Risk For Psychopathology Research Articles

Emotion regulation repertoires predict the risk of major depressive disorder.

Few studies explored emotion regulation (ER) repertoires (the tendency to utilize multiple ER strategies in different contexts) in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). It remains unclear to what extent emotion regulation (ER) repertoires can assess the risk of MDD and other psychiatric disorders. Three subsamples including 1397 non-clinical individuals, 135 MDD patients, and 127 healthy controls (HCs) were combined to explore ER repertoires. We further built classifiers of ER repertoires to distinguish MDD patients from HCs, and additionally examined its performance based on published studies (total N = 4918). Adaptive, average, maladaptive, and intensely maladaptive repertoires were identified. The classifier based on ER repertoires can effectively distinguish MDD patients from HCs, demonstrating an AUC of 0.803 (SD = 0.067). Additionally, the classifier exhibited discriminatory power for various psychopathologies in published studies, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, and personality disorders (AUC: 0.616-0.779). Future studies should investigate the longitudinal influence of ER repertoires on the development of psychopathologies. Our findings suggest that an individual's ER repertoire is a critical psychopathological risk that can serve as a valuable indicator for assessing risk and imply the potential utility of reforming ER repertoire.

Temporal Tendencies: Exploring the Impact of Chronotype Timing on Youth Depression Risk.

Developmental changes in youth sleep preferences (chronotype) and pubertal development are consequential for youth risk for depression. Previous research has identified individual differences in chronotype in risk for psychopathology. However, little is known regarding how the timing of chronotype may confer risk in youth. This study addressed this gap by examining associations between chronotypal timing and symptoms of depression in youth. Community youth (N = 155; =12.7) completed self-report measures of chronotype, pubertal status and depression every six months for a period of one year (three assessment points). Regression analyses showed that chronotypal timing predicted change in depressive symptoms across six months (b = -0.66, p = 0.019), but not across any other timeframe. Findings suggested that youth experiencing more of a morning preference compared to same-aged peers were at increased risk for later depression across six months. Chronotypal timing continued to predict changes in symptoms of depression controlling for gender (b = -0.63, p = 0.023) and pubertal timing (b = -0.72, p = 0.012). These findings suggest that chronotypal timing is prospectively related to changes in youth symptoms of depression. Results indicate that attention to the timing of normative changes in chronotype is warranted, in addition to mean-level differences.

Association of childhood maltreatment and adverse lifetime experiences with post-injury psychopathology: evidence from the China Severe Trauma Cohort

BackgroundAdverse life experiences have been associated with increased susceptibilities to psychopathology in later life. However, their impact on psychological responses following physical trauma remains largely unexplored.MethodsBased on the China Severe Trauma Cohort, we conducted a cohort study of 2937 patients who were admitted to the Trauma Medical Center of West China Hospital between June 2020 and August 2023. Adverse life experiences, including childhood maltreatment (5 subtypes, measured by Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form) and adverse lifetime experiences (17 subtypes, by Life Events Checklist) were assessed. Generalized linear mixed models were used to examine the associations of childhood maltreatment and adverse lifetime experiences with symptoms of psychopathology measured at multiple time-points after the index injury (i.e., at recruitment, 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups), adjusted for important confounders. We further stratified the analyses by level of genetic predisposition to a given psychological symptom quantified by polygenic risk score (PRS) based on publicly available GWAS summary statistics. Mediation analyses were performed to assess the role of adverse lifetime experiences in connecting childhood maltreatment and post-injury psychopathology.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 47.95 years with a predominance of males (61.39%). During the whole follow-up period, the incidence of symptoms of stress-related disorders, anxiety, and depression was 13.86%, 29.89%, and 36.57%, respectively. We observed associations between the cumulative number of those studied adversities and increased risk of post-injury psychopathology, particularly stress-related disorder (odds ratio [OR] = 2.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.87–4.12 for ≥ 2 vs no childhood maltreatment; 2.65 [1.67–4.20] for ≥ 4 vs 0–1 adverse lifetime experiences). By subtype, positive associations were observed for most studied life adversities, with the most pronounced estimates for childhood emotional abuse (ORs = 1.71–2.52) and lifetime life-threatening illness/injury (ORs = 1.87–2.89). We found basically comparable estimates among traumatized individuals with different PRSs for studied psychopathology. Moreover, adverse lifetime experiences may partially (mediation proportion: 22.52–27.48%) explain the associations between various childhood maltreatment and post-injury psychopathology.ConclusionsBoth childhood maltreatment and adverse lifetime experiences were associated with post-injury psychopathology, irrespective of genetic susceptibility. Such findings highlight the importance of close surveillance and timely psychological interventions for injury patients with adverse life experiences.

