Prevalence and 10-Year Stability of Personality Disorders From Adolescence to Young Adulthood in a High-Risk Sample.

Background: With the implementation of the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in early 2022, there will be a radical change in the framework and process for diagnosing personality disorders (PDs), indicating a transition from the categorical to the dimensional model. Despite increasing evidence that PDs are not as stable as previously assumed, the long-term stability of PDs remains under major debate. The aim of the current paper was to investigate the categorical and dimensional mean-level and rank-order stability of PDs from adolescence into young adulthood in a high-risk sample. Methods: In total, 115 young adults with a history of residential child welfare and juvenile-justice placements in Switzerland were included in the current study. PDs were assessed at baseline and at a 10-year follow-up. On a categorical level, mean-level stability was assessed through the proportion of enduring cases from baseline to follow-up. Rank-order stability was assessed through Cohen's κ and tetrachoric correlation coefficients. On a dimensional level, the magnitude of change between the PD trait scores at baseline and at follow-up was measured by Cohen's d. Rank-order stability was assessed through Spearman's ρ. Results: The prevalence rate for any PD was 20.0% at baseline and 30.4% at follow-up. The most frequently diagnosed disorders were antisocial, borderline, and obsessive-compulsive PDs, both at baseline and at follow-up. On a categorical level, the mean-level stability of any PD was only moderate, and the mean-level stability of specific PDs was low, except of schizoid PD. Likewise, the rank-order stability of any PD category was moderate, while ranging from low to high for individual PD diagnoses. On a dimensional level, scores increased significantly for most PDs, except for histrionic traits, which decreased significantly from baseline to follow-up. Effect sizes were generally low. The rank-order stability for dimensional scores ranged from low to moderate. Conclusion: The findings indicate low to moderate stability of Pds and Pd traits from adolescence to adulthood, which supports the growing evidence that categorical diagnoses of Pds are quite unstable. This in turn, emphasizes the use of the upcoming ICD-11 that Acknowledgments Pds to be only "relatively" stable.

The effect of prenatal adversity on externalizing behaviors at 24 months of age in a high-risk sample: Maternal sensitivity as a moderator.

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of maternal sensitivity on the association between prenatal adversity and externalizing behaviors at 24 months of age in a diverse, high-risk sample. We hypothesized that among children with higher prenatal adversity, high maternal sensitivity would serve as a protective factor. Participants were 247 primarily low-income, diverse dyads. Results indicated a significant interaction effect of maternal sensitivity and prenatal adversity on externalizing problems. The association between prenatal adversity and externalizing behaviors was significant only among children who experienced low prenatal adversity, with higher maternal sensitivity associated with lower externalizing behaviors. These findings indicate that, in the absence of high prenatal risk, responsive and sensitive parenting can buffer children in an otherwise high-risk sample from the development of externalizing behaviors.

El propósito de este estudio fue examinar el papel moderador que la sensibilidad materna tiene sobre la asociación entre adversidad prenatal y las conductas de externalización a los 24 meses de edad en un grupo muestra diverso y de alto riesgo. Nuestra hipótesis es que entre los niños con más alta adversidad prenatal (PA), una alta sensibilidad materna serviría como un factor de protección. Participaron 247 díadas diversas, primariamente de bajos recursos económicos (173 infantes expuestos a sustancias). Los resultados indicaron un significativo efecto de interacción de la sensibilidad materna y la adversidad prenatal sobre los problemas de externalización. La asociación entre la adversidad prenatal y las conductas de externalización fue significativa sólo entre niños que habían experimentado una adversidad prenatal baja, mientras que una más alta sensibilidad materna se asoció con más bajas conductas de externalización. Estos resultados indican que, en ausencia de un riesgo prenatal alto, una crianza receptiva y sensible puede amortiguar el desarrollo de conductas de externalización en niños que, de lo contrario, están dentro de un grupo muestra de alto riesgo.

Le but de cette étude était d'examiner le rôle modérateur de la sensibilité maternelle sur l'association entre l'adversité prénatale et les comportements d'externalisation à l'âge de 24 mois chez un échantillon varié, et à haut risque. Nous avons pris comme hypothèse que chez les enfants avec une adversité prénatale élevée (PA), une sensibilité maternelle élevée servirait de facteur de protection. Les participants ont consisté en 247 dyades diverse et principalement issues de milieux défavorisés (173 bébés exposés à la toxicomanie). Les résultats indiquent un effet d'interaction important de la sensibilité maternelle et de l'adversité prénatale sur les problèmes d'externalisation. Le lien entre l'adversité prénatale et les comportements d'externalisation n'était important que chez les enfants ayant fait l'expérience d'une adversité prénatale peu élevée, avec une sensibilité maternelle plus élevée liée à des comportements d'externalisation moins élevés. Ces résultats indiquent que, en l'absence d'une risque prénatal élevé, le parentage réactif et sensible peut servir de tampon aux enfants contre le développement de comportements d'externalisation dans un échantillon qui est par ailleurs à haut risque.

