The interplay of childhood maltreatment and maternal depression in relation to the reward positivity in youth.

Guided by developmental psychopathology and dual-risk frameworks, the present study examined the interplay between childhood maltreatment and maternal major depression history in relation to neural reward responsiveness in youth. The sample consisted of 96 youth (ages 9-16; M = 12.29 years, SD = 2.20; 68.8% female) drawn from a large metropolitan city. Youth were recruited based on whether their mothers had a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and were categorized into two groups: youth with mothers with a history of MDD (high risk; HR; n = 56) and youth with mothers with no history of psychiatric disorders (low risk; LR; n = 40). The reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential component, was utilized to measure reward responsiveness and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire measured childhood maltreatment. We found a significant two-way interaction between childhood maltreatment and risk group in relation to RewP. Simple slope analysis revealed that in the HR group, greater childhood maltreatment was significantly associated with reduced RewP. The relationship between childhood maltreatment and RewP was not significant among the LR youth. The present findings demonstrate that the association between childhood maltreatment and blunted reward responsiveness is dependent on whether offspring have mothers with histories of MDD.

Risk for youth anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: The interactive impact of financial stress and prepandemic electrocortical reactivity to negative self-referential stimuli.

Despite evidence that stress exposure increases risk for internalizing symptoms in youth, it remains unclear which youth are most vulnerable. This study examined whether youth's prepandemic late positive potential (LPP), an electrocortical marker of sustained attention to affective stimuli, exacerbated the impact of stress on prospective increases in depression and anxiety symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 29 youth (ages 9-16, 82.8% girls) who completed depression and anxiety symptom measures and an affective words task to assess LPP to positive and negative self-referential stimuli prepandemic onset. Postpandemic onset, approximately 16.03 months (SD = 8.86) after their baseline assessments, youth again completed symptom measures as well as the UCLA Life Stress Interview to assess ongoing social and financial chronic stress. Results indicated a significant interaction between youth LPP to negative words and financial stress. Greater exposure to financial stress during the pandemic predicted greater anxiety symptom increases specifically for youth who demonstrated enhanced prepandemic LPP to negative words. Results were specific to the prediction of anxiety, but not depression, symptoms. If replicated in larger studies, findings highlight enhanced LPP to negative stimuli as a promising target for intervention for youth exposed to greater financial stress.

Maternal Error-Related Negativity Relationship With Offspring Error-Related Negativity and Negative Parenting Styles: A Novel Model of Internalizing Psychopathology Risk.

BACKGROUND: Enhanced error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential component reflecting neural sensitivity to errors and threat, has been theorized to represent an endophenotype of internalizing psychopathologies (IPs). We tested whether intergenerational transmission of ERN patterns may confer risk for internalizing symptoms. We examined associations among maternal and offspring ERN and offspring internalizing symptoms. Given the role of parenting in IP risk, we also explored how maternal negative parenting styles related to maternal ERN and offspring internalizing symptoms. METHODS: Participants included 117 biological mother-child dyads (ages 9-16 years, 70.9% female). Of these, 72 mothers had a history of major depression (32 with lifetime anxiety), and 45 had no history of psychiatric illness. Dyads completed psychiatric interviews, parenting questionnaires, and a flanker task to elicit the ERN while an electroencephalogram was recorded. RESULTS: Path analyses revealed that maternal ERN was significantly associated with enhanced offspring ERN and greater negative parenting styles. Enhanced offspring ERN and maternal negative parenting styles were significantly related to greater internalizing symptoms in offspring. Maternal ERN had a significant indirect effect on offspring internalizing symptoms through offspring ERN and maternal negative parenting styles, above the effects of self-reported maternal internalizing symptoms. Maternal IP history did not moderate pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings suggest that enhanced maternal ERN is indirectly associated with greater offspring internalizing symptoms through its relationship to offspring ERN and negative parenting styles. Future longitudinal work is needed to evaluate the temporal timing and directionality of these tested pathways and their clinical implications for the prevention of IPs.