Maturation of striatal dopamine supports the development of habitual behavior through adolescence.

Developmental trajectories during the transition from adolescence to adulthood contribute to the establishment of stable, adult forms of operation. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying this transition is crucial for identifying variability in normal development and the onset of psychiatric disorders, which typically emerge during this time. Habitual behaviors can serve as a model for understanding brain mechanisms underlying the stabilization of adult behavior, while also conferring risk for psychopathologies. Dopaminergic (DA) processes in the basal ganglia are thought to facilitate the formation of habits; however, developmental trajectories of habits and the brain systems supporting them have not been characterized in vivo in developing humans. The current study examined trajectories of habitual behavior from adolescence to adulthood and sought to understand how the maturing striatal DA system may act as a potential mechanism in the process of habit formation. We used data from two longitudinal studies (combined n = 217, 10 - 32 years of age, 1-3 visits each, 320 total sessions) to characterize normative developmental trajectories of basal ganglia tissue iron concentration (a proxy for DA-related neurophysiology) and goal-direct and habitual control behaviors in a two-stage decision-making task. Tissue iron concentrations across the basal ganglia and habitual responding during the two-stage sequential decision-making task both increased with age (all p < 0.001). Importantly, habitual responding was associated with tissue iron concentrations in the putamen (F = 4.34, p = 0.014), such that increases in habitual responding were supported by increases in putamen tissue iron concentration during childhood through late adolescence. Exploratory analyses of further subdivisions of anatomical regions found that this association was specific to the posterior putamen. These results provide novel evidence in humans that habitual behavior continues to mature into adulthood and may be supported by increased specialization of reward systems.

Anterior pituitary gland volume mediates associations between adrenarche and changes in transdiagnostic symptoms in youth.

The pituitary gland (PG) plays a central role in the production and secretion of pubertal hormones, with documented links to the increase in mental health symptoms during adolescence. Although literature has largely focused on examining whole PG volume, recent findings have demonstrated associations among pubertal hormone levels, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), PG subregions, and mental health symptoms during adolescence. Despite the anterior PG's role in DHEA production, studies have not yet examined potential links with transdiagnostic symptomology (i.e., dysregulation) pertinent to long-term functioning. Therefore, the current study sought examine whether anterior PG volume mediates associations between DHEA levels and changes in dysregulation symptoms in an adolescent sample (N = 114, 9 -17 years, Mage = 12.87, SD = 1.88). Following manual tracing, structural equation modeling revealed that greater anterior, not posterior, PG volume mediated the association between greater DHEA levels and increasing dysregulation symptoms across time, controlling for baseline dysregulation symptom levels. Results also showed that greater DHEA levels related to decreasing symptoms across time, suggesting potential attenuation effects. Altogether, these results provide support for separating the anterior and posterior PG by demonstrating specificity in the role of the anterior PG in adrenarcheal processes that may confer risk for adolescent psychopathology.

Earlier pubertal timing, not tempo, links time-limited early adversity with psychopathology.

