Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Risk Scores and Trajectories of Early Adolescent Externalizing Behaviors: Examining the Role of Parenting and Family Conflict in the Racially/Ethnically Diverse ABCD Sample.

This study examined the independent and interactive effects of alcohol use disorder genome-wide polygenic scores (AUD-PGS) and parenting and family conflict on early adolescent externalizing behaviors. Data were drawn from White (N = 6181, 46.9% female), Black/African American (N = 1784, 50.1% female), and Hispanic/Latinx (N = 2410, 48.0% female) youth from the adolescent brain cognitive development Study (ABCD). Parents reported on youth externalizing behaviors at baseline (T1, age 9/10), 1-year (T2, age 10/11) and 2-year (T3, age 11/12) assessments. Youth reported on parenting and family environment at T1 and provided saliva or blood samples for genotyping. Results from latent growth models indicated that in general externalizing behaviors decreased from T1 to T3. Across all groups, higher family conflict was associated with more externalizing behaviors at T1, and we did not find significant associations between parental monitoring and early adolescent externalizing behaviors. Parental acceptance was associated with lower externalizing behaviors among White and Hispanic youth, but not among Black youth. Results indicated no significant main effect of AUD-PGS nor interaction effect between AUD-PGS and family variables on early adolescent externalizing behaviors. Post hoc exploratory analysis uncovered an interaction between AUD-PGS and parental acceptance such that AUD-PGS was positively associated with externalizing rule-breaking behaviors among Hispanic youth, but only when parental acceptance was very low. Findings highlight the important role of family conflict and parental acceptance in externalizing behaviors among early adolescents, and emphasize the need to examine other developmental pathways underlying genetic risk for AUD across diverse populations.

The moderating role of early-life parental adverse and positive factors in the genetic and environmental contributions to objectively assessed sleep duration in middle childhood.

Early-life positive and adverse parental factors, such as positive parent personality and parental stress, affect the environmental context in which children develop and may influence individual differences in children's sleep health. This study examined the moderating role of early-life parental factors in the heritability (i.e., the extent to which individual differences are due to genetic influences) of objectively assessed childhood sleep duration. A total of 351 families from the Arizona Twin Project were studied. Primary caregivers (95% mothers) reported on multiple dimensions of stress and facets of their own personality when the twins were 12 months old. Seven years later (Mage = 8.43 years, SD = 0.68), families completed a home visit, and twins (51% female; 57% White, 29% Hispanic; 30% monozygotic, 39% same-sex dizygotic, 31% other-sex dizygotic) wore actigraph watches to assess their sleep, with caregivers completing similar assessments on their personality attributes and stress. Early-life positive parent personality moderated the heritability of sleep duration (Δ-2LL [-2 log likelihood] = 2.54, Δdf = 2, p = .28), such that as positive parent personality increased, the heritability of duration decreased. Early-life parental stress also moderated the genetic contribution to sleep duration (Δ-2LL = 2.02, Δdf = 2, p = .36), such that as stress increased, the heritability of duration increased. Concurrent positive parent personality and parental stress composites showed similar patterns of findings. Results highlight the likely contribution of parent positive traits and adverse experiences to the etiology of children's sleep health, with genetic influences on children's sleep more prominent in "riskier" environments. Understanding how genetics and environments work together to influence the etiology of sleep may inform prevention programs.

Cascading Influences of Caregiver Experiences of Discrimination and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior.

OBJECTIVE: Although a growing body of work has found that parents' experiences of racial and socioeconomic (SES) based discrimination are directly related to their children's behavior problems , more work is needed to understand possible pathways by which these factors are related and to identify potential targets for prevention and/or intervention. METHOD: Using a large (N = 572), longitudinal sample of low-income families from diverse racial backgrounds, the current study explored whether caregivers' experiences of racial and SES discrimination during their children's middle childhood (i.e. ages 7.5-9.5) predicted youth-reported antisocial behavior during adolescence and potential factors mediating these associations (e.g. caregiver depressive symptoms and positive parenting practices). RESULTS: We found that higher levels of caregiver experiences of discrimination at child ages 7.5-9.5 predicted higher levels of caregiver depressive symptoms at child age 10.5, which were related to lower levels of caregiver endorsement of positive parenting practices at child age 14.5, which in turn, predicted higher levels of youth-reported antisocial behavior at age 16. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the adverse effects of racism and discrimination in American society. Second, the findings underscore the need to develop interventions which mitigate racism and discrimination among perpetrators and alleviate depressive symptoms among caregivers.

