequent coalitions, and also that coalitions preceded hostility, particularly in the parent-adolescent domain. Findings further demonstrated that marital aggression moderates temporal associations between fathers' marital hostility and father-youth coalitions. These patterns highlight the dynamic links between hostilities and coalitions, how such patterns spill over across family subsystems, and how these two insidious influences in parents' interactions with their adolescent youth may mutually reinforce each other. This study informs intervention efforts by identifying patterns and sequences of family hostilities surrounding parent-youth coalitions during adolescence.

En este estudio se investigaron las asociaciones bidireccionales entre las alianzas observadas entre padres y adolescentes -en las cuales un padre y un hijo se alinean contra el otro padre- y las hostilidades familiares a medida que se desarrollaban en tiempo real durante discusiones triádicas por conflictos familiares. Los participantes fueron 102 familias con un hijo adolescente (el 50% niñas, edad promedio = 15.3 años, desviación típica = 0.8). Utilizando modelos multinivel con tiempo de retardo, evaluamos las influencias inmediatas y temporales de la hostilidad (dentro de las relaciones conyugales y de las relaciones entre madre y adolescente y padre y adolescente) en las alianzas entre padres y adolescentes y viceversa. Guiados por las teorías de sensibilización, también investigamos si los antecedentes de agresión conyugal moderaron estas asociaciones. Los resultados indicaron varias asociaciones simultáneas que respaldaron la interconexión de las alianzas intergeneracionales y los intercambios agresivos y críticos dentro de las relaciones de varias familias. Además, los efectos asociados con el tiempo demostraron que la hostilidad dentro del área conyugal y de padres y adolescentes precedió a alianzas posteriores, y también que las alianzas precedieron a la hostilidad, particularmente en el área de padres y adolescentes. Los resultados también demostraron que la agresión conyugal modera las asociaciones temporales entre la hostilidad conyugal de los padres y las alianzas entre los padres y los jóvenes. Estos patrones destacan las asociaciones dinámicas entre las hostilidades y las alianzas, las maneras en la que dichos patrones se desbordan entre los subsistemas familiares, y cómo estas dos influencias insidiosas en las interacciones de los padres con sus hijos adolescentes pueden reforzarse mutuamente. Este estudio sirve como base para los esfuerzos de intervención, ya que identifica los patrones y las secuencias de las hostilidades familiares que rodean a las alianzas entre los padres y los adolescentes durante la adolescencia.

Mental Health Information Seeking Online: A Google Trends Analysis of ADHD.

Health information influences consumer decision making to seek, select, and utilize services. Online searching for mental health information is increasingly common, especially by adolescents and parents. We examined historical trends and factors that may influence population-level patterns in information seeking for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We extracted Google Trends data from January 2004 to February 2020. Keywords included "ADHD," "ADHD treatment," "ADHD medication," and "ADHD therapy." We examined trends (systematic change over time) and seasonality (repeating pattern of change) via time-series analyses and graphics. We also used interrupted time-series analyses to examine the impact of celebrity and pharmaceutical events. Queries of "ADHD medication" increase, while queries for "ADHD therapy" remain relatively low despite a positive linear trend. Searches for "ADHD treatment" displayed a downward trend in more recent years. Analyses on seasonality revealed that holiday breaks coincided with a decrease in search interest, while post-break periods illustrated a rise, and the ADHD Awareness Month (October) coincided with a rise of public interest in all four search terms. Celebrity effects were more prominent in earlier years; the "Own It" pharmaceutical campaign may have increased ADHD awareness and the specificity of searches for "ADHD medication." The anonymous, accessible, and low-cost nature of seeking information online makes search engines like Google important sources of mental health information. Changing search patterns in response to seasonal, advocacy, and media events highlight internet-based opportunities for raising awareness and disseminating empirically supported information.

