The role of stress reactivity in the long-term persistence of adolescent social anxiety symptoms.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) symptoms demonstrate a marked persistence over time, but little is known empirically about short-term processes that may account for this long-term persistence. In this study, we examined how self-reported and physiological stress reactivity were associated with persistence of SAD symptoms from early to late adolescence. A community sample of 327 adolescents (56% boys, Mage=13.01 at T1) reported their SAD symptoms for 6 successive years and participated in a public speaking task, during which self-reported (i.e., perceived nervousness and heart rate) and physiological (i.e., cortisol and heart rate) measures of stress were taken. Overall, our results point to a developmental process in which adolescents with a developmental history of higher SAD symptoms show both heightened perceived stress reactivity and heart rate reactivity, which, in turn, predict higher SAD symptoms into late adolescence.

Discrepancies Between Perceptions of the Parent-Adolescent Relationship and Early Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: An Illustration of Polynomial Regression Analysis.

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of depressive symptoms. Lower quality of the parent-adolescent relationship has been consistently associated with higher adolescent depressive symptoms, but discrepancies in perceptions of parents and adolescents regarding the quality of their relationship may be particularly important to consider. In the present study, we therefore examined how discrepancies in parents' and adolescents' perceptions of the parent-adolescent relationship were associated with early adolescent depressive symptoms, both concurrently and longitudinally over a 1-year period. Our sample consisted of 497 Dutch adolescents (57 % boys, M age = 13.03 years), residing in the western and central regions of the Netherlands, and their mothers and fathers, who all completed several questionnaires on two occasions with a 1-year interval. Adolescents reported on depressive symptoms and all informants reported on levels of negative interaction in the parent-adolescent relationship. Results from polynomial regression analyses including interaction terms between informants' perceptions, which have recently been proposed as more valid tests of hypotheses involving informant discrepancies than difference scores, suggested the highest adolescent depressive symptoms when both the mother and the adolescent reported high negative interaction, and when the adolescent reported high but the father reported low negative interaction. This pattern of findings underscores the need for a more sophisticated methodology such as polynomial regression analysis including tests of moderation, rather than the use of difference scores, which can adequately address both congruence and discrepancies in perceptions of adolescents and mothers/fathers of the parent-adolescent relationship in detail. Such an analysis can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of risk factors for early adolescent depressive symptoms.

Genome-wide association study of lifetime cannabis use based on a large meta-analytic sample of 32 330 subjects from the International Cannabis Consortium.

Cannabis is the most widely produced and consumed illicit psychoactive substance worldwide. Occasional cannabis use can progress to frequent use, abuse and dependence with all known adverse physical, psychological and social consequences. Individual differences in cannabis initiation are heritable (40-48%). The International Cannabis Consortium was established with the aim to identify genetic risk variants of cannabis use. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data of 13 cohorts (N=32 330) and four replication samples (N=5627). In addition, we performed a gene-based test of association, estimated single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability and explored the genetic correlation between lifetime cannabis use and cigarette use using LD score regression. No individual SNPs reached genome-wide significance. Nonetheless, gene-based tests identified four genes significantly associated with lifetime cannabis use: NCAM1, CADM2, SCOC and KCNT2. Previous studies reported associations of NCAM1 with cigarette smoking and other substance use, and those of CADM2 with body mass index, processing speed and autism disorders, which are phenotypes previously reported to be associated with cannabis use. Furthermore, we showed that, combined across the genome, all common SNPs explained 13-20% (P<0.001) of the liability of lifetime cannabis use. Finally, there was a strong genetic correlation (rg=0.83; P=1.85 × 10(-8)) between lifetime cannabis use and lifetime cigarette smoking implying that the SNP effect sizes of the two traits are highly correlated. This is the largest meta-analysis of cannabis GWA studies to date, revealing important new insights into the genetic pathways of lifetime cannabis use. Future functional studies should explore the impact of the identified genes on the biological mechanisms of cannabis use.

A longitudinal biosocial study of cortisol and peer influence on the development of adolescent antisocial behavior.

It is increasingly recognized that in order to understand the complex phenomenon of antisocial behavior, interrelations between biological and social risk factors should be taken into account. In the current study, this biosocial approach was applied to examine the mediating role of deviant peers in longitudinal associations linking the level of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity to aggression and rule-breaking. Participants were 425 boys and girls from the general population, who were assessed yearly at ages 15, 16, and 17. As a measure of HPA axis activity, cortisol was assessed at awakening, 30, and 60 min later (the cortisol awakening response, CAR). Participants, as well as their best friend, reported on their own aggressive and rule-breaking behavior, thereby allowing to assess bidirectional influences within friendships. Aggression was only predicted by a decreased cortisol level at awakening, and not by aggressive behavior of their friend. Decreased levels of cortisol at awakening predicted adolescents' rule-breaking, which subsequently predicted increased rule-breaking of their best friend. The latter was only found for adolescents who changed friends, as compared to adolescents with the same friend in every year. Gender differences were not found. These findings suggest that interrelations between biological and social risk factors are different for the development of aggression versus rule-breaking. Furthermore, decreased levels of HPA axis activity may represent a susceptibility to selecting deviant peers.

[Developmental trajectories of anxiety disorder symptoms in adolescents: a five-year prospective community study]. / Ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen: een vijfjarig prospectief onderzoek onder adolescenten uit de algemene populatie.

BACKGROUND: The relatively recent adoption of modern statistical analysis methods, such as latent growth modelling (lgm), makes it possible to study differences in the individual trajectories of development over time. AIM: To examine prospectively the developmental trajectories of anxiety disorder symptoms in a large sample of adolescents (N = 1,318) from the general population over a period of five years. METHOD: The adolescents were divided into two cohorts: early adolescents (average age 12 at the first measurement) and middle adolescents (average age 16 at the first measurement). Age and gender differences in the developmental trajectories of adolescent anxiety disorder symptoms over time were examined by means of lgm. results Over the course of five years there was a slight decrease in panic disorder, school anxiety and separation anxiety disorder symptoms for all adolescents, with the exception of social phobia symptoms, which remained fairly stable over time. Adolescent girls showed a slight increase in generalised anxiety disorder symptoms over time, whereas these symptoms decreased among adolescent boys. CONCLUSION: The use of individual trajectory-based analyses, enabled us to study advance our understanding of age and gender differences in the development of adolescent anxiety symptoms.

Developmental trajectories of perceived friendship intimacy, constructive problem solving, and depression from early to late adolescence.

This study examined friendship types in developmental trajectories of perceived closeness and balanced relatedness. In addition, differences between friendship types in the development of constructive problem solving and depression were examined. Questionnaire data of five annual waves were used from two adolescent cohorts (cohort 1: M = 12.41 years; cohort 2: M = 16.37 years). Growth Mixture Modeling revealed two developmental trajectories in cognitive representations of perceived friendship intimacy: interdependent and disengaged friendships. Adolescents in interdependent friendships were characterized by high perceived closeness and balanced relatedness across adolescence. Furthermore, adolescents in disengaged friendships had lower levels of and smaller increases in constructive problem solving. Girls in disengaged friendships showed smaller increases in balanced relatedness and higher levels of depression than boys in disengaged friendships and adolescents in interdependent friendships.