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Funder: James S. McDonnell Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000913, Funder: Newnham College, University of Cambridge; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000663, OBJECTIVES: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been shown to be invariant across informants, developmental stage and settings, but tests of cross-cultural equivalence are limited to adolescents' self-reports. The COVID-19 pandemic makes this gap particularly pertinent, given the need to understand whether distinct government approaches (e.g., school closures) are uniquely associated with variability in children's psychosocial outcomes and the reliance on parents' ratings for young children. METHODS: Within a Confirmatory Factor Analysis framework, we tested the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the SDQ across six countries: Australia, China, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and USA, using a sample of 1761 parents of 3- to 8-year-olds (M = 5.76, SD = 1.09). RESULTS: A five-factors model showed good fit to the data and partial cross-cultural scalar invariance. In this sample, Swedish parents reported the fewest peer problems (Cohen's d = 0.950) and the highest prosocial scores (Cohen's d = 0.547), whilst British parents reported the greatest child emotional (Cohen's d = 0.412) and hyperactivity problems (Cohen's d = 0.535). CONCLUSIONS: The present results indicate that the parent-version of the SDQ is appropriate for use and comparison across different contexts during the pandemic.

In our previous study (Frith, Stride & Rowe, in preparation) we developed a trifactor model of psychopathology in data from the Mental Health in Children and Young People Survey (MHCYP: Ford et al., 2020) that identified an overarching p-factor that characterised overall liability to psychopathology across multiple raters of psychopathology (parent, child and teacher) independently from common method variance, and which was related to future clinical psychopathology diagnoses. We now aim to develop this approach to model longitudinal predictors and outcomes of general p-factor across multiple raters of psychopathology in a separate dataset spanning a longer timeframe. The multi-informant longitudinal data within the Millennium Cohort Study allows us to model predictors and outcomes of the general p-factor independently from common method variance using the parent and teacher reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire measured at both age 7 and 11. It provides multiple predictors measured at age 5 and outcomes measured at age 17 to address the aims of the present study.

Background : Sexual abuse is a well-recognised risk factor for child psychopathology. Little is known regarding whether child and maternal mentalization can be considered a potential resource or protective factor in this context, respectively, mediating or moderating the relationship between sexual abuse and psychopathology. Objective : The aims of this study were (1) to explore the relationships between child and maternal mentalizing, measured as reflective functioning (RF), and child depressive symptoms and externalising difficulties; and (2) to examine whether child mentalizing mediates the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and psychopathology. Method : A total of 168 children aged 7–12 years and their mothers participated in the study. The sample included 74 dyads where children had experienced sexual abuse. The Child Attachment Interview was rated by using the Child Reflective Functioning Scale to assess children’s mentalization, and the Child Depression Inventory was used to assess depressive symptoms. Mothers completed the Parent Development Interview to assess maternal RF and the Child Behavior Checklist to assess their child’s externalising difficulties. A model involving direct and indirect paths from CSA, child and maternal RF to child psychopathology was examined using Mplus software. Results : Child mentalization partially mediated the relationships between CSA and depressive symptoms, as well as the relationship between CSA and externalising difficulties. Maternal mentalization was an independent predictor of child externalising difficulties, with higher maternal RF associated with less externalising difficulties. Discussion : The findings indicate that by ages 7–12, child mentalization is an important inner resource associated with lower depression and externalising. In addition, this study provides new evidence of the importance of the parent’s mentalizing stance for the development of self-regulation and externalising difficulties in both abused and non-abused children. The clinical implications are discussed. Keywords: Child depression; child mentalization; child sexual abuse; externalising difficulties; maternal mentalization; reflective functioning (Published: 27 January 2016) Responsible Editor: Julian D. Ford, University of Connecticut Health Center, USA. For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files under ‘Article Tools’ Citation: European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2016, 7 : 30611 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v7.30611

BackgroundChildren of mothers with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at increased risk for developmental problems. However, the mechanisms through which a mother's experience of ACEs are transmitted to her offspring are understudied. The current study investigates potential modifiable mediators (maternal psychopathology and parenting) of the association between maternal ACEs and children's behavioral problems.MethodsWe utilized data from a pregnancy cohort study (N = 1030; CANDLE study) to investigate longitudinal associations between maternal ACEs, postpartum anxiety, observed parenting behavior, and child internalizing behaviors (meanage = 4.31 years, s.d. age = 0.38) in a racially diverse (67% Black; 33% White/Other) sample. We used structural equation modeling to test for direct associations between maternal ACEs and children's internalizing behaviors, as well as indirect associations via two simple mediations (maternal anxiety and parenting), and one serial mediation (sequence of maternal anxiety to parenting).ResultsSimple mediation results indicated that maternal anxiety and cognitive growth fostering behaviors independently mediated the association between maternal ACEs and child internalizing. We observed no evidence of a serial mediation from ACEs to internalizing via the effects of maternal anxiety on parenting.ConclusionsThis study supports and refines extant literature by confirming the intergenerational association between maternal ACEs and child internalizing behaviors in a large, diverse sample, and identifies potential modifiable mediators: maternal anxiety and parenting behaviors related to fostering cognitive development. Findings may inform interventions targeting mothers who have experienced ACEs and suggest that providing support around specific parenting behaviors and addressing maternal anxiety may reduce internalizing behaviors in children.

