Exposure to parental interpartner conflict in adolescence predicts sleep problems in emerging adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: Parental interpartner conflict is a highly prevalent form of family risk that is stressful for adolescents with ramifications for their sleep. Multiple studies have demonstrated that adolescents from high-conflict homes are at risk for sleep problems. Building on this literature, we conducted novel analyses and investigated whether exposure to interpartner conflict in adolescence predicts sleep problems in the subsequent developmental period of emerging adulthood. METHODS: We used a rigorous four-wave design spanning 8years (collected between 2012-2020). At wave 1, participants were 245 adolescents from diverse backgrounds (M age=15.74years; 67% White/European American, 33% Black/African American; 52% girls). Individuals participated again in their adolescence at wave 2 (M age=16.77) and wave 3 (M age=17.69). Participants returned for wave 4 in emerging adulthood (M age=22.97). Adolescents reported on their parents' interpartner conflict (intense and frequent conflict). Sleep duration (minutes) and quality (efficiency, long wake episodes) were measured using actigraphy. RESULTS: After controlling for autoregressive effects and several covariates, findings from a structural equation model revealed that greater exposure to parental interpartner conflict in adolescence predicted reduced sleep efficiency and more long wake episodes in emerging adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Results build on the literature to consider sleep in the family context and are among the first to illustrate that exposure to parental interpartner conflict in adolescence predicts sleep problems in emerging adulthood. Continued investigations into the antecedents of sleep problems in emerging adulthood may benefit from considering past exposure to family risk.

The legacy of harsh parenting: Enduring and sleeper effects on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing symptoms.

Guided by developmental models examining the legacy of childhood caregiving environments, we examined the longitudinal pattern of associations between harsh parenting and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms across late childhood to late adolescence. Participants included 199 youth (48.7% female, 65.3% White, 32.2% Black, 2.5% biracial) and their mothers and fathers from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds. The study utilized a multi-informant, longitudinal design including five waves of data (youths' mean ages were 9, 10, 11, 17, and 18 across waves). Harsh parenting at Age 9 predicted higher levels of (a) externalizing symptoms at Ages 11, 17, and 18 and (b) internalizing symptoms at Ages 17 and 18. Developmental sensitivity analyses revealed that the magnitude of the more distal association between early harsh parenting and later internalizing and externalizing symptoms was statistically stronger as compared to more proximal associations. Bidirectional analyses revealed that externalizing symptoms at Age 9 predicted harsh parenting at Ages 9, 10, 11, 17, and 18. Whereas links between harsh parenting and internalizing symptoms were consistent with a sleeper effects model, links between harsh parenting and externalizing symptoms provided some support for both enduring and sleeper effects models. Findings inform an understanding of youth developmental sensitivity to harsh parenting and the downstream consequences of harsh parenting. Results have important translational implications, including testing the long-term efficacy of therapeutic programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Parent-child boundary dissolution and children's psychological difficulties: A meta-analytic review.

Boundary dissolution has broadly been defined as the breakdown of boundaries and loss of psychological distinctiveness in the parent-child subsystem. Qualitative reviews have highlighted the developmental and clinical value of examining boundary dissolution as a multidimensional construct. Though prior work suggests patterns share minimal variance, research has yet to quantitatively synthesize the weighted effect of distinct patterns. The primary aim of this meta-analysis was to aggregate empirical research on associations between boundary dissolution patterns and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Four patterns of boundary dissolution were identified across developmental, clinical, and family systems literatures: (a) enmeshment-entanglement and blurring of the intergenerational parent-child boundary through psychologically controlling and intrusive behaviors, (b) disorganization-chaotic parent-child boundary (e.g., inexplicable, contradictory behaviors, and responses) reflecting no coherent pattern of relating, (c) caregiving-child functions as a caregiver providing parents with instrumental and emotional support and guidance, and (d) coerciveness-child operates as a disciplinarian or authoritarian to intimidate and control parents. The meta-analysis reviewed 478 studies. Although each boundary dissolution pattern was associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms, weighted effects across patterns significantly varied in magnitude. Regarding externalizing symptoms, the weighted effect of enmeshment was stronger relative to the weighted effect of caregiving. Turning to internalizing symptoms, the weighted effect of enmeshment was stronger than the weighted effect of caregiving and coerciveness. Additionally, the weighted effect of disorganization was stronger than the weighted effect of caregiving. The robustness of weighted effects depended on child, contextual, and methodological characteristics as well as time lag. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Trajectories of Actigraphy-Derived Sleep Duration, Quality, and Variability from Childhood to Adolescence: Downstream Effects on Mental Health.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: We examined growth trajectories of four actigraphy-derived sleep parameters (sleep minutes, sleep efficiency, and variability in sleep minutes and efficiency across a week of assessments) across childhood and adolescence and examined individual differences in trajectories according to participants' race/ethnicity and sex. We also assessed the predictive effect of growth trajectories of sleep parameters on growth trajectories of mental health outcomes and moderation by race and sex. METHOD: Youth (N=199, 49% female, 65% White, 32% Black, 3% biracial) and their parents participated in five waves of data (M ages were 9, 10, 11, 17, and 18 across waves). Participants were from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds. RESULTS: Across participants, sleep minutes, sleep efficiency, and variability in sleep minutes and efficiency demonstrated significant linear change across childhood and adolescence. Whereas sleep duration shortened over time, sleep efficiency improved. Youth exhibited increases in night-to-night variability in sleep minutes and reductions in night-to-night variability in sleep efficiency. Highlighting the importance of individual differences, some race- and sex-related effects emerged. Black youth and male youth experienced steeper declines in their sleep duration across development relative to their respective counterparts. Black youth also demonstrated smaller improvements in sleep efficiency and greater variability in sleep efficiency compared to White youth. Finally, trajectories of sleep efficiency and variability in sleep minutes predicted trajectories of internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings showed significant changes in developmental trajectories of four sleep parameters across childhood and adolescence. We discuss empirical and translational implications of the findings.