A Systematic Review of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Romantic Relationships.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of the parasympathetic nervous system, has recently gained attention as a physiological component of regulatory processes, social connectedness, and health. Within the context of romantic relationships, studies have operationalized and conceptualized RSA in disparate ways, obscuring a clear pattern of findings. This systematic review synthesizes the rapidly developing literature and clarifies the role of RSA in romantic relationships. We evaluate support for three conceptual hypotheses: (1) resting baseline RSA is associated with better quality relationships; (2) phasic RSA is reflective of changes in threat and connection during couple interactions; and (3) physiological linkage in RSA between romantic partners relates to positive or negative relationship functioning depending on the nature of the linkage (e.g., in-phase vs. antiphase). We identified 26 empirical studies that tested associations between RSA and an index of romantic relationships (i.e., relationship satisfaction). Our findings show that higher RSA is not uniformly "good" for relationships. Higher resting baseline RSA was contemporaneously associated with better quality relationships, yet higher baseline RSA was also unexpectedly associated with relationship violence. Short-term decreases in RSA were found during relationship conflict, though the opposite-phasic increases in RSA during positive romantic partner interactions-was not found due to mixed empirical support. As expected, evidence for RSA linkage was found, though the connection between linkage and relationship functioning depends on the context in which it was measured. We discuss methodological limitations and directions for future research.

La arritmia sinusal respiratoria (ASR), un índice del sistema nervioso parasimpático, ha sido objeto de atención recientemente como componente fisiológico de los procesos reguladores, la conexión social y la salud. Dentro del contexto de las relaciones amorosas, los estudios han operacionalizado y conceptualizado la ASR de diversas maneras, ocultando un patrón claro de signos. Este análisis sistemático sintetiza la bibliografía que se está desarrollando rápidamente y aclara el papel que desempeña la ASR en las relaciones amorosas. Evaluamos el respaldo de tres hipótesis conceptuales: (1) una ASR de reposo en el momento basal está asociada con relaciones de mejor calidad; (2) la ASR refleja cambios en la amenaza y la conexión durante las interacciones de la pareja; y (3) la asociación fisiológica en la ASR entre los integrantes de la pareja se relaciona con el funcionamiento positivo o negativo de la relación según la índole de la asociación (p. ej.: en fase frente a contrafase). Identificamos 26 estudios empíricos que evaluaron las asociaciones entre la ASR y un índice de las relaciones amorosas (p. ej.: la satisfacción con la relación). Nuestros resultados indican que una ASR más alta no es uniformemente "buena" para las relaciones. Una ASR de reposo más alta en el momento basal estuvo asociada contemporáneamente con relaciones de mejor calidad, sin embargo, una ASR más alta en el momento basal también estuvo asociada inesperadamente con la violencia de pareja. Se encontraron disminuciones de la ASR a corto plazo durante el conflicto en las relaciones, aunque no se encontró lo opuesto -aumentos fásicos en la ASR durante las interacciones positivas de los integrantes de la pareja- debido a un respaldo empírico ambivalente. Como se esperaba, se encontraron indicios de una asociación de la ASR, aunque la conexión entre la asociación y el funcionamiento de la relación depende del contexto en el cual se midió. Comentamos las limitaciones metodológicas y damos indicaciones para investigaciones futuras.

A Matter of the Heart: Daytime Relationship Functioning and Overnight Heart Rate in Young Dating Couples.

BACKGROUND: Although past longitudinal research demonstrates that romantic partners affect one another's health outcomes, considerably less is known about how romantic experiences "get under the skin" in everyday life. PURPOSE: The current study investigated whether young couples' naturally occurring feelings of closeness to and annoyance with each other during waking hours were associated with their overnight cardiovascular activity. METHODS: Participants were 63 heterosexual young adult dating couples (Mage = 23.07). Using ecological momentary assessments, couples reported their hourly feelings of closeness to and annoyance with their partners across 1 day; subsequent overnight heart rate was captured through wearable electrocardiogram biosensors. Actor-partner interdependence models tested whether individuals' overnight heart rate varied as a function of (a) their own daytime feelings of closeness and annoyance (actor effects) and (b) their partner's daytime feelings of closeness and annoyance (partner effects) while controlling for daytime heart rate. RESULTS: Although young adults' feelings of romantic closeness and annoyance were unrelated to their own overnight heart rate (i.e., no actor effects), gender-specific partner effects emerged. Young men's nocturnal heart rate was uniquely predicted by their female partner's daytime relationship feelings. When women felt closer to their partners during the day, men exhibited lower overnight heart rate. When women felt more annoyed with their partners during the day, men exhibited heightened overnight heart rate. CONCLUSIONS: The findings illustrate gender-specific links between couple functioning and physiological arousal in the everyday lives of young dating couples, implicating physiological sensitivity to partner experiences as one potential pathway through which relationships affect health.

