Maternal suicide risk predicts preschooler emotional and behavioral problems.

Maternal history of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) has been identified as a robust risk factor for offspring emotional and behavioral problems, including risk for offspring STBs. The impact of maternal history of STBs has been well-documented in adolescent and young adult samples, with emerging research highlighting the need to examine early clinical correlates of risk in young children, prior to the emergence of STBs. In an extension of prior work, the current study examined associations between maternal history of STBs and previously identified emotional and behavioral correlates of STBs (negative affect, internalizing problems, attention problems, aggressive behavior) in young children. These associations were examined in a mother-preschooler sample (n = 158, mean preschooler age=41.52 months) with approximately half of mothers endorsing a history of STBs and 20 % of the sample scoring at the threshold that indicates suicide risk. In multivariate models, maternal history of STBs was significantly associated with preschooler aggressive behavior, assessed via mother- (ß=0.19) and teacher-report (ß=0.21), as well as mother-reported negative affect (ß=0.22). Results document a link between maternal history of STBs and increased risk for heightened negative affect and aggressive behavior at home and school during the sensitive preschool period. Findings are discussed within the context of enhancing models of intergenerational transmission suicide risk.

Adolescent, Parent, and Provider Perceptions of a Predictive Algorithm to Identify Adolescent Suicide Risk in Primary Care.

OBJECTIVE: To understand adolescent, parent, and provider perceptions of a machine learning algorithm for detecting adolescent suicide risk prior to its implementation primary care. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured, qualitative interviews with adolescents (n = 9), parents (n = 12), and providers (n = 10; mixture of behavioral health and primary care providers) across two major health systems. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed with analyses supported by use of NVivo. A codebook was developed combining codes derived inductively from interview transcripts and deductively from implementation science frameworks for content analysis. RESULTS: Reactions to the algorithm were mixed. While many participants expressed privacy concerns, they believed the algorithm could be clinically useful for identifying adolescents at risk for suicide and facilitating follow-up. Parents' past experiences with their adolescents' suicidal thoughts and behaviors contributed to their openness to the algorithm. Results also aligned with several key Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research domains. For example, providers mentioned barriers inherent to the primary care setting such as time and resource constraints likely to impact algorithm implementation. Participants also cited a climate of mistrust of science and health care as potential barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings shed light on factors that warrant consideration to promote successful implementation of suicide predictive algorithms in pediatric primary care. By attending to perspectives of potential end users prior to the development and testing of the algorithm, we can ensure that the risk prediction methods will be well-suited to the providers who would be interacting with them and the families who could benefit.

Is BMI a Useful Indicator of Prenatal Health Among Black American Women?

OBJECTIVE: BMI is commonly used to measure risk to prenatal health but may not be sensitive to adiposity-associated health problems for Black women. The aim of the present study was to test associations between indices of prenatal health and BMI in Black women. METHODS: Data were from 652 women enrolled in two studies. Height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Depression and perceived stress were measured via maternal report, systemic inflammation via C-reactive protein (CRP), and nutrition by the ratio of omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid to omega-6 arachidonic acid fatty acids. RESULTS: Neither perceived stress, depression, nor fatty acids were associated with prenatal BMI. CRP levels were positively associated with BMI (beta = 6.56, t = 13.30, p < .001). The prevalence of high-risk levels of CRP (> 3 mg/L) was below 10% for all weight classes except for BMI ≥ 40. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that BMI may not be a sensitive index of adiposity related risk to prenatal health for Black women.

The Relative Importance of Psychopathy Features as Predictors of Externalizing Behaviors in Youth: A Multimethod Examination.