Developmental stasis, sensitivity, and disturbance: Linking concepts to analytic methods using impulsivity and alcohol use.

The goals of this article are to (a) describe and contrast conceptual characteristics of periods of developmental sensitivity, disturbance, and stasis, and (b) translate these concepts to testable analytic models with an example dataset. Although the concept of developmental sensitivity is widely known, the concepts of developmental stasis and disturbance have received less attention. We first define the concepts and their principles and then, using repeated measures data on impulsivity and alcohol use from adolescence to young adulthood, propose the dual latent change score (LCS) growth model as one analytic approach for evaluating evidence for key characteristics of these developmental concepts via examination of intraindividual time-varying associations.

A process model of parental executive functioning as a spillover mechanism linking interparental conflict and parenting difficulties across parenting domains.

There is a well-documented interdependency between destructive interparental conflict (IPC) and parenting difficulties (i.e., spillover effect), yet little is known about the mechanisms that "carry" spillover between IPC and parenting. Guided by a cascade model framework, the current study used a longitudinal, multimethod, multi-informant design to examine a process model of spillover that tested whether parental executive functioning (working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) served as a mediator of the prospective associations between IPC and subsequent changes in parenting over a 2-year period. Mothers and fathers were separated into differentiated models and multiple domains of parenting were examined (i.e., authoritarian discipline and scaffolding behavior). Participants included 231 families (both mothers and fathers of preschoolers). Race was reported as White (62%), Black (21%), Mixed (8%), Asian (3%), or Other (6%) and 14% considered their ethnicity to be Hispanic/Latino. Median household income was $65,000. Results indicated that for fathers, IPC indirectly predicted domain-general parenting difficulties (increased authoritarian parenting and decreased scaffolding) via deficits in paternal cognitive flexibility (but not inhibitory control or working memory). In mothers, IPC directly predicted domain-specific parenting difficulties (decreased scaffolding only) that did not operate via maternal executive functions. Notably, these effects occurred over and above the influence of parental socioeconomic status. This study constitutes a first step toward documenting parental executive functioning as a mechanism underlying the spillover of IPC to the parent-child relationship. Family interventions intended to interrupt IPC spillover should emphasize father involvement and consider targeting parental executive functions as change mechanisms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The COVID-19 Lived Experience Through the Eyes of Nursing and Social Work Students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of nursing and social work students who were taking courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focus group discussions gave students a chance to express the pandemic's effects on their education and life. Methods: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach using Van Manen's Four Lifeworld Existentials guided this study. Using an open-ended format, interviews were conducted in 6 small groups ranging from 2 to 9 individuals, in person or via Zoom. The study was conducted from May to August 2022 in a university setting with 23 participants. Results: Ten existential themes emerged: Being Behind, Groundhog Day, Trying to Keep Up, Loss of Community, Fear of COVID, Being Alone, What is Self-Care?, Is This Career Right for Me?, What is Healthy?, and Access to Counseling. Conclusions: Participants indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted educational delivery, limiting learning opportunities and increasing feelings of isolation, stress, and anxiety. Implications for Education and the Future Workforce: Projected health-care workforce shortages may be exacerbated by students departing from the health-care professions as a result of increased burnout. Resilience training while in school is necessary to help promote coping, self-care strategies, and retention in the health-care professions.