Day-to-day friends' victimization, aggression perpetration, and morning cortisol activity in late adolescents.

This study investigates bidirectional associations between adolescents' daily experiences of victimization and aggression perpetration within friendships. We investigated (a) across-day associations between victimization and aggression perpetration; (b) morning cortisol activity as a moderator of cross-day victimization and aggression links; and (c) potential sex differences in these patterns. For 4 consecutive days, 99 adolescents (Mage  = 18.06, SD = 1.09, 46 females) reported whether they were victimized by or aggressive toward their friends. On three of these days, adolescents provided three morning saliva samples. Multilevel path analyses showed that across days, victimization and aggression were bidirectionally linked, but only for male adolescents. Additionally, for male adolescents, morning cortisol output (but not morning cortisol increase) moderated the association between victimization and next-day aggression; victimization predicted greater next-day aggression for boys with low, but not high, morning cortisol output. Findings implicate a physiological factor that may modify daily links between victimization and aggression in male adolescent friendships.

Adolescent Life Stress and the Cortisol Awakening Response: The Moderating Roles of Attachment and Sex.

This longitudinal study investigated how past versus current life stresses relate to adolescents' cortisol awakening response (CAR), an index of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity. Ninety-nine adolescents reported previous year life stress at ages 12 and 18. At the second assessment, participants also provided self-reports of parent and peer attachment and 3 days of cortisol samples. Current stress was associated with heightened CAR for both males and females, whereas past stress was associated with attenuated CAR for males. Attachment to peers buffered the relationship between past stress and attenuated CAR for all adolescents; attachment to parents was a buffer for male adolescents only. Results demonstrate the protective roles of adolescent relationships and highlight sex differences in biopsychosocial development across adolescence.

Family conflict, mood, and adolescents' daily school problems: moderating roles of internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Using daily diary data, this study examined cross-day associations between family conflict and school problems and tested mediating effects of daily negative mood and moderating effects of psychological symptoms. For 2 weeks, parents and adolescents (N = 106; Mage = 15.4) reported daily conflict; adolescents reported daily negative mood and school problems. Results indicated bidirectional, multiday spillover between parent-adolescent conflict and school problems with daily negative mood statistically accounting for spillover both within and across days. Externalizing symptoms strengthened links between father-adolescent conflict and school problems, whereas depressive and anxious symptoms strengthened links between parent-adolescent conflict and daily negative mood. By demonstrating cross-domain transmission of daily problems, these findings highlight the salience of everyday events as possible intervention targets.

The Importance of Temporal Design: How Do Measurement Intervals Affect the Accuracy and Efficiency of Parameter Estimates in Longitudinal Research?

The timing (spacing) of assessments is an important component of longitudinal research. The purpose of the present study is to determine methods of timing the collection of longitudinal data that provide better parameter recovery in mixed effects nonlinear growth modeling. A simulation study was conducted, varying function type, as well as the number of measurement occasions, in order to examine the effect of timing on the accuracy and efficiency of parameter estimates. The number of measurement occasions was associated with greater efficiency for all functional forms and was associated with greater accuracy for the intrinsically nonlinear functions. In general, concentrating measurement occasions toward the left or at the extremes was associated with increased efficiency when estimating the intercepts of intrinsically linear functions, and concentrating values where the curvature of the function was greatest generally resulted in the best recovery for intrinsically nonlinear functions. Results from this study can be used in conjunction with theory to improve the design of longitudinal research studies. In addition, an R program is provided for researchers to run customized simulations to identify optimal sampling schedules for their own research.

