Exploring the role of OXTR gene methylation in attachment development: A longitudinal study.

The current study explored longitudinally whether oxytocin receptor gene methylation (OXTRm) changes moderated the association between parental sensitivity changes and children's attachment changes over three waves. Six hundred six Flemish children (10-12 years, 42.8%-44.8% boys) completed attachment measures and provided salivary OXTRm data on seven CpG sites. Their parents reported their sensitive parenting. Results suggest that OXTRm changes hardly link to attachment (in)security changes after the age of 10. Some support was found for interaction effects between parental sensitivity changes and OXTRm changes on attachment changes over time. Effects suggest that for children with increased OXTRm in the promotor region and decreased methylation in the inhibitor region over time, increased parental sensitivity was associated with increased secure attachment and decreased insecure attachment over time.

Mild daily stress, in interaction with NR3C1 DNA methylation levels, is linked to alterations in the HPA axis and ANS response to acute stress in early adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Daily Hassles (DH) or daily stress - is a mild type of stressor with unique contributions to psychological distress. Yet, most prior studies that investigate the effects of stressful life experiences focus on childhood trauma or on early life stress and little is known about the effects of DH on epigenetic changes in stress system related genes and on the physiological response to social stressors. METHODS: In the present study, conducted among 101 early adolescents (mean age = 11.61; SD = 0.64), we investigated whether Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) (namely heart rate and heart rate variability) and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis functioning (measured as cortisol stress reactivity and recovery) are associated with DNA methylation (DNAm) in the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1), the level of DH and their interaction. To assess the stress system functioning the TSST protocol was used. RESULTS: Our findings show that higher NR3C1 DNAm in interaction with higher levels of daily hassles, is associated with blunted HPA axis reactivity to psychosocial stress. In addition, higher levels of DH are associated with extended HPA axis stress recovery. In addition, participants with higher NR3C1 DNAm had lower ANS adaptability to stress, specifically lower parasympathetic withdrawal; for heart rate variability this effect was strongest for participants with higher level of DH. CONCLUSIONS: The observation that interaction effects between NR3C1 DNAm levels and daily stress on the functioning of the stress-systems, are already detectable in young adolescents, highlights the importance of early interventions, not only in the case of trauma, but also daily stress. This might help to prevent stress-induced mental and physical disorders later in life.

Pathways to Depressive Symptoms in a Digital Environment: The Role of Trait Affectivity and Mediation of Media Response Styles in Adolescence.

Trait negative affectivity and trait extraversion/positive affectivity are predictive of both responses to affect and depressive symptoms in adolescence. Furthermore, differences in the use of responses to affect are associated with different levels of depressive symptoms. Despite the central role of media content in adolescents' daily lives, responses to affect have not yet been extended to affect in this media content. It is thus unclear whether trait affectivity is predictive of responses to affective media content, and whether such media response styles are predictive of depressive symptoms. A 3-wave longitudinal panel study with 3-month intervals among 318 adolescents (Mage = 16.5 years, SDage = 1.11, 72.5% boys) investigated the mediating role of media response styles in associations between trait affectivity and depressive symptoms. Trait negative affectivity predicted media rumination and media dampening, yet only media rumination predicted greater levels of depressive symptoms over time. Trait positive affectivity was associated with concurrent media distraction and media-enhancing. The media response styles did not mediate the associations between trait affectivity and depressive symptoms over time. These findings suggest that individuals higher in trait negative affectivity tend to engage in maladaptive emotion regulation strategies during sad media content consumption, whereas adolescents higher in trait positive affectivity turn to more adaptive strategies during sad or happy media content consumption. Yet, media response styles are not robustly associated with depressive symptoms over time.

Cumulative family stress and externalizing problems: Secure base script knowledge as a protective factor.