An important question in mental healthcare for children is whether treatments are effective and safe in the long run. Here, we comment on a recent editorial perspective by Roest et al. (2022), who argue, based on an overview of systematic reviews, 'that there is no convincing evidence that interventions for the most common childhood disorders are beneficial in the long term'. We believe that the available evidence does not justify this conclusion and express our concern regarding the harmful effects of their message. We show that there is evidence to suggest beneficial longer term treatment effects for each of the disorders and explain why evidence-based treatment should be offered to children with mental disorders. ispartof: Journal Of Child Psychology And Psychiatry vol:64 issue:3 ispartof: location:England status: Published online

Limited prosocial emotions (LPE) are characterized by a lack of remorse or guilt, callousness/lack of empathy, being unconcerned about performance, and shallow/deficient affect. While previous research has largely focused on the presence or absence of LPE in youth, there is considerable evidence that symptom presence/absence and symptom impairment are separable dimensions, where impairment often is found to play a significant, unique role in assessing child psychopathology. The current study utilized a newly developed questionnaire with the purpose of exploring its psychometric properties and better understand the dual and potentially differential role LPE symptom presence and LPE-related impairment have in youth. Mothers (n = 265) of children (Mage = 8.04, SD = 2.07) completed questionnaires assessing LPE impairment, LPE symptoms, externalizing disorder symptoms, and functional impairment. Results demonstrated strong support for the psychometric properties of the newly developed measure of LPE impairment. Importantly, LPE-related impairment uniquely predicted all impairment domains above-and-beyond the effects of LPE symptoms, oppositional defiant disorder, and CD symptoms (as well as child age and sex covariates). Moreover, youth in the top 25th percentile on both LPE symptoms and LPE-related impairment (compared to youth only in the top 25th percentile in LPE symptoms) had greater mean externalizing symptoms and functional impairment. The preliminary evidence provided suggests researchers and clinicians may benefit from assessing both LPE symptoms and LPE-related impairment when attempting to identify youth with high levels of conduct problem symptoms and/or psychosocial impairment. Future research should aim to replicate and expand our findings to other clinical populations.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as early exposure to maltreatment and household dysfunction. Researchers have demonstrated the link between ACEs and negative psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and health outcomes. A growing area of interest in the ACE literature concerns the relationship between ACEs, parenting, and child psychopathology due to the intergenerational effect of ACEs. Emotional availability and discipline strategies are two domains of parenting that can increase understanding of the associations between ACEs, parenting, and child psychopathology from an attachment framework because they are both salient during early childhood and directly influence a child's later behavior. This paper utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to elucidate the relationships between parental ACEs, parents' emotional availability and discipline strategies, and children's psychopathology. PubMed, PSYCINFO, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection were used to access the literature on June 16, 2020, and 26 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results from this review suggested that there is a direct association between ACEs and parental emotional availability and discipline techniques. Depression and dissociation were identified as potential mediators. There was support for the direct association between parental ACEs and children's internalizing and externalizing difficulties. Maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms, emotional availability, attachment, and children's maltreatment experiences were found to be possible mediators. Recommendations are proposed to address limitations within the literature to further expand upon the research of ACEs, parenting, and child psychopathology.

Children exposed to peer victimization are at increased risk for psychopathology. However, the physiological mechanisms linking peer victimization to child psychopathology and the potential gender differences in these links remain inadequately understood. The present study examined whether cortisol reactivity to acute stress mediated the associations between relational and physical victimization and internalizing and externalizing problems and whether these associations differed between boys and girls. A sample of 150 Chinese children (aged 9–13 years; Mage = 10.69 years; 51% boys) reported experiences of relational and physical victimization and participated in a standardized laboratory psychosocial stress task, during which six salivary cortisol samples were collected. Parents or primary caregivers reported their children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Overall, neither physical nor relational victimization was associated with cortisol reactivity. However, when examined separately by gender, relational victimization was associated with blunted cortisol reactivity for boys but not for girls. Further, among boys but not girls, relational victimization was indirectly associated with internalizing and externalizing problems via blunted cortisol reactivity. Our findings suggest that blunted cortisol reactivity may serve as a physiological pathway linking peer victimization to psychopathology for boys but not for girls.

El Síndrome de Asperger (SA) forma parte de los Trastornos del Neurodesarrollo, afectando el área cognitiva, social y motriz de quien lo presenta. Se asocia a déficits en la Función Ejecutiva (FE) que promueven problemas en la interacción y la comunicación social, y en el desarrollo académico desde edades tempranas. Propósito. Analizar la asociación de los síntomas de SA y déficits en la FE, y los índices de prevalencias de sintomatología de SA en edad preescolar. Método. A partir de la aplicación de instrumento de cribado de las psicopatologías infantiles, y un instrumento para la evaluación de la FE, se realizaron correlaciones. Resultados. En una muestra de 539 niños, se encontró una prevalencia de 0.6% (reportada por padres) y 0.2% (reportada por maestras) de síntomas de SA; correlaciones significativas con déficits de la FE, y con síntomas de trastornos internalizantes. Conclusiones. Las deficiencias en la FE asociadas al SA pueden ser detectadas desde edad preescolar, así resulta necesario intervenir desde entonces para disminuir las dificultades académicas, emocionales y sociales típicas en los niños con SA.