Evolutionary-developmental theories propose that early adverse experiences adaptively shift the timing (i.e., onset) and tempo (i.e., rate) of pubertal maturation. Empirical evidence of links between early life adversity and pubertal maturation is mixed, potentially in part because isolating the unique impacts of early environments is challenging. The current accelerated longitudinal study used a quasi-experimental design to examine pubertal maturation among 132 previously-institutionalized (PI), internationally adopted children who experienced a time-limited form of severe early life adversity, compared to 169 non-adopted (NA) children. Based on prior literature, we also assessed whether pubertal timing and/or tempo are pathways by which early adversity relates to later symptoms of psychopathology. At each of three annual sessions, Tanner pubertal staging was determined by nurse exam, and symptoms of psychopathology were captured in a composite of child self-reported internalizing and parent-reported externalizing symptoms. Findings revealed that, only among children at Tanner pubertal stages 3 or below, PI children were more likely to have reached stage 3 compared to NA children, reflective of earlier pubertal timing. No group differences were found for pubertal tempo. In the subsample of children at Tanner stage 3 or lower, earlier pubertal timing was an indirect pathway by which early adversity related to both higher levels and greater longitudinal declines in internalizing and externalizing symptoms of psychopathology, accounting for a small proportion of the total effect of early adversity on psychopathology. Results from this quasi-experimental study add to existing research on associations between early adversity, early pubertal timing, and psychopathology, further suggesting that links may be specific to timing but not tempo. While findings broadly align with recent calls to consider early pubertal maturation as a transdiagnostic risk marker with utility for identifying children who could benefit from early mental health intervention, they also suggest that pubertal timing is unlikely to be a robust target for reducing psychopathology risk in these children.

Communication on familial suicide: development of the Family Communication on Suicide Questionnaire

ABSTRACT Introduction: Each suicide affects about five close family members, potentially heightening risk for psychopathology and suicide. Communication style is a key factor in mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of families. Family communication after suicide, however, is insufficiently conceptualised and studied. This study aimed to identify different factors of familial communication after suicide of a relative and to develop a questionnaire assessing the functionality of familial communications following the suicide of a family member. Method: Through literature review, categories for the functionality of family communication after a familial suicide were developed. Items assessing family communication strategies were formulated and reviewed for comprehensibility and classification. Based on this review, the FCSQ (Family Communication on Suicide Questionnaire) was then tested in a multistep exploratory factor analysis on a cohort of suicide-bereaved relatives, utilising principal axis factor extraction. Construct validity of the FCSQ was assessed through correlation analysis and internal consistency via coefficient alpha. Results: Fifty-nine participants were enrolled in the study. Psychometric analyses indicated that family communication after a suicide can be divided into three factors, Honest and Emotional, Derogatory, and Stigmatising. Honest and Emotional formed functional communications, while Derogatory and Stigmatising communications formed two dysfunctional dimensions. Conclusions: The FCSQ is a first-of-a-kind questionnaire to assess functionality of family communications after suicide. Factor analysis indicated good factor structure and internal consistency, especially regarding functional communication patterns, while the Derogatory factor requires further analysis. This questionnaire has the potential to fill a crucial gap in clinical and research practice and can help to identify families and family members at risk after the experience of a family suicide.

Patterns of Parent – Child Agreement on Risk for Psychopathology – the Relations with Parental Stress and Mental Health

Patterns of Parent – Child Agreement on Risk for Psychopathology – the Relations with Parental Stress and Mental Health

Children’s vagal flexibility is a predictor and moderator of treatment response to early parenting interventions for inhibited youth