The current study examined whether secure base script knowledge can buffer against higher concurrent externalizing problems and against relative increases in externalizing problems associated with cumulative family stress. We conducted a one-year longitudinal study with two waves between 2017 and 2019 in which 272 Dutch-speaking Western European children from Flanders (47.8% boys, M age = 10.20 , SD age = 0.60 ) participated. Secure base script knowledge was associated with lower concurrent externalizing problems (f2  = 0.03). High levels of secure base script knowledge also buffered against relative increases in externalizing problems associated with cumulative family risk (f2  = 0.02). These findings suggest that secure base script knowledge can mitigate the negative effects of a stressful family environment on externalizing problems.

Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance in an Adolescent Multinational Sample.

OBJECTIVE: The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) is a widely used, comprehensive measure of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. While the ICU total score is used frequently in research, the scale's factor structure remains highly debated. Inconsistencies in past factor structure research appear to be largely due to the use of small non-representative samples and failure to control for method variance (i.e., item wording direction). METHOD: The current study used a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach that considers both trait and method variance to test the factor structure of a 22-item version of the self-report ICU in a multinational community sample of 4,683 adolescents (ages 11-17). RESULTS: Results showed that a hierarchical four-factor model (i.e., one overarching CU factor, four latent trait factors) that controlled for method variance (i.e., by allowing residuals from positively worded items to covary) provided the best fit (χ2 = 2797.307, df = 160, RMSEA=.059, CFI=.922, TLI=.888, SRMR=.045). CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for method variance, the best-fitting factor structure is consistent with how the ICU was developed and corresponds to the four symptoms of Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPE) specifier in the DSM-5 criteria for Conduct Disorder (CD). In addition, measurement invariance of this factor structure across age (i.e., younger versus older adolescents) and sex was supported. As a result, mean differences in ICU total score across age and sex can be interpreted as reflecting true variations in these traits. Further, we documented that boys generally scored higher than girls on the ICU, and this sex difference was larger in later adolescence.

When the Partner's Reality Bites: Associations Between Self- and Partner Ratings of Psychopathic Traits, Relationship Quality and Conflict Tactics.

The present study examined associations of self- and partner-reported psychopathic traits, as well as the level of agreement between these reports (perceptual accuracy), with relationship quality, and the moderating role of violent and non-violent conflict tactics. Participants were 259 heterosexual couples from the community. Results indicated that, despite moderate convergence between self- and partner-reports, the female partners tended to underreport the levels of psychopathic traits in their male partner. Relationship quality was negatively associated with partner-reported and, albeit to a lesser extent, self-reported psychopathic traits. Contrary to expectations, perceptual accuracy was barely associated with relationship quality. Whereas no evidence was found for the moderating role of aggressive conflict tactics, non-violent negotiation seemed to buffer the effect of psychopathic traits on relationship quality. The study highlights the importance of considering the partner's perceptions as well as constructive conflict tactics when examining psychopathic traits in intimate relationships.

Individual differences in environmental sensitivity at physiological and phenotypic level: Two sides of the same coin?

Young adolescents are hypothesized to differ in their environmental sensitivity, at both phenotypic (i.e., Sensory Processing Sensitivity [SPS]) and physiological (i.e., biological stress response) level. This is the first study that investigated whether individual differences in environmental sensitivity at physiological level could be predicted by individual differences at phenotypic level, as measured with the HSC scale. A total of 101 adolescents (Mage = 11.61, SDage = 0.64) participated in a standardized social stress task (i.e., Trier Social Stress Task-Modified version for children and adolescents (TSST-M)). From baseline to the end of recovery, eight cortisol samples were collected, as well as a continuous measure of Autonomic Nervous System activity. Adolescents reported on SPS and on perceived stress before, during, and after TSST-M. As a follow-up analysis, the quality of the environment, the possible overlap with Neuroticism, and several covariates were considered. Multilevel models were used to investigate within- and between-person differences in stress reactivity across different systems. Results indicate significant individual differences in heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance, cortisol, and perceived stress in response to the TSST-M. Only for perceived stress significant differences in SPS were observed, with more sensitive individuals perceiving more negative and less positive affect. For environmental quality and the interaction between SPS and Neuroticism results showed higher recovery rates of heart rate in high quality environments and stronger cortisol responses for adolescents scoring high on both SPS and Neuroticism. Potential explanations for these findings and implications for current theorizing on environmental sensitivity are discussed.