Research in youth psychopathy has focused heavily on the affective features (i.e., callous-unemotional [CU] traits) given robust links to severe and chronic forms of externalizing behaviors. Recently, there have been calls to expand the scope of work in this area to examine the importance of other interpersonal (i.e., antagonism) and behavioral (i.e., disinhibition) features of psychopathy. In the present study, we apply an under-utilized statistical approach (i.e., dominance analysis) to assess the relative importance of CU traits, antagonism, and disinhibition in the prediction of externalizing behaviors in youth, cross-sectionally and at 9-month follow-up. Using a multi-informant (youth- and parent-report), multi-method (questionnaire, ecological momentary assessment [EMA]) preregistered approach in a diverse sample of clinically referred youth (Mage = 12.60 years, SD = .95 years, 47% female; 61% racial/ethnic minority), we found youth- and parent-reported psychopathy features accounted for a significant proportion of variance in externalizing behavior cross-sectionally and longitudinally. However, results provided limited support for our preregistered hypotheses. While antagonism and disinhibition had larger general dominance weights relative to CU traits for both youth- and parent-report, most differences were non-significant. Thus, the interpersonal, affective, and behavioral psychopathy features could not be distinguished from one another in terms of their importance in the prediction of externalizing behavior, assessed cross-sectionally or longitudinally. Taken together, the results highlight promising avenues for future research on the relative importance of youth psychopathy features.

Maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity to frustration interact to predict teacher-reported aggression among at-risk preschoolers.

BACKGROUND: Aggression is a transdiagnostic indicator of risk and represents one of the most common reasons children are referred for mental health treatment. Theory and research highlight the impact of maternal invalidation on child aggression and suggest that its influence may vary based on differences in child physiological reactivity. Moreover, the interaction between these risk factors may be particularly pronounced among children of mothers with emotion regulation (ER) difficulties. The current study examined the independent and interactive effects of maternal invalidation and child physiological reactivity to frustration on teacher-reported aggression in an at-risk sample of preschool children. METHOD: Participants included 77 mothers (Mage = 33.17 years, s.d. = 4.83; 35% racial/ethnic minority) and their children (Mage = 42.48 months; s.d. = 3.78; 56% female; 47% racial/ethnic minority). Groups of mothers with and without clinician-rated ER difficulties reported on maternal invalidation, and child respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was assessed continuously during a frustration task as an indicator of physiological reactivity. Teachers or daycare providers reported on child aggression. RESULTS: Results demonstrated positive associations between maternal ER difficulties and both maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity to frustration. As expected, the interaction between maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity was significant, such that higher maternal invalidation and greater child RSA reactivity to frustration predicted more aggression in a daycare or preschool setting. Importantly, this effect was demonstrated while controlling for demographic covariates and baseline RSA. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are in line with diathesis-stress and biosocial models of risk and point to multiple targets for prevention and early intervention.

The role of youths' cardiac autonomic balance and parental responses to youth emotion in vulnerability to borderline personality disorder development.

Developmental models of borderline personality disorder (BPD) emphasize the effects of youths' biological vulnerabilities and their experiences of parental responses to emotion, as well as the interaction between these two elements. The current study evaluated the independent and interactive effects of two indices of autonomic nervous system response and parental responses to youth negative emotions on severity and exacerbation of youths' BPD features during the transition to adolescence. The sample consisted of 162 psychiatric youth (10-14 years; 47.2% female) and their parents. At baseline, youth and their parents completed a lab-based conflict discussion during which parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system response were measured and indices of sympathetic-parasympathetic balance and coactivation/coinhibition were calculated. Youth also reported on supportive and non-supportive parental responses. At baseline and after 9 months, youth self-reported on their BPD features. Results demonstrated that shifting toward sympathetic dominance independently predicted exacerbation of BPD across 9 months. Additionally, fewer experiences of supportive parental responses and more non-supportive parental responses were associated with greater severity of BPD features in youth. This study highlights the role of autonomic response to parent-child conflict as well as the significance of parental responses to youth emotion for the development of BPD during this developmental window.

Associations between trajectories of adolescent conduct problems and psychological well-being in young women.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the clinical relevance, little is known about variability in positive adult outcomes (i.e., flourishing, life satisfaction) of female adolescent conduct problems (CP), or interpersonal factors that promote these types of well-being. We hypothesized differential associations between adolescent CP trajectories and indicators of adult well-being due to level of positive relationships with caregivers during ages 12-17. METHOD: Data were drawn from participants (N = 1965) of the Pittsburgh Girls Study, a longitudinal study of girls' development. Caregiver reported CP, adolescent reports of parental trust and positive parenting, and adolescent-reported peer delinquency were assessed annually between ages 12-17. Well-being in young adulthood was measured using self-reported flourishing and life satisfaction between ages 18-22. RESULTS: Latent class growth analysis of adolescent CP revealed four trajectories characterized as low stable (20.0%), moderate stable (63.9%), adolescent-onset (8.1%), and high quadratic (8.0%). Main effects of trust and positive relationships with caregivers during adolescence on well-being in early adulthood were found. Positive parenting was found to moderate the association between CP trajectory and flourishing. The magnitude of the negative association between the high quadratic trajectory group and life satisfaction decreased as positive parenting increased. CONCLUSION: These results support the importance of intervention in adolescence to focus on increasing trusting and positive relationships with caregivers for all females, as this may increase well-being in adulthood regardless of adolescent CP history.