The interplay of stress and electrocortical reactivity to reward in the prospective prediction of depression symptoms during COVID-19.

Rates of depression have increased during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, potentially due to associated stress exposure. However, it remains unclear which individuals are most susceptible. Electrocortical markers of reward processing, such as the reward positivity (RewP), are implicated in depression risk and may provide insights into who is most vulnerable to stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study examined whether pre-pandemic neural correlates of reward reactivity (i.e., RewP) moderated the impact of social and financial stress on changes in youth and mother depression symptoms pre-to-post pandemic onset. Youth (n = 45) and mothers (n = 45) in the current sample were recruited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a larger study. RewP was assessed pre-pandemic, and depression symptoms were assessed pre- and post-pandemic onset for both youth and mothers. Additionally, social and financial chronic stress severity was assessed post-pandemic onset using a modified version of the UCLA Life Stress Interview. Financial stress was associated with prospective increases in depression for youth exhibiting blunted RewP at baseline. Similarly, family stress was associated with prospective increases in depression symptoms for mothers exhibiting blunted RewP at baseline. Findings suggest reduced reward responsiveness at the neural level may predispose both youth and mothers to future depression symptoms when exposed to higher levels of stress in the context of a pandemic.

Differences in cortical thinning across development among individuals with and without anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety is associated with aberrant patterns of cortical thickness in regions implicated in emotion regulation. However, few studies have examined cortical thickness differences between individuals with anxiety and healthy controls (HCs) across development, particularly during childhood when cortical thinning begins and anxiety risk increases. A better understanding of age-related changes in cortical thickness patterns among anxious individuals is essential to develop plausible targets for early identification. METHODS: The current study examined how age impacted differences in cortical thickness patterns between HCs and anxious individuals. Participants included 233 individuals (ages 7-35) with a current anxiety disorder (n = 149) or no lifetime history of psychopathology (n = 84). Cortical thickness of regions that are implicated in emotion regulation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vmPFC], rostral anterior cingulate [rACC], and insula) were assessed. RESULTS: All regions showed significant thinning with age, except left rACC and right insula. However, rates of thinning differed among anxious and HC participants, with anxious participants demonstrating slower rates of right vmPFC thinning. Regions of significance analyses indicated that anxious, relative to HC, participants exhibited thinner right vmPFC before age 11, but thicker right vmPFC after age 24. CONCLUSIONS: Current findings suggest that anxious individuals do not demonstrate normative right vmPFC cortical thinning, which may lead them to exhibit both thinner vmPFC in middle childhood and thicker vmPFC in adulthood compared with HCs. These findings may provide plausible targets for identification of anxiety risk that differ based on developmental stage.

The moderating role of externalizing problems on the association between anxiety and the error-related negativity in youth.

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related potential that reflects error monitoring. Enhanced ERN indicates sensitivity to performance errors and is a correlate of anxiety disorders. In contrast, youth with externalizing problems exhibit a reduced ERN, suggesting decreased error monitoring. Anxiety and externalizing problems commonly co-occur in youth, but no studies have tested how comorbidity might modulate the ERN. In a sample of youth (N = 46, ages 7-19) with and without anxiety disorders, this preliminary study examined the interactive effect of anxiety and externalizing problems on ERN. Results suggest that externalizing problems moderate the relation between anxiety symptoms and ERN in youth. Anxious youth with less externalizing problems exhibited enhanced ERN response to errors. Conversely, anxious youth with greater externalizing problems demonstrated diminished ERN in response to errors. The regions of significance and proportion affected tests indicated that the moderating the effect of externalizing problems was only significant for youth with anxiety disorders. Findings suggest that enhanced neural error sensitivity could be a specific neurophysiological marker for anxiety disorders, whereas anxious individuals with comorbid externalizing problems demonstrate reduced error monitoring, similar to those with primary externalizing pathology. Results underscore the utility of examining neural correlates of pediatric anxiety comorbidity subtypes.

