Longitudinal Study Of Development Research Articles

Gender diversity in autistic and neurotypical youth over adolescence and puberty: A longitudinal study.

Recent research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has suggested a higher prevalence of gender diversity in individuals diagnosed with ASD. Adolescence is a critical period for the consolidation of gender identity, yet the extent to which the experience of gender diversity is stable over adolescence and puberty in autistic youth is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to examine the consistency of gender diversity using the gender diversity screening questionnaire for self- and parent-report of youth (GDSQ-S, GDSQ-P) over a four-year longitudinal study of pubertal development in youth with ASD (N = 140, 36 assigned-female-at birth (AFAB)) and typical development (TD, N = 104, 58 assigned-male-at-birth [AMAB]) and their parents. The extent to which diagnosis (ASD vs. TD), assigned sex (AFAB vs. AMAB) and developmental level (age, puberty) predict GDSQ trajectory over time was explored. There was a significant diagnosis by sex-assigned-at-birth by age interaction for GDSQ-S Gender Diversity, p = 0.002, showing higher scores in autistic AFAB youth over adolescence, and TD AFAB showing initially lower, then increasing levels over adolescence. For GDSQ-P, Gender Incongruence was significantly different between the groups, p = 0.032, showing higher incongruence for autistic AFAB around age 10, decreasing between age 12-14 before increasing again, while TD AFAB evidence the inverse trend. AMAB trends were stable. The significant diagnostic, developmental and sex-based differences indicate AFAB youth experience greater gender diversity that evolves over development. Findings suggest gender identity formation is nuanced and may be influenced by pubertal progression, hormonal patterns, and psychosocial factors. Results underscore the need for enhanced understanding of the unique, dynamic profiles of females-assigned-at-birth.

Insights into child abuse and neglect: Findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation.

The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA) is a landmark prospective, longitudinal study of human development focused on a sample of mothers experiencing poverty and their firstborn children. Although the MLSRA pioneered a number of important topics in the area of social and emotional development, it began with the more specific goal of examining the antecedents of child maltreatment. From that foundation and for more than 40 years, the study has produced a significant body of research on the origins, sequelae, and measurement of childhood abuse and neglect. The principal objectives of this report are to document the early history of the MLSRA and its contributions to the study of child maltreatment and to review and summarize results from the recently updated childhood abuse and neglect coding of the cohort, with particular emphasis on findings related to adult adjustment. While doing so, we highlight key themes and contributions from Dr Dante Cicchetti's body of research and developmental psychopathology perspective to the MLSRA, a project launched during his tenure as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.

Neurobehavioral outcomes of neonatal asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection at 12-months

BackgroundCongenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common congenital viral infection in the United States. Symptomatic infections can cause severe hearing loss and neurological disability, although ~ 90% of cCMV infections are asymptomatic at birth. Despite its prevalence, the long-term neurobehavioral risks of asymptomatic cCMV infections are not fully understood. The objective of this work was to evaluate for potential long-term neurobehavioral sequelae in infants with asymptomatic cCMV.MethodsInfants with cCMV were identified from a universal newborn cCMV screening study in a metropolitan area in the midwestern United States. Asymptomatic infants with cCMV were enrolled in a longitudinal neurodevelopmental study (N = 29). Age- and sex-matched healthy control infants (N = 193) were identified from the Baby Connectome Project (BCP), a longitudinal study of brain and behavioral development. The BCP sample supplemented an additional group of healthy control infants (N = 30), recruited from the same participant registry as the BCP specifically for comparison with infants with asymptomatic cCMV. Neurobehavioral assessments and parent questionnaires, including the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Repetitive Behavior Scales for Early Childhood (RBS-EC), and the Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (ITSEA) were administered at 12 months of age. Neurobehavioral scores were compared between infants with asymptomatic cCMV and all identified healthy control infants.ResultsInfants with asymptomatic cCMV performed equivalently compared to healthy control infants on the neurobehavioral measures tested at 12 months of age.ConclusionsThese results indicate that at 12 months of age, infants with asymptomatic cCMV are not statistically different from controls in a number of neurobehavioral domains. Although follow-up is ongoing, these observations provide reassurance about neurobehavioral outcomes for infants with asymptomatic cCMV and inform the ongoing discussion around universal screening. Additional follow-up will be necessary to understand the longer-term outcomes of these children.