How pubertal timing and self-regulation predict adolescent sexual activity in resource-poor environments.

Studies found support for a link between pubertal timing and self-regulation in low-resource environments. This link could potentially explain a link between pubertal timing and early risk behavior. This study builds on this body of research by examining the mediated effect of pubertal timing on sexual activity through self-regulation in 728 adolescents and their families in a group with poor resources and a group with adequate resources. Income-to-Needs (ITN) was measured at age 7.5 to establish two groups (low-ITN and Medium/High-ITN). Pubertal timing was measured at age 10.5, self-regulation was assessed at age 14 and operationalized with effortful control, and sexual activity was assessed at age 16. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized model in both groups. The link between pubertal timing and sexual activity mediated by effortful control was only significant in the low-ITN group. Specifically, more advanced pubertal maturity was associated with lower levels of adolescents' effortful control, which in turn was associated with more sexual activity at age 16. Findings were partially replicated with a drug use index replacing sexual activity. This study shows a different operating link from pubertal timing to effortful control and subsequent risk behavior in resource-poor environments. Implications are discussed.

The Interdependent Nature of Mother's and Children's Temperament and Eating Behaviors on Weight.

OBJECTIVES: The family environment is an important contextual factor for parent and child weight within families. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, the current study examined (1) the effect of child and mother temperament (i.e., negative affectivity, effortful control, and impulsivity) on mother and child weight, (2) the effect of mother eating behaviors on mother and child weight, and (3) how temperament might moderate the relationships between mother eating behaviors and mother and child weight. METHODS: The sample consisted of 220 mother-child dyads with children between 4 and 6 years of age (66.8% classified as low-, 25.9% middle-, and 5.5% high-income). Mothers completed questionnaires on their own temperament and eating behaviors as well as child temperament. Weight measures were assessed in the laboratory for both mother and child. RESULTS: Mother's negative affectivity and impulsivity were negatively related to mother's weight while children's impulsivity was positively related to children's and mother's weight. Mother's eating behaviors were also positively related to mother's weight. The interaction between child impulsivity and mother eating behaviors was significant; the association of mother eating behaviors with mother weight depended on child impulsivity. Specifically, when children had higher impulsivity, mothers had the highest weight. When children had average or lower impulsivity, mother weight was higher with higher endorsement of unhealthy eating behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that after adjusting for the interdependent nature of temperament traits and weight, child impulsivity is an important factor associated with current weight for both mothers and children. Results also provide important implications for the impact children can have on their mothers.

Are Daily Well-Being and Emotional Reactivity to Stressors Modifiable in Midlife?: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Social Intelligence Training Program.

The complex set of challenges that middle-aged adults encounter emphasizes a need for mental health interventions that promote resilience and positive outcomes. The present study evaluated whether an online, self-guided social intelligence training (SIT) program (8 h) improved midlife adults' daily well-being and emotion regulation in the context of their own naturalistic everyday environment. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 230 midlife adults allocated into either a SIT program or an attentional control (AC) condition that focused on healthy lifestyle education. Intent-to-treat analyses examined two bursts of 14-day daily surveys that participants completed pre- and post-treatment. Multilevel models evaluated pre-to post-treatment changes in mean positive and negative affect, as well as daily emotional reactivity to stressors and responsiveness to uplifts. Compared to the AC group, those in the SIT program reported improvements (i.e., decreases) in mean negative affect, positive emotional reactivity to daily stressors (i.e., smaller decreases in positive affect on stressor days), and negative emotional responsiveness to uplifts (i.e., lower negative affect on days without uplifts). Our discussion considers potential mechanisms underlying these improvements, highlights downstream effects on midlife functioning, and elaborates on how online delivery of the SIT program increases its potential for positive outcomes across adulthood. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03824353.

