Strengthening through adversity: The hormesis model in developmental psychopathology.

BACKGROUND: Employing a developmental psychopathology framework, we tested the utility of the hormesis model in examining the strengthening of children and youth through limited levels of adversity in relation to internalizing and externalizing outcomes within a brain-by-development context. METHODS: Analyzing data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (N = 11,878), we formed latent factors of threat, deprivation, and unpredictability. We examined linear and nonlinear associations between adversity dimensions and youth psychopathology symptoms and how change of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in the default mode network (DMN) from Time 1 to Time 5 moderates these associations. RESULTS: A cubic association was found between threat and youth internalizing problems; low-to-moderate family conflict levels reduced these problems. Deprivation also displayed a cubic relation with youth externalizing problems, with moderate deprivation levels associated with fewer problems. Unpredictability linearly increased both problem types. Change in DMN rsFC significantly moderated the cubic link between threat levels and internalizing problems, with declining DMN rsFC levels from Time 1 to Time 5 facilitating hormesis. Hormetic effects peaked earlier, emphasizing the importance of sensitive periods and developmental timing of outcomes related to earlier experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening through limited environmental adversity is crucial for developing human resilience. Understanding this process requires considering both linear and nonlinear adversity-psychopathology associations. Testing individual differences by brain and developmental context will inform preventive intervention programming.

Childhood adversity and racial discrimination forecast suicidal and death ideation among emerging adult Black men: A longitudinal analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Disproportionate exposure to childhood adversity and the effects of racial discrimination take a toll on Black American men's mental health. Despite increasing rates of suicidal behaviors and thoughts among young adult, Black American men, few longitudinal studies examine their risk for suicidal and death ideation (SDI). We tested a developmental model linking childhood adversity (experiences of deprivation and threatening experiences) and emerging adult exposure to racial discrimination to increases in SDI and examined a potential mechanism for these effects, negative relational schemas. METHOD: A sample of 504 Black men (Mage = 20.7) from rural Georgia were recruited with respondent-driven sampling and completed a baseline survey. Men participated in two additional follow-up surveys (Mage = 21.9 and Mage = 23.5). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Analyses largely supported the proposed model. Childhood adversities were associated directly with reports of SDI. Childhood deprivation indirectly predicted SDI via negative schemas (ß = 0.03, 95% CI [.014, .046]). Racial discrimination also indirectly predicted SDI via negative relational schemas (ß = 0.01, 95% CI [.001, .018]). CONCLUSION: Study results suggest that clinical and preventive interventions for suicidality should target the influence of racism and adverse experiences and the negative relational schemas they induce. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

COVID-19-related stress exacerbates the effect of child maltreatment on negative affect via increased identity confusion during adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Exposure to childhood maltreatment may undermine the crucial developmental task of identity formation in adolescence, placing them at risk for developing negative affect. The current study investigated whether COVID-19-related stress intensified the indirect link between child maltreatment and adolescents' negative affect through identity confusion. METHOD: Using multidimensional assessments of child maltreatment (threat vs. deprivation), the study included a sample of 124 adolescents (Mage = 12.89, SD = 0.79; 52% female) assessed before (January 2018 to March 2020) and during the pandemic (May to October 2020) in Georgia, United States. The majority of the participants were European American (78.8%), followed by African American (11.5%), Hispanic (3.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%), and other (4.8%). We used structural equation modeling to test (a) the mediating role of identity confusion in the link between childhood maltreatment and negative affect and (b) whether COVID-19-related stress moderated these indirect effects. Simple slopes and Johnson-Neyman plots were generated to probe regions of significant interaction effects. RESULTS: Threat and deprivation predicted an increase in adolescent identity confusion. Additionally, childhood threat and deprivation were indirectly linked to adolescents' negative affect through increased levels of identity confusion. COVID-19-related stress significantly exacerbated the link between identity confusion and negative affect. CONCLUSION: Identity confusion is a mechanism underlying the link between child maltreatment and the development of negative affect in adolescence. Our results inform prevention and intervention programs that aim to reduce negative affect among adolescents who experience threatening and depriving rearing environments.

Latent Profiles of Sleep Patterns in Early Adolescence: Associations With Behavioral Health Risk.