Mutualistic processes in the development of psychopathology: The special case of borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness characterized by instability in affective, cognitive, and interpersonal domains. BPD co-occurs with several mental disorders and has robust, positive associations with the general factors of psychopathology (p-factor) and personality disorders (g-PD). Consequently, some researchers have purported BPD to be a marker of p, such that the core features of BPD reflect a generalized liability to psychopathology. This assertion has largely stemmed from cross-sectional evidence and no research to date has explicated the developmental relationships between BPD and p. The present study aimed to investigate the development of BPD traits and the p-factor by examining predictions of two opposing frameworks: dynamic mutualism theory and the common cause theory. Competing theories were evaluated to determine which perspective best accounted for the relationship of BPD and p from adolescence into young adulthood. Data were drawn from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS; N = 2,450) and included yearly self-assessments of BPD and other internalizing and externalizing indices from ages 14 to 21. Theories were examined using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) and network models. Results indicated that neither dynamic mutualism nor the common cause theory could fully explain the developmental relations between BPD and p. Instead, both frameworks were partially supported, with p found to strongly predict within-person change in BPD at several ages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Are We Thinking about the Same Disorder? A Trifactor Model Approach to Understand Parents' and Their Adolescents' Reports of Borderline Personality Pathology.

Multiple informant assessment is the norm when evaluating borderline personality pathology (BPP) in adolescence, especially by including reports from both parents and adolescents. However, these reports tend to be discrepant, and it is unclear how to integrate. The current study used a trifactor model to isolate sources of variance in parents' and adolescents' reports of BPP due to their shared and unique perspectives in a sample of 652 inpatient adolescents (63% female; Mage = 15.31, SD = 1.45) and their parents (81% mothers). Consensus/agreement was characterized by the externalizing features of BPP whereas idiosyncratic views of adolescent BPP covered the full latent BPP construct, suggesting that simple aggregation of parent and adolescent reports is inappropriate. Measurement invariance suggested that unique perspectives were characterized by slightly different operationalizations of BPP and response biases for specific features of BPP. Attachment security and parents' interpersonal problems predicted shared and unique perspectives differently for female and male adolescents. Lastly, we found that shared and unique perspectives differentially predicted interview based BPP, length of stay, and adolescent mentalizing. In sum, findings replicate previous evidence of parent-child informant discrepancy in youth psychopathology, broadly, and provide insights specific to BPP. Discussion includes practical recommendations for assessment and interpretation of BPP assessment.

The general psychopathology factor (p) from adolescence to adulthood: Exploring the developmental trajectories of p using a multi-method approach.

Considerable attention has been directed towards studying co-occurring psychopathology through the lens of a general factor (p-factor). However, the developmental trajectory and stability of the p-factor have yet to be fully understood. The present study examined the explanatory power of dynamic mutualism theory - an alternative framework that suggests the p-factor is a product of lower-level symptom interactions that strengthen throughout development. Data were drawn from a population-based sample of girls (N = 2450) who reported on the severity of internalizing and externalizing problems each year from age 14 to age 21. Predictions of dynamic mutualism were tested using three distinct complementary statistical approaches including: longitudinal bifactor models, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), and network models. Across methods, study results document preliminary support for mutualistic processes in the development of co-occurring psychopathology (that is captured in p). Findings emphasize the importance of exploring alternative frameworks and methods for better understanding the p-factor and its development.

Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among At-Risk Preschoolers: The Mediating Role of Maternal Invalidation.