Behavioral inhibition (BI), a dispositional trait characterized by fear and withdrawal in the face of novelty, is a risk factor for the later diagnosis of anxiety; yet, not all inhibited children go on to develop anxiety disorders. Certain parenting behaviors moderate risk for anxiety among temperamentally inhibited youth, which has motivated the creation of early parenting interventions to mitigate this risk among young children high in BI. These programs vary in complexity, begging the question of who needs more or less intensive intervention. In addition, variability in children’s parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) functioning may provide insight into the substantial heterogeneity in anxiety outcomes for children high in BI. The current study investigates the role of vagal flexibility (VF), an index of non-linear change in PNS functioning, in children’s response to an early intervention for anxiety (ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT02308826). Participants ( n = 151, ages of 45–64 months) were randomized to participate in the Turtle Program (“Turtle”), a multi-component intervention comprising an adaptation of parent–child interaction therapy and social skills training, or Cool Little Kids (CLK), an established psychoeducational parenting intervention. Child participants also completed pre-, mid-, and post-treatment laboratory visits, which included a series of social stressor tasks preceded by a non-stressful but emotionally engaging video, during which cardiac physiology was recorded. Longitudinal latent profile analyses were used to identify latent non-linear trajectories of VF across the entire intervention (i.e., pre-, mid-, and post-treatment visits). Two latent classes were distinguished by the presence of high or low child VF across the treatment. Although VF class membership was not associated with intervention group membership, auxiliary within-class prediction models suggest that children who exhibited consistently greater VF demonstrated lower post-treatment clinician severity ratings of anxiety in Turtle, β = −0.21, p = .01, but not in CLK, β = 0.13, p = .39. Findings contribute to a broad literature demonstrating the utility of indices of PNS functioning in providing insight into risk for psychopathology and suggest that children’s VF moderates treatment response by supporting children’s ability to effectively engage in and extract benefits from intervention protocols. Implications for our understanding of the role children’s physiological regulation plays in the links between BI, parenting, risk for anxiety, and treatment response are discussed.

Do meaningful dimensions of childhood adversity exist? Data-driven evidence from two prospective cohort studies.

There is not yet a consensus on the best way to conceptualise adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We used data-driven methods across two populations to examine (a) if there were meaningful dimensions underlying ACEs and (b) whether dimensions were differentially associated with increased risk of adolescent psychopathology. Participants were 18,539 British children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and 11,876 American children from the US Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD). A wide range of ACEs (e.g., abuse, neglect, parental psychopathology, peer victimisation) were measured prospectively from infancy to mid-adolescence using interviews and questionnaires. Internalising and externalising symptoms were assessed with child and/or parent reports during adolescence. Our preregistered exploratory factor analysis revealed four latent dimensions in the MCS (parental threat, deprivation, victimisation, and parental discipline) and ABCD (parental threat, deprivation, victimisation, and traumatic events). All dimensions except deprivation were associated with increased risk for internalising and externalising symptoms. Over and above the other dimensions, victimisation was more strongly associated with internalising (MCS β = .34, 95% CI 0.33-0.36; ABCD β = .11, 95% CI 0.10-0.13) and externalising (MCS β = .31, 95% CI 0.30-0.33; ABCD β = .13, 95% CI 0.11-0.15) symptoms. Across two distinct populations, we found that ACEs can be captured by common underlying dimensions of parental threat, deprivation, and victimisation, as well as additional sample-specific dimensions. Our findings expand dimensional theories of childhood adversity by suggesting that in addition to threat and deprivation, victimisation is a distinct dimension of adversity that has the strongest associations with adolescent psychopathology.

Restoration of typical HPA-SAM co-activation following psychosocial intervention among preadolescent youth living in poverty.