PURPOSE: The present study characterized sleep profiles in a national longitudinal sample of early adolescents and examined whether profiles predicted later behavioral problems. METHODS: Three waves of data (2016-2021) were obtained from the Adolescent Behavior and Cognitive Development study, including 3,326 participants with both weekday and weekend sleep data measured by Fitbit wearables (age range 10.58-13.67 years; 49.3% female). Latent profile analysis was utilized to identify sleep profiles using multiple sleep indicators (duration, latency, efficiency, wake minutes, wake counts, and midpoint). We then explored whether demographic predictors predicted profile membership and tested the latent sleep profiles' predictive utility of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. RESULTS: Four profiles were identified: average sleep (40.39%), high duration & high wakefulness (28.58%), high efficiency, low duration &low wakefulness (16.86%), and low duration & low efficiency (14.17%). Participants with older age, males, higher body mass index, and advanced pubertal status were more likely to be classified in the low duration & low efficiency profile than the average group. Participants with lower income, minority identification, older age, and higher body mass index were more likely to be classified in the high efficiency, low duration &low wakefulness than the average group. Participants with lower parental education and males were more likely to be in the high sleep duration & high wakefulness than the average group. The low duration & low efficiency group had the highest attention problems, social problems, and rule-breaking behaviors. DISCUSSION: Our findings highlight unique sleep patterns in early adolescence and their prospective links with internalizing and externalizing problems.

The Influence of Pubertal Development on Early Adolescent Sleep and Changes in Family Functioning.

Pubertal development has been separately linked to adolescents' sleep problems and larger family functioning, but research connecting these inter-related processes remains sparse. This study aimed to examine how pubertal status and tempo were related to early adolescents' sleep and their family functioning. Using longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study, the study's sample (N = 4682) was 49.2% female, was an average of 9.94 years old at baseline, and was 60.1% white. Analyses in the current study modeled the indirect associations between pubertal change and changes in family conflict via adolescent sleep duration and variability of duration. The results suggested that pubertal status and tempo predicted shorter adolescent sleep durations and greater variability in those durations, which predicted residual increases in family conflict. The findings highlight the role of adolescents' pubertal changes in their sleep and how such changes can negatively affect family functioning.

The Impact of Whole Egg Consumption on Bone Accrual in Healthy Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Dietary interventions designed to examine the role of nutrition on childhood bone accrual have often focused on the role of individual micronutrients (eg, calcium, vitamin D, and zinc) and macronutrients (eg, protein). The osteogenic benefits of whole foods, such as eggs, are not well understood despite eggs being a source of high-quality nutrients and bioactive compounds known to positively influence bone. A significant positive cross-sectional association between whole egg consumption and tibia cortical bone mass has recently been shown in young children; however, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have not been conducted. This study is a double-blind RCT in male and female children ages 9-13 years of different ancestries, designed to determine if consuming food products with whole eggs (equivalent to 8-10 eggs/wk) versus foods with milk or gelatin (placebo) over a 9-month period will improve measures of bone strength. Total body less head (TBLH) and lumbar spine bone mineral content (BMC) and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) were assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). DXA Z-scores were computed using published pediatric growth charts and were adjusted for height-for-age Z-score (HAZ). Mid-tibia cortical volumetric BMD, BMC, cortical area, total bone area, cortical thickness, and strength strain index were measured using peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Overall, there were no significant intervention effects for any bone outcomes. The increase in spine BMCHAZ Z-score in the egg group versus the gelatin group approached significance (p = 0.07). Significant time effects in TBLH aBMDHAZ Z-score occurred as all groups decreased over 9 months (p < 0.03). Most tibia cortical bone outcomes increased over time (all p < 0.02), but changes did not differ across intervention groups. Whole eggs provide important nutritional benefits for children, but the bone responses to consumption of 8-10 eggs/wk over a period of 9 months in children entering the early stages of puberty were small. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

The Protective Role of the Autonomic Nervous System in Intergenerational Cycles of Neglect.