Given the high rates of co-occurrence of psychopathology within families, it is important to identify and characterize interventions that simultaneously reduce both parent and child symptoms, and improve parenting quality. This is needed as intervention development is increasingly moving toward integrated interventions that target some combination of parent and child mental health, and parenting behavior. Even so, much remains unknown regarding which treatment components provide maximum benefit for parent symptoms, child symptoms, and parenting behavior. This systematic review identified and characterized psychotherapeutic interventions that report improvements in each of three outcomes: parent symptoms, child symptoms and parenting behavior. Fifty-six unique interventions were eligible for review, of which 25 reported improvements in all three outcomes. All 25 of these interventions directly intervened on parenting behavior, often as the sole target of the intervention. Few interventions improved all three outcomes in samples in which parents, children or both met clinical-level thresholds of psychopathology. Additional research is needed to better understand the bi-directional and transactional influences of treatment on family members, and to better inform the development of interventions for dually disordered parent-child dyads across a range of diagnostic profiles.

International audience; BackgroundIn France, one in 10 residents has immigrated mainly from North Africa, West Africa or the Caribbean including the French West Indies. However little is known about how parents from these regions behave when they migrate to countries that have different cultural norms. It is therefore important to determine how ethno-cultural background affects parental behavior and subsequent child mental health in the context of immigration. The objectives are: 1) to compare negative parenting behaviors of French residents from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds 2) to examine the relationship between parental region of origin and child mental health, and 3) to investigate the extent to which ethno-cultural context moderates the effect of parenting styles on child mental health.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in 2005 in 100 schools in South-East France. The Dominic Interactive and the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used to assess child psychopathology. The Parent Behavior and Attitude Questionnaire was used to assess parenting styles. The final sample included data on 1,106 mother and child dyads.ResultsCaring and punitive attitudes were significantly different across mothers as a function of region of origin. This association was stronger for punitive attitudes with the highest prevalence in the Caribbean/African group, while mothers from Maghreb were more similar to French natives. Differences in caring behaviors were similar though less pronounced. Among children of Maghrebian descent, punitive parenting was associated with an increased risk of internalizing disorders while this association was weaker among children of African and Afro-Caribbean descent.ConclusionsParental region of origin is an important component of both parenting styles and their effect on child mental health. Interventions on parenting should consider both the region of origin and the differential impact of origin on the effect of parenting styles, thus allowing for a finer-grained focus on high-risk groups.

This project aims to understand to what extent HL children’s socio-emotional development can be influenced by their family dynamics, such as the quality of the parent-child relations and the global family functioning of cohesion and flexibility.

Prior work suggests that substance-dependent mothers insensitively respond to their child's emotional needs, which can increase children's risk for psychopathology. However, the mechanisms and processes underlying these associations remain unclarified. Mothers' insensitivity to children's distress is an especially unique predictor of child maladjustment, yet no study has examined whether or how different types of insensitivity to child distress uniquely affect the development of internalizing problems in children of alcohol-dependent mothers. To bridge these gaps, this study examined longitudinal mediational pathways between maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, 2 types of maternal insensitivity to child distress (disengagement and intrusiveness), and 2 types of child internalizing symptoms (affective and anxiety problems) in a majority Black and Latinx sample of young children (Mage = 2.14 years) and their mothers. Results revealed that maternal disengagement mediated associations between maternal alcohol dependence symptoms and child internalizing problems such that alcohol dependence predicted increased disengagement to children's distress, which subsequently predicted increases in children's affective problems. Maternal alcohol dependence symptoms were not associated with intrusiveness to child distress; however, increased intrusiveness predicted later increases in child anxiety problems. Findings support a differentiated approach to studying maternal insensitivity to child distress, specifically indicating that mothers with alcohol dependence symptoms may be more or less likely to display certain types of insensitivity to child distress which may differentially influence children's risk for internalizing problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Current debate has identified the factors emotion knowledge (EK) and attention as specific trajectories longitudinally influencing psychopathological development in childhood. The “Emotion Knowledge Hypothesis” assumes that children with great emotion skills have high self-regulating abilities that result in lower cognitive load and stronger attention capacities. Attention problems are thus perceived as a consequence of reduced EK. According to the competing “Attention Effect Hypothesis”, attention problems and EK deficits are associated because of impaired learning capacities due to attention problems. According to this hypothesis, attention problems are predictive of impaired EK. If those specific trajectories are disrupted, this might attenuate the development of later behavior problems. The present study tests those competing hypotheses replicating previous studies in this field to shed light on potential psychopathology trajectories. A total of 136 pre- and elementary school children as well as their teachers participated in this study. Children’s symptoms of inattention as well as their emotional competences were assessed 3 times over a 12-month period. We applied multilevel structural equation modelling and cross-lagged panel models for data analysis. Overall, we noted a drop in inattention scores and rise in emotional competences over the one-year course, indicating maturation effects. There was a significant but very small effect for attention scores predicting emotional competences. With respect to the question whether interventions should focus on the “Emotion Knowledge” or “Attention Effect” hypothesis, our findings imply that none of them has superiority over the other. Therefore, both emotion knowledge and attention are crucial for development, and that children with deficits in either domain should receive targeted interventions in order to disrupt potentially harmful developmental pathways.