Despite the added value of multisystem (relative to traditional single-system) approaches for characterizing biological processes linked to risk for psychopathology (e.g., neuroendocrine stress responsivity; Buss et al., 2019; Quas et al., 2014), no study to date has evaluated whether multisystem processes may serve as viable biological targets of intervention. Utilizing a multiple-levels-of-analysis approach (Cicchetti & Dawson, 2002), this person-centered study examined whether stress-adapted patterns of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SAM) system co-activation were amenable to change following the Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills intervention (BaSICS; Wadsworth et al., 2022). Preadolescents exposed to concentrated poverty (n = 112, M age = 11.78 years, 57.1% female, 54% assigned to intervention; 40% Hispanic, 63% Black, 20% White) completed questionnaires and the Trier Social Stress Test at both pre- and posttest. Multitrajectory modeling of cortisol and alpha-amylase levels identified four pretest and posttest HPA-SAM co-activation profiles. At pretest, youth exhibiting Asymmetric Nos. 1 & 2 HPA-SAM co-activation reported greater maladjustment relative to youth with Symmetric Nos. 1 & 2 co-activation. Youth exhibiting Asymmetric No. 1 co-activation at pretest were more likely to exhibit Symmetric No. 1 co-activation following BaSICS relative to control. Findings highlight the potential of BaSICS to restore neuroendocrine stress response function in impoverished youth, pointing to HPA-SAM co-activation as a potential biological target of preventive intervention in this population.

Multimodal neural correlates of childhood psychopathology.

Complex structural and functional changes occurring in typical and atypical development necessitate multidimensional approaches to better understand the risk of developing psychopathology. Here, we simultaneously examined structural and functional brain network patterns in relation to dimensions of psychopathology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development dataset. Several components were identified, recapitulating the psychopathology hierarchy, with the general psychopathology (p) factor explaining most covariance with multimodal imaging features, while the internalizing, externalizing, and neurodevelopmental dimensions were each associated with distinct morphological and functional connectivity signatures. Connectivity signatures associated with the p factor and neurodevelopmental dimensions followed the sensory-to-transmodal axis of cortical organization, which is related to the emergence of complex cognition and risk for psychopathology. Results were consistent in two separate data subsamples and robust to variations in analytical parameters. Although model parameters yielded statistically significant brain-behavior associations in unseen data, generalizability of the model was rather limited for all three latent components (r change from within- to out-of-sample statistics: LC1within=0.36, LC1out=0.03; LC2within=0.34, LC2out=0.05; LC3within=0.35, LC3out=0.07). Our findings help in better understanding biological mechanisms underpinning dimensions of psychopathology, and could provide brain-based vulnerability markers.

Sex-specific maladaptive responses to acute stress upon in utero THC exposure are mediated by dopamine

Cannabis remains by far the most consumed illicit drug in Europe. The availability of more potent cannabis has raised concerns regarding the enhanced health risks associated with its use, particularly among pregnant women. Growing evidence shows that cannabis use during pregnancy increases the risks of child psychopathology. We have previously shown that only male rat offspring prenatally exposed to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a rat model of prenatal cannabinoid exposure (PCE), display a hyperdopaminergic phenotype associated with a differential susceptibility to acute THC- and stress-mediated effects on sensorimotor gating functions. Here, we explore the contribution of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, key regulator of body adaptive stress responses, to the detrimental effects of acute stress on ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons and sensorimotor gating function of PCE rats. We report a sex-dependent compromised balance in mRNA levels of genes encoding mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors in the VTA, alongside with stress-induced pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) impairment. Notably, VTA dopamine neuronal activity is causally linked to the manifestation of stress-dependent deterioration of PPI. Finally, pharmacological manipulations targeting glycogen-synthase-kinase-3-β signaling during postnatal development correct these stress-induced, sex-specific and dopamine-dependent disruption of PPI. Collectively, these results highlight the critical sex-dependent interplay between HPA axis and dopamine system in the regulation of sensorimotor gating functions in rats.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Perinatal Mental Health: A Review of Progress and Future Directions.