Children of parents with emotion regulation (ER) difficulties may be at heightened risk for internalizing and externalizing problems, and maternal invalidation may explain this association. The current study used a cross-informant design to test the indirect effect of clinician-rated maternal ER difficulties on teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing problems through maternal invalidation. This risk pathway was tested in two groups of preschoolers: children of mothers with ER difficulties and children of mothers without ER difficulties (healthy controls; HC). Participants were 85 mothers (Mage =33.30 years; 36% racial/ethnic minoritized status) and their children (Mage =4234 months; 47% racial/ethnic minoritized status). Maternal ER difficulties had a significant indirect effect on child internalizing problems and externalizing problems, specifically aggressive behavior, through maternal invalidation. Specifically, mothers with ER difficulties reported more maternal invalidation, and their children exhibited more internalizing problems and aggressive behavior in a preschool/daycare setting, pointing to multiple avenues for prevention and intervention.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, alternative model conceptualization of borderline personality disorder: A review of the evidence.

In the 10 years following the publishing of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), studies have accumulated testing the validity and utility of the alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD) in the context of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this article, we review the studies that have tested how well the AMPD conceptualization of BPD captures the traditional (DSM-5, Section II) conceptualization of BPD. Although we note that studies that measure the full conceptualization of the AMPD-BPD are limited compared with studies focusing on a single aspect of the AMPD, studies reviewed suggest that the AMPD conceptualization of BPD largely overlaps with Section II, is associated with a similar range of external constructs, and can be measured with similar levels of interrater reliability. This evidence is promising in terms of the goal of the AMPD developers to not lose relevant and clinically meaningful information associated with traditional conceptualizations of BPD. However, further applied research is needed to understand how the AMPD may improve upon our existing categorical conceptualization of BPD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Momentary borderline personality disorder symptoms in youth as a function of parental invalidation and youth-perceived support.

BACKGROUND: Parental invalidation is central to etiological models of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Previous studies relied on retrospective accounts or laboratory observations to examine these associations. There is a dearth of research assessing these constructs in daily life, and limited studies have tested the effect of parental invalidation on BPD symptoms during early adolescence, when BPD onsets. The current study took a dynamic approach to assess parents' validating and invalidating behavior and its effect on youths' BPD symptom expression in daily life, while accounting for parent-perceived helpfulness of these behaviors and youth-perceived support. METHODS: A psychiatric sample of 162 early adolescents (age range = 10-14 years; 47% female) and their parent completed a four-day ecological momentary assessment study. Parents reported on the use of validating and invalidating (e.g. punishing and ignoring) behaviors during parent-child conflict, as well as perceived helpfulness of these behaviors. Youth reported on their BPD symptoms and perceived parental support. Multilevel models were used to test the between- and within-person effects of parents' validating and invalidating behaviors, parent-perceived helpfulness and youth-perceived support, and their interaction on youth's momentary expression of BPD symptoms. RESULTS: At the between-person level, invalidating behaviors, specifically punishing behaviors, were related to greater BPD symptoms in daily life, while ignoring behaviors were associated with fewer BPD symptoms. Youth-perceived support predicted fewer BPD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Results underscore the importance of parental invalidation for the expression of BPD symptoms in daily life and also highlight the importance of youth's subjective experience of parental support. Findings are discussed in terms of etiological and intervention models that emphasize a dyadic framework.

Profiles of young women's alcohol and cannabis use linked to risk for sexually transmitted infection highlight the importance of multi-level targeted interventions: Findings from the Pittsburgh girls study.

Background: Social ecological models designed to understand disparities in sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence highlight understudied structural and community risk factors. Guided by a social ecological model, this study identified profiles based on substance use-related STI risk, and examined associations of the profiles with selected indicators of structural-, community-, and individual-level STI risk factors. Methods: Repeated measures latent class analysis was applied to Pittsburgh Girls Study data (n = 2,138; 58% Black, 42% White) at ages 18-20. Profile indicators included: women's and partner's alcohol and cannabis use, women's sexual risk behavior, and self-reported STI. Profile predictors included racial background, structural-, community-, and individual-level risk factors. Results: Two of the five identified profiles had low STI likelihood: "Low Use" of alcohol and cannabis (25.5%; overrepresented by Black women), and "Alcohol Only" (19.1%; overrepresented by White women). Three profiles, all representing co-use of alcohol and cannabis, had higher STI likelihood: "Co-Use: Increasing Alcohol and Occasional Cannabis use" (16.5%; overrepresented by White women), "Co-Use: Occasional Alcohol and Cannabis use" (26.1%; overrepresented by Black women), and "Co-Use: Frequent Cannabis and Occasional Alcohol use" (12.8%; overrepresented by Black women). Structural STI risk (household use of public assistance at wave 1) was associated with "Low Use" and "Co-Use: Frequent Cannabis and Occasional Alcohol use" profiles. STI risk at multiple levels (structural, neighborhood, individual) was associated with the "Co-Use: Frequent Cannabis and Occasional Alcohol use" profile. Conclusions: Co-use of alcohol and cannabis is an important target for STI prevention efforts. Results also highlight structural- and community-level STI risk factors that disproportionately impact Black women, and the importance of multi-level interventions that are targeted to profile of risk to optimize the effectiveness of interventions.