Childhood Violence, High School Academic Environment, and Adult Alcohol Use Among Latinas and Black Women: A Structural Equation Modeling Study.

Young Latinas and Black women drink less than women of other racial/ethnic groups but experience more alcohol-related problems in midlife. This study aims to identify modifiable factors to prevent adult onset of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in this population. Data were collected at six time points as part of the Harlem Longitudinal Development Study from 365 Latinas (47%) and Black (53%) women (mean age at time 1 = 14, standard deviation 1.3). Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized pathways from childhood physical and sexual abuse to AUD via depressive mood, anxiety disorders, and somatic complaints in the 20s. We also tested the moderation effect of the high school academic environment by including in the structural equation model two latent variable interaction terms between the school environment and each of the abuse variables. Childhood physical and sexual abuse was positively associated with depressive mood, anxiety disorders, and somatic complaints when participants were in the 20s. Depressive mood mediated childhood abuse and AUD when women were in the 30s. The high school academic environment attenuated the effect of physical, but not sexual abuse, on depressive mood (β = -0.59, B = -9.38, 95% CI [-14.00, -4.76]), anxiety symptoms (β = -0.61, B = -14.19, 95% CI [-21.76, -6.61]), appetite loss (β = -0.41, B = -10.52, 95% CI [-15.61, -5.42]), and sleeplessness (β = -0.50, B = -9.56, 95% CI [-13.95, -5.17]) in the early 20s. Our findings underscore the need to invest in early violence prevention interventions and in education to ensure equitable access to quality, academically oriented, and safe schools.

Developmental Perspectives on Transitions at Age 60: Individuals Navigating Across the Lifespan (TRAILS) – latest data collection in a longitudinal JYLS study

At around age 60, people are approaching late adulthood and are typically going through or anticipating life transitions such as grandparenthood, retirement, or changes in health and functioning. The timing and perception of transitions are individual and based on current circumstances and earlier life history and may link to well-being. The TRAILS (Developmental Psychological Perspectives on Transitions at Age 60: Individuals Navigating Across the Lifespan) study, which is presented in the current article, examines the diversity and underlying factors of different transitions at around age 60 and how they associate with mental well-being. It also investigates whether these transitions link to personality characteristics, contextual resources, and/or societal challenges. The role of earlier life history in the studied associations requires a prospective multiwave design where the same participants are followed over time. Only a few longitudinal studies have examined the developmental pathways from childhood to the beginning of late adulthood. The TRAILS study continues the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS). The JYLS was initiated in 1968 and includes earlier data collected from ages 8 to 50. At age 61, in 2020–21, 206 of the JYLS participants (of the initial 369 children) took part in TRAILS. The data collection included a Life Situation Questionnaire, a psychological interview, self-report inventories, a health examination and physical activity surveillance covering major areas of adult life. TRAILS extends the JYLS study to over 52 years of follow-up time and provides unique opportunities for studying individual development throughout the lifespan.

Persistent DNA Methylation Changes across the First Year of Life and Prenatal Exposure in a Canadian Prospective Birth Study.

Evidence suggests that prenatal air pollution exposure alters DNA methylation (DNAm), which could go on to affect long-term health. It remains unclear whether DNAm alterations present at birth persist through early life. Identifying persistent DNAm changes would provide greater insight into the molecular mechanisms contributing to the association of prenatal air pollution exposure with atopic diseases. This study investigated DNAm differences associated with prenatal nitrogen dioxide () exposure (a surrogate measure of traffic-related air pollution) at birth and 1 y of age and examined their role in atopic disease. We focused on regions showing persistent DNAm differences from birth to 1 y of age and regions uniquely associated with postnatal exposure. Microarrays measured DNAm at birth and at 1 y of age for an atopy-enriched subset of Canadian Health Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study participants. Individual and regional DNAm differences associated with prenatal () were identified, and their persistence at age 1 y were investigated using linear mixed effects models (). Postnatal-specific DNAm differences () were isolated, and their association with in the first year of life was examined. Causal mediation investigated whether DNAm differences mediated associations between and age 1 y atopy or wheeze. Analyses were repeated using biological sex-stratified data. At birth (), 18 regions of DNAm were associated with , with several annotated to HOX genes. Some of these regions were specifically identified in males (), but not females (). The effect of prenatal across CpGs within altered regions persisted at 1 y of age. No significant mediation effects were identified. Sex-stratified analyses identified postnatal-specific DNAm alterations. Regional cord blood DNAm differences associated with prenatal persisted through at least the first year of life in CHILD participants. Some differences may represent sex-specific alterations, but replication in larger cohorts is needed. The early postnatal period remained a sensitive window to DNAm perturbations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13034.