Offspring of parents who experienced childhood neglect are at increased risk for developing internalizing problems. Empirical evidence suggests this link is principally mediated through parenting behavior. However, such intergenerational cycles of adversity are found to be disrupted in many families. Parasympathetic nervous system functioning is well documented to mediate individuals' emotion regulation biologically. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a validated biomarker for parasympathetic activity. The goal of the current study was to investigate the moderating role of parent RSA reactivity in the effect of parents' childhood neglect on their children's internalizing problems, through parental acceptance. Physiological and survey data were collected from 145 dyads (94% mothers; Youth Mage = 12.9, Youth SDage = 0.85). Results suggest that the effect of parents' childhood neglect on their child's internalizing problems was conditional on parents' RSA reactivity. Specifically, higher levels of parents' neglect were only linked to increased risk for youth internalizing problems if parents exhibited a lack of RSA withdrawal. Further, this moderating effect was found to be mediated through parental acceptance. Findings suggest understanding intergenerational consequences of child maltreatment contexts should include consideration of bioregulatory factors.

Substance use trajectories among emerging adult Black men: Risk factors and consequences.

INTRODUCTION: Young, Black American men experience greater social, legal and economic consequences of substance use compared with White men for comparable levels of consumption. The development of tailored interventions requires prospective information on their substance use patterns, risk factors and consequences. We identified longitudinal substance use profiles and examined their links to childhood adversity, racial discrimination and young adult problem substance use and mental health. METHODS: Emerging adult Black men (n = 504, mean age = 20.26, SD = 1.08) provided fours waves of data between January 2012 and March 2021. We conducted a parallel process latent class growth analysis for three substances to explore conjoint longitudinal use patterns and investigated the risk factors and consequences of each pattern. RESULTS: Three trajectory classes emerged: non-using (n = 201, 39.9%), cannabis using (n = 202, 40.1%) and poly-substance using (n = 101, 20%) groups. Threat-based childhood adversity and racial discrimination were associated with higher odds of being members of cannabis or poly-substance groups than non-using group. Deprivation-based adversity was associated with higher odds for membership in poly-substance than non-using group. At Wave 4, elevated depressive symptoms were more prevalent among poly-substance compared with cannabis using group. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Heterogeneous substance use patterns emerged among Black American men and each pattern has distinct risk factors and outcomes in young adulthood. For prevention, more attention is needed for cannabis use patterns and psychosocial adversities that are unique to Black population.

Sleep mediates the effect of stressful environments on youth development of impulsivity: The moderating role of within default mode network resting-state functional connectivity.

OBJECTIVES: Youth raised in stressful environments are at increased risk for developing impulsive traits, which are a robust precursor of problem behaviors. Sleep may mediate the link between stress and problem behaviors as it is both sensitive to stress and essential for neurocognitive development underlying behavioral control during adolescence. The default mode network (DMN) is a brain network implicated in stress regulation and sleep. Yet, it is poorly understood how individual differences in resting-state DMN moderate the effect of stressful environments on impulsivity via sleep problems. METHODS: Three waves of data spanning 2 years were obtained from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study, a national longitudinal sample of 11,878 children (Mage at baseline = 10.1; 47.8% female). Structural equation modeling was used to test (a) the mediating role of sleep at T3 in the link between stressful environments at baseline and impulsivity at T5 and (b) the moderation of this indirect association by baseline levels of within-DMN resting-state functional connectivity. RESULTS: Sleep problems, shorter sleep duration, and longer sleep latency significantly mediated the link between stressful environments and youth impulsivity. Youth with elevated within-DMN resting-state functional connectivity showed intensified associations between stressful environments and impulsivity via shorter sleep duration. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that sleep health can be a target for preventive intervention and thereby mitigate the link between stressful environments and increased levels of youth impulsivity.

Biological sensitivity to context as a dyadic construct: An investigation of child-parent RSA synchrony among low-SES youth.

Parenting behaviors are significantly linked to youths' behavioral adjustment, an association that is moderated by youths' and parents' self-regulation. The biological sensitivity to context theory suggests that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) indexes youths' varying susceptibility to rearing contexts. However, self-regulation in the family context is increasingly viewed as a process of "coregulation" that is biologically embedded and involves dynamic Parent×Child interactions. No research thus far has examined physiological synchrony as a dyadic biological context that may moderate associations between parenting behaviors and preadolescent adjustment. Using a two-wave sample of 101 low-socioeconomic status (SES) families (children and caretakers; mean age 10.28 years), we employed multilevel modeling to examine dyadic coregulation during a conflict task, indicated by RSA synchrony, as a moderator of the linkages between observed parenting behaviors and preadolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems. Results showed that high dyadic RSA synchrony resulted in a multiplicative association between parenting and youth adjustment. High dyadic synchrony intensified the relations between parenting behaviors and youth behavior problems, such that in the context of high dyadic synchrony, positive and negative parenting behaviors were associated with decreased and increased behavioral problems, respectively. Parent-child dyadic RSA synchrony is discussed as a potential biomarker of biological sensitivity in youth.