Resilient, undercontrolled, and overcontrolled personality types have been identified across the life span and are associated with psychiatric symptoms and functioning. However, it is unknown whether these types are identifiable in preschool-aged children using observational indices or whether they predict longitudinal outcomes. The current study used observationally coded five-factor model (FFM) traits in a sample of preschoolers to identify whether personality traits cluster into types, whether types predict psychiatric symptoms and impairment across development, and whether types better predict outcomes than trait dimensions. Using a validated "thin slice" approach, preschool personality was observationally coded in a clinically enriched sample oversampled for depression (N = 299). Latent class analysis tested how FFM dimensions organized into types, identifying resilient, undercontrolled, and overcontrolled preschoolers. Types demonstrated baseline diagnostic differences and multilevel models indicated above baseline diagnoses, undercontrolled children exhibited elevated externalizing symptoms and worse functioning across development, whereas overcontrolled and resilient children did not differ. Personality types and dimensions both provided similar predictive utility. Resilient, undercontrolled, and overcontrolled personality types are identifiable using FFM observational coding in clinically heterogeneous preschoolers and undercontrolled children demonstrated the most severe trajectories. Findings highlight that personality types are detectable at early ages and have unique predictive power for psychiatric outcomes across development compared with dimensions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Perfectionism, especially the evaluative concerns domain, correlates positively with mental health distress. The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (F-MPS) is one of the most widely used measures of perfectionism, but has not been validated in children or as a measure of parent-report of child perfectionism. The present study aimed to validate the reliability and concurrent, convergent, and factor analytic validity of the F-MPS as a measure for young children. The F-MPS was administered to a sample of 114 children ages 8-12, and their parent. Results suggest that the F-MPS is valid for parent, but not child, report of child perfectionism. The lack of support for the child report may be due to developmental limitations of children understanding and reporting of their own perfectionism traits. In contrast, parent-report using the brief version of the F-MPS appears to be an economical and valid measure of perfectionism in young children. Improved measures of perfectionism in youth would aid in early intervention to buffer the negative mental health effects of the maladaptive aspects of perfectionism.

Objectives: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been shown to be invariant across informants, developmental stage and settings, but tests of cross-cultural equivalence are limited to adolescents’ self-reports. The COVID-19 pandemic makes this gap particularly pertinent, given the need to understand whether distinct government approaches (e.g., school closures) are uniquely associated with variability in children’s psychosocial outcomes and the reliance on parents’ ratings for young children. Methods: Within a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) framework, we tested the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the SDQ across six countries: Australia, China, Italy, Sweden, the UK and USA, using a sample of 1761 parents of 3- to 8-year-olds (M = 5.76, SD = 1.09). Results: A five-factors model showed good fit to the data and partial cross-cultural scalar invariance. In this sample, Swedish parents reported the fewest peer problems (Cohen’s d = .950) and the highest prosocial scores (Cohen’s d = .547), whilst British parents reported the greatest child emotional (Cohen’s d = .412) and hyperactivity problems (Cohen’s d = .535). Conclusions: The present results indicate that the parent-version of the SDQ is appropriate for use and comparison across different contexts during the pandemic.

ObjectiveExperiences of stress and adversity, such as intimate partner violence, confer risk for psychiatric problems across the life span. The effects of these risks are disproportionately borne by women and their offspring—particularly those from communities of color. The prenatal period is an especially vulnerable period of fetal development, during which time women's experiences of stress can have long-lasting implications for offspring mental health. Importantly, there is a lack of focus on women's capacity for resilience and potential postnatal protective factors that might mitigate these intergenerational risks and inform intervention efforts. The present study examined intergenerational associations between women's prenatal stressors and child executive functioning and externalizing problems, testing maternal parenting quality and child sex as moderators, using a large, prospective, sociodemographically diverse cohort.MethodsWe used data from 1,034 mother-child dyads (64% Black, 30% White) from the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) pregnancy cohort within the ECHO PATHWAYS consortium. Women's prenatal stressors included stressful life events (pSLE) and intimate partner violence (pIPV). Measures of child psychopathology at age 4–6 included executive functioning and externalizing problems. Parenting behaviors were assessed by trained observers, averaged across two sessions of mother-child interactions. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations between women's prenatal stressors and child psychopathology, adjusting for confounders and assessing moderation effects by maternal parenting quality and child sex.ResultsWomen's exposures to pSLE and pIPV were independently associated with child executive functioning problems and externalizing problems in fully-adjusted models. Maternal parenting quality moderated associations between pSLE and both outcomes, such that higher parenting quality was protective for the associations between women's pSLE and child executive functioning and externalizing problems. No moderation by child sex was found.DiscussionFindings from this large, sociodemographically diverse cohort suggest women's exposures to interpersonal violence and major stressful events—common for women during pregnancy—may prenatally program her child's executive functioning and externalizing problems. Women's capacity to provide high quality parenting can buffer this intergenerational risk. Implications for universal and targeted prevention and early intervention efforts to support women's and children's wellbeing are discussed.

The current study systematically tested the incremental and interactive associations of parental depression, parental attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and child behavior problems, as related to parenting in families of children with ADHD. Participants were 213 children with ADHD (age M(SD) = 8.58(1.55); 69% male), who each took part in the study with one parent (age M(SD) = 41.13(6.03); 10% male). Parents self-reported their own depressive and ADHD symptoms. Positive (e.g., being involved, praising the child) and negative (e.g., being over-reactive, criticizing the child) parenting behaviors were self-reported by parents and observed in an interaction task with the child. Children’s oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and ADHD behavior problems were reported by parents and teachers. Results revealed that parental depressive symptoms were associated with more self-reported negative and less self-reported positive parenting after adjusting for parental ADHD symptoms and child behavior problems. Parental ADHD symptoms were associated with more self-reported negative parenting after adjusting for child behavior problems, but not incrementally over parental depressive symptoms. An interaction effect was found, where parental ADHD symptoms were associated with more self-reported negative parenting when depressive symptoms were low. Parental psychopathology was not associated with observations of parenting. Regarding child behavior problems, only child ODD behavior was associated with more self-reported negative parenting, and no interactions between parent and child psychopathology were associated with parenting behavior. Future research, assessment, and treatment of families with children with ADHD should consider both types of parental psychopathology, and their potential interaction, alongside the contribution of child ODD behavior.