Resting heart rate associations with violence exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms: sex differences in children

BackgroundTraumatic events experienced in childhood can lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disorders in adulthood. Black Americans are disproportionately affected, as they are at increased risk for experiencing childhood trauma and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. One of the hypothesized mechanisms of this association is through long-lasting dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system, a hallmark physiological biomarker of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is twice as prevalent in women compared to men.MethodsNinety-one, majority Black American children, aged 9 were recruited to be a part of our longitudinal study of child development at research centers in Atlanta, GA and Detroit, MI. Resting HR was measured through a electrocardiogram (ECG) recording using the Biopac MP150. Self-report measures of violence exposure and PTSD symptoms were administered by research staff.ResultsChildren with more violence exposure reported increased PTSS as well as lower resting HR. Regression analysis showed evidence of sex modifying this relationship, (B = -0.64, p < 0.05), such that the association between resting HR and PTSS was stronger in girls than in boys. In our exploratory analysis with standard clinical cutoffs of resting HR, the normative HR group was found to significantly moderate the relationship between violence exposure and PTSS in boys, (B = -2.14, p < 0.01), but not girls (B = -0.94, p = 0.27).ConclusionIn our sample of primarily Black urban children, we found that violence exposure was associated with slower, more adult-like HR, that girls showed greater PTSS associated with slower HR while boys did not, and that girls with lower than normative HR showed significantly higher PTSS compared to girls with normative HR. Our sample’s demonstration of psychological consequences in addition to the physiological implications could provide new information about a psychobiological sequelae of violence exposure.

Executive functioning predicts development of reading skill and perceptual span seven years later

What is the role of executive functions in longitudinally predicting reading success in general and perceptual-span size in particular? We present two new waves of our sequential-cohort longitudinal study of perceptual-span development, including five waves totally spanning grades 1 to 10. Using nonlinear mixed effects growth-curve modeling we here show that executive functioning measured in the early primary-school years predicts reading performance seven years later, even if controlled for initial reading performance. Moreover, the two variables exerted an interactive influence, suggesting mutual benefit. Effects of initial executive functioning on the final perceptual span were even more pronounced than on reading rate, suggesting a substantial contribution of executive processes to perceptual-span development. Perceptual-span development is critical for successful reading: The initial reading-rate difference between slower and faster readers diverged at the point when perceptual-span development was fastest, and stabilized at inflated differences thereafter. In an educational setting, early tests of executive functioning may be useful for identifying children who are likely to need intervention to become proficient readers.

A unified model of arithmetic with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals.

This article describes UMA (Unified Model of Arithmetic), a theory of children's arithmetic implemented as a computational model. UMA builds on FARRA (Fraction Arithmetic Reflects Rules and Associations; Braithwaite et al., 2017), a model of children's fraction arithmetic. Whereas FARRA-like all previous models of arithmetic-focused on arithmetic with only one type of number, UMA simulates arithmetic with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. The model was trained on arithmetic problems from the first to sixth grade volumes of a math textbook series; its performance on tests administered at the end of each grade was compared to the performance of children in prior empirical research. In whole number arithmetic (Study 1), fraction arithmetic (Study 2), and decimal arithmetic (Study 3), UMA displayed types of errors, effects of problem features on error rates, and individual differences in strategy use that resembled those documented in the previous studies of children. Further, UMA generated correlations between individual differences in basic and advanced arithmetic skills similar to those observed in longitudinal studies of arithmetic development (Study 4). The results support UMA's main theoretical assumptions regarding arithmetic development: (a) most errors reflect small deviations from standard procedures via two mechanisms, overgeneralization and omission; (b) between-problem variations in error rates reflect effects of intrinsic difficulty and differential amounts of practice; and (c) individual differences in strategy use reflect underlying variation in parameters governing learning and decision making. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Middle School Mathematics Achievement