24-Month Outcomes of Primary Care Web-Based Depression Prevention Intervention in Adolescents: Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent depression carries a high burden of disease worldwide, but access to care for this population is limited. Prevention is one solution to curtail the negative consequences of adolescent depression. Internet interventions to prevent adolescent depression can overcome barriers to access, but few studies examine long-term outcomes. OBJECTIVE: This study compares CATCH-IT (Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training), an internet-based intervention, to a general health education active control for depression onset at 12 and 24 months in adolescents presenting to primary care settings. METHODS: A 2-site randomized trial, blinded to the principal investigators and assessors, was conducted comparing Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training to health education to prevent depressive episodes in 369 adolescents (193 youths were randomly assigned to Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training and 176 to health education) with subthreshold depressive symptoms or prior depressive episodes. Participants were recruited from primary care settings in the United States. The primary outcome was the occurrence of a depressive episode, determined by the Depression Symptom Rating. The secondary outcome was functioning, measured by the Global Assessment Scale. RESULTS: In intention-to-treat analyses, the adjusted hazard ratio favoring Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training for first depressive episode was not statistically significant at 12 months (hazard ratio 0.77, 95% CI 0.42-1.40, P=.39) and 24 months (hazard ratio 0.87, 95% CI 0.52-1.47, P=.61). Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training provided preventive benefit for first depressive episode for those with mild hopelessness or at least moderate paternal monitoring at baseline. Global Assessment Scale scores improved comparably in both groups (intention-to-treat). CONCLUSIONS: A technology-based intervention for adolescent depression prevention implemented in primary care did not have additional benefit at 12 or 24 months. Further research is necessary to determine whether internet interventions have long-term benefit. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01893749; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01893749.

Parsing differences in amygdala volume among individuals with and without social and generalized anxiety disorders across the lifespan.

Structural differences in the amygdala (AMG) are implicated in anxiety and observed among individuals with generalized (GAD) and social anxiety (SAD) disorders. Findings have been mixed, perhaps because studies rarely examine differences between GAD and SAD, test comorbidity, or examine age-related differences. We tested AMG volume differences among a sample of adults and youth with/without SAD and GAD. Participants (N = 242; ages 7-60 years) completed an MRI scan, diagnostic interviews, and anxiety symptom measures. Groups were formed from diagnostic interviews: 1) Typically developing (TD; n = 91); 2) GAD (n = 53); 3) SAD (n = 35); and 4) comorbid SAD/GAD (n = 63). We used analysis of covariance with a bonferroni correction to examine group differences in AMG volume. The SAD and comorbid SAD/GAD groups exhibited increased bilateral AMG volume compared to the TD group. GAD and TD groups did not differ from each other in AMG size. The SAD, but not the comorbid SAD/GAD group, displayed greater right AMG size relative to the GAD group. SAD and comorbid SAD/GAD groups did not differ from the GAD group in left AMG volume. SAD and SAD/GAD groups did not exhibit different bilateral AMG size. Linear regression analyses demonstrated that greater social anxiety but not generalized anxiety symptom severity was associated with enlarged AMG volume. Age was not associated with AMG volume and nor did age moderate any group or symptom effects. Future longitudinal studies should examine whether larger AMG volume is a unique biomarker for SAD across the lifespan.

Clarifying the direction of impact of negative symptoms and neurocognition on prospective work functioning in psychosis: A 20-year longitudinal study.

Both neurocognition and negative symptoms have demonstrated strong links to functional outcomes, such as work functioning, among those with severe mental illness (SMI). Prior models have suggested that reduced neurocognition 1) precedes or predicts greater negative symptoms and 2) indirectly influences functional outcomes via its impact on negative symptoms. The current study sought to also test a divergent model: whether greater negative symptoms predict reduced neurocognition and indirectly influence work functioning through their impact on neurocognition. Both models were tested using cross-sectional and prospective data spanning 20-years in a sample of 277 people with a SMI with psychotic features. Results showed that both models were supported in cross-sectional analyses. However, in prospective models predicting work functioning, only the models examining the indirect influence of negative symptoms on work functioning (7.5 to up to 20-years later) through neurocognition demonstrated significant mediation (i.e., a significant indirect effect); further, higher negative symptoms significantly predicted lower prospective neurocognition, while lower neurocognition did not significantly predict greater prospective negative symptoms. Although cross-sectional data were consistent with prior models, our prospective models offered greater support for a putative causal pathway running from negative symptoms to neurocognition-rather than the reverse-to work functioning. Findings have implications for mechanisms contributing to longitudinal work functioning and suggest that targeting negative symptoms prior to neurocognition could be more beneficial for long-term work outcomes.

