Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology最新文献

Substance use (SU) problems are critical public health concerns. This study investigated how childhood risk factors and cannabis age of onset (CAO) in adolescence predict later SU problems, using data from the two cohorts of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (N = 306; 57% female; N = 1489; 54% female), followed from birth to age 23. A direct association between early CAO and increased cannabis use problems was found in males (cohort 1: β = -0.47; cohort 2: β = -0.22), but not in females. In both sexes, CAO was indirectly associated with later cannabis use problems via increased adolescent cannabis use frequency (cohort 1: ab = -0.41; cohort 2: ab = -0.35). Similar indirect associations were observed between CAO and other SU problems (including tobacco and alcohol), via adolescent cannabis use frequency (cohort 1: ab = -2.63). Parental cannabis use, adverse childhood experiences, and childhood externalizing behaviors (i.e., physical aggression and ADHD symptoms) were associated with early CAO and subsequent CU problems. These findings support developmental models linking early risk exposures to maladaptive substance use pathways and underscore the importance of prevention strategies targeting early cannabis initiation and modifiable early-life risk factors to reduce long-term SU-related problems.

Neurodiverse youth face increased mental health risks, which may make them particularly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic. Given high rates of co-occurrence between autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it is valuable to identify shared risk factors for poor mental health. The present study investigated mental health trajectories among autistic youth and youth with ADHD from Spring 2020-Spring 2023 and explored how parent-reported youth social skills predicted these trajectories. Participants included 272 youth (autism = 143, ADHD = 129) aged 8-18. Social skills were assessed in Spring 2020. Youth- and parent-reported youth anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed at six timepoints. Results from growth mixture modelling suggest there were different mental health trajectories during the pandemic. Trajectories of increasing, decreasing, and stable scores emerged for youth- and parent-reported youth anxiety, and parent-reported youth depression. For youth-reported depression scores, only an elevated-stable trajectory emerged. Autistic youth with better social skills were more likely to have high and increasing, and medium and stable parent-reported youth anxiety over the pandemic. Additionally, autistic youth with better social skills had lower youth-reported depression scores at the start of the pandemic. For both autistic youth and youth with ADHD, higher levels of social skills were associated with a greater probability of having low and stable parent-reported youth depression scores over the pandemic. Findings provide insight into the mental health trajectories among neurodiverse youth for the entire duration of the pandemic. Results suggest that social skills may be a valuable intervention target, especially for autistic youth.

Evidence of internalizing (INT)-to-externalizing (EXT) directional effects (e.g., acting out/masked depression hypotheses) has been commonly found in older youth. However, this relationship may still be present but fluctuate more dynamically during early development, a period of significant cognitive and self-regulatory changes. Moreover, dynamic codevelopment has not been well studied in samples at elevated risk, including those due to prenatal cocaine exposure. There is some evidence that prenatal cocaine exposure increases risk for EXT, but findings have been mixed. One possible explanation may be that INT may codevelop with EXT in higher-risk contexts, and most studies do not consider codevelopment of these problems. We utilized time-varying effect modeling to investigate the age-varying effect of INT on concurrent EXT across early childhood (1.5-6.5 years) and whether associations varied as a function of sex and prenatal cocaine exposure. The sample was primarily low-income and Black (N = 198; 49% males; 74% Black; 71% receiving federal assistance), oversampled for prenatal cocaine exposure using a case-control design. Results identified the strongest regression effect of INT on EXT during the toddlerhood/preschool period (2.5-4.5 years), especially for male children. No differences were observed by cocaine exposure. Findings suggest that INT problems are most strongly associated with increased EXT difficulties at earlier ages, which may be a sensitive period during which targeting INT may potentially prevent long-term co-occurring problems.

A person-centered approach studying cognitive emotion regulation profiles rather than single strategies can shed light on adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation in youths. This study extends previous research by examining self-reported cognitive emotion regulation profiles not only cross-sectionally but also longitudinally, in the transition from childhood to adolescence. To examine the adaptive or maladaptive nature of the profiles, cross-sectional associations with parent-reported internalizing problems were tested in a subsample. Data came from a 3-wave longitudinal project on Dutch youths (Wave 1: N = 526, mean age = 10.1 years). Youths and parents completed questionnaires yearly. Latent Profile Analyses revealed three profiles at each wave: (1) a "Generally low" profile, consisting of little use of all cognitive emotion regulation strategies, (2) a "High adaptive, low maladaptive" profile, and (3) a "Low adaptive, high maladaptive" profile. Latent Profile Transition Analyses showed substantial stability in profiles over time but also transitions; most towards a less adaptive profile, some towards a more adaptive profile. The maladaptive nature of the third profile was confirmed by cross-sectional associations with parent-reported internalizing problems (at Wave 1 and 2 but not Wave 3). The results showing profile transitions in some youths may yield insights into the development of cognitive emotion regulation abilities.

Sibling aggression is the most common form of domestic violence, which can have a negative impact on both child and adolescent mental health. The few previous studies that investigated aggression between siblings, assessed aggression primarily through self- or parent-report, with the limitation of reporter bias. The current study examined whether an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) experiment can provide a valid assessment of adolescents' aggressive responses towards their sibling by testing congruence with other similar measures and by examining associations of known risk factors for sibling aggression with the aggression observed in the VR experiment. Pairs of young adolescent siblings (N = 26; aged 8-15 years) were invited to the lab to complete several questionnaires and participate in a custom-made interactive VR experiment. In the VR experiment, participants interacted with their virtual sibling both verbally and physically. Participants' responses to the virtual sibling's behavior, designed to provoke anger and aggression, were observed during two different VR scenarios. Results showed that observed aggression as measured in the VR experiment was related to self-reported aggression, but not to parent- or sibling-reported aggression. Individual factors (e.g., behavioral problems) or sibling factors (e.g., age difference between siblings) were not related to observed aggression. Of the investigated family factors, only the perceived quality of the father-child relationship was associated with observed aggression. Despite the limited alignment with parent- and sibling-reported aggression, these findings highlight the potential of VR-based assessments to complement self-report methods, emphasizing the need for a multimethod approach to capture the complexities of sibling aggression.

