Child Psychopathology Research Articles

Maternal and paternal emotion dysregulation profiles: Links to parent and child functioning

This study examined profiles of parental emotion dysregulation among 379 mothers (Mage = 35.99) and 397 fathers (Mage = 34.93) of children aged 8 to 12 using latent profile analyses. Three maternal (Low, Moderate, High Dysregulation) and four paternal (Low, Moderate, High Dysregulation, Emotionally Aware but Extremely Dysregulated) profiles emerged. Low (vs. high) profiles were generally associated with more supportive parental emotion socialization practices, better child emotion regulation, and lower child psychopathology. The Emotionally Aware but Extremely Dysregulated paternal profile was distinct in composition. It was associated with the poorest child psychopathology, but not the poorest child emotion regulation, of all paternal profiles, and with the highest engagement in all socialization practices (e.g., supportive practices). Findings suggest that unique patterns of deficits in parental emotion regulation may play a role in socialization of positive emotion and child functioning, particularly for fathers. These profiles can inform specific emotion-related targets for parent intervention.

Behind the scenes – Rigour of a Master’s clinical and counselling psychology degree selection process

This article reports on the rigour of a selection process for master’s degree programmes in clinical and counselling psychology at an undisclosed university in South Africa over a six-year period (n=81). This was achieved by completing correlation and regression analyses between the six selection activities, the six course modules, and the course average in the student’s M1 year. Results showed significant positive regressions between the metaphors activity, child psychopathology, and theory of psychological interventions modules, between the research task and neuropsychology, between the psychopharmacology and psychopathology modules, and between the problem-solving activity and the course average. The case study activity negatively predicted the ethics and practical work and applied and community psychology modules. The conclusion was that the selection process can be considered valid, as the skills assessed for most of the selection activities positively correlated and predicted the skills required to succeed both academically in the M1 year and as a practising psychologist. However, the case study activity required further investigation, as the skills that are purportedly assessed should correlate and positively predict the ethics and practical work module, which was not the case. Future studies should also investigate the usefulness of interviews during this process.

Supplemental Material for Using Machine Learning to Derive Neurobiological Subtypes of General Psychopathology in Late Childhood

Supplemental Material for Using Machine Learning to Derive Neurobiological Subtypes of General Psychopathology in Late Childhood

The Acceptability of a Psychoeducation and Skill-Based Training for Carers and Teachers to Cope with Risky Behaviours in Adolescence.

Childhood and adolescence psychopathology is associated with an increased risk of psychological difficulties in adulthood. Early interventions for youth should provide carers and teachers with knowledge and skills to respond to adolescents' risky behaviours. This study evaluated the acceptability and effectiveness of a single 3-h workshop, combining psychoeducation and skills training to promote knowledge about, and confidence to address, adolescents' risky behaviours in carers and teachers of adolescents aged 10-14. Demographics and perceived self-efficacy in the parental or teaching role were collected at baseline using self-report questionnaires. Motivation and confidence to respond to adolescents' risky behaviours were measured before and after the workshop using motivational rulers. Participants provided written feedback about their experience about the workshop. Twenty-seven carers and 27 teachers attended the workshops. Teachers reported a significant increase in both importance (p = 0.021) and confidence (p < 0.001) to respond to risky behaviours following the workshop. This change was associated with baseline self-efficacy levels (importance: p = 0.011; confidence: p = 0.002). Carers also reported greater confidence to address risky behaviours following the workshop (p = 0.002). Participants found the contents and methods of the workshop highly acceptable. Online and multiple-session workshops might increase reach and effectiveness.

A Developmentally Informed Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Strength of General Psychopathology in Childhood and Adolescence.

Considerable support exists for higher-order dimensional conceptualizations of psychopathology in adults. A growing body of work has focused on understanding the structure of general and specific psychopathology in children and adolescents. No prior meta-analysis has examined whether the strength of the general psychopathology factor (p factor)-measured by explained common variance (ECV)-changes from childhood to adolescence. The primary objective of this multilevel meta-analysis was to determine whether general psychopathology strength changes across development (i.e. across ages) in childhood and adolescence. Several databases were searched in November 2021; 65 studies, with 110 effect sizes (ECV), nested within shared data sources, were identified. Included empirical studies used a factor analytic modeling approach that estimated latent factors for child/adolescent internalizing, externalizing, and optionally thought-disordered psychopathology, and a general factor. Studies spanned ages 2-17years. Across ages, general psychopathology explained over half (~ 56%) of the reliable variance in symptoms of psychopathology. Age-moderation analyses revealed that general factor strength remained stable across ages, suggesting that general psychopathology strength does not significantly change across childhood to adolescence. Even if the structure of psychopathology changes with development, the prominence of general psychopathology across development has important implications for future research and intervention.