A day in the life: Couples' everyday communication and subsequent relationship outcomes.

Understanding how communication processes contribute to well-functioning versus distressed couple relationships has relied largely on brief, laboratory-based conversations. Harnessing technological advancements, the present study extends the literature by capturing couples' naturalistic communication over one full day at Time 1 (T1). This study tested associations between data-driven categories of couple communication behaviors and relationship outcomes (i.e., relationship aggression, satisfaction, and dissolution) at Time 2 (T2), approximately 1 year later. Emerging adults in different-gender dating couples (n = 106 couples; 212 individuals; Mage = 22.57 ± 2.44; M relationship length = 30.49 months ± 24.05; 72.2% non-White) were each provided a smartphone programmed to audio record approximately 50% of a typical day. Interactions between partners were transcribed and coded for location, activity, affect, and a range of positive and negative communication behaviors for each partner. Even after controlling for T1 assessments of the relevant outcome, one's own hostility and one's partner's hostility at T1 were each positively associated with T2 relationship aggression and negatively associated with T2 relationship satisfaction. One's own withdrawal at T1 was positively associated with T2 relationship aggression perpetration, whereas one's partner's withdrawal was negatively linked to relationship satisfaction at T2. One's own playfulness, unexpectedly, was linked to lower subsequent relationship satisfaction. Withdrawal increased the likelihood of relationship dissolution, whereas warmth and playfulness decreased the likelihood of dissolution. The relevance of couples' ordinary, everyday communication for meaningful relationship outcomes is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

An Individualized, Data-Driven Biological Approach to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Heterogeneity.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorder in childhood, however, there is well-established heterogeneity in both the presentation of ADHD symptoms and secondary characteristics across the literature. Existing Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) nosology has been ineffective in explaining such heterogeneity in terms of both pathophysiology and clinical trajectories. The current study investigated ADHD heterogeneity via a biologically-based, data-driven approach (k-Means algorithm). Specifically, unique biological profiles (derived from patterns of parasympathetic and sympathetic functioning) were identified and utilized as predictors of clinical presentations. Two hundred eighty-nine participants (167 youth with ADHD), ages 5 to 13 years, completed an emotion-based task while indexes of parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and sympathetic (i.e., electrodermal activity [EDA]) activity were obtained. Overall, results suggest that three distinct biological profiles among youth with ADHD are evident, with biological profiles differing in regulation and arousal levels during emotionally evocative contexts: (Profile 1) underregulated, hyperaroused (negative contexts only), (Profile 2) typically regulated, underaroused, and (Profile 3) overregulated (positive contexts only), hyperaroused. Results are supported by several dopaminergic- and reward-based theories, integrating differing concepts across the literature, and adds biological support for existing models. Behaviorally, results may translate into differing clinical presentations, however, further work is needed. In general, youth with ADHD are heterogenous in autonomic functioning, which could have implications for synthesizing across differing theories within the literature, predicting clinical presentations, and developing targeted treatments.

Relationship satisfaction, feelings of closeness and annoyance, and linkage in electrodermal activity.

Physiological linkage refers to moment-to-moment, time-linked coordination in physiological responses among people in close relationships. Although people in romantic relationships have been shown to evidence linkage in their physiological responses over time, it is still unclear how patterns of covariation relate to in-the-moment, as well as general levels of, relationship functioning. In the present study with data collected between 2014 and 2017, we capture linkage in electrodermal activity (EDA) in a diverse sample of young-adult couples, generally representative and generalizable to the Los Angeles community from which we sampled. We test how naturally occurring, shifting feelings of closeness with and annoyance toward one's partner relate to concurrent changes in levels of physiological linkage over the course of 1 day. Additionally, we examine how linkage relates to overall relationship satisfaction. Results showed that couples evidenced significant covariation in their levels of physiological arousal in daily life. Further, physiological linkage increased during hours that participants felt close to their romantic partners but not during hours that participants felt annoyed with their partners. Finally, those participants with overall higher levels of relationship satisfaction showed lower levels of linkage over the day of data collection. These findings highlight how individuals respond in sync with their romantic partners and how this process ebbs and flows in conjunction with the shifting emotional tone of their relationships. The discussion focuses on how linkage might enhance closeness or, alternatively, contribute to conflict escalation and the potential of linkage processes to promote positive interpersonal relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A Call to Action on Assessing and Mitigating Bias in Artificial Intelligence Applications for Mental Health.