This review includes recent literature on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and perinatal mental health. We summarize key findings, including meta-analytic reviews and emerging data on broad risks for psychopathology, mechanistic pathways, protective factors, and ACEs screening within clinical care contexts. ACEs are associated with small to moderate risks for perinatal depression and anxiety. There is increasing evidence ACEs are also associated with other mental health concerns and transdiagnostic symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum. Possible mechanistic factors include a range of biological and psychosocial variables. Unique effects of benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) on perinatal mental health are also notable. Continued emphasis on associations between ACEs and perinatal mental health concerns beyond depression and anxiety is needed. More empirical attention to mechanistic and protective factors, including benevolent childhood experiences, is also warranted. Although ACEs screening in clinical settings may be feasible and acceptable, implementation should occur within a healing centered engagement framework.

Interpersonal violence moderates sustained-transient threat co-activation in the vmPFC and amygdala in a community sample of youth.

The increased risk for psychopathology associated with interpersonal violence exposure (IPV, e.g., physical abuse, sexual assault) is partially mediated by neurobiological alterations in threat-related processes. Evidence supports parsing neural circuitry related to transient and sustained threat, as they appear to be separable processes with distinct neurobiological underpinnings. Although childhood is a sensitive period for neurodevelopment, most prior work has been conducted in adult samples. Further, it is unknown how IPV exposure may impact transient-sustained threat neural interactions. The current study tested the moderating role of IPV exposure on sustained vmPFC-transient amygdala co-activation during an fMRI task during which threat and neutral cues were predictably or unpredictably presented. Analyses were conducted in a sample of 212 community-recruited youth (M/SDage = 11.77/2.44 years old; 51.9% male; 56.1% White/Caucasian). IPV-exposed youth evidenced a positive sustained vmPFC-transient amygdala co-activation, while youth with no IPV exposure did not show this association. Consistent with theoretical models, effects were specific to unpredictable, negative trials and to exposure to IPV (i.e., unrelated to non-IPV traumatic experiences). Although preliminary, these findings provide novel insight into how childhood IPV exposure may alter neural circuity involved in specific facets of threat processing.

Pathways to health: A longitudinal examination of protective factors in children with and without preschool anxiety.

Preschool anxiety is highly prevalent and well known to predict risk for future psychopathology. The present study explores whether a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder in preschool interacts with (a) social skills and (b) cognitive ability to longitudinally predict psychopathology, two well-known protective factors, among a sample of 207 children measured at preschool (Mage = 4.34 years) and early childhood (Mage = 6.61 years). To assess social skills and cognitive ability, we utilized the Social Skills Rating Scale and the Differential Abilities Scale, respectively. To assess psychopathology, we utilized the parent report of the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. Hierarchical linear regression models revealed significant interactions between both social skills and cognitive ability with preschool anxiety. We observed that social skills protected against emergent psychopathology for both children with and without anxiety, although this association was stronger for children with preschool anxiety. Contrastingly, cognitive ability served as a protective factor against future psychopathology primarily among children without preschool anxiety. Results from this study identify targets for future intervention and inform our understanding of how preschool anxiety, a common disorder among young children, shapes future psychopathology risk in childhood.

Age-related differences in psychopathology within sex chromosome trisomies.

Sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs) are a group of genetic disorders characterized by presence of a supernumerary sex chromosome, resulting in karyotypes other than XX or XY. These include XXX (Trisomy X), XXY (Klinefelter syndrome), and XYY (Jacobs syndrome). Sex chromosome trisomies have been linked to increased risk for psychopathology; however, this relationship warrants additional research. Specifically, little is known regarding potential age-related variation in risk for psychopathology and how this may differ across karyotypes and subdomains of psychopathology, which has relevance for psychoeducation, personalized care, and mechanistic research. Thus, we used the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to estimate age-related variation in psychopathology in a large cross-sectional sample of individuals with SCTs (n = 201) and euploidic controls (n = 304) spanning the age range of 5-18 years. We found that elevations of psychopathology in SCT were significantly associated with age in a manner that varied as a combined function of the karyotype and CBCL scale being considered. Post hoc tests revealed there is a uniquely pronounced age-associated increase in severity of social problems in XYY, alongside a lack of statistical evidence for age-related variation in the severity of psychopathology for other CBCL domains and SCT karyotypes. Our findings are relevant for advancing the personalization of clinical assessment and monitoring in SCTs. They also highlight potential windows of dynamic risk emergence for closer clinical and biological study, as well as opportunities to provide intervention to mitigate future risk.