Narrative coherence predicts emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a two-year longitudinal study.

Prior research has shown that narrative coherence is associated with more positive emotional responses in the face of traumatic or stressful experiences. However, most of these studies only examined narrative coherence after the stressor had already occurred. Given the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 in March 2020 in Belgium and the presence of data obtained two years before (February 2018), we could use our baseline narrative coherence data to predict emotional well-being and perceived social support in the midst of the pandemic. In a sample of emerging adults (NT1 = 278, NT2 = 198), higher baseline coherence of narratives about positive autobiographical experiences predicted relative increases in emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the relation between the coherence of positive narratives and emotional well-being was partially mediated by perceived social support. These findings suggest that narrative coherence could be an enhancement factor for adaptive emotional coping with stressful situations, in part by evoking more supportive social reactions. This study demonstrates the importance of researching cognition (narrative coherence) and emotion (well-being) to shed light on pressing societal matters such as the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Improving the Measurement of Environmental Sensitivity in Children and Adolescents: The Highly Sensitive Child Scale-21 Item Version.

Children differ in their sensitivity to positive and negative environmental influences, which can be measured with the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale. The present study introduces the HSC-21, an adaptation of the original 12 item scale with new items and factor structure that are meant to be more informative than the original ones. The psychometric properties of the HSC-21 were investigated in 1,088 children across Belgium and the Netherlands, including child and mother reports. Results showed evidence for (a) bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor and two specific factors (i.e., Ease of Excitation-Low Sensory Threshold and Aesthetic Sensitivity); (b) (partial) measurement invariance across gender, developmental stage, country, and informants; (c) moderate child-mother agreement; (d) good reliability; (e) normally distributed item scores; and (f) meaningful associations with personality and temperament across both samples. No evidence was found for HSC-21 as a moderator in the relationship between parenting and problem behaviors.

Reconciling a phenomenological with a functional approach to memory: narrative coherence and its social function.

To date, the phenomenological and functional aspects of autobiographical memory have by and large been studied separately. This is quite remarkable, given that both can inform each other, and that investigating their interaction can add to the understanding of the (in)adaptivity of certain memory characteristics for our well-being. In other words, examining how particular features of autobiographical memory are adept or inept at serving specific functions, could help us to better comprehend and explain relations between memory and psychological well-being. We discuss previous attempts to integrate phenomenology with functionality and formulate three main directions for future research based on the current state of the art. The directions concern (1) focusing on functionality (adaptivity) and not merely on the use of memories in phenomenological work, (2) attention for the bidirectionality of the relation between phenomenology and functionality, and (3) the addition of narrative constructs like coherence to the traditional range of phenomenological features. We will illustrate our directions for the reintegration of phenomenology with functionality through the social function of coherent autobiographical memories. This framework could help to stimulate future empirical studies and pave the road for new clinical interventions to improve psychological well-being.

Problem Talk in Adolescence: Temperament and Attachment as Predictors of Co-Rumination Trajectories in Boys and Girls.

Co-rumination has consistently been shown to be maladaptive in the context of emotional well-being. However, not much is known about factors that predict one's tendency to co-ruminate. The current study investigated temperament, attachment, and gender as predictors of co-rumination trajectories in a sample of 1549 early and middle adolescents from fifth to ninth grade (53.4% girls; Mage = 12.93). Analyses were performed on four waves of data with one-year intervals using multi-level modeling. First, girls were found to be more likely to co-ruminate. Second, high positive affectivity in boys and girls and high effortful control in boys was related to higher co-rumination. Third, high attachment anxiety and high general trust in the availability and support of a mother were predictive of higher co-rumination levels. High attachment avoidance was negatively related to co-rumination in boys. High positive affectivity in boys and girls and high trust in boys predicted decreases in reported co-rumination levels over time. Results highlight differences between boys and girls in factors that predict the tendency to co-ruminate. The current study adds to the literature by helping to identify factors associated with the development of co-rumination, which is a well-established risk factor of internalizing symptoms. Monitoring youth affected with these vulnerabilities may be recommended for prevention efforts.