Parenting practices have been linked to a wide range of issues related to children's psychological adjustment; however, more research is warranted to further understand not only cultural variations of parenting norms, but also how such variations might differentially influence child outcomes. The current study examined the psychometric properties of a Chinese translation of the Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS) in order to: (a) assess both positive and negative dimensions of parenting in Chinese-speaking societies and (b) to explore the association between these practices and children's psychopathological symptoms. A total of 2,237 parents with children between 6 and 12 years old completed the MAPS, Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P), adapted Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), and other measures related to children's psychosocial functioning. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) revealed a clear six-factor structure. Strong to strict measurement invariance for child gender, parent gender, and child age were found. The results demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. MAPS subscales also showed concurrent and convergent validity with mindful parenting, parent-child bonding, and children's psychopathology outcomes. The Chinese version of the MAPS will help facilitate multidimensional parenting research in Chinese-speaking societies and promote future cross-cultural studies examining the effect of positive and negative parenting on children's psychopathological adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

PURPOSE: Childhood exposure to traumatic violence may shape how children respond to threatening faces and increase risk for psychopathology. Maltreated children may exhibit altered processing of threatening faces; however, the effects of witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) on children’s discrimination of facial expressions is under-studied. Emotional face processing differentially relates to psychopathology, with some evidence suggesting improved detection of angry faces in children with fear-related anxiety symptoms, whereas externalizing symptoms are associated with poorer detection of fearful faces and perhaps emotional faces broadly. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, we examined discrimination of threatening emotional faces (angry, fearful) in relation to experiences of probable abuse and witnessing of physical IPV, as well as psychopathology. Children (N = 137, mean age = 5.01 years, SD = 0.81) completed a “face in the crowd task” designed to examine discrimination of angry and fearful faces. Children either searched for an angry face among fearful distractor faces or a fearful face among angry distractors. Probable child abuse, witnessed IPV, and symptoms were assessed in semi-structured maternal interviews. RESULTS: Children who witnessed violence showed poorer accuracy when fearful faces were the target; however, effects for probable abuse were non-significant. Greater fear-related anxiety symptoms were associated with poorer accuracy for fearful faces. Externalizing symptoms were associated with poorer overall accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that IPV and fear-related anxiety symptoms were associated with difficulty detecting fearful faces when angry distractors were present, consistent with prior research. Implications of violence- and symptom-associated deficits in emotional face processing are discussed.

The Preschool Feelings Checklist (PFC) is a 16-item parent report measure of depressive symptoms in young children. However, data on its reliability and validity are limited. We examined the internal consistency and convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the PFC in an unselected community sample of 490 3-year old children. Child psychopathology was assessed using semi-structured diagnostic interviews conducted with a parent at ages 3 and 6 (the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment) and with the child and a parent at ages 9, 12, and 15 (the Kiddie Schedule for the Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime Version). The PFC exhibited good internal consistency. It was concurrently associated with depression, as well as a wide range of other psychiatric disorders and functional impairment. Similarly, the PFC at 3 years independently predicted depression and a range of other disorders and global functioning in subsequent assessments later in childhood and in adolescence. Finally, the PFC outperformed the longer Child Behavior Checklist in predicting diagnoses and functioning. Results support the concurrent and predictive validity of the PFC in preschoolers. However, it also exhibited concurrent and predictive associations with a number of other disorders, suggesting that it indexes a broad transdiagnostic liability for psychopathology and impairment.

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is prevalent and confers risk for psychopathology later in life. Approaches to understanding the impact of ACEs on development include the independent risk approach, the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP) distinguishing between threat and deprivation events, and the cumulative risk approach. The present research provides an empirical confirmation of DMAP and a comparison of these three approaches in predicting internalizing and externalizing symptoms in youth. In Study 1, mental health professionals (N = 57) rated ACEs as threat or deprivation events. These ratings were used to create composites to represent the DMAP approach in Study 2. With cross-sectional and longitudinal data from children and adolescents in state custody (N = 23,850), hierarchical linear regression analyses examined independent risk, DMAP, and cumulative risk models in predicting internalizing symptoms, disinhibited externalizing symptoms, and antagonistic externalizing symptoms. All three approaches produced significant models and revealed associations between exposure to ACEs and symptoms. Individual risk accounted for significantly more variance in symptoms than cumulative risk and DMAP. Cumulative risk masked differential associations between ACEs and psychological symptoms found in the individual risk and DMAP approaches. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo revisar literatura científica existente sobre los efectos a largo plazo en la infancia cuando se produce una separación materna temprana. Los resultados muestran que las separaciones tempranas de las madres y sus bebés en la primera infancia producen efectos a largo plazo en los niños y adolescentes, en sus capacidades de autorregulación emocional (afectando a la función del eje hipotálamo-hipofisario-adrenal), en su paradigma de vinculación adulta, capacidades cognitivas, sociales y emocionales. Igualmente se muestra la relación entre la falta de disponibilidad materna en los primeros años y un patrón de apego desorganizado, lo que se relaciona con mayor vulnerabilidad a la psicopatología infantil y adulta. La posibilidad de ofrecer un sostén adecuado para establecer, mejorar y reparar el vínculo en la díada, junto con la intervención temprana interdisciplinar, se hace imprescindible para ofrecer unas posibilidades adecuadas para estas familias. Invertir en la promoción del bienestar familiar en las primeras etapas es una prevención eficaz para la psicopatología infantil posterior. De la revisión también se constata que se hacen necesarios más estudios longitudinales frente a retrospectivos, para evaluar los efectos a largo plazo de las separaciones.