Reactive Attachment Disorder and Its Relationship to Psychopathology: A Systematic Review.

This study aimed to determine, through a systematic review, the relationship between Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and the presence of psychopathology in children and adolescents, and to determine the existence of differences in terms of internalising and externalising psychological problems between the RAD group and groups with other disorders or with typical development. Following the PRISMA methodology, a search was carried out in the Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus databases. The search yielded 770 results, of which only 25 met the inclusion criteria. The results indicate a relationship between the presence of RAD and/or disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED), with the presence of internalising and externalising problems. These difficulties are more present in children with RAD compared to children without personal difficulties, or children with DSED, children with autism, children with intellectual disabilities or children with hyperactivity. It can be concluded that the presence of RAD has negative consequences on the mental health of children and adolescents, with these being greater in the inhibited group than in the disinhibited group, and with respect to children with autism or hyperactivity.

The Influence of Functional Impairment in a Network of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Domains

The Influence of Functional Impairment in a Network of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Domains

The Relation between Cognitive and Emotional Processes in Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disorders-A Meta-Analysis.

Up to 80% of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have mental health issues-either emotional or behavioral problems. The underlying mechanisms are still unknown, even if emotional regulation (ER) is considered to play a major role in child and adolescent psychopathology. Several studies link the ability to regulate the intensity and quality of emotions with executive functioning. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between executive functions (EFs) and ER and affective problems in children with ASD. This meta-analysis is based on a literature search of peer-reviewed journals from the following databases: Scopus, ProQuest, Ebsco, Science Direct, Springer Link and Clarivate. We analyzed 15 studies that investigated the link between EF, ER or affective problems (APs) in children and adolescents with ASD aged between 2 and 18 y with ASD. To assess the effect size of the relationship between EF and ER, and EF and AP, 15 studies comprising 54 effect sizes were analyzed. Our findings revealed a small effect size regarding the association between EF and ER, r = 0.331, p = 0.034, and a small effect size regarding the association between EF and AP, r = -0.213, p = 0.024. No significant moderators were found. The results are presented in regard to the two analyses developed, as well as a short review of the studies included in the meta-analysis. Even if there are several limitations of this study, especially considering the small number of studies included, the results suggest that it is worth considering EF as an underlying mechanism for the appearance of emotional or behavioral problems in children with ASD. These findings have important implications for the development of ASD intervention plans, as well as for increasing awareness among specialists about the importance of executive functions in school adjustment and social functioning.

Adverse childhood experiences and psychopathology in adolescents from northern Chile: the moderating role of the attachment style

BackgroundIdentifying the underlying mechanisms through which adverse childhood experiences affect (ACEs) the mental health of adolescents is of paramount importance for disease prevention in later stages of life.ObjectiveThe present study examines the relationship between ACEs and psychopathology in adolescents from northern Chile and how attachment style (abandonment anxiety and intimacy avoidance) may moderate this relationship. A total of 154 schooled adolescents aged 12 to 17 (M = 15.08, SD = 1.64) completed a series of self-report questionnaires including the Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire (ACEs), Experiences in Close Relationships- Relationship Structures (ECR-RS), and Youth Self Report (YSR-18).ResultsThe data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 25, which included descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA, and Spearman correlation analysis. To address moderation analysis, the PROCESS macro extension version 4.1 was employed. In this process, the bootstrap method was applied to construct confidence intervals, and the pick-a-point approach was used to define the levels of the moderating variable. According to the results, 80.3% of the sample experienced one or more ACEs, and 16.4% reported experiencing at least three. Furthermore, the variables under study exhibited significant correlations with each other, except for intimacy avoidance, which showed no correlation with ACEs (rho = -0.10; p = 0.273). When considering abandonment anxiety as a moderating variable, the direct effect of ACEs on externalizing symptoms showed statistically significant changes (β = 0.60, p = 0.03). No other moderating effects were found according to the proposed models.ConclusionIn childhood, the accumulation of ACEs is associated with the development of psychopathology in adolescents from northern Chile, specifically with the presence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. These findings suggest that lower levels of abandonment anxiety could mitigate the effects of ACEs on adolescent psychopathology, while higher levels of abandonment anxiety could exacerbate these effects on psychopathology.