Conduct Disorder (CD) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with persistent antisocial behavior, emotional processing deficits, and poor treatment response. CU traits designate a subgroup of youth with CD who are at greater risk of violence and long-term mental health challenges. It is well-established that CU traits, CD, and aggression are tied to deficits in emotion recognition, social information processing, and interpersonal functioning, yet few interventions directly target these mechanisms. This randomized controlled trial tested the effects of Impact VR, a brief virtual reality program designed to improve emotion recognition and build social-emotional skills in youth with CD. One hundred and ten youth diagnosed with CD were randomly assigned to either Impact VR or a treatment control group. Youth and caregivers completed assessments at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Youth in the Impact VR group had lower levels of self-reported and caregiver-reported CU traits at follow-up. Caregiver ratings also indicated that youth who received Impact VR had significantly lower conduct problems at both follow-up time points. Youth reported immediate reductions in reactive aggression, which was sustained until the 3-month follow-up. However, the intervention groups did not significantly differ on proactive aggression. These findings suggest that CU traits may be modifiable through brief, engaging interventions like Impact VR.

Self-help parenting programs that are aimed at reducing child behavioral difficulties may be effective and accessible alternatives to face-to-face parenting programs. Insight into the mechanisms of change for such programs is important to enhance their effectiveness. The goal of this study was to examine whether changes in supportive and unsupportive parenting (measured by the Parenting Practices Interview; PPI) and parenting sense of competence (measured by the Parenting Sense of Competence scale; PSOC) mediated the effects of a self-help parenting program on child behavioral difficulties. A total of 110 families were randomized to a 15-week self-help program or waitlist. Outcomes and mediators were measured at pre-, mid- and post-measurement. Outcomes were parent-rated child behavioral difficulties, assessed by the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, Intensity Scale (ECBI-I), and ecologically momentary assessments (EMA) of child behavior problems. Results showed that reductions in unsupportive parenting significantly mediated reductions in child behavioral difficulties assessed with the ECBI-I. We did not find this mediating effect for the EMA. Supportive parenting and parenting sense of competence did not mediate changes in child behavioral difficulties. Although future research into self-help parent training should provide insight into possible reciprocal interactions between changes in parents and children, reducing unsupportive parenting practices may play a key role in reducing child behavioral difficulties.

Depressive symptoms increase in adolescence, especially for female adolescents at risk for depression due to dispositional factors, such as temperament. Emotion dynamics, or change in emotional experience over time, may serve as a mutable mechanistic factor for depression. In a sample of 117 adolescents assigned female at birth ages 11-13 (M[SD] = 12.22[0.81], 68% white, 21% Black, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 9% biracial), oversampled for temperamental risk for the development of depression, this study examined emotion variability in association with depressive symptoms, both concurrently and longitudinally over an 18-month period. Further, this study extends the literature by examining associations between emotion variability and depressive symptoms by accounting for individuals' typical levels of positive/negative emotion using two distinct methods: set-points or most frequent emotional state (i.e., mode adjustment) and average levels (i.e., mean adjustment). Results of mode-adjusted longitudinal growth curve models indicated that modal negative emotion, negative emotion variability, and positive emotion variability were all positively associated with adolescent females' depressive symptoms at baseline but were not associated with change in depressive symptoms over time. By contrast, in mean-adjusted models, mean negative emotion was associated with baseline depressive symptoms, whereas variability in negative emotion was not. By contrast, only positive emotion variability was associated with depressive symptoms at baseline, whereas mean positive emotion was not. Neither was associated with change in depressive symptoms over time. Findings suggest that the putative difficulties with reactivity and regulation captured by emotion variability measures are related to adolescent females' depressive symptoms - at least at non-clinical levels.

Exclusionary school discipline practices (EDPs), such as school suspensions, are increasingly linked to poorer academic outcomes and increased contact with the legal system. However, the short-term effects of EDPs on other aspects of adolescent well-being, including mental health concerns and perceived unfair treatment, have received limited attention. Using five waves of data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development^SM Study^® (n = 11,831, 48% female, 52% White, 15% Black, 19% Hispanic), the current study examined how EDPs predict changes in externalizing and internalizing symptoms as well as perceived unfair treatment by a teacher. After adjusting for baseline EDPs, externalizing concerns, and covariates, we found that EDPs reported at follow-up waves were associated with increased odds of youth- and caregiver-reported externalizing symptoms, youth-reported internalizing symptoms, and youth-reported perceived unfair treatment by a teacher at the subsequent wave. These associations were observed above and beyond each outcome's predicted trajectory. However, baseline EDPs showed limited and inconsistent associations with overall symptom trajectories, suggesting that single time point EDP effects on adolescents' overall trajectories may underestimate the cumulative impact of repeated discipline over time. This is particularly concerning given that most disciplined adolescents experienced repeated EDPs. Race and ethnicity did not consistently or robustly moderate these associations. Findings underscore the need for interventions that minimize the repeated use of exclusionary discipline.