This article presents a theoretical overview of the relationship between parental reflective function, attachment style and the development of child psychopathology. The concept of parental reflective function was developed by Peter Fonaghi and his colleagues. Reflexive functioning is defined as the ability to imagine our mental states, emotions and desires, as well as those of others. The ability to interpret and integrate past relational experience is seen as a high capacity for parental reflection. Central constructs in the theory of attachment are: the sensitive response of the mother, the internal working models and representations, the quality of attachment and the sense of security. In the process of developing attachment, the child builds Internal working models, which are formed on the basis of real relationships and participate in building representations of relationships. Arieta Slade and her colleagues believe that higher levels of reflective functioning are associated with secure attachment in children and conversely lower levels of reflective functioning are associated with insecure attachment in children, such as mothers of children who resist and are disorganized, they have the lowest levels of reflective functioning. Low levels of reflective functioning allow the baby's adaptive mechanisms to be distorted and to develop the pathological ways of interaction with the parent.

Hundreds of studies have documented an association between depression in mothers and behavior problems in children. Theory and empirical findings suggest this association may be confounded by other factors, but little attention has been paid to this issue. We used propensity score methods in a sample of 731 low-income families assessed repeatedly from child age 2 through 14 years to produce a weighted sample of families that were similar at child age 3 years except for mothers' depression. Depressive symptomatology was measured via self-report rating scale. Mothers were categorized as having clinically-elevated versus non-clinically-elevated scores based on an established threshold. Mothers with elevated versus nonelevated scores were equated on 89 other relevant characteristics (e.g., SES, child behavior, marital conflict). We then compared the equated groups on mother, secondary caregiver, and teacher ratings of child externalizing and internalizing behavior from child ages 4 to 14 years. Prior to equating, the mean prima facie effect of exposure to clinically-elevated mothers' depression scores at child age 3 years was d = 0.45 per mothers, d = 0.26 per secondary caregivers, and d = 0.13 per teachers. After equating, the mean adjusted effect was d = 0.07 per mothers, d = 0.01 per secondary caregivers, and d = 0.03 per teachers. Findings suggest that a substantial portion of the prima facie association between mothers' depression and later child behavior problems is accounted for by confounding variables rather than a causal effect of depressive symptoms per se. To fully understand why children of depressed mothers exhibit more behavior problems, a multicausal theory is needed that jointly considers the cluster of co-occurring clinical features that often accompany maternal depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

BACKGROUND In children, internalizing and externalizing problems impact on learning. However, there is limited research on the specific impact of such problems on spatial working memory (SWM), strongly related to cognitive ability and children's learning. AIMS We explored distinct trajectories of internalizing problems and externalizing problems (conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention) in a large general-population sample of children followed from age 3 to age 11 years. We then assessed their role in SWM performance at age 11 years. SAMPLE Data were drawn from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study. Our analytic sample was children with data on SWM at age 11 years (N = 12,589). METHODS There were two stages of data analysis. Trajectory group membership was firstly estimated by group-based trajectory modelling for internalizing problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity/inattention at ages 3-11 years. Multiple regression then assessed the relationship between SWM at age 11 years and trajectory group membership after accounting for confounders. RESULTS Trajectories of internalizing, conduct, and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms across ages 3 to 11 years were related to SWM at age 11 years, even after controlling for confounding variables. For each of the three symptom domains, poor SWM was most consistently found in children with chronically high levels of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS In general, atypical patterns of internalizing problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity/inattention in childhood were related to poorer SWM in early adolescence.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are implicated in the development of severe and persistent antisocial behavior, and appear to arise from distinct behavioral, temperament, physiological, and neural risk factors to other types of externalizing psychopathology. Although existing etiological models have attempted to characterize specific mechanisms underlying the emergence of CU traits, prior empirical work is plagued by a host of inconsistent results. This inconsistency is particularly apparent in research that has investigated variation in physiological functioning, arousal, and reactivity. In this review, we summarize and evaluate studies that have examined the role of parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) functioning in child psychopathology, including studies of CU traits. We argue that the inclusion of measures of PNS activity can significantly enhance our understanding of the etiology of CU traits, provide clarity to the inconsistent findings of prior studies, and advance mechanistically-targeted interventions and treatments. We conclude the review by providing foundational and testable hypotheses about the role that disrupted PNS functioning could play in multiple pathways to CU traits beginning in infancy and across development.

Objective At least half of youths with mental disorders are unrecognized and untreated. Rapid, accurate assessment of child mental disorders could facilitate identification and referral and potentially reduce the occurrence of functional disability that stems from early-onset mental disorders. Method Computerized adaptive tests (CATs) based on multidimensional item response theory were developed for depression, anxiety, mania/hypomania, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and suicidality, based on parent and child ratings of 1,060 items each. In phase 1, CATs were developed from 801 participants. In phase 2, predictive, discriminant, and convergent validity were tested against semi-structured research interviews for diagnoses and suicidality in 497 patients and 104 healthy controls. Overall strength of association was determined by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results The child and parent independently completed the Kiddie−Computerized Adaptive Tests (K-CATs) in a median time of 7.56 and 5.03 minutes, respectively, with an average of 7 items per domain. The K-CATs accurately captured the presence of diagnoses (AUCs from 0.83 for generalized anxiety disorder to 0.92 for major depressive disorder) and suicidal ideation (AUC = 0.996). Strong correlations with extant measures were found (r ≥ 0.60). Test−retest reliability averaged r = 0.80. Conclusion These K-CATs provide a new approach to child psychopathology screening and measurement. Testing can be completed by child and parent in less than 8 minutes and yields results that are highly convergent with much more time-consuming structured clinical interviews and dimensional severity assessment and measurement. Testing of the implementation of the K-CAT is now indicated.