Belowground insect herbivory induces systemic volatile emissions that strengthen neighbouring plant resistance aboveground.

Plants transmit ecologically relevant messages to neighbouring plants through chemical cues. For instance, insect herbivory triggers the production of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs), which can enhance neighbouring plant defences. HIPVs are emitted from directly damaged plant tissues and from systemic, nondamaged tissues. Although volatile-mediated interplant interactions have been observed both above- and belowground, it remains unknown whether belowground herbivory induces systemic HIPVs aboveground that influence neighbouring plants. To explore how belowground herbivory affects interplant interactions aboveground, we characterised systemic HIPVs from squash induced by belowground striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum) larval herbivory. We exposed squash 'receiver plants' to systemic HIPVs or volatiles from nondamaged plants. We then measured herbivore resistance by challenging 'receiver plants' with aboveground-feeding herbivores: adult beetles (A. vittatum) or squash bugs (Anasa tristis). We discovered belowground-damaged plants emitted more (E)-ß-ocimene, a key volatile from the systemic HIPV blend, than nondamaged controls, and that exposure to systemic HIPVs enhanced neighbouring plant resistance to aboveground squash bugs, but not adult beetles. Further investigations into the mechanism of interplant interaction revealed ß-ocimene alone can elicit plant resistance against squash bugs. Overall, our findings reveal a novel form of volatile-mediated interactions between plants spanning across aboveground-belowground plant systems.

Behavioral Economic Strategies to Improve Enrollment Rates in Clinical Research: Embedded Recruitment Pilot Trial.

BACKGROUND: Nearly 1 in 3 clinical trials end prematurely due to underenrollment. Strategies to enhance recruitment are often implemented without scientific rigor to evaluate efficacy. Evidence-based, cost-effective behavioral economic strategies designed to influence decision-making may be useful to promote clinical trial enrollment. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated 2 behavioral economic strategies to improve enrollment and retention rates across 4 clinical trials: information provision (IP) and contingency management (CM; ie, lottery). IP targets descriptive and injunctive norms about participating in research and CM provides participants incentives to reinforce a target behavior. METHODS: A sample of 212 participants was enrolled across 4 clinical trials focused on tobacco use: 2 focused on HIV and 2 focused on neuroimaging. The CM condition included a lottery: for each study visit completed, participants received 5 "draws" from a bowl containing 500 "chips" valued at US $0, US $1, US $5, or US $100. In the IP condition, text messages that targeted injunctive norms about research (eg, "Many find it a rewarding way to advance science and be part of a community") were sent through the Way to Health platform before all study visits. Participants were randomized to 1 of 4 conditions: IP, CM, IP+CM, or standard recruitment (SR). We performed logistic regression, controlling for sex and study, with condition as a between-subject predictor. Outcomes were the percentage of participants who attended a final eligibility visit (primary), met intent-to-treat (ITT) criteria (secondary), and completed the study (secondary). Recruitment was evaluated by the percentage of participants who attended a final eligibility visit, enrollment by ITT status, and retention by the percentage of participants who completed the study. RESULTS: Rates of attending the eligibility visit and meeting ITT status were 58.9% (33/56) and 33.9% (19/56) for IP+CM; 45.5% (25/55) and 18.2% (10/55) for IP only; 41.5% (22/53) and 18.9% (10/53) for CM only; and 37.5% (18/48) and 12.5% (6/48) for SR, respectively. In the logistic regression, females were more likely to meet ITT status than males (odds ratio [OR] 2.7, 95% CI 1.2-5.7; P=.01). The IP+CM group was twice as likely to attend the final eligibility visit than the SR group (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1-5.2; P=.04). The IP+CM group was also significantly more likely to reach ITT status than the SR condition (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.3-11.1; P=.01). Those who received any active intervention (IP, CM, or IP+CM) had a higher study completion rate (33/53, 63.5%) compared to those who received SR (5/12, 41.7%), but this difference was not significant (P=.26). CONCLUSIONS: Combining IP and CM strategies may motivate participants to participate in research and improve recruitment and retention rates. Evidence from this study provides preliminary support for the utility of behavioral economics strategies to improve enrollment and reduce attrition in clinical trials.

Understanding heterogeneity in pathways between interparental conflict and children's involvement: The moderating role of affect-biased attention.