Reasons to remember: A functionalist view on the relation between memory and psychopathology.

Memory is under investigation as one of the core mechanisms of psychopathology. The traditional cognitive view of memory as a stable structure with a range of set characteristics can be complemented with a perspective that considers remembering as a behaviour that varies fluidly across contexts. Remembering may serve adaptation to the environment by fulfilling a directive function, a self-function and a social function. A failure to fulfil these functions may be a risk factor for psychopathology. Implications of the discussed functionalist perspective include the importance of reinforcing adaptive ways of remembering during early development, the possibility of treating maladaptive ways of remembering through contextual interventions and the added ecological validity of using ambulatory assessment methods.

Attachment and the Development of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Role of Regulating Positive and Negative Affect.

Although widely accepted, attachment theory's hypothesis that insecure attachment is associated with the development of depressive symptoms through emotion regulation strategies has never been longitudinally tested in adolescence. Additionally, previous research only focused on strategies for regulating negative affect, whereas strategies for regulating positive affect may also serve as a mechanism linking insecure attachment to depressive symptoms. This study aimed to fill these research gaps by testing whether the association between attachment and change in depressive symptoms over time is explained by strategies for regulating negative and positive affect in adolescence. Adolescents (N = 1706; 53% girls; Mage = 12.78 years, SDage = 1.54 at Time 1) were tested three times, with a 1-year interval between measurement times. They reported on their attachment anxiety and avoidance at Time 1, depressive symptoms at Times 1 and 3, and regulation of negative affect (brooding and dampening) and positive affect (focusing and reflection) at Time 2. The results from multiple mediation analyses showed that more anxiously attached adolescents developed more depressive symptoms via increased brooding and dampening. More avoidantly attached adolescents developed more depressive symptoms via decreased focusing. These findings provide longitudinal support for attachment theory's emotion regulation hypothesis, and show that the regulation of both negative and positive affect is important.

Co-Rumination and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: Prospective Associations and the Mediating Role of Brooding Rumination.

Although relationships between co-rumination and depressive symptoms have often been found, little research attention has been given to mechanisms underlying this association. The current study investigated brooding rumination as a mediator of the relationship between co-rumination and depressive symptoms. Analyses were performed on data of 1549 adolescents (53.4% girls; Mage = 12.93, range 9-17) using three waves of data with 1-year intervals. Mediated and indirect effects were investigated by means of cross-lagged analyses. The results indicated that co-rumination was not predictive of depressive symptoms 2 years later. However, co-rumination did have an indirect effect on prospective depressive symptoms through brooding rumination. Additional analyses looking into the directionality of effects showed that neither brooding rumination nor depressive symptoms were predictive of relative increases in one's tendency to co-ruminate. Multi-group analyses further showed that findings were not moderated by gender or age. The current study contributes to the growing literature on the role of interpersonal and intrapersonal affect-regulation styles in predicting depressive symptoms and suggests that passive and catastrophic problem talk with same-sex friends may get internalized into maladaptive and repetitive thinking patterns.

Keep Calm and Carry On: The Relations Between Narrative Coherence, Trauma, Social Support, Psychological Well-Being, and Cortisol Responses.