A Polygenic Risk Score Enhances Risk Prediction for Adolescents' Antisocial Behavior over the Combined Effect of 22 Extra-familial, Familial, and Individual Risk Factors in the Context of the Family Check-Up.

Possessing informative tools to predict who is most at risk for antisocial behavior in adolescence is important to help identify families most in need of early intervention. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) have been shown to predict antisocial behavior, but it remains unclear whether PRSs provide additional benefit above more conventional tools to early risk detection for antisocial behavior. This study examined the utility of a PRS in predicting adolescents' antisocial behavior after accounting for a broad index of children's contextual and individual risk factors for antisocial behavior. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal family-based prevention study (N = 463; Ncontrol = 224; 48.8% girls; 45.1% White; 30.2% Black; 12.7% Hispanic/Latino, 10.4% biracial; 0.2% Native American). Participants were recruited from US-based Women, Infants, and Children Nutritional Supplement programs. A risk tolerance PRS was created from a genome-wide association study. We created a robust measure capturing additive effects of 22 conventional measures of a risk of antisocial behavior assessed at child age 2 (before intervention). A latent variable capturing antisocial behavior (ages 10.5-16) was created. After accounting for intervention status and the conventional risk index, the risk tolerance PRS predicted independent variance in antisocial behavior. A PRS-by-conventional risk interaction showed that the conventional risk measure only predicted antisocial behavior at high levels of the PRS. Thus, the risk tolerance PRS provides unique predictive information above conventional screening tools and, when combined with them, identified a higher-risk subgroup of children. Integrating PRSs could facilitate risk identification and, ultimately, prevention screening, particularly in settings unable to serve all individuals in need.

Trajectories of early childhood family instability and the development of externalizing behaviors from middle childhood to adolescence: A prospective study of at-risk families.

This study examined associations between trajectories of family instability across early childhood and trajectories of externalizing behaviors from middle childhood to adolescence. Growth mixture models were fit to annual caregiver reports of instability from child ages 2-5 (N = 731; 49% girls, 50% White). A curve of factors model was fit to externalizing behaviors from child ages 7.5-14. Chronic, elevated instability across early childhood predicted elevated externalizing behaviors from middle childhood to adolescence. Data collection spanned from 2002 to 2017. Increasing or declining levels of instability predicted elevated externalizing behaviors in middle to late childhood, but not in adolescence. Caregiver depressive symptoms mediated the association between instability and the externalizing behavior intercept. Intervening on chronic instability may reduce child externalizing problems.

Genotype-environment correlation by intervention effects underlying middle childhood peer rejection and associations with adolescent marijuana use.

Aggressive behavior in middle childhood can contribute to peer rejection, subsequently increasing risk for substance use in adolescence. However, the quality of peer relationships a child experiences can be associated with his or her genetic predisposition, a genotype-environment correlation (rGE). In addition, recent evidence indicates that psychosocial preventive interventions can buffer genetic predispositions for negative behavior. The current study examined associations between polygenic risk for aggression, aggressive behavior, and peer rejection from 8.5 to 10.5 years, and the subsequent influence of peer rejection on marijuana use in adolescence (n = 515; 256 control, 259 intervention). Associations were examined separately in control and intervention groups for children of families who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the family-based preventive intervention, the Family Check-Up . Using time-varying effect modeling (TVEM), polygenic risk for aggression was associated with peer rejection from approximately age 8.50 to 9.50 in the control group but no associations were present in the intervention group. Subsequent analyses showed peer rejection mediated the association between polygenic risk for aggression and adolescent marijuana use in the control group. The role of rGEs in middle childhood peer processes and implications for preventive intervention programs for adolescent substance use are discussed.

Childhood inhibition predicts adolescent social anxiety: Findings from a longitudinal twin study.