Early experiences of insensitive caregiving and children's self-regulation: Vagal tone as a differential susceptibility factor.

A considerable body of research has linked parenting to the development of children's self-regulation. However, few studies have considered different domains of self-regulation, the effects of early caregiving behaviors, and whether or not parenting influences children equally. Towards this, the present investigation tested how early maternal insensitivity was associated with difficulties in children's effortful control in early childhood and their regulation of negative emotions during the early school years. Further, we tested whether children's resting vagal tone may operate as a susceptibility factor, consistent with differential susceptibility models. The sample included 220 pairs of mothers and their children who were assessed at 18 months, 3.5 years and 5 years of age. Laboratory visits consisted of observational paradigms and survey assessments. Early maternal insensitivity at 18 months of age forecasted difficulties with effortful control at age 3.5. Moreover, effortful control at age 3.5 was associated with greater anger, but not sadness, regulation at age 5. Consistent with differential susceptibility, children's resting vagal tone at 18 months of age moderated the role of early caregiving on children's effortful control. The findings suggest that low resting vagal tone may operate as a differential susceptibility factor in process models testing associations between early caregiving environments and children's self-regulation.

The interplay between parenting and temperament in associations with children's executive function.

Guided by a domain-specific approach to parenting framework, this research examined differential associations among three domains of parenting (e.g., guided learning, reciprocity, control) and children's executive function. The second aim was examine whether child surgency and negative emotionality temperament traits moderated associations among the parenting domains and children's executive function in a manner consistent with differential susceptibility theory. The sample consisted of 160 mothers and their 5-year-old children. Results showed that guided learning was positively and uniquely associated with children's executive function, even after controlling for the other parenting and covariate variables. Child surgency only moderated the association between guided learning and children's executive function, and it was in a manner that was consistent with differential susceptibility theory. Unexpectedly, child negative emotionality selectively moderated the association between the control domain and children's executive function in alignment with the vantage sensitivity model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Parsing profiles of temperamental reactivity and differential routes to delay of gratification: A person-based approach.

Informed by a developmental psychopathology perspective, the present study applied a person-based approach to examine whether associations between early sociocontextual experiences (e.g., socioeconomic factors and maternal discipline practices) and preschool-age children's delay of gratification vary across profiles of children's temperamental reactivity. In addition, the study examined the direct and mediating role of children's set shifting in associations with delay of gratification within each profile. The sample consisted of 160 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse mothers and their 5-year-old children drawn from a longitudinal study of mother-child relationships. Latent profile analyses identified three profiles of temperamental reactivity distinguished by sensitivity to reward and punishment and negative affectivity. Multigroup analysis revealed maternal sensitive discipline (observed during a parent-child compliance task) at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5 in the punishment reactivity/negative affectivity group. Maternal inductive reasoning discipline at age 3.5 predicted longer delay in the low temperamental reactivity group. For children with the reward reactivity/negative affectivity profile, higher family income at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5, which was mediated by children's set shifting. Findings underscore the utility of person-based approaches for delineating differential developmental routes toward children's delay of gratification.

Moral development in context: Associations of neighborhood and maternal discipline with preschoolers' moral judgments.