In order to explain trauma resilience, previous research has been investigating possible risk and protective factors, both on an individual and a contextual level. In this experimental study, we examined narrative coherence and social support in relation to trauma resilience. Participants were asked to write about a turning point memory, after which they did the Maastricht Acute Stress Test, our lab analog of a traumatic event. Following, half of the participants received social support, whereas the other half did not. Afterwards, all participants wrote a narrative on the traumatic event. Moment-to-moment fluctuations in psychological and physiological well-being throughout the experiment were investigated with state anxiety questionnaires and cortisol measures. Results showed that narratives of traumatic experiences were less coherent than narratives of turning point memories. However, contrary to our predictions, coherence, and, in particular, thematic coherence, related positively to anxiety levels. Possibly, particular types of thematic coherence are a non-adaptive form of coping, which reflect unfinished attempts at meaning-making and are more similar to continuous rumination than to arriving at a resolution. Furthermore, coherence at baseline could not buffer against the impact of trauma on anxiety levels in this study. Contrary to our hypotheses, social support did not have the intended beneficial effects on coherence, neither on well-being. Multiple explanations as to why our support manipulation remained ineffective are suggested. Remarkably, lower cortisol levels at baseline and after writing about the turning point memory predicted higher coherence in the trauma narratives. This may suggest that the ability to remain calm in difficult situations does relate to the ability to cope adaptively with future difficult experiences. Clinical and social implications of the present findings are discussed, and future research recommendations on the relations between narrative coherence, social support, and trauma resilience are addressed.

Perspective taking, empathic concern, agreeableness, and parental support: Transactional associations across adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Empathy consists of a cognitive and an affective component, of which it is thought that there are gender differences. Previous studies also suggest that maternal and paternal support play a more prominent role in the development of an adolescent's affective and cognitive empathy, respectively. Besides the environmental factor, that is parenting, adolescent personality, and more specifically, agreeableness, is closely linked to both empathy and support, but this interplay was not extensively investigated longitudinally. The present study investigated the transactional associations among parental support, adolescent agreeableness, and adolescent empathy. More specifically, we examined (a) whether maternal/paternal support is differentially associated with cognitive/affective empathy, while taking into account adolescent agreeableness and (b) whether adolescent agreeableness still predicts empathy, while taking into account parental support. METHODS: Data from 993 Belgian adolescents (MageT1 = 13.96 years; [12.6-18.4]) and their parents across four time points were used in a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. RESULTS: At the between-person level, maternal support was associated with affective, but not cognitive empathy, whereas agreeableness was associated with maternal and paternal support as well as with both types of empathy. At the within-person level, affective empathy predicted cognitive empathy one wave later. CONCLUSIONS: At a population level, agreeableness and support are both important in adolescent empathy development with limited evidence for the differential roles of mothers and fathers. Within participants, affective empathy, and not parental support or agreeableness, predicted cognitive empathy.

Loneliness, Social Anxiety Symptoms, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: Longitudinal Distinctiveness and Correlated Change.

Loneliness, social anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms are internalizing problems that are highly intertwined and often co-occur during adolescence. This overlap and co-occurrence raises the question whether three different labels are used for the same underlying phenomenon. The present study adopts a comprehensive approach to this issue by investigating the development of the three phenomena simultaneously. Specifically, this study aimed to investigate (1) the developmental trend for all three internalizing problems separately, (2) whether they are best described by a single developmental trend, (3) how they co-develop across adolescence, and (4) gender differences in this co-development. The analyses were run in three three-wave longitudinal samples of adolescents with one-year intervals in order to verify the robustness of the findings. Sample 1 (roughly ages 15, 16, and 17) comprised 549 adolescents (63% girls), and Samples 2 and 3 (roughly ages 13, 14, and 15) comprised 811 adolescents (46% girls) and 1101 adolescents (52% girls), respectively. Latent growth curve modeling for the three phenomena separately showed either small increases or stable patterns. A comparison of a Multiple Indicator Latent Growth Model (MILGM) with a Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Modeling (PPLGCM) showed that the three internalizing problems followed unique, but related, developmental trends across adolescence. The intercepts of the three phenomena were positively correlated with one another in all samples and increases in loneliness were associated consistently with increases in social anxiety symptoms. Only in Sample 3 evidence was found for a similar association between loneliness and depressive symptoms and between social anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms. Except for differences in initial levels, gender differences in the development of the three problems were limited. Overall, the results of the present study clearly indicate that the three internalizing problems are longitudinally distinct from one another, but co-develop across adolescence.

Children's Attention to Mother and Adolescent Stress Moderate the Attachment-Depressive Symptoms Link.