Callous-unemotional traits and the attentional bias towards emotional stimuli: Testing the moderating role of emotional and behavioural problems among high-risk adolescents.

Former studies demonstrated that antisocial youth with callous-unemotional (CU) traits are impaired in the processing of negative emotional stimuli. The aim of the current study was to explore the moderating role of different behavioural (i.e. conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention) and emotional problems (i.e. internalizing symptoms) in the relationship between CU traits and attentional bias towards emotional stimuli. Besides using self-report measures, attentional bias was tested by an affective dot-probe task in a high-risk sample of 102 adolescent boys (M age = 16.34 years; SD = 1.32). CU traits were related to reduced attention to emotionally distressing pictures. Furthermore, conduct problems significantly moderated the relationship between CU traits and attention to distress cues. These findings highlight the importance of considering potential moderators to the well-established link between CU traits and deficits in response to negative emotional cues.

Exploring the relationship between polygenic risk for cannabis use, peer cannabis use and the longitudinal course of cannabis involvement.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Few studies have explored how polygenic propensity to cannabis use unfolds across development, and no studies have yet examined this question in the context of environmental contributions such as peer cannabis use. Outlining the factors that contribute to progression from cannabis initiation to problem use over time may ultimately provide insights into mechanisms for targeted interventions. We sought to examine the relationships between polygenic liability for cannabis use, cannabis use trajectories from ages 12-30 years and perceived peer cannabis use at ages 12-17 years. DESIGN: Mixed-effect logistic and linear regressions were used to examine associations between polygenic risk scores, cannabis use trajectory membership and perceived peer cannabis use. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: From the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) study, a cohort of 1167 individuals aged 12-26 years at their baseline (i.e. first) interview. MEASUREMENTS: Key measurements included life-time cannabis use (yes/no), frequency of past 12-month cannabis use, maximum life-time frequency of cannabis use, cannabis use disorder (using DSM-5 criteria) and perceived peer cannabis use. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were created using summary statistics from a large (n = 162 082) genome-wide association study (GWAS) of cannabis use. FINDINGS: Three trajectories reflecting no/low (n = 844), moderate (n = 137) and high (n = 186) use were identified. PRS were significantly associated with trajectory membership [P = 0.002-0.006, maximum conditional R2  = 1.4%, odds ratios (ORs) = 1.40-1.49]. Individuals who reported that most/all of their best friends used cannabis had significantly higher PRS than those who reported that none of their friends were users [OR = 1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04, 1.75, P = 0.023]. Perceived peer use itself explained up to 11.3% of the variance in trajectory class membership (OR = 1.50-4.65). When peer cannabis use and the cannabis use PRS were entered into the model simultaneously, both the PRS and peer use continued to be significantly associated with class membership (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic propensity to cannabis use derived from heterogeneous samples appears to correlate with longitudinal increases in cannabis use frequency in young adults.

Unique and interactive effects of impulsivity facets on reckless driving and driving under the influence in a high-risk young adult sample.

Risky driving behaviors are disproportionately high among young adults and impulsivity is a robust risk factor. Recent conceptualizations have proposed multidimensional facets of impulsivity comprised of negative urgency, premeditation, perseverance, sensation seeking, and positive urgency (UPPS-P model). Prior studies have found these facets are associated with risky driving behaviors in college student samples, but no prior studies have examined these facets in clinical samples. This study examined the unique and interactive effects of UPPS-P impulsivity facets on past-year risky driving behaviors in a sample of high-risk young adults (ages 18-30 years) with a history of substance use and antisocial behavior and their siblings (n=1,100). Multilevel Poisson regressions indicated that sensation seeking and negative urgency were uniquely and positively associated with both frequency of past-year reckless driving and driving under the influence. Moreover, lack of premeditation was uniquely and positively associated with reckless driving, whereas lack of perseverance was uniquely and positively associated with driving under the influence. Furthermore, lack of premeditation moderated and strengthened the positive association between sensation seeking and driving under the influence. These study findings suggest that assessing multiple facets of trait impulsivity could facilitate targeted prevention efforts among young adults with a history of externalizing psychopathology.