Teacher professional development is often proposed as a means for improving students' achievement; however, few studies have been successful in empirically connecting teacher inservice interventions to their students' achievement gains, and especially in mathematics. The research presents results of a longitudinal study of an inservice teacher professional development that had as its primary purpose to improve middle school students' mathematics achievement. The study utilized a cross-school comparative research approach for the purpose of examining students' math achievement trajectories Hierarchical linear modeling was used for the study's data analyses. Results of the study revealed that the teacher professional development intervention had positive impacts on both the participating teachers and their middle school students. The participating students' achievement improved significantly for those whose teachers participated in the teacher professional development intervention.

Stability in health behavior patterns in middle adulthood: a 19-year follow-up study

Objective: This study investigated subgroups of adults with particular health behavior patterns, their stability over 19 years, and the role of sociodemographic and personality characteristics in these. Methods and Measures: Data on smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity were collected at ages 42, 50, and 61 in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (n = 205–302). Latent class, latent transition, and logistic regression analyses were used. Results: Four similar classes of health behaviors were identified at each age. A class named low alcohol consumption (AC)–high physical activity (PA) included individuals with the lowest levels of alcohol consumption and the highest levels of physical activity, and a class named high AC–low PA vice versa. Classes between these extremes of alcohol consumption and physical activity levels were nonsmokers with the lowest proportion of smokers, and smokers vice versa. Although transitions emerged, class memberships were relatively stable. Women, those who were married, held a degree, had higher occupational status, and certain personality traits at age 42 were more likely to belong continuously to healthier classes compared to a stable membership in high AC–low PA. Conclusion: Health behaviors exist in patterns, are relatively stable across adulthood, and associated with sociodemographic and personality characteristics.

Delayed gratification predicts behavioral and academic outcomes: Examining the validity of the delay-of-gratification choice paradigm in Singaporean young children

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Delay-of-Gratification (DoG) choice paradigm in Singapore, a multicultural Asian society. Data were collected over two waves from a nationally representative sample of 2,956 Singaporean young children, a subset of the participants from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG-LEADS). DoG, working memory, and parent-rated child self-control were measured during the preschool years (ages 3–6) in Wave 1. Academic achievement and parent-rated child behavior problems were measured approximately two years later in Wave 2. Results evidenced sound psychometric properties of the multi-trial actual choice task as a measure of DoG with Singaporean young children, indicated by (1) excellent internal reliability, (2) development of DoG as a function of age, gender, and parental education, (3) variations in children’s choices by the quantity of the delayed reward, (4) convergent validity with concurrently measured working memory and self-control, and (5) predictive validity with more advanced reading and mathematical skills as well as fewer externalizing and internalizing problems, indirectly through working memory and self-control.

Age effects on autism heritability and etiological stability of autistic traits.

Autism and autistic traits onset in childhood but persist into adulthood. Little is known about how genetic and environmental factors influence autism and autistic traits into adulthood. We aimed to determine age effects on the heritability of clinically diagnosed autism and the etiological stability of autistic traits from childhood to adulthood using twin methods. From 23,849 twin pairs in the Swedish Twin Register born between 1959 and 2010, we identified 485 individuals (1.01%, 31.5% female) with a clinical autism diagnosis. We estimated and compared the relative contribution of genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences to autism in childhood and adulthood. We further used multivariate twin analysis with four measurement points among 1,348 twin pairs in the longitudinal Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development to assess the phenotypic and etiological stability of autistic traits - measured with three scales from the Child Behavior Checklist - from childhood to adulthood. Autism heritability was comparable from childhood, (96% [95% CI, 76-99%]) to adulthood (87% [67-96%]). Autistic traits were moderately stable (phenotypic correlation = 0.35-0.61) from childhood to adulthood, and their heritability varied between 52 and 71%. We observed stable as well as newly emerging genetic influences on autistic traits from ages 8-9 to 19-20, and unique nonshared environmental influences at each age. Genetic factors are important for autism and autistic traits in adulthood and separate genetic studies in adults are warranted.

