Mothers' Self-focused Reflective Functioning Interacts with Childhood Experiences of Rejection to Predict Current Romantic Relationship Quality and Parenting Behavior.

Parents exposed to rejection in their childhood could experience bonding disturbances in their current relationships. Reflective functioning (RF), the capacity to understand one's own and others' behavior through the lens of underlying mental states (cognitions, emotions), has been identified as a potential protective process. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine whether RF moderates the effect of parents' experiences of rejection in childhood on later relationship functioning with partners and infants. Pregnant women with experiences of abuse and neglect were recruited and completed the Adult Attachment Interview, which was coded for RF and experiences of childhood rejection. During two follow-up assessments, when their infants were 5 and 17 months old, the mothers in our sample who had partners reported on dyadic cohesion with these partners. Further, at 5 months postnatal, mothers completed interaction tasks with their infants, which were later assessed using observational measures (i.e., CARE-Index). Results of mothers with partners (N = 93) indicated that RF moderated the relationship between dyadic cohesion with partners at 17 months only. Additionally, results with all mothers in the sample (N = 108) indicated that RF moderated the relationship between retrospectively reported experiences of rejection and controlling and unresponsive behaviors with infants. Adequate-to-high RF was associated with lower unresponsiveness and higher relationship satisfaction in the context of rejection, while being associated with higher levels of control. These findings have important clinical implications, as RF is amenable to change and can therefore be more prominently implemented within various interventions.

Los padres expuestos al rechazo en su infancia podrían tener problemas de vinculación en sus relaciones actuales. El funcionamiento reflexivo (FR), la capacidad de comprender la conducta propia y de los demás mediante la perspectiva de los estados mentales subyacentes (cogniciones, emociones) se ha identificado como posible proceso de protección. El objetivo de este estudio longitudinal fue analizar si el FR modera el efecto de las experiencias de rechazo de los padres durante la infancia en el funcionamiento posterior de las relaciones con las parejas y los bebés. Se incluyó a mujeres embarazadas con experiencias de abuso y abandono, quienes completaron la Entrevista de Apego en los Adultos (Adult Attachment Interview), la cual se codificó para el FR y las experiencias de rechazo en la infancia. Durante dos evaluaciones de seguimiento, cuando sus bebés tenían cinco meses y diecisiete meses, las madres de nuestra muestra que tenían pareja informaron sobre la cohesión diádica con estas parejas. Además, a los cinco meses después del parto, las madres completaron tareas de interacción con sus bebés, que después se evaluaron usando instrumentos de evaluación observacionales (p. ej., CARE-Index). Los resultados de las madres con las parejas (N = 93) indicaron que el FR moderó la relación entre la cohesión diádica con las parejas a los 17 meses solamente. Además, los resultados con todas las madres de la muestra (N = 108) indicaron que el FR moderó la relación entre las experiencias de rechazo informadas retrospectivamente y las conductas dominantes e indiferentes con los bebés. El FR entre adecuado y alto se asoció con una indiferencia más baja y una satisfacción con la relación más alta en el contexto del rechazo, y a su vez se lo asoció con niveles más altos de control. Estos resultados tienen consecuencias clínicas importantes, ya que el FR es susceptible de cambios y puede, por ende, implementarse de manera más prominente dentro de diferentes intervenciones.

Adolescent Contact, Lasting Impact? Lessons Learned From Two Longitudinal Studies Spanning 20 Years of Developmental Science Research With Justice-System-Involved Youths.

In this article, we summarize key findings from 20 years of research conducted at the intersection of developmental psychology and juvenile justice in the United States. We predominantly examine data from two large-scale, multisite longitudinal studies involving justice-system-involved adolescents-the Pathways to Desistance study and the Crossroads study. Topics of discussion include predictors of offending and desistance from crime; youth outcomes and psychosocial needs; and emerging research, programs, and policy initiatives. First, individual-level (e.g., age, psychosocial maturity) and contextual-level (e.g., antisocial peers, exposure to violence) risk factors associated with offending are explored. Second, we discuss short-term and long-term outcomes of justice-system contact for youths engaging in moderate offenses. We highlight main findings from the Crossroads study indicating that youths who are sanctioned by the justice system at their first arrest have worse outcomes than youths who are diverted from formal processing. Additionally, we discuss the high prevalence of youths' exposure to violence and mental health disorders as well as the differential treatment of youths of color in the justice system. Third, we extend the conversation to justice-system-involved young adults and discuss emerging, innovative legal solutions, including young adult courts. Last, we discuss real-world implications of these findings.

Relationships between Depression and Executive Functioning in Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Unpredictable Home Environment.