An enduring issue in the study of mental health is identifying developmental processes that explain how childhood characteristics progress to maladaptive forms. We examine the role that behavioral inhibition (BI) has on social anxiety (SA) during adolescence in 868 families of twins assessed at ages 8, 13, and 15 years. Multimodal assessments of BI and SA were completed at each phase, with additional measures (e.g., parenting stress) for parents and twins. Analyses were conducted in several steps: first, we used a cross-lagged panel model to demonstrate bidirectional paths between BI and SA; second a biometric Cholesky decomposition showed that both genetic and environmental influences on childhood BI also affect adolescent SA; next, multilevel phenotypic models tested moderation effects between BI and SA. We tested seven potential moderators of the BI to SA prediction in individual models and included only those that emerged as significant in a final conditional model examining predictors of SA. Though several main effects emerged as significant, only parenting stress had a significant interaction with BI to predict SA, highlighting the importance of environmental moderators in models examining temperamental effects on later psychological symptoms. This comprehensive assessment continues to build the prototype for such developmental psychopathology models.

Developmental genetic effects on externalizing behavior and alcohol use: Examination across two longitudinal samples.

Externalizing behavior in early adolescence is associated with alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood and these behaviors often emerge as part of a developmental sequence. This pattern can be the result of heterotypic continuity, in which different behaviors emerge over time based on an underlying shared etiology. In particular, there is largely a shared genetic etiology underlying externalizing and substance use behaviors. We examined whether polygenic risk for alcohol use disorder predicted (1) externalizing behavior in early adolescence and alcohol use in adolescence in the Early Steps Multisite sample and (2) externalizing behavior in adolescence and alcohol use in early adulthood in the Project Alliance 1 (PAL1) sample. We examined associations separately for African Americans and European Americans. When examining European Americans in the Early Steps sample, greater polygenic risk was associated with externalizing behavior in early adolescence. In European Americans in PAL1, we found greater polygenic risk was associated with alcohol use in early adulthood. Effects were largely absent in African Americans in both samples. Results imply that genetic predisposition for alcohol use disorder may increase risk for externalizing and alcohol use as these behaviors emerge developmentally.

Withdrawn and Acting out?: Early Adolescents' Social Avoidance and Externalizing Problems.

Relative to other motivations of social withdrawal (i.e., shyness, unsociability), social avoidance is understudied. Furthermore, the relation between social avoidance and externalizing problems seldom has been investigated despite reasons to expect an association. We examined the association between social avoidance and externalizing problems using a sample of early adolescents in the United States using parents' reports (N = 294; 54.1% boys; M age = 12.43 years). Supporting our hypotheses, structural equation models indicated that social avoidance positively predicted concurrent externalizing problems, controlling for shyness, unsociability, and internalizing problems (including depression and anxiety). Findings highlight that socially avoidant adolescents' behaviors may include avoiding others as well as acting out. Longitudinal work is needed to examine the potential bidirectional relations between social avoidance and externalizing problems.

Indirect Associations between Middle-Childhood Externalizing Behaviors and Adolescent Substance Use through Late-Childhood Exposure to Violence.

Longitudinal research to understand individual risk factors in childhood associated with exposure to violence and substance use is needed to inform prevention efforts. The present study tested indirect associations between age 8.5 externalizing behaviors and age 16 substance use through age 9.5 violence victimization and witnessing. Participants were 650 racially diverse (48.6% European American, 28.1% African American, 13.3% multiracial, and 10.0% other), predominantly socioeconomically disadvantaged youth (49% female). Externalizing behaviors were associated with higher levels of violence victimization and witnessing. The indirect path from externalizing behaviors to substance use was significant through victimization but not witnessing violence. Interventions aimed at reducing early externalizing behaviors may reduce risk for violence victimization, which may, in turn, reduce risk for adolescent substance use.

Early Life Socioeconomic Differences in Associations between Childhood Sleep and Academic Performance.