How food insecurity affects children's behavior problems in early childhood: The nutrition and family stress pathways.

This study examines how household food insecurity shapes young children's behavior problems in Singapore. The analysis is based on two waves of data collected before and during COVID-19 from a nationally representative sample of 2,601 children in the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG-LEADS, Mage = 4.5 at wave 1, Mage = 6 at wave 2). Results based on propensity score matching, fixed effects analysis and lagged-variable models show a positive association between household food insecurity and children's behavior problems both concurrently and over a two-year period. Two mediating pathways of this association are identified-children's dietary intake and family stress. Children in food-insecure households tend to consume fewer vegetables and more sugar-sweetened beverages and carbohydrates, which is associated with elevated behavior problems. Parents in food-insecure households exhibit greater emotional distress, diminished parental warmth, and increased punitive parenting practices, also contributing to their children's behavior problems. The family stress pathway has a stronger explanatory power than the nutrition pathway on children's behavior problems. This study reveals that food insecurity is a risk factor for children's behavior problems in early childhood which can lead to later developmental vulnerabilities for children in financially deprived families.

The acquisition of Hong Kong Sign Language in deaf and hard-of-hearing children: A longitudinal study of sign language development in a bimodal bilingual co-enrollment programme

ABSTRACT This study followed the development of Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) proficiency in 31 deaf bimodal bilingual children (kindergarten through Primary 6) over two years. The Hong Kong Sign Language Elicitation Tool (HKSL-ET) was used at three time points to elicit the production of agreement, classifier, modal, negation, and wh-question structures. These were scored for accuracy based on specific language features, including classifier handshapes, non-manuals, phonological parameters, sign order, and use of space. Deaf children of hearing parents (dH children) showed significant improvements in accuracy for all structures and features, with most progress occurring between the first two assessments. By the third assessment, dH children showed similar performance to the deaf children of deaf parents (dD children) on most structures and features, but they were still significantly less accurate in their production of classifier constructions and use of space. This, along with an observed negative impact of later ages of acquisition on HKSL accuracy, underscores the importance of early exposure to sign language. Examining the relationship between signed and spoken language proficiency revealed a significant positive correlation between HKSL proficiency and Cantonese verbal expressive ability, suggesting that these languages may have mutually facilitative effects in terms of language development. Our findings highlight the utility of bimodal bilingual education in fostering linguistic development in deaf children.

Digital Transformation in Complex Systems

Complex systems increasingly include embedded digital technologies that interact with and are constrained by physical components and systems. Although these systems play a central role in our society, they have only been scarcely addressed in contemporary research on digital transformation and the organization of innovation. This article explores the digital transformation in complex products and systems and its consequences for organizational design. A longitudinal study of avionics development since the 1950s uncovers the application of digital technologies, first as a sequence of initial experiments, followed by the use as add-on functionality, then as an integral part of achieving critical functionality in systems, and currently combining add-on and critical functionalities enabling generativity. The findings emphasize the evolution of the intricate relationships between the systems architecture and organizational approaches when digital technology enables and enforces increased complexity, expanded functionality, increased systems integration, and continuous development. These nested dependencies are accentuated by the complexity that has emerged beyond human cognition, where increasingly sophisticated boundary objects based on modeling, simulation, and data play an important role in the organization's ability. Boundary objects relate and decouple the multifacetted dynamic relation between organization and architecture. The results also extend existing perspectives on platform strategies by outlining the importance of generativity in combination with criticality control, rather than market control. Criticality control in combination with generativity has become imperative not least as generative digital technologies have become central in achieving critical properties such as safety. Several avenues for further research are outlined.