The breadth of children's attentional field around their mother determines whether securely or insecurely attached children are at risk to develop depressive symptoms when confronted with distress in adolescence. To test this effect longitudinally, we measured children's (M age = 10.93; N = 109) baseline attentional breadth around their mother, attachment status (combining attachment coherence, secure base script knowledge, and self-reported trust), and self-reported depressive symptoms. One and two years later, we measured self-reported distress and depressive symptoms. We tested three-way interactions between attentional breadth × attachment × distress on changes in depressive symptoms. This three-way interaction was marginally significantly linked with changes in depressive symptoms from baseline to year 1, and significantly with changes in depressive symptoms from baseline to year 2. Results pointed to the protective role of a narrow attentional field around the mother in middle childhood for securely attached children who are confronted with distress later in life.

Gene-environment interaction: New insights into perceived parenting and social anxiety among adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Social anxiety symptoms (SAS) are among the most common mental health problems during adolescence, and it has been shown that parenting influences the adolescent's level of social anxiety. In addition, it is now widely assumed that most mental health problems, including social anxiety, originate from a complex interplay between genes and environment. However, to date, gene-environment (G × E) interactions studies in the field of social anxiety remain limited. In this study, we have examined how 274 genes involved in different neurotransmission pathways interact with five aspects of perceived parenting as environmental exposure (i.e., support, proactive control, psychological control, punitive control, and harsh punitive control) to affect SAS during adolescence. METHODS: We have applied an analytical technique that allows studying genetic information at the gene level, by aggregating data from multiple single-nucleotide-polymorphisms within the same gene and by taking into account the linkage disequilibrium structure of the gene. All participants were part of the STRATEGIES cohort of 948 Flemish adolescents (mean age = 13.7), a population-based study on the development of problem behaviors in adolescence. Relevant genes were preselected based on prior findings and neurotransmitter-related functional protein networks. RESULTS: The results suggest that genes involved in glutamate (SLC1A1), glutathione neurotransmission (GSTZ1), and oxidative stress (CALCRL), in association with harsh punitive parenting, may contribute to social anxiety in adolescence. Isolated polymorphisms in these genes have been related to anxiety and related disorders in earlier work.Conclusions: Taken together, these findings provide new insights into possible biological pathways and environmental risk factors involved in the etiology of social anxiety symptoms' development. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings provide new insights into possible biological pathways and environmental risk factors involved in the etiology of social anxiety symptoms' development.

I like you better when you are coherent. Narrating autobiographical memories in a coherent manner has a positive impact on listeners' social evaluations.

INTRODUCTION: We all have stories to tell. The stories that prevail in our conversations frequently concern significant past personal experiences and are accordingly based on autobiographical memory retrieval and sharing. This is in line with the social function of autobiographical memory, which embodies the idea that we share memories with others to develop and maintain social relationships. However, the successful fulfilment of this social function is dependent on phenomenological properties of the memory, which are highly inter-individually different. One important individual difference is memory coherence, operationalized as narrative coherence. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of memory coherence on the social evaluations of listeners. We hypothesized that being incoherent in the sharing of autobiographical memories, would evoke more negative social evaluations from listeners, in comparison to coherently sharing autobiographical memories. METHODS: In a within-subject experimental study, 96 participants listened to four pre-recorded audio clips in which the speaker narrated about an autobiographical experience, in either a coherent or an incoherent manner. RESULTS: Results were in line with our hypotheses. Participants showed more willingness to interact, more instrumental support, more positive feelings, more empathy and more trust towards those narrators who talked in a coherent manner about their autobiographical memories, as compared to those that talked in an incoherent manner. Negative feelings in the listener were evoked when the speaker talked incoherently, but especially when it concerned a positive memory. DISCUSSION: Results can be explained in terms of a reduction in the attraction effect when effortful processing is increased, which is in line with the dual processing theory of impression formation. Another explanation involves the idea that coherence is necessary to establish truthfulness in communication. The clinical relevance of these findings is further illustrated in light of the relation between social support and psychological well-being.