Poor sleep can negatively impact children's academic performance. However, it is unknown whether early-life socioeconomic status (SES) moderates later sleep and academics. We tested associations between actigraphy-based sleep duration and midpoint time, and parent-reported sleep problems with objective and subjective measures of academic performance. We also examined whether relations varied by early and concurrent SES. Children (n=707; 52% female; M age=8.44 years; 28.7% Hispanic/Latinx; 29.7% at/below poverty line) were assessed at 12 months for SES and eight years for SES, sleep, and academics. There were no main effects of sleep on academics. More sleep problems predicted lower Applied Problems performance for low SES children (b=-.73, p<.05) and better performance for high SES children (b=.69, p<.05). For high SES children, greater sleep problems (b=-.11, p<.05) and longer sleep duration (b=-.11, p<.05) predicted lower academic achievement. However, most associations were consistent across SES, illustrating the complex interplay between sleep, academic outcomes, and SES.

Harsh Parenting Predicts Novel HPA Receptor Gene Methylation and NR3C1 Methylation Predicts Cortisol Daily Slope in Middle Childhood.

Adverse experiences in childhood are associated with altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function and negative health outcomes throughout life. It is now commonly accepted that abuse and neglect can alter epigenetic regulation of HPA genes. Accumulated evidence suggests harsh parenting practices such as spanking are also strong predictors of negative health outcomes. We predicted harsh parenting at 2.5 years old would predict HPA gene DNA methylation similarly to abuse and neglect, and cortisol output at 8.5 years old. Saliva samples were collected three times a day across 3 days to estimate cortisol diurnal slopes. Methylation was quantified using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC array BeadChip (850 K) with DNA collected from buccal cells. We used principal components analysis to compute a summary statistic for CpG sites across candidate genes. The first and second components were used as outcome variables in mixed linear regression analyses with harsh parenting as a predictor variable. We found harsh parenting significantly predicted methylation of several HPA axis genes, including novel gene associations with AVPRB1, CRHR1, CRHR2, and MC2R (FDR corrected p < 0.05). Further, we found NR3C1 methylation predicted a steeper diurnal cortisol slope. Our results extend the current literature by demonstrating harsh parenting may influence DNA methylation similarly to more extreme early life experiences such as abuse and neglect. Further, we show NR3C1 methylation is associated with diurnal HPA function. Elucidating the molecular consequences of harsh parenting on health can inform best parenting practices and provide potential treatment targets for common complex disorders.

Elucidating the Links Between Mother and Father Alcohol Use Disorder and Adolescent Externalizing Psychopathology: A Test of Transmission Specificity Within Competing Factor Structures and Genetic and Environmental Liabilities.

Parental alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a substantiated risk factor for adolescent externalizing psychopathology; however, the level of specificity at which risk from parental AUD is transmitted to adolescent offspring should be interrogated further. The current study modeled competing factor structures of psychopathology in a sample of 502 adolescent twin pairs (Mage = 13.24 years) and tested associations with mother and father AUD. The bifactor model exhibited the best fit to the data when contrasted with correlated factors and general factor models. Paternal AUD predicted the externalizing and internalizing correlated factors, the adolescent P-factor but not the residual externalizing and internalizing factors, and the general factor. No significant associations with maternal AUD were noted. Lastly, the latent factors of adolescent psychopathology were all moderately heritable (h2 = 0.44-0.59) and influenced by the nonshared environment. Shared genetic factors primarily explained externalizing and internalizing covariance. Findings suggest that efforts to mitigate risk in offspring of fathers exhibiting AUD require broader approaches that address the full range of adolescent symptomology.

Genetic Moderation of the Association Between Early Family Instability and Trajectories of Aggressive Behaviors from Middle Childhood to Adolescence.