Novel genome-wide associations for effort valuation and psychopathology in children and adults.

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative was established by the US National Institute of Mental Health as a multilevel, disorder-agnostic framework for analysis of human psychopathology through designated domains and constructs, including the "Positive Valence Systems" domain focused on reward-related behavior. This study investigates the reward valuation subconstruct of "effort" and its association with genetic markers, functional neurobiological pathways, and polygenic risk scores for psychopathology in 1215 children aged 6-12 and their parents (n = 1044). All participants completed the effort expenditure for rewards task (EEfRT), which assesses "effort" according to two quantitative measures: hard-task choice and reward sensitivity. Genetic association analyses were undertaken in MAGMA, utilizing EEfRT outcome variables as genome-wide association studies phenotypes to compute SNP and gene-level associations. Genome-wide association analyses found two distinct genetic loci that were significantly associated with measures of reward sensitivity and a separate genetic locus associated with hard task choice. Gene-set enrichment analysis yielded significant associations between "effort" and multiple gene sets involved in reward processing-related pathways, including dopamine receptor signaling, limbic system and forebrain development, and biological response to cocaine. These results serve to establish "effort" as a relevant construct for understanding reward-related behavior at the genetic level and support the RDoC framework for assessing disorder-agnostic psychopathology.

Reciprocal associations between parental depression and child cognition: Pathways to children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Parental depression is a risk factor for children's cognitive and psychological development. Literature has found reciprocal relations between parental depression and child psychopathology and effects of parental depression on children's cognition. The present study is the first to examine reciprocity among parental depression and child cognition, and pathways to child psychopathology. Structural equation models were conducted using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a nationally representative sample of 3,001 economically marginalized families. Measures were collected in four waves from 14 months to 10-11 years. Reciprocal associations emerged between maternal and paternal depression at from 14 months to 5 years. Reciprocal parental depression was associated with greater psychopathology at age 10-11. Maternal depression predicted poorer child cognition, which indirectly predicted increased depression in mothers of children aged 3-5 through paternal depression, and in fathers at age 3, through earlier paternal depression. This study was unable to parse within- and between-person effects. Additionally, data for paternal depression was limited to ages 2 and 3. Findings emphasize the transactional nature of child cognition and child and parent psychopathology, supporting family focused intervention and prevention efforts that target parent psychopathology and child cognition.

Assessment and Diagnostic Classification Using DC:0-5 in Early Childhood Mental Health Clinics: The Protocol for the Developmental Psychiatry Diagnostic Challenges Study (DePsy).

Mental health problems in early childhood are common, but there is a lack of psychiatric research on this age group. DC:0-5 is a multiaxial classification system for mental disorders in early childhood, providing a framework for standardizing clinical practice and research. However, research on the validity of DC:0-5 is scarce. The Developmental Psychiatry Diagnostic Challenges Study (DePsy) is a multi-site, prospective clinical study including six German early childhood mental health (ECMH) clinics. The main objective of the study is to contribute to the validation of Axis I and Axis II of DC:0-5. A second aim of the study is to describe the population of the participating clinics regarding diagnoses, family context, and treatment outcomes. Additionally, the impact of environmental risk factors, including parental Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and media use, on child psychopathology and caregiver-child relationships will be examined. Over two years, patients aged 0.0-5.9 years old will be enrolled in the study. Assessments include ICD-10 and DC:0-5 diagnoses, developmental tests, video-based observations of caregiver-child interactions, and questionnaires on child psychopathology, media use, parental stress, and treatment satisfaction. Study results will promote the standardization of assessment and treatment in ECMH clinics aiming to improve the development of patients and their families.