Associations between parental psychopathology and youth functional emotion regulation brain networks

Parental mental health is associated with children’s emotion regulation (ER) and risk for psychopathology. The relationship between parental psychopathology and children’s functional ER networks and whether connectivity patterns mediate the relationship between parent and youth psychopathology remains unexplored. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 4202, mean age = 10.0) and a multilevel approach, we analyzed the relationship between self-reported parental psychopathology and their offsprings’ connectivity of four ER networks, as well as associations with self-reported youth psychopathology at a 3-year follow-up. Parental internalizing and total problems were associated with 1) higher connectivity between a subcortical-cortical integrative and ventrolateral prefrontal cortical (PFC) network, 2) lower connectivity between dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC networks involved in cognitive aspects of ER, and 3) lower connectivity within a subcortical ER network (β = −0.05–0.04). Parental externalizing and total problems were associated with lower connectivity within the integrative network (βext = −0.05; βtot = −0.04). Mediation analyses yielded direct effects of parental to youth psychopathology, but no mediation effect of ER network connectivity. Overall, our results show that ER network connectivity in youth is related to parental psychopathology, yet do not explain intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

Adolescent mental time travel predicting meaning in life: The potential mediating role of self-continuity.

Knowing who we are and what we are living for helps us to better adjust in everyday life and confront negative life events, especially for adolescents who are going through critical developmental periods when changes in life could bring both psychopathology risk yet opportunity to achieve a better self. The current study focused on mental time travel, the mental visit to the past or future, and examined the impact on adolescents' perceived meaning in life, with the potential mediating factor of self-continuity. A total of 1543 high school students aged 12 to 18 years old (Mage = 15.02, SDage = 1.58, 52% girls) from Jiangsu Province, China were recruited in a two-wave longitudinal survey that separated by an interval of 6 months. Participants reported their proneness to engage in nostalgia or future prospection at T1 and sense of self-continuity at T2, while the perceived meaning in life were reported at both time points. The latent structural equation models were established with items as indicators for all study variables. Mental time travel, including both nostalgia and future prospection, facilitated adolescent meaning in life via increased self-continuity, except that future prospection showed only positive indirect effect, while nostalgia demonstrated direct yet negative impact on meaning in life after accounting for the positive mediation effect. Findings highlighted the distinct effects of the past- and future-oriented mental time travel on adolescent meaning in life, and provided insights for promoting adolescent psychological adjustment.

Development of Self-Reported Reward Responsiveness and Inhibitory Control and the Role of Clinical and Neural Predictors.

Understanding the development of adolescent reward responsiveness and inhibitory control is important as they are implicated in key outcomes, such as depression. However, relatively few studies have examined the self-reported experience of this development longitudinally, and past findings have been mixed. Here, we examined the longitudinal development of self-reported reward responsiveness and inhibitory control in youth, as well as clinical and neural measures as predictors of these longitudinal trajectories. We assessed 223 youth aged 9-17 across 36 months. We modeled growth trajectories of several measures of reward responsiveness and inhibitory control using multilevel models. We tested reward-related functional connectivity, depression symptoms, and parental risk for psychopathology as moderators of longitudinal growth. Self-reported inhibitory control increased linearly across adolescence. However, contrary to hypotheses and common models of adolescent development, self-reported reward responsiveness decreased linearly across adolescence. Baseline functional connectivity and clinical risk measures did not significantly moderate trajectories. Results suggest that within-person changes in the phenomenological experience of reward responsiveness may not match developmental expectations based on cross-sectional and neuroimaging studies. More attention is needed to the longitudinal study of subjective experience of reward responsiveness.