Associations among moral judgments, neighborhood risk, and maternal discipline were examined in 118 socioeconomically diverse preschoolers (Mage = 41.84 months, SD = 1.42). Children rated the severity and punishment deserved for 6 prototypical moral transgressions entailing physical and psychological harm and unfairness. They also evaluated 3 criteria for assessing maturity in moral judgments: whether acts were considered wrong regardless of rules and wrong independent of authority, as well as whether moral rules were considered unacceptable to alter (collectively called criterion judgments). Mothers reported on their socioeconomic status, neighborhood characteristics and risk, and consistency of discipline; harsh maternal discipline was observed during a mother-child clean-up task. Structural equation modeling indicated that greater neighborhood risk was associated with less mature criterion judgments and ratings that transgressions were less serious and less deserving of punishment, particularly for children who were disciplined less harshly. Although harsh maternal discipline was associated with children's ratings of moral transgressions as more serious and deserving of punishment, this effect for severity judgments was more pronounced when mothers were inconsistent versus consistent in applying harsh discipline. Preschoolers who received consistent harsh discipline had less sophisticated moral criterion judgments than their less consistently or harshly disciplined peers. Results demonstrate the importance of social contexts in preschoolers' developing moral judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record

A life history approach to delineating how harsh environments and hawk temperament traits differentially shape children's problem-solving skills.

BACKGROUND: Harsh environments are known to predict deficits in children's cognitive abilities. Life history theory approaches challenge this interpretation, proposing stressed children's cognition becomes specialized to solve problems in fitness-enhancing ways. The goal of this study was to examine associations between early environmental harshness and children's problem-solving outcomes across tasks varying in ecological relevance. In addition, we utilize an evolutionary model of temperament toward further specifying whether hawk temperament traits moderate these associations. METHODS: Two hundred and one mother-child dyads participated in a prospective multimethod study when children were 2 and 4 years old. At age 2, environmental harshness was assessed via maternal report of earned income and observations of maternal disengagement during a parent-child interaction task. Children's hawk temperament traits were assessed from a series of unfamiliar episodes. At age 4, children's reward-oriented and visual problem-solving were measured. RESULTS: Path analyses revealed early environmental harshness and children's hawk temperament traits predicted worse visual problem-solving. Results showed a significant two-way interaction between children's hawk temperament traits and environmental harshness on reward-oriented problem-solving. Simple slope analyses revealed the effect of environmental harshness on reward-oriented problem-solving was specific to children with higher levels of hawk traits. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest early experiences of environmental harshness and child hawk temperament traits shape children's trajectories of problem-solving in an environment-fitting manner.

When stress gets into your head: Socioeconomic risk, executive functions, and maternal sensitivity across childrearing contexts.

Socioeconomic adversity has been targeted as a key upstream mechanism with robust pathogenic effects on maternal caregiving. Although research has demonstrated the negative repercussions of socioeconomic difficulties, little research has documented potential mechanisms underlying this association. Toward increasing understanding, the present study examined how maternal working memory capacity and inhibitory control may mediate associations between socioeconomic risk and change in maternal sensitivity across free-play and discipline caregiving contexts. This study used a longitudinal design, and utilized a socioeconomically diverse sample of 185 mothers and their 3.5-year-old toddlers. Multi-informants and methods were used to assess constructs. Findings revealed that maternal EF mediated associations between socioeconomic risk and parenting sensitivity with specific effects for working memory and baseline sensitivity and inhibitory control and change in sensitivity as childrearing demands increased. Results are interpreted within emerging conceptual frameworks regarding the role of parental neurocognitive functioning and caregiving. (PsycINFO Database Record

Breaking cycles of risk: The mitigating role of maternal working memory in associations among socioeconomic status, early caregiving, and children's working memory.

Previous research has documented socioeconomic-related disparities in children's working memory; however, the putative proximal caregiving mechanisms that underlie these effects are less known. The present study sought to examine whether the effects of early family socioeconomic status on children's working memory were mediated through experiences of caregiving, specifically maternal harsh discipline and responsiveness. Utilizing a psychobiological framework of parenting, the present study also tested whether maternal working memory moderated the initial paths between the family socioeconomic context and maternal harsh discipline and responsiveness in the mediation model. The sample included 185 socioeconomically diverse mother-child dyads assessed when children were 3.5 and 5 years old. Results demonstrated that maternal harsh discipline was a unique mediator of the relation between early experiences of family socioeconomic adversity and lower working memory outcomes in children. Individual differences in maternal working memory emerged as a potent individual difference factor that specifically moderated the mediating influence of harsh discipline within low socioeconomic contexts. The findings have implications for early risk processes underlying deficits in child working memory outcomes and potential targets for parent-child interventions.