The study examined the moderating role of children's affect-biased attention to angry, fearful, and sad adult faces in the link between interparental conflict and children's distinct forms of involvement. Participants included 243 preschool children (Mage  = 4.60 years, 56% female) and their parents from racially (48% African American, 43% White) and socioeconomically (median annual household income = $36,000) diverse backgrounds. Data collection took place in the Northeastern United States (2010-2014). Utilizing a multi-method, multi-informant, longitudinal design, attention away from anger selectively amplified the link between interparental conflict and children's subsequent coercive involvement (ß = -.15). Greater attention to fear potentiated the pathway between interparental conflict and children's later cautious (ß = .14) and caregiving involvement (ß = .15). Findings are interpreted in the context of environmental sensitivity models.

Evaluation of SOAP note performance in a pharmacotherapeutics course after implementation of a peer-review process.

INTRODUCTION: Subjective, objective, assessment, and plan (SOAP) notes are widely utilized within pharmacy curricula. Implementation of a peer-review process for these assignments may improve student competence. Evidence is lacking regarding correlation between student-to-student peer-review and faculty grades for SOAP notes and correlation of SOAP note peer-evaluation to individual performance. METHODS: Third year pharmacy students completed two SOAP notes in Pharmacotherapeutics IV. A peer-review process was implemented in spring 2020. After each SOAP note, students were assigned a peer's assignment to evaluate utilizing the same 50-point rubric as the faculty. SOAP note grades were compared between the 2019 and 2020 cohorts. RESULTS: Analysis included 98 students in spring 2019 and 92 students in 2020. SOAP note faculty grades were different between 2019 and 2020 for the first SOAP note (37.6 vs. 41.1, P < .001) but not for the second (42.3 vs. 42.7, P = .49). Peer-review grades were higher for both SOAP notes compared to faculty grades. Peer-review grades did not differ between the first and second SOAP notes (45.5 vs. 45.6) while faculty grades did (41.2 vs. 42.7). The difference in scores from peer-review compared to faculty grades was -4.4 points for the first SOAP note and - 2.9 points for the second SOAP note (P = .08). CONCLUSIONS: The peer-review process did not appear to improve SOAP note performance. Students tended to score better on the second note and appeared to gain proficiency in the peer evaluation process, suggesting a possible benefit of including additional SOAP notes.

Testing for implicit bias: Values, psychometrics, and science communication.

Our understanding of implicit bias and how to measure it has yet to be settled. Various debates between cognitive scientists are unresolved. Moreover, the public's understanding of implicit bias tests continues to lag behind cognitive scientists'. These discrepancies pose potential problems. After all, a great deal of implicit bias research has been publicly funded. Further, implicit bias tests continue to feature in discourse about public- and private-sector policies surrounding discrimination, inequality, and even the purpose of science. We aim to do our part by reconstructing some of the recent arguments in ordinary language and then revealing some of the operative norms or values that are often hidden beneath the surface of these arguments. This may help the public learn more about the science of implicit bias. It may also help both laypeople and scientists reflect on the values, interests, and stakeholders involved in establishing, justifying, and communicating scientific research. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Social Development.

The cognitive costs and advantages of children's exposure to parental relationship instability: Testing an evolutionary-developmental hypothesis.

Guided by evolutionary-developmental models, this study tested the hypothesis that children's exposure to parental relationship instability, defined by initiation and dissolution of caregiver intimate relationships, has both costs in cognitive impairments and benefits in enhanced learning skills. Participants included 243 mothers and their preschool children (M age 4.60 years; 56% girls) from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds (e.g., 46% Black; 19% Latinx). Consistent with hypotheses, higher levels of parental relationship instability during preschool predicted children's poorer performance on explicit, higher-order cognitive functioning tasks (e.g., IQ, working memory) and better performance in detecting reward probabilities in an implicit learning task 2 years later. Results of the piecewise latent growth curve analysis of the implicit learning task revealed that children experiencing greater family instability were able to more rapidly identify the locations of the hidden rewards in the early, rather than later, stages of the games. Additional findings supported the role of children's antagonistic representations of family relationships as an intermediary mechanism. More specifically, parental relationship instability significantly predicted higher levels of children's antagonistic representations of their families 2 years later after controlling for their earlier antagonistic representations and demographic covariates. Children's antagonistic representations, in turn, were concurrently linked with poorer explicit cognitive functioning and better implicit learning abilities when they were in first grade. The findings inform an understanding of cognitive tradeoffs of experiencing parental relationship instability and may have important implications for modifying educational and clinical programs to capitalize on the cognitive strengths of children who experience environmental unpredictability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving Natural Enemy Selection in Biological Control through Greater Attention to Chemical Ecology and Host-Associated Differentiation of Target Arthropod Pests.