Although researchers have explored the link between depression and executive functioning (EF), the influence of early-life environmental and relational instability on this association has not been comprehensively assessed in adolescents. This cross-sectional study examined whether unpredictability of home environment in childhood moderated the relationship between depression and EF in adolescents. Participants were 138 adolescents aged 13 to 17 years (72% female; 47.8% White; 47.1% Hispanic). Diagnostic status (major depression versus healthy control) and depression severity were assessed using psycho-diagnostic interviews and self-reports from parents and adolescents. Participants also completed the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC). EF was assessed using self-report (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition; BRIEF2) and a battery of performance-based measures. Results showed that QUIC scores moderated the relationship between depression and BRIEF2 scores, such that high unpredictability was associated with poorer EF for adolescents exhibiting low depression severity. Participants with the highest levels of depression exhibited the poorest EF ratings, regardless of childhood unpredictability. Unpredictability was moderately associated with performance-based measures, but did not interact with depressive symptoms to predict complex performance-based EF. Recommendations include assessing for unpredictable childhood environment and acknowledging this risk factor for poor EF in youth with sub-threshold depression. Treatment implications are discussed with respect to family systems/parenting interventions, as mildly depressed adolescents growing up in unstable homes may be vulnerable to EF difficulties. Further, this study adds to the EF measurement literature by examining associations between self-report and performance-based EF instruments in a diverse sample of adolescents.

Stress-Induced Eating Among Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States: a Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: Racial/ethnic disparities in obesity may be due, in part, to minority groups consuming more energy-rich diets in response to greater stress exposure. The present study systematically reviewed the literature describing the effects of stress on food consumption among various racial/ethnic groups in the US. METHODS: PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies reporting associations between stress and food consumption by different racial/ethnic groups, conducted between January 1, 1999 to November 25, 2019. The search included terms related to food consumption, stress, and race/ethnicity. After screening 3660 records, 30 studies were included for review. RESULTS: The selected studies assessed diverse stressors and eating constructs; African-American and Hispanic/Latinx were the most commonly studied minority groups. Studies generally supported that diverse forms of stress exposure are associated with reduced healthy eating patterns and increased obesogenic eating patterns across racial/ethnic groups. However, studies that directly compared stress-eating associations among multiple racial/ethnic groups showed mixed results. CONCLUSION: Members of diverse racial/ethnic groups are susceptible to stress-induced unhealthy eating patterns, though evidence is insufficient to conclude whether the degree of susceptibility differs among groups. Additional studies utilizing observational measures of food intake and culturally sensitive measures of stress are needed to identify the most influential stressors on dietary behaviors, to assess whether some stressors are more salient for given racial/ethnic groups, and to examine the extent to which stress-induced eating contributes to racial/ethnic disparities in obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Grant Report on the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Neurocircuitry in Adolescent Depression.

This report describes the protocol for an ongoing project funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01MH108155) that is focused on effects of childhood maltreatment (MALTX) on neurocircuitry changes associated with adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD). Extant clinical and neuroimaging literature on MDD is reviewed, which has relied on heterogeneous samples that do not parse out the unique contribution of MALTX on neurobiological changes in MDD. Employing a 2 × 2 study design (controls with no MALTX or MDD, MALTX only, MDD only, and MDD + MALTX), and based on a cohesive theoretical model that incorporates behavioral, cognitive and neurobiological domains, we describe the multi-modal neuroimaging techniques used to test whether structural and functional alterations in the fronto-limbic and fronto-striatal circuits associated with adolescent MDD are moderated by MALTX. We hypothesize that MDD + MALTX youth will show alterations in the fronto-limbic circuit, with reduced connectivity between the amygdala (AMG) and the prefrontal cortex (PFC), as the AMG is sensitive to stress/threat during development. Participants with MDD will exhibit increased functional connectivity between the AMG and PFC due to self-referential negative emotions. Lastly, MDD + MALTX will only show changes in motivational/anticipatory aspects of the fronto-striatal circuit, and MDD will exhibit changes in motivational and consummatory/outcome aspects of reward-processing. Our goal is to identify distinct neural substrates associated with MDD due to MALTX compared to other causes, as these markers could be used to more effectively predict treatment outcome, index treatment response, and facilitate alternative treatments for adolescents who do not respond well to traditional approaches.

Predictive validity of an observer-rated adherence protocol for multisystemic therapy with juvenile drug offenders.

OBJECTIVE: Multisystemic therapy (MST) is perhaps the best validated treatment for youth who engage in serious and chronic antisocial behavior (Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, & Cunningham, 2009). Despite evidence suggesting that high treatment adherence is needed to achieve optimal MST outcomes, this research is limited because past studies have relied on adherence reports derived solely from treatment participants (i.e., caregivers, youth, and therapists). To address this gap in the literature, the present study assessed the reliability and predictive validity of an observational protocol for rating adherence to MST. METHOD: The sample was drawn from a randomized clinical trial of juvenile drug offenders (77.5% male, 65% African American) referred to one of four treatment conditions (Henggeler et al., 2006). Audiotaped sessions of youth and their families were selected from the first month of MST and trained undergraduate students independently rated therapist adherence to the nine MST treatment principles. We assessed the validity of MST adherence in predicting outcomes at post-recruitment and 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: Good interrater reliability (ICC=0.642) was found across all raters for our composite index of adherence. High adherence to MST during the first month of therapy predicted decreases in externalizing behavior at post-recruitment and decreases in youth alcohol consumption at 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide independent support for the link between treatment fidelity and behavioral outcomes in the context of MST. Further, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using novice, undergraduate judges to reliably code therapist adherence.