Vagal Tone and Children's Delay of Gratification: Differential Sensitivity in Resource-Poor and Resource-Rich Environments.

Children from different socioeconomic backgrounds have differing abilities to delay gratification, and impoverished children have the greatest difficulties in doing so. In the present study, we examined the role of vagal tone in predicting the ability to delay gratification in both resource-rich and resource-poor environments. We derived hypotheses from evolutionary models of children's conditional adaptation to proximal rearing contexts. In Study 1, we tested whether elevated vagal tone was associated with shorter delay of gratification in impoverished children. In Study 2, we compared the relative role of vagal tone across two groups of children, one that had experienced greater impoverishment and one that was relatively middle-class. Results indicated that in resource-rich environments, higher vagal tone was associated with longer delay of gratification. In contrast, high vagal tone in children living in resource-poor environments was associated with reduced delay of gratification. We interpret the results with an eye to evolutionary-developmental models of the function of children's stress-response system and adaptive behavior across varying contexts of economic risk.

Delving Beyond Conscious Attitudes: Validation of an Innovative Tool for Assessing Parental Implicit Attitudes toward Physical Punishment.

Parenting scholars have long been interested in understanding the prevalence, determinants, and child outcomes associated with the use of physical discipline. To date, much of the empirical research in this area has utilized self-report measures to assess this construct. However, the subjective nature of participants' explicit reports presents an important confound to studying this issue. Thus, the overarching aim of this study was to provide the first test of an implicit assessment of physical discipline through using a Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). A GNAT-Physical Discipline was developed and examined in two separate studies of mothers and their 2-3 year old child. One study was conducted in an online format and the second within a laboratory design. Across both studies, findings suggested that the GNAT-Physical Discipline distinguished between positive and negative implicit attitudes towards the use of physical discipline. In addition, negative implicit attitudes were uniquely linked to maternal reports of physical discipline when compared to other discipline practices. Results suggest the potential for the GNAT paradigm in research on parental attitudes around the use of physical discipline in parenting contexts. In addition, our use of an online format (with implicit assessments of key constructs) demonstrates that child and family researchers may be able to explore their hypotheses in larger, geographically diverse samples.

Tracing Differential Pathways of Risk: Associations Among Family Adversity, Cortisol, and Cognitive Functioning in Childhood.

Guided by family risk and allostasis theoretical frameworks, the present study utilized a prospective longitudinal design to examine associations among family risk experiences, basal cortisol patterns, and cognitive functioning in children. The sample included 201 low-income children living within a midsize city in the Northeastern United States. Children were assessed at ages 2, 3, and 4 years. Growth-mixture modeling analyses revealed three basal cortisol patterns (elevated, moderate, low) and these remained relatively stable across time. Exposure to greater levels of family instability and maternal unresponsiveness predicted elevated and low cortisol patterns, which were associated with lower child cognitive functioning at age 4. Findings have implications for family risk processes that may underlie risk-related disparities in child cognitive outcomes.

A dual-process approach to the role of mother's implicit and explicit attitudes toward their child in parenting models.

Extending dual process frameworks of cognition to a novel domain, the present study examined how mothers' explicit and implicit attitudes about her child may operate in models of parenting. To assess implicit attitudes, two separate studies were conducted using the same child-focused Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT-Child). In Study 1, model analyses revealed that maternal implicit attitudes about her child were associated with maternal sensitive/responsive caregiving behaviors concurrently and predicted changes in caregiving over time In Study 2, challenging child behaviors were uniquely linked to maternal implicit and explicit attitudes. In turn, maternal implicit attitudes were associated with observational assessments of maternal sensitivity. Results underscore the potential for a dual-process approach to inform models of parenting and child behavior.