The link between hours of center-based childcare and child development in 3- to 6-year-olds: Evidence from Singapore

This study examined how the number of hours of early childhood education (ECE) is associated with young children's behavior problems and early academic achievement in Singapore, a non-WEIRD (“Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic”) country with families using long ECE hours. We drew data from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study. Participants were 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 2,452). General linear models and spline regressions were utilized to analyze how ECE hours were associated with children's behavior problems and early academic achievement while controlling for child and family characteristics. On average, Singaporean children stayed 41.07 hours per week in ECE centers, with 38 % of the sampled children spending more than 50 hours per week in ECE centers. Notably, we found an inverted-U-shaped relation between ECE hours and child outcomes with a turning point of approximately 35–40 hours per week. Before the turning point, a greater number of hours in ECE was associated with more externalizing problems and higher academic achievement. However, after this point, a greater number of hours was associated with fewer behavior problems, both externalizing and internalizing, as well as poorer academic achievement. These findings demonstrate a complex nonlinear association between ECE hours and child outcomes in a context of children spending prolonged hours in centers.

Acrobats and Safety Nets: Problematizing Large-Scale Agile Software Development

Agile development methods have become a standard in the software industry, including in large-scale projects. These methods share a set of underlying assumptions that distinguish them from more traditional plan-driven approaches. In this article, we adopt Alvesson and Sandberg's problematization approach to challenge three key assumptions that are prevalent in the large-scale agile literature: (1) agile and plan-driven methods are mutually exclusive; (2) self-managing and hierarchically organized teams are mutually exclusive; and (3) agile methods can scale through simple linear composition. Using a longitudinal case study of large-scale agile development, we describe a series of trigger events and episodes whereby the agile approach was tailored to address the needs of the large-scale development context, which was very much at odds with these fundamental assumptions. We develop a set of new underlying assumptions which suggest that agile and plan-driven practices are mutually enabling and necessary for coordination and scaling in large-scale agile projects. We develop nine propositions for large-scale agile projects based on these new alternative underlying assumptions. Finally, we summarize our theoretical contribution in a generic process model of continuously adjusting agile and plan-driven practices in order to accommodate process challenges in large-scale agile projects.

RELIGIOSITY AND SPIRITUALITY DEVELOPMENT ACROSS MID- TO LATER LIFE: AN ACCELERATED LONGITUDINAL DESIGN

Abstract It is widely accepted that religiosity and spirituality (R/S) increase with age, although the multidimensional nature of R/S complicates this conclusion. Specifically, religiosity entails engagement in communal and independent religious practices, whereas spirituality refers to a sense of communion with divine being(s). Furthermore, religious and/or spiritual individuals may use their faith to carry them through hard times, and thus engage in positive and/or negative religious/spiritual coping. Critically, these R/S facets may follow distinct developmental trajectories across adulthood, and the nature of these trajectories remain unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we followed an accelerated longitudinal design, modeling developmental trends in six R/S facets across ages 45-80. Participants included 768 subjects from the Notre Dame Study of Health &amp; Well-being (NDHWB), a 10-year, multi-cohort, longitudinal study of adult development and aging (Wave 1 Age: Mean= 59.24, SD= 8.65). Using two-level, hierarchical linear modeling, we estimated no change, linear change, quadratic change, and cubic change trajectories across ages 45-80 in communal and independent religious practices, spirituality, positive and negative religious/spiritual coping, as well as composite R/S; cohort effects in these change trajectories were also tested. Communal and independent religious practices, spirituality, negative religious/spiritual coping, as well as composite R/S, followed unique, cubic trajectories across mid- to later life. Positive religious/spiritual coping followed a linear trajectory, although cohort effects precluded the interpretation of developmental change in this R/S facet. Individuals appear to engage with their faith in different ways as they age, meaning extant conclusions about age-graded increases in R/S may be oversimplified.

Longitudinal Links Between Parental Emotional Distress and Adolescent Delinquency: The Role of Marital Conflict and Parent-Child Conflict.

The mediating processes linking parental emotional distress and changes in adolescent delinquency over time are poorly understood. The current study examined this question using data from 457 adolescents (49.5% female; 89.5% White; assessed at ages 11, 12, and 15) and their parents, part of the national, longitudinal Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Maternal depression was only directly associated with changes in adolescent delinquency. Paternal depression was indirectly associated with changes in adolescent delinquency through a partner effect on mother-child conflict. The findings indicate the salience of parental depression and mother-child conflict for increases in adolescent delinquency and highlight the importance of including parental actor and partner effects for a more comprehensive understanding of the tested associations.