Capturing the dynamic nature of stress exposure in the Pittsburgh Girls Study.

BACKGROUND: The science of stress exposure and health in humans has been hampered by differences in operational definitions of exposures and approaches to defining timing, leading to results that lack consistency and specificity. In the present study we aim to empirically derive variability in type, timing and chronicity of stress exposure for Black and White females using prospectively collected data in the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS). METHODS: The PGS is an ongoing 20-year longitudinal, community-based study. In this paper we focused on annual caregiver reports of three domains of stress: subsistence (e.g., resource strain, overcrowding); safety (e.g., community violence, inter-adult aggression), and caregiving (e.g., separation, maternal depression) from early childhood through adolescence. Z-scores were used to conduct a finite mixture model-based latent class trajectory analysis. Model fit was compared using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). We examined differences in timing and chronicity of stress exposure between Black and White girls. RESULTS: Distinct trajectory groups characterized by differential timing and chronicity of stress exposure were observed across all stress domains. Six trajectories characterized subsistence and safety stress, and five characterized caregiving stress. Variability in initial level, chronicity, and magnitude and timing of change was observed within and across domains of stressors. Race differences also varied across the domains: race differences in timing and chronicity were most pronounced for the subsistence and safety domains, whereas Black and White girls had similar levels of exposure to caregiving stress. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial variability in timing and chronicity was observed within and across stress domains. Modeling specific domains and dimensions of stress exposure is likely important in testing associations between exposure and health; such specificity may lead to more effective deployment of preventive interventions based on stress exposure.

Changes in severity of depression and borderline personality disorder symptoms from pregnancy to three years postpartum in adolescent mothers.

BACKGROUND: The transition to motherhood is associated with the emergence or exacerbation of symptoms of emotional distress disorders for many women. Although adolescence is a developmental period of increased risk for mood disorders and emotion dysregulation among women, little is known about changes in emotional distress across the early postpartum years among adolescent mothers. We tested the hypothesis that symptoms of depression and borderline personality disorder (BPD) would differ between pregnant and non-pregnant adolescents, and that these differences would be maintained in the three years following delivery. METHODS: Data were drawn from the longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study: 307 adolescent mothers (14-18 years) and 307 never-pregnant adolescents, matched on age, race and household receipt of public assistance, self-reported severity of depression and BPD across four years. RESULTS: There were no group differences on depression severity during or after pregnancy. However, compared with their non-pregnant peers, pregnant adolescents reported more severe BPD symptoms even after comorbid depression symptoms were accounted for, and this group difference was sustained during the following three years. LIMITATIONS: Findings are based on a community sample rather than a clinical sample, which may have limited the severity of symptoms captured. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that adolescent mothers are a high-risk group for BPD symptoms during and after pregnancy, highlighting pregnancy as a critical window of opportunity to reduce morbidity among young mothers and potential negative effects on the next generation.

Pain, eating behavior, and weight outcomes in adolescent girls.