In or out of sync? Concordance between parent and adolescent sleep varies by family context.

Evidence suggests significant interrelations among parent and adolescent sleep (i.e., concordance). However, less is known regarding how parent-adolescent sleep concordance varies as a function of the family context. This study examined daily and average concordance between parent and adolescent sleep and explored adverse parenting and family functioning (e.g., cohesion, flexibility) as potential moderators. One hundred and twenty-four adolescents (Mage  = 12.90) and their parents (93% mothers) wore actigraphy watches assessing sleep duration, efficiency, and midpoint across 1 week. Multilevel models indicated daily (within-family) concordance between parent and adolescent sleep duration and midpoint. Average (between-family) concordance was found for sleep midpoint only. Family flexibility was linked with greater daily concordance in sleep duration and midpoint, whereas adverse parenting predicted discordance in average sleep duration and efficiency.

Child maltreatment and youth suicide risk: A developmental conceptual model and implications for suicide prevention.

Experiences of child abuse and neglect are risk factors for youth suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Accordingly, suicide risk may emerge as a developmental process that is heavily influenced by the rearing environment. We argue that a developmental, theoretical framework is needed to guide future research on child maltreatment and youth (i.e., adolescent and emerging adult) suicide, and to subsequently inform suicide prevention efforts. We propose a developmental model that integrates principles of developmental psychopathology and current theories of suicide to explain the association between child maltreatment and youth suicide risk. This model bears significant implications for future research on child maltreatment and youth suicide risk, and for suicide prevention efforts that target youth with child maltreatment experiences.

Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Among Black American Adolescents: Sociocultural, Racism and Familial Predictors.

OBJECTIVE: The development of depressive symptoms often increases in adolescence, and for Black American youth, can result in disproportionately long-lasting and deleterious outcomes. Despite the epidemiological trend, scant research has examined the longitudinal development of heterogeneous patterns of depressive symptoms among Black American youth. Moreover, less is known on the impact of contextual covariates on depressive symptom trajectories among Black American youth. The investigation into within-group differences of depressive symptoms is crucial for culturally informed interventions. METHODS: The sample consisted of 472 Black American youth and their primary caregivers from eight counties in Georgia who provided data at five time points (i.e., youth ages 11 to 15). Hypotheses were tested with latent class growth analysis to investigate multiple trajectories of depressive symptoms, and examine sociocultural and familial covariates of trajectory group, including caregiver depressive symptoms, involved vigilant parenting, racial discrimination experiences, Black pride, and internalized racism. RESULTS: Four-classes of depressive symptoms were identified including stable low (58.4%); high start, decreasing (20%); later onset (13%); and high and increasing (8.5%). Family and race-related predictors differentiated youth's depressive symptom trajectories class and identified warning signs for high-symptomology trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide novel insights into developmental patterns of depressive symptoms and the role of contextual and sociocultural factors within a sample of Black American youth. Implications include treatment and prevention recommendations.

Continuity versus change in latent profiles of emotion regulation and working memory during adolescence.

Significant structural and functional brain development occurs during early adolescence. These changes underlie developments in central neurocognitive processes such as working memory (WM) and emotion regulation (ER). The preponderance of studies modeling trajectories of adolescent brain development use variable-centered approaches, omitting attention to individual differences that may undergird neurobiological embedding of early life stress and attendant psychopathology. This preregistered, data-driven study used latent transition analysis (LTA) to identify (1) latent profiles of neural function during a WM and implicit ER task, (2) transitions in profiles across 24 months, and 3) associations between transitions, parental support, and subsequent psychopathology. Using two waves of data from the ABCD Study (Mage T1 = 10; Mage T2 = 12), we found three unique profiles of neural function at both T1 and T2. The Typical, Emotion Hypo-response, and Emotion-Hyper response profiles were characterized by, respectively: moderate amygdala activation and fusiform deactivation; high ACC, fusiform, and insula deactivation; and high amygdala, ACC, and insula response to ER. While 69.5 % remained in the Typical profile from T1 to T2, 27.8 % of the sample moved from one profile at T1 to another at T2. However, neither latent profiles nor transitions exhibited associations between parental support or psychopathology symptoms.