Trajectories of psychopathology among young people related to outcomes in young adulthood

Abstract What does young adulthood look like for individuals who had mental health problems across childhood? Using the Growing Up in Ireland cohort (born in 1998 and studied from ages 9 to 20) we explored the association between mental health problems between ages 9 and 13, and subsequent poor outcomes in the same individuals at ages 17-20. We consider educational/economic outcomes, health service use, poor mental and physical health, social isolation, substance abuse, and subjective wellbeing in young adults. In a previous study that used latent class modelling, we identified four groups which captured mental health in a general population sample of children. Between ages 9 and 13, children could be grouped into: a low symptoms group (∼65%), an ‘externalising’ group with ADHD or conduct symptoms (∼20%), an ‘internalising’ group with depressive, anxiety or peer issues (∼10%), or a group showing many combined mental health symptoms (∼2%). All mental health problem groups had elevated odds across all 7 adverse outcomes in young adulthood. The 5 areas of young adult functioning most related to childhood mental health were: education/economics, subjective wellbeing, mental health, social isolation and substance abuse. Poor educational/economic outcomes were as likely as poor mental health (OR ∼ 2) in individuals with childhood psychopathology. The 3 childhood problem groups showed different risk profiles in young adulthood. For instance, the childhood internalising group had lower odds of substance abuse than all other groups, but had the highest odds of poor physical health by adulthood. Findings point to the need for a wider range of preventative supports for children and adolescents with a history of mental health problems, beyond just mental health support. These include interventions to improve physical health, treat substance abuse, reduce social isolation, and improve adverse educational and economic outcomes.

Parent-child agreement on children's psychopathology and the impact of parental depression.

Parental depression increases children's risk of mental illness and may simultaneously impair the detection of children's symptoms. Here we investigate the nature of parent-child agreement of children's psychopathology in children of parents with current (cMD) versus remitted (rMD) major depression. Baseline data from 100 parent-child dyads including healthy children aged 8-17 (M=11.89, SD=2.83) and their parents with a history of depression were analysed. The presence of sub-clinical psychopathology (yes/no) in children was assessed using semi-structured diagnostic interviews with child and parent (K-DIPS). Self- (YSR) and parent-report (CBCL) questionnaires were used to measure the severity of symptoms. Parent-child agreement was calculated using Chi-square tests and Cohen's kappa respectively. We compared whether agreement differed between children of parents with cMD (n=52) versus rMD (n=48). In the interviews parents more frequently reported sub-clinical child psychopathology than the children themselves (χ2 1,100 =4.63, p<0.001, d=0.59). This pattern characterised parents with cMD (χ2 1,52 =7.99, p=0.005; κ=0.582) but not rMD (χ2 1,48 =000, p=0.686; κ=-0.010), a difference which was statistically significant (z=3.14, p<0.001, d=0.66). Since agreement between parents and children about the severity of children's symptoms was particularly poor in families where parents were currently depressed, parental mental illness should be taken into account when assessing youth psychopathology.

Reward Functioning in General and Specific Psychopathology in Children and Adults

Objective: Problems with reward processing have been implicated in multiple psychiatric disorders, but psychiatric comorbidities are common and their specificity to individual psychopathologies is unknown. Here, we evaluate the association between reward functioning and general or specific psychopathologies. Method: 1,213 adults and their1,531 children (ages 6–12) completed various measures of the Positive Valence System domain from the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). Psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist for children and the Adult Self Report for parents. Results: One general factor identified via principal factors factor analysis explained most variance in psychopathology in both groups. Measures of reward were associated with the general factor and most specific psychopathologies. Certain reward constructs were associated solely with specific psychopathologies but not general psychopathology. However, some prior associations between reward and psychopathology did not hold following removal of comorbidity. Conclusion: Reward dysfunction is significantly associated with both general and specific psychopathologies.

The DREAM BIG project as a model for harmonizing early measures of parental care and parent-child interactions across epidemiological cohorts

Parenting is a key contributor to child development. The effects of parenting, however, also depend on child characteristics, including genetic factors. A more complete appraisal of the role of parenting thus requires a comprehensive developmental model which explores questions about parenting behavior, child susceptibility to parenting, and child psychopathology. Moving forward, we need to not only be concerned about sample sizes that limit testing of comprehensive models but also the need to replicate findings across multiple settings and samples. A consortium which harmonises key measures offers the opportunity to examine these questions. The Developmental Research in Environmental Adversity, Mental health, BIological susceptibility and Gender (DREAM BIG) consortium includes six international longitudinal prospective birth cohorts to explore the early life origins of major psychiatric disorders in childhood. Here, we will provide a brief overview of parental care research, methodological limitations, and two exciting recent attempts (i.e., the DREAM BIG consortium and the CATS-project), that address key methodological challenges.