[spa] La presente investigación analiza la prevalencia del retraimiento y las señales de alarma del autismo en la población infantil, y valora el efecto de una intervención basada en un seguimiento del desarrollo de los niños/as centrado en el diálogo entre familias, clínica y educación. La investigación sigue una metodología mixta que permite, desde una perspectiva cuantitativa, validar la escala ADBB (Alarm Distress Baby Scale) para la población estudiada, así como determinar la prevalencia del retraimiento y los factores más relacionados y analizar los efectos de la intervención realizada en cuanto a porcentaje de niños/as con retraimiento y/o señales de alarma de autismo y niveles estrés parental al final del proceso. Asimismo, desde una perspectiva cualitativa, se analizan las percepciones y opiniones de los participantes en la intervención. El estudio se ha llevado a cabo en México, con una muestra total de 499 infantes aparentemente sanos entre 2 meses y 2 años de edad, visitados en el marco de las visitas pediátricas de rutina que se llevan a cabo en las estancias de educación infantil. Los resultados muestran que la escala ADBB es válida y fiable para la población mexicana, y se observa una muy elevada prevalencia de retraimiento infantil moderado-severo (39,6%). Los factores de riesgo más relacionados son: el nivel socioeconómico familiar, tener padres separados/divorciados, un menor tiempo de alimentación materna y un mayor estrés parental. Por otra parte, un mayor número de hermanos/as en el núcleo familiar representa un factor protector. Además, se constata el efecto positivo de la intervención, no solo en relación a una disminución de la sintomatología de retraimiento de los niños/as, sino también en la disminución del estrés parental. A nivel cualitativo, la intervención ha sido valorada como “muy satisfactoria” por parte de todos los participantes. En conclusión, el retraimiento infantil y las señales de alarma de autismo son condiciones multifactoriales de elevada prevalencia en la población infantil mexicana. El trabajo conjunto con familias y el entorno educativo y clínico desde una perspectiva dialógica es posible y eficaz para su detección e intervención temprana. Los hallazgos de este proyecto de investigación son de gran utilidad clínica y educativa, y enfatizan la urgente necesidad de implementar en México políticas públicas orientadas a la infancia que aborden, desde un enfoque interdisciplinario, la promoción del desarrollo infantil y la prevención de los trastornos del neurodesarrollo., [eng] This research analyzes the prevalence of withdrawal and the warning signs of autism in the child population and considers the effect of an intervention that is based on monitoring the children's development with focus on dialogue between families, clinic and education. The research follows a mixed methodology that allows us, from a quantitative perspective, to validate the ADBB scale (Alarm Distress Baby Scale) on the study population as well as to determine the prevalence of withdrawal and its most related factors. It also allows us to analyze the effects of the carried-out intervention in regards to the percentage of children with withdrawal and/or alarm signals of autism, together with the parental stress levels at the end of the process. Furthermore, the perceptions and opinions of the participants in the intervention are analyzed from a qualitative perspective. The study was carried out in Mexico on a total sample of 499 apparently healthy infants between two months and two years of age that were seen within the framework of routine pediatric visits that take place in early childhood education stays. The results show that the ADBB scale is valid and reliable for the Mexican population, and a very high prevalence of moderate-severe childhood withdrawal is observed (39.6%). The most related risk factors are: family socioeconomic status, separated/divorced parents, shorter maternal feeding time, and greater parental stress. Alternatively, a greater number of siblings in the family nucleus represents a protective factor. In addition, the positive effect of the intervention is verified, not only in relation to a decrease in the withdrawal symptoms of children, but also in the decrease of parental stress. On a qualitative level, the intervention has been rated as “very satisfactory” by all the participants. In conclusion, childhood withdrawal and autism alarm signals are multifactorial conditions with a high prevalence in Mexican children. The joint work from a dialogic perspective with families and the educational and clinical environment is possible and effective for its early detection and intervention. The findings of this research project are of great clinical and educational utility, and they emphasize the urgent need to implement childhood-aimed public policies in Mexico that address, from an interdisciplinary approach, the promotion of child development and the prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Ni controlarlas ni reprimirlas: las emociones han de gestionarse para un desarrollo adecuado. Cuando un niño llora, no hay que decirle que se calle, sino ayudarle a entender y comunicar lo que siente.

Background Research has demonstrated that individuals who identify as a sexual minority (e.g., gay/lesbian, bisexual) are at increased risk for suicidality-related outcomes. However, previous research is primarily limited by the lack of adjustment for unmeasured (i.e., genetic and environmental) confounding factors and previous psychopathology. Methods Using the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, we employed a co-twin control design to examine the extent to which the association between sexual orientation and adolescent suicide attempt and self-harm (SA/SH) was independent of genetic and environmental factors shared by twins, as well as measured symptoms of childhood psychopathology. Results Adolescents who identified as a sexual minority (i.e., gay/lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientation) were at two-fold increased odds for SA/SH (OR, 2.01 [95% confidence interval, 1.63-2.49) compared to heterosexual adolescents. When adjusting for all genetic and shared environmental factors that make twins similar and for measured childhood psychopathology, the association remained positive but attenuated to OR, 1.55 (1.11-2.16). Conclusions Identifying as a sexual minority was associated with approximately 50% increased odds of SA/SH in adolescence after adjusting for unmeasured genetic and environmental factors shared by twins and for childhood psychopathology. The results support that environmental factors specifically associated with identifying as a sexual minority likely increase risk for SA/SH. Our findings highlight the need to monitor suicidality risk among this group.