The effects of 9 months of formulated whole-egg or milk powder food products as meal or snack replacements on executive function in preadolescents: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Elevated brain choline is associated with better executive functions in preadolescents. Manipulating dietary choline prospectively in preadolescents using egg supplementation could improve executive functions via effects on brain cellular and neurotransmitter functions. OBJECTIVES: We tested the 9-month impacts of egg supplementation on executive functions. It was hypothesized that preadolescents who consumed meal or snack replacement products containing powder made from whole eggs would have the largest improvements in executive functions after 9 months compared to those consuming similar products with either added milk powder or gelatin as a placebo. METHODS: A randomized, parallel-group, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial design was used. The executive functions of 122 preadolescents (58 females) aged 9-13 were analyzed before and after the 9-month intervention. The primary outcomes were 3 NIH Toolbox-Cognitive Battery measures of executive function: mental flexibility, working memory, and selective attention and inhibitory control. Participants were randomized to consume food products with either: 1) whole egg powder; 2) milk powder; or 3) gelatin as a placebo, all matched on macronutrient content and used as replacements for commonly consumed foods (i.e., waffles, pancakes, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, and brownies). Hypothesis testing used mixed-effects models that included physical activity and sleep scores as covariates. RESULTS: A statistically significant group × time interaction for selective attention and inhibitory control was found (P = 0.049) for the milk group. This interaction resulted from no change for the placebo group and an improvement in selective attention and inhibitory control performance for the milk group by a T-score of 5.8; the effect size (d) was 0.44 SD units. Other comparisons were statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of foods with added milk powder as a replacement for snacks or meals for 9 months improves selective attention and inhibitory control in preadolescents. Replacement of foods with added whole egg powder does not impact 9-month changes in preadolescent executive functions. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03739424.

Low-to-moderate level of perceived stress strengthens working memory: Testing the hormesis hypothesis through neural activation.

The negative impact of stress on neurocognitive functioning is extensively documented by empirical research. However, emerging reports suggest that stress may also confer positive neurocognitive effects. This hypothesis has been advanced by the hormesis model of psychosocial stress, in which low-moderate levels of stress are expected to result in neurocognitive benefits, such as improved working memory (WM), a central executive function. We tested the hormesis hypothesis, purporting an inverted U-shaped relation between stress and neurocognitive performance, in a large sample of young adults from the Human Connectome Project (n = 1000, Mage = 28.74, SD = 3.67, 54.3% female). In particular, we investigated whether neural response during a WM challenge is a potential intermediary through which low-moderate levels of stress confer beneficial effects on WM performance. Further, we tested whether the association between low-moderate prolonged stress and WM-related neural function was stronger in contexts with more psychosocial resources. Findings showed that low-moderate levels of perceived stress were associated with elevated WM-related neural activation, resulting in more optimal WM behavioral performance (α *ß = -0.02, p = .046). The strength of this association tapered off at high-stress levels. Finally, we found that the benefit of low-moderate stress was stronger among individuals with access to higher levels of psychosocial resources (ß = -0.06, p = .021). By drawing attention to the dose-dependent, nonlinear relation between stress and WM, this study highlights emerging evidence of a process by which mild stress induces neurocognitive benefits, and the psychosocial context under which benefits are most likely to manifest.

Is perceived stress linked to enhanced cognitive functioning and reduced risk for psychopathology? Testing the hormesis hypothesis.

Extensive research documents the impact of psychosocial stress on risk for the development of psychiatric symptoms across one's lifespan. Further, evidence exists that cognitive functioning mediates this link. However, a growing body of research suggests that limited stress can result in cognitive benefits that may contribute to resilience. The hypothesis that low-to-moderate levels of stress are linked to more adaptive outcomes has been referred to as hormesis. Using a sample of young adults from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1,206, 54.4% female, Mage = 28.84), the present study aims to test the hormetic effect between low-to-moderate perceived stress and psychopathological symptoms (internalizing and externalizing symptoms), as well as to cross-sectionally explore the intermediate role of cognitive functioning in this effect. Results showed cognitive functioning as a potential intermediating mechanism underlying the curvilinear associations between perceived stress and externalizing, but not internalizing, behaviors. This study provides preliminary support for the benefits of limited stress to the process of human resilience.