Measurement of Emotion Regulation in a Clinical Sample of Children: The Psychometric Properties of the How I Feel Scale

Emotion regulation (ER) is a crucial construct in the study of child education, development, and psychopathology. The How I Feel (HIF) questionnaire, a self-report measure of ER for children, was validated in school-based, nonclinical samples. The current study examined the factor structure of the HIF in a clinical sample of children ( N = 195; 73.33% male; 79.49% White; 61.03% diagnosed with ADHD). Confirmatory factor analysis did not support the original 3-factor model. An exploratory factor analysis revealed an altered five-factor model with identical Positive Emotion and Emotion Control factors, but the original Negative Emotion factor was divided into three factors: Mad Emotion, Sad and Scared Frequency, and Sad and Scared Intensity. Results suggest that the HIF may not accurately assess the intensity and frequency of negative emotions in clinical samples.

Child and Adolescent Psychopathology and Subsequent Harmful Behaviors Associated with Premature Mortality: A Selective Review and Future Directions.

In the United States (U.S.), premature mortality in adulthood from suicide, alcohol-related disease, and substance overdoses has increased steadily over the past two decades. To better understand these trends, it is necessary to first examine the harmful behaviors that often precede these preventable deaths (i.e., suicidal ideation and attempts, and harmful alcohol and substance use). Representing critical developmental periods in which psychopathology is most likely to emerge, childhood and adolescence provide an informative lens through which to investigate susceptibility to harmful behaviors. This article synthesizes current evidence describing these rising U.S. mortality rates and the prevalence rates of harmful behaviors linked to these types of mortality. A brief selective review of longitudinal research on harmful behaviors in relation to the most relevant categories of child and adolescent psychopathology is then provided. Finally, recommendations for future research and implications for prevention are discussed.

Cumulative comorbidity between neurodevelopmental, internalising, and externalising disorders in childhood: a network approach

Cumulative comorbidity of mental disorders is common, but the extent and patterns of comorbid psychopathology in childhood are not well established. The current study aimed to elucidate the emergent patterns of cumulative mental disorder comorbidity in children using network analysis of diagnoses recorded between birth and age 12 years. Participants were 90,269 children (mean age 12.7 years; 51.8% male) within the New South Wales Child Development Study (NSW-CDS)—a longitudinal record-linkage cohort study of Australian children born in NSW between 2002 and 2005. Binary indicators for eight types of mental disorder were derived from administrative health records. Patterns of conditional association between mental disorders were assessed utilising network analysis. Of 90,269 children, 2268 (2.5%) had at least one mental disorder by age 12 years; of the 2268 children who had at least one mental disorder by age 12 years, 461 (20.3%) were diagnosed with two or more different disorders out of the eight disorder types included in analyses. All disorders were either directly or indirectly interconnected, with childhood affective and emotional disorders and developmental disorders being most central to the network overall. Mental disorder nodes aggregated weakly (modularity = 0.185) into two communities, representative of internalising and externalising disorders, and neurodevelopmental and sleep disorders. Considerable sex differences in the structure of the mental disorder comorbidity networks were also observed. Developmental and childhood affective and emotional disorders appear to be key to mental disorder comorbidity in childhood, potentially reflecting that these disorders share symptoms in common with many other disorders.

Sir Michael Llewellyn Rutter. 15 August 1933—23 October 2021

Sir Michael Rutter was the first professor of Child Psychiatry in the UK, and is widely credited with establishing child psychiatry as an academic discipline. Across five decades he transformed the field, challenging accepted thinking, clarifying concepts, devising methodologies, and undertaking ground-breaking and foundational research. Every part of the field bears the stamp of his endeavours, whether via advances in classification, the design of assessment instruments, or the application of innovative designs. He undertook the first systematic epidemiological studies of child mental health in the UK, made extensive studies of both genetic and environmental risks for child psychopathology, clarified conceptualizations of risk and protective factors and resilience, proposed the influential developmental psychopathology paradigm, and was an acknowledged world leader in the study of autism. He trained many of the next generation of academic child psychiatrists, who extended his influence across the globe. Much of his research impacted policy, and he was widely revered, both nationally and internationally, for his seminal contributions to advancing understanding of both child development and child mental health.