OBJECTIVE: In adults, pain is prospectively associated with overweight/obesity and concurrently associated with dysregulated eating, with evidence for stronger associations in women than men. This study aimed to evaluate whether similar associations among pain response, BMI, and loss of control (LOC) eating are also evident in adolescent girls. METHOD: Girls (n = 202) completed the cold pressor test (CPT) at age 10, and BMI and LOC eating were assessed annually from ages 10-16 years. Generalized linear models were used to test associations between pain tolerance (total immersion time) and threshold (latency to highest pain rating), and changes in BMI and LOC eating. RESULTS: Lower pain tolerance and threshold at age 10 were associated with increases in LOC eating from age 10 to 16 (tolerance: B < -.01, SE < .01, p = .005; threshold: B = -.03, SE = .01, p = .0118). No significant associations were observed between pain tolerance/threshold and increasing BMI. DISCUSSION: Pain responsivity in childhood is associated with increases in dysregulated eating from childhood to adolescence. These findings provide support for the early development of an interface between pain and eating behaviors.

Associations between physiological and self-reported indices of emotion dysregulation across varying levels of alcohol use among individuals with and without borderline personality disorder.

Emotional functioning can be assessed across multiple levels of analysis (e.g., subjective, physiological). The degree of concordance/discordance across such indices may mark psychopathology risk. The current study assessed associations between physiological and subjective indices of emotional responding among drinkers, with (n = 39) and without (n = 42) borderline personality disorder. Subjective changes in affect were assessed by calculating difference scores on the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule, administered before and following a lab-based stress task. Physiological dysregulation was indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity. We created Discordance Index scores to examine the direction and magnitude of misalignment. More frequent alcohol use was associated with greater discordance between RSA and positive affect changes (ß = -0.07, p-value = 0.009). Findings were confirmed with a response surface modeling analysis. Results highlight that individuals with greater discordance between indices of emotional responding may be at elevated risk for frequent alcohol use.

Applying new RDoC dimensions to the development of emotion regulation: Examining the influence of maternal emotion regulation on within-individual change in child emotion regulation.

While the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) acknowledges that environmental and developmental influences represent important elements of the RDoC framework, there is little specificity regarding how and when to systematically examine the impact of these dimensions on domains of function. The primary aims of this paper are to demonstrate the ways in which the RDoC can be expanded to include an explicit emphasis on 1) examining within-individual change in developmental processes over time and 2) evaluating the extent to which selective and measurable environmental influences drive meaningful change during key developmental periods. We provide data from an ongoing randomized control trial as a proof of concept to highlight how repeated assessments within an experimental intervention design affords the unique opportunity to test the impact of environmental influences on within-individual change. Using preliminary data from 77 mother-child dyads repeatedly assessed across 12 months during the preschool period, we demonstrate the influence of changes in maternal emotion regulation (ER) on within-individual growth in child ER and link that growth to fewer teacher-reported externalizing problems. In line with this Special Issue, findings are discussed within the context of expanding and clarifying the existing RDoC framework to explicitly incorporate environmental and developmental dimensions.

Determining the key childhood and adolescent risk factors for future BPD symptoms using regularized regression: comparison to depression and conduct disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Research has yielded factors considered critical to risk for borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, these factors overlap and are relevant to other disorders, like depression and conduct disorder (CD). Regularized regression, a machine learning approach, was developed to allow identification of the most important variables in large datasets with correlated predictors. We aimed to identify critical predictors of BPD symptoms in late adolescence (ages 16-18) and determine the specificity of factors to BPD versus disorders with putatively similar etiology. METHOD: We used a prospective longitudinal dataset (n = 2,450) of adolescent girls assessed on a range of clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors, highlighted by previous research on BPD. Predictors were grouped by developmental periods: late childhood (8-10) and early (11-13) and mid-adolescence (14-15), yielding 128 variables from 41 constructs. The same variables were used in models predicting depression and CD symptoms. RESULTS: The best-fitting model for BPD symptoms included 19 predictors and explained 33.2% of the variance. Five constructs - depressive and anxiety symptoms, self-control, harsh punishment, and poor social and school functioning - accounted for most of the variance explained. BPD was differentiated from CD by greater problems with mood and anxiety in BPD and differences in parenting risk factors. Whereas the biggest parenting risk for BPD was a punitive style of parenting, CD was predicted by both punitive and disengaged styles. BPD was differentiated from MDD by greater social problems and poor behavioral control in BPD. CONCLUSIONS: The best predictors of BPD symptoms in adolescence are features suggesting complex comorbidity, affective activation, and problems with self-control. Though some risk factors were non-specific (e.g., inattention), the disorders were distinguished in clinically significant ways.