The present study tested models of polygenic by environment interaction between early childhood family instability and polygenic risk for aggression predicting developmental trajectories of aggression from middle childhood to adolescence. With a longitudinal sample of 515 racially and ethnically diverse children from low-income families, primary caregivers reported on multiple components of family instability annually from child ages 2-5 years. A conservative polygenic risk score (p = 0.05) was generated based on a prior meta-genome wide association study. Trajectories of aggression were identified using a curve of factors model based on a composite of primary caregiver, alternate caregiver, and teacher reports at five ages from 7.5 to 14 years. The family instability by polygenic interaction predicted growth in children's aggression such that children with lower levels of family instability and lower polygenic risk exhibited a steeper decline in aggression from 7.5 to 14. Findings support the need to model gene-environment interplay to elucidate the role of genetics in the development of aggressive behaviors.

Predictors and Consequences of Pediatric Pain Symptom Trajectories: A 14-Year Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study had three primary objectives. First, pain trajectory from early childhood to early adolescence were modeled. Second, we examined how early childhood individual-, parental-, and family-level factors predict pain trajectories. Third, we evaluated consequences of pain trajectories in terms of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and substance use at age 16 years. DESIGN: The current paper is a secondary data analysis of a multisite longitudinal study. A total of 731 children and their families were followed from ages 2 to 16 years. METHODS: A growth mixture model (GMM) was used to identify pain trajectories from ages 2 to 14 years. RESULTS: The GMM revealed three distinct pain trajectories: (1) Low Pain Symptom (n = 572); (2) Increasing Pain Symptom (n = 106); and (3) U-shaped Pain Symptom (n = 53). Children who experienced greater harsh parenting and sleep disturbances in early childhood were more likely to belong to the Increasing Pain Symptom group, and those with greater anxious-depressed symptoms at age 2 years were more likely to belong to the U-shaped Pain Symptom group than the Low Pain Symptom group. Additionally, those youth in the Increasing Pain Symptom group, compared to the Low and U-shaped Pain Symptom groups, showed elevated anxiety symptoms at age 16 years. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing harsh parenting and children's sleep disturbances could be important targets for preventing pediatric pain problems. Children with increasing pain symptoms may also benefit from learning adaptive pain management skills to lower the risk of developing anxiety problems in late adolescence.

Infant Temperament Profiles, Cultural Orientation, and Toddler Behavioral and Physiological Regulation in Mexican-American Families.

This study sought to (a) replicate infant temperament profiles from predominantly White samples in a sample of low-income, predominantly first-generation Mexican-American families, (b) investigate associations between infant temperament profiles and toddler behavioral and physiological regulation, and (c) explore whether mothers' cultural orientation would moderate those associations. Mothers and infants (n = 322; 46% male) were assessed during pregnancy and at infant ages 9, 12, and 24 months. Latent profile analysis yielded three temperament profiles that were consistent with those from extant research. Compared to the high positive affect, well-regulated profile, the negative reactive, low regulated profile was associated with poorer behavioral and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia) regulation, but associations depended on mothers' Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation.

Second-by-second infant and mother emotion regulation and coregulation processes.

Context-appropriate infant physiological functioning may support emotion regulation and mother-infant emotion coregulation. Among a sample of 210 low-income Mexican-origin mothers and their 24-week-old infants, dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) was used to examine whether within-infant vagal functioning accounted for between-dyad differences in within-dyad second-by-second emotion regulation and coregulation during free play. Vagal functioning was captured by within-infant mean and variability (standard deviation) of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during free play. Infant emotion regulation was quantified as emotional equilibria (within-person mean), volatility (within-person deviation from equilibrium), carryover (how quickly equilibrium is restored following a disturbance), and feedback loops (the extent to which prior affect dampens or amplifies subsequent affect) in positive and negative affect during free play; coregulation was quantified as the influence of one partner's affect on the other's subsequent affect. Among infants with lower RSA variability, positive affect fluctuated around a higher equilibrium, and negative affect fluctuated around a lower equilibrium; these infants exhibited feedback loops where their positive affect dampened their subsequent negative affect. As expected, infants with higher mean RSA exhibited more volatility in positive affect, feedback loops between their positive and negative affect, and stronger mother-driven emotion coregulation. The results highlight differences in simultaneously occurring biological and emotion regulation.