Advances in computer science and data-analytic methods are driving a new era in mental health research and application. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies hold the potential to enhance the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of people experiencing mental health problems and to increase the reach and impact of mental health care. However, AI applications will not mitigate mental health disparities if they are built from historical data that reflect underlying social biases and inequities. AI models biased against sensitive classes could reinforce and even perpetuate existing inequities if these models create legacies that differentially impact who is diagnosed and treated, and how effectively. The current article reviews the health-equity implications of applying AI to mental health problems, outlines state-of-the-art methods for assessing and mitigating algorithmic bias, and presents a call to action to guide the development of fair-aware AI in psychological science.

What happens when romantic couples discuss personal loss? Relational, emotional, and physiological impacts.

Does talking about loss with a romantic partner have salutary personal and relationship effects? Prior evidence reveals the benefits of emotional disclosure in couple relationships, yet disclosure about loss has been overlooked in research on couple communication. Using a novel communication paradigm with young-adult heterosexual romantic partners (N = 114 couples), we investigated emotions, physiological arousal (skin conductance responses [SCR]), and relationship closeness when narrating a personal loss and listening to the partner's loss, and compared these loss discussions to discussions about desired relationship changes. Based on partners' self-reports, narrating loss elicited more vulnerable and, unexpectedly, more antagonistic emotions. Both narrating and listening to loss produced higher self-reported partner closeness, compared to discussing change. In support of the physiological benefits of disclosure, women's SCRs decreased over the discussion when they narrated their own loss. However, both women and men as listeners show a general trend of increasing SCRs over the discussion, suggesting the challenges of being a responsive partner. Moreover, in line with the putative protective effects of partners' biological interdependencies, partner closeness also was higher when both partners showed synchronous decreasing SCR as women narrated their loss. Although limited to young couples in relatively short relationships, these findings reveal some potential benefits of talking about loss in the context of romantic relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Fluctuations in pronoun use in everyday life: Understanding couple aggression in context.

Everyday language use, including the pronouns people choose when speaking to romantic partners, may reflect underlying aspects of relationship functioning and may have important implications for understanding couple conflict and dating aggression more generally. The current study measured couples' hour-to-hour "we," "I," and "you" speech in daily life and examined symmetry in pronoun use, or the extent to which partners mirror each other in the frequency of the pronouns they use. First, we examined associations between symmetry in pronoun use and overall levels of dating aggression. Second, we investigated whether aggressive couples evidence patterns of pronoun use distinct from nonaggressive couples when they become annoyed with each other. Multilevel models showed that symmetry in "we" speech and symmetry in "I" speech each were related to lower levels of dating aggression. In addition, symmetry in couples' "you" speech increased during hours of annoyance, but only among those couples reporting high levels of aggression in their relationships. These results demonstrate how everyday language use relates to couples' general tendencies toward aggression and how such patterns are linked to ongoing fluctuations in the emotional tone of the relationship. The discussion focuses on implications for intervention and the use of novel ambulatory assessment methods for capturing couple processes in real-life contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Romantic partner presence and physiological responses in daily life: Attachment style as a moderator.

The present study investigated whether the presence of a romantic partner in daily life is associated with attenuated sympathetic nervous system responses. Additionally, romantic attachment style was tested as a moderator. For one day, 106 heterosexual young adult dating couples wore ambulatory sensors that monitored electrodermal activity (EDA) - an index of sympathetic arousal. Couples reported whether they were together or apart for every hour of the data collection day. Men and women exhibited lower EDA during hours in which their partner was present compared to hours in which they were absent. Additionally, romantic attachment style moderated this association; those who had low anxious attachment showed a stronger attenuating effect of partner presence compared to those with higher anxious attachment. Similarly, those who had low avoidant attachment showed heightened effects of partner presence compared to those with higher avoidant attachment. Romantic partner presence may facilitate everyday health-promoting physiological processes.