Latent Typologies of Psychiatric Symptom Comorbidity With Substance Use: Associations With Adverse Childhood Experiences.

OBJECTIVE: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and lifetime traumatic events are closely linked to development of comorbid psychiatric symptoms and substance use. Although research shows the risk for psychiatric and substance use comorbidity conferred by early adversity, most studies have not modeled multivariate symptom patterns that include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom criteria (i.e., re-experiencing, effortful avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal). The aim of the present study was to model multivariate patterns of substance use and psychiatric symptoms, including PTSD criteria, and examine associations between these patterns and early adversity. METHOD: Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used in a large, nonclinical sample of community adults (N = 1,431). Relations between profile membership, cumulative ACEs, and demographic covariates were then evaluated. RESULTS: Results indicated four distinct profiles of psychiatric symptom comorbidity (PSC): (a) PTSD dominant with elevated illicit drug and cannabis use; (b) anxiety and depression dominant with elevated use across substances; (c) avoidance dominant with low severity of all other psychiatric symptoms and substance use; and (d) psychiatrically healthy. Analyses identified significant associations between profile membership and cumulative ACEs and other traumatic events. Cumulative ACEs and traumatic events were highest among the PTSD dominant profile. CONCLUSIONS: A greater understanding of heterogeneous patterns of PSC may allow for future development of treatment care paths that correspond to standard criteria of symptom presentation and severity.

Neural signatures of the development of antisocial behaviours and callous-unemotional traits among youth: The moderating role of parental support.

Comorbidity of antisocial behaviours (AB) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits characterizes a subgroup of youth at risk for chronic and severe AB in adulthood. Although aberrant neural response to facial emotion confers heightened risk for AB and CU traits, the behavioural effect of this neural response varies by family context. The present study examines the effects of neural response to emotional faces, parental support and the interaction between the two as predictors of AB and CU traits in a longitudinal sample of preadolescents (Nbaseline = 11,883; Mage = 9.5; 47.8% female). Low CU youth who evinced attenuated response to fearful faces within the left superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus showed smaller decreases of AB over time; these associations did not extend to high CU youth. Among high CU youth reporting low parental support, blunted response to fearful faces within the bilateral inferior parietal sulcus predicted smaller decreases of AB. Study findings highlight neurobehavioural differences between youth with high and low CU traits, as well as the interacting roles of negative face processing and parental support in the development of AB.

Associations between anxiety, centromedial amygdala volume, and complex verbal fluency in middle-aged to older adults.

Symptoms of anxiety are related to decreases in cognitive performance in middle-aged to older adults (i.e., ages 50 and older; MOA). Verbal fluency (VF), assessed with the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Category Switching (VF-CS) task, captures elements of executive function such as semantic memory, response initiation and inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. The present study examined the link between anxiety symptoms and VF-CS to better understand how this association affects such executive functions in MOA. We hypothesized that higher subclinical Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores would be associated with lower VF-CS. To further investigate the underlying neurobiological basis of an expected inverse relationship, total amygdala volume, centromedial amygdala (CMA) volume, and basolateral amygdala (BLA) volume were examined as they related to VF-CS scores on the D-KEFS. Based on extant research on connectivity and functioning between the CMA and BLA, we hypothesized that larger BLA volumes would be associated with lower anxiety scores and exhibit positive relationships with VF-CS. A sample of 63 MOA were recruited from the Providence, Rhode Island area as a part of a parent study on cardiovascular diseases. Participants completed self-report measures about physical and emotional health, a neuropsychological assessment, and a magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI). Multiple hierarchical regressions were performed to examine relationships between variables of interest. Contrary to hypotheses, no significant relationship emerged between VF-CS and BAI scores, and BLA volume was not associated with either BAI scores or VF-CS. However, a significant positive relationship was observed between CMA volume and VF-CS. The significant relationship found between CMA and VF-CS may reflect the upward slope of the quadratic relationship between arousal and cognitive performance on the Yerkes-Dodson curve. These findings newly implicate CMA volume specifically as a possible neuromarker linking emotional arousal and cognitive performance in MOA.