Host-associated differentiation (HAD) refers to cases in which genetically distinct populations of a species (e.g., herbivores or natural enemies) preferentially reproduce or feed on different host species. In agroecosystems, HAD often results in unique strains or biotypes of pest species, each attacking different species of crops. However, HAD is not restricted to pest populations, and may cascade to the third trophic level, affecting host selection by natural enemies, and ultimately leading to HAD within natural enemy species. Natural enemy HAD may affect the outcomes of biological control efforts, whether classical, conservation, or augmentative. Here, we explore the potential effects of pest and natural enemy HAD on biological control in agroecosystems, with emphases on current knowledge gaps and implications of HAD for selection of biological control agents. Additionally, given the importance of semiochemicals in mediating interactions between trophic levels, we emphasize the role of chemical ecology in interactions between pests and natural enemies, and suggest areas of consideration for biological control. Overall, we aim to jump-start a conversation concerning the relevance of HAD in biological control by reviewing currently available information on natural enemy HAD, identifying challenges to incorporating HAD considerations into biological control efforts, and proposing future research directions on natural enemy selection and HAD.

Delineating the developmental sequelae of children's risky involvement in interparental conflict.

The present study examined the developmental value of parsing different forms of children's risky involvement in interparental conflict as predictors of children's subsequent psychological adjustment. Participants included a diverse sample of 243 preschool children (Mage = 4.6 years) and their mothers across two measurement occasions spaced 2 years apart. Three forms of risky involvement (i.e., cautious, caregiving, and coercive) were identified using maternal narratives describing children's emotional and behavioral reactivity during and immediately following interparental conflict. Utilizing a multimethod, multi-informant design, findings revealed that each form of involvement prospectively predicted unique configurations of children's developmental outcomes. Greater coercive involvement was associated with higher levels of externalizing problems, callous and unemotional traits, and extraversion. Higher levels of caregiving involvement were linked with greater separation anxiety. Finally, cautious involvement predicted more separation anxiety and social withdrawal.

Family origins of distinct forms of children's involvement in interparental conflict.

Previous research has highlighted the value in parsing unidimensional assessments of children's involvement in interparental conflict into distinct forms for advancing an understanding of children's development; however, little is known about the underlying antecedents of distinct forms of involvement. The present study provides the first systematic analysis of the interparental conflict and parenting predictors of residualized change in maternal reports of three forms of children's involvement in interparental conflict (i.e., cautious, caregiving, coercive). Participants in this multimethod, multi-informant longitudinal study included 243 preschool children (Mage = 4.60 years), mothers, and their partners from racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. Multivariate analyses demonstrated selectivity in links between interparental conflict and parenting and children's involvement in interparental conflict. Findings from the interparental conflict analyses revealed that Wave 1 constructive conflict uniquely predicted lower Wave 2 cautious involvement, and Wave 1 hostile conflict uniquely predicted greater Wave 2 coercive involvement. Findings from the parenting analyses indicated that Wave 1 maternal responsiveness uniquely predicted lower Wave 2 cautious involvement and Wave 1 maternal vulnerability uniquely predicted greater Wave 2 coercive involvement. Although interparental conflict and parenting antecedents did not predict caregiving involvement, a series of follow-up analyses individually examining each form of interparental conflict and parenting as a predictor of children's involvement revealed that greater Wave 2 caregiving involvement was predicted by higher levels of Wave 1 disengaged conflict and lower levels of Wave 1 constructive conflict. Findings are interpreted in the context of developmental psychopathology models that emphasize children's response patterns to family adversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting and children's externalizing symptoms: The mediational role of children's attention biases to negative emotion.

This study examined children's duration of attention to negative emotions (i.e., anger, sadness, fear) as a mediator of associations among maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting and children's externalizing symptoms in a sample of 240 mothers, fathers, and their preschool children (Mage = 4.64 years). The multimethod, multi-informant design consisted of three annual measurement occasions. Analysis of maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting as predictors in latent difference changes in children's affect-biased attention and behavior problems indicated that children's attention to negative emotions mediated the specific association between maternal unsupportive parenting and children's subsequent increases in externalizing symptoms. Maternal unsupportive parenting at Wave 1 predicted decreases in children's attention to negative facial expressions of adults from Wave 1 to 2. Reductions in children's attention to negative emotion, in turn, predicted increases in their externalizing symptoms from Wave 1 to 3. Additional tests of children's fearful distress and hostile responses to parental conflict as explanatory mechanisms revealed that increases in children's fearful distress reactivity from Wave 1 to 2 accounted for the association between maternal unsupportive parenting and concomitant decreases in their attention to negative emotions. Results are discussed in the context of information processing models of family adversity and developmental psychopathology.