Family-of-origin aggression, dating aggression, and physiological stress reactivity in daily life.

Individuals exposed to aggression and who perpetrate aggression against others show differences in their physiological activation during stress; the goal of the present study is to investigate physiological stress reactivity as a factor contributing to the intergenerational transmission of aggression. To test associations between family-of-origin aggression (FOA), physiological reactivity in daily life, and dating aggression perpetration, we used ecological momentary assessment to monitor fluctuations in young adult (Mage = 23.1 years) dating couples' electrodermal activity (EDA) over an entire day and examined how naturally-occurring bouts of annoyance between partners relate to EDA, FOA, and dating aggression perpetration. Dating perpetration was linked to lower general levels of EDA in both men and women, while FOA was linked to lower general levels of EDA in men only. For women, multi-group, multilevel models showed that FOA and dating aggression perpetration moderated the association between feeling annoyed and EDA, such that those with greater FOA and dating aggression perpetration showed greater EDA reactivity during naturally-occurring relationship stress. Furthermore, this pattern of EDA reactivity mediated the link between FOA and dating aggression perpetration in women. These results provide evidence that FOA and dating aggression perpetration are linked to patterns of physiological responsivity in everyday life and suggest that these patterns could be important factors contributing to the intergenerational transmission of aggression.

Daily patterns of stress and conflict in couples: Associations with marital aggression and family-of-origin aggression.

For many married individuals, the ups and downs of daily life are connected such that stressors impacting one person also impact the other person. For example, stress experienced by one individual may "spill over" to negatively impact marital functioning. This study used both partners' daily diary data to examine same-day and cross-day links between stress and marital conflict and tested several factors that make couples vulnerable to spillover. Assessment of 25 wide-ranging sources of daily stress included both paid and unpaid work, health issues, financial concerns, and having to make difficult decisions. Results showed that both husbands' and wives' experiences of total daily stress were associated with greater same-day marital conflict and that conflict was greater on days both spouses experienced high levels of stress. Evidence of cross-day spillover was found only in those couples with high concurrent marital aggression and in couples where wives reported high family-of-origin aggression. These results highlight both the common, anticipated nature of same-day spillover and the potentially problematic aspects of more prolonged patterns representing failure to recover from stressors that occurred the previous day. The discussion focuses on how reactivity in one life domain puts that individual at risk for generating stress in another life domain and how current marital aggression and family-of-origin aggression are associated with difficulty recovering from stressful events. (PsycINFO Database Record

Adolescents' Daily Worry, Morning Cortisol, and Health Symptoms.

PURPOSE: To assess short-term effects of daily worries on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and later implications for adolescents' health symptoms. We hypothesized that heightened worry would be associated with stronger next-morning cortisol awakening response (CAR) to prepare the body for the demands of the upcoming day. Guided by biological adaptation to stress theories, we also hypothesized that dysregulated CAR would heighten associations between worries and later health symptoms, while also testing direct associations between worries and dysregulated CAR and health. METHODS: Ninety-nine late adolescents during waves 5 and 6 of a longitudinal study reported on 26 worries for 10 days. On 3 of the 10 days, participants also provided morning saliva samples that were assayed for cortisol to capture the CAR. At both waves, participants reported on 22 common health symptoms. RESULTS: Multilevel models showed significant within-person associations between high daily worries and next-morning heightened CAR for females. Contrary to expectation, worries were inversely related to concurrent health symptoms. For the whole sample, CAR moderated the effect of worries on later health symptoms: Worries were positively associated with health symptoms in adolescents with high CAR and inversely associated with health symptoms for those with low CAR. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of typically developing adolescents, worries alone do not increase the risk for common health complaints and may be somewhat protective in the short run. However, high worries in the context of high CAR appear to increase the risk for health symptoms.