Interparental conflict as a quadratic predictor of children's reactivity to interparental conflict and school adjustment: Steeling effects or risk saturation?

This study examined interparental conflict as a curvilinear predictor of children's reactivity to interparental conflict and, in turn, their school problems across three annual measurements. Participants included 243 preschool children (Mage  = 4.60 years; 56% girls) and their parents from racially (e.g., 48% Black; 16% Latinx) diverse backgrounds. Interparental conflict was a significant quadratic predictor of children's emotional reactivity (ß = .23) and behavioral dysregulation (ß = .27) to conflict over a 1-year period. The robust association between interparental conflict and behavioral dysregulation weakened at high levels of interparental conflict. In contrast, interparental conflict more strongly predicted children's emotional reactivity as conflict exposure increased. Children's emotional reactivity, in turn, predicted their greater school problems 1 year later (ß = .25).

Defense Suppression through Interplant Communication Depends on the Attacking Herbivore Species.

In response to herbivory, plants emit volatile compounds that play important roles in plant defense. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) can deter herbivores, recruit natural enemies, and warn other plants of possible herbivore attack. Following HIPV detection, neighboring plants often respond by enhancing their anti-herbivore defenses, but a recent study found that herbivores can manipulate HIPV-interplant communication for their own benefit and suppress defenses in neighboring plants. Herbivores induce species-specific blends of HIPVs and how these different blends affect the specificity of plant defense responses remains unclear. Here we assessed how HIPVs from zucchini plants (Cucurbita pepo) challenged with different herbivore species affect resistance in neighboring plants. Volatile "emitter" plants were damaged by one of three herbivore species: saltmarsh caterpillars (Estigmene acrea), squash bugs (Anasa tristis), or striped cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum), or were left as undamaged controls. Neighboring "receiver" plants were exposed to HIPVs or control volatiles and then challenged by the associated herbivore species. As measures of plant resistance, we quantified herbivore feeding damage and defense-related phytohormones in receivers. We found that the three herbivore species induced different HIPV blends from squash plants. HIPVs induced by saltmarsh caterpillars suppressed defenses in receivers, leading to greater herbivory and lower defense induction compared to controls. In contrast, HIPVs induced by cucumber beetles and squash bugs did not affect plant resistance to subsequent herbivory in receivers. Our study shows that herbivore species identity affects volatile-mediated interplant communication in zucchini, revealing a new example of herbivore defense suppression through volatile cues.

Chemical Cues from Entomopathogenic Nematodes Vary Across Three Species with Different Foraging Strategies, Triggering Different Behavioral Responses in Prey and Competitors.

Chemical cues play important roles in predator-prey interactions. Semiochemicals can aid predator foraging and alert prey organisms to the presence of predators. Previous work suggests that predator traits differentially influence prey behavior, however, empirical data on how prey organisms respond to chemical cues from predator species with different hunting strategies, and how foraging predators react to cues from potential competitors, is lacking. Furthermore, most research in this area has focused on aquatic and aboveground terrestrial systems, while interactions among belowground, soiling-dwelling organisms have received relatively little attention. Here, we assessed how chemical cues from three species of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), each with a different foraging strategy, influenced herbivore (cucumber beetle) and natural enemy (EPN) foraging behavior. We predicted these cues could serve as chemical indicators of increased predation risk, prey availability, or competition. Our findings revealed that foraging cucumber beetle larvae avoided chemical cues from Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (active-foraging cruiser EPNs), but not Steinernema carpocapsae (ambusher EPNs) or Steinernema riobrave (intermediate-foraging EPNs). In contrast, foraging H. bacteriophora EPNs were attracted to cues produced by the two Steinernema species but not conspecific cues. Notably, the three EPN species produced distinct blends of olfactory cues, with only a few semi-conserved compounds across species. These results indicate that a belowground insect herbivore responds differently to chemical cues from different EPN species, with some EPN species avoiding prey detection. Moreover, the active-hunting EPNs were attracted to heterospecific cues, suggesting these cues indicate a greater probability of available prey, rather than strong interspecific competition.