By the time they are typically detected, neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are already challenging to treat. Preventive and early intervention strategies in infancy are critical for improving outcomes over the lifespan with significant cost savings. However, the impact of prevention and early intervention efforts is dependent upon our ability to identify infants most appropriate for such interventions. Because there may be significant overlap between prodromal symptoms across neurodevelopmental disorders and child psychopathology more broadly which may wax and wane across development, we contend that the impact of prevention and early intervention efforts will be heightened by identifying early indicators that may overlap across ASD and other commonly co-occurring disorders. This paper summarizes the existing literature on infant symptoms and identification of ASD to demonstrate the ways in which a transdiagnostic perspective could expand the impact of early identification and intervention research and clinical efforts, and to outline suggestions for future empirical research programs addressing current gaps in the identification-to-treatment pipeline. We propose four recommendations for future research that are both grounded in developmental and clinical science and that are scalable for early intervention systems: (1) development of fine-grained, norm-referenced measures of ASD-relevant transdiagnostic behavioral domains; (2) identification of shared and distinct mechanisms influencing the transition from risk to disorder; (3) determination of key cross-cutting treatment strategies (both novel and extracted from existing approaches) effective in targeting specific domains across disorders; and (4) integration of identified measures and treatments into existing service systems.

Abstract. Mindfulness meditation interventions (MMIs) are formal training programs which utilize mindfulness techniques to improve attentional control and reduce stress and anxiety. Past investigations have shown that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in improving symptoms of anxiety and depression in both adolescents and adults, making this a promising natural approach to treating mood disorders. The current study sought to examine the neurophysiological effects of a 10-week MMI, in a relatively unexplored age-range (7–10 years). The non-clinical participants demonstrated increases in interhemispheric alpha coherence, as well as increased theta, alpha, and beta power particularly in frontal and central areas; reflecting a lower neurological risk for anxiety development. However, two common measures linked to anxiety, frontal and posterior alpha asymmetry remained largely unchanged following the training period. Still, these preliminary results exemplify the potentially positive effects of mindfulness meditation on preadolescents; this time on neurophysiological functioning.

Maltreatment by parents can be conceptualized as pathogenic escalations of a disturbed parent–child relationship that have devastating consequences for children's development and mental health. Although parental psychopathology has been shown to be a risk factor both for maltreatment and insecure attachment representations, these factors` joint contribution to child psychopathology has not been investigated. In a sample of Burundian refugee families living in refugee camps in Western Tanzania, the associations between attachment representations, maltreatment, and psychopathology were examined by conducting structured interviews with 226 children aged 7 to 15 and both their parents. Structural equation modeling revealed that children's insecure attachment representations and maltreatment by mothers fully mediated the relation between maternal and child psychopathology [model fit: comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.96; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.05]. A direct association between paternal and child psychopathology was observed (model fit: CFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.05). The findings suggest a vicious cycle, wherein an insecure attachment to a mother suffering from psychopathology may be linked to children's risk to be maltreated, which may reinforce insecure representations and perpetuate the pathogenic relational experience. Interventions targeting the attachment relationship and parental mental health may prevent negative child outcomes.

Background: Childhood animal cruelty (CAC) is a risk for later interpersonal violence and a red flag for other forms of violence in the household, yet very few studies have spoken to children directly about their cruelty to animals. Objective: Animal Guardians (AG) is a humane education programme run by the Scottish SPCA for children 5-12 years who have been cruel to animals or deemed at risk. This research investigated how children referred to AG spoke about their experiences of animal cruelty and factors surrounding it. Methods: Research consent was obtained for 10 children (average age=8.8 years, n=9 males), referred concerning cruel/at-risk behaviour towards their pets. The interview schedule combined techniques such as crafts, vignettes, open questions and standardized measures. Interviews were qualitatively analysed using Content analysis and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Content analysis suggested that referred children: (a) tended to have small attachment networks which often included pets, (b) tended to interpret ambiguous situations predominately negatively, (c) tended to like animals and see them as sentient, and (d) struggled admitting to cruelty. Three main superordinate themes emerged from the IPA: (1) Bonding to Animals, (2) Exposure to / normalisation of violence, (3) Signs of emotional issues/trauma. Conclusion: Children who were referred for animal cruelty towards their pets were from vulnerable backgrounds, often had complex backdrops to their at-risk or cruel behaviour, and sometimes had trouble regulating their emotions and behaviours. Programmes hoping to address CAC should be aware of these complex emotional, psychological, and behavioural factors, tailoring interventions accordingly.

This study examined the psychopathology and socioemotional functioning of school-aged children treated during infancy and a comparison group of children without symptoms or treatment history. Our goal was to identify the factors associated with the continuity of psychopathology from infancy to childhood. The sample comprised 54 Israeli children, 30 with treatment history as infants in an infant mental health clinic and 24 with no treatment history. A 2 × 2 study design, with treatment history (treated/non-treated) and current psychiatric diagnosis (diagnosed vs. non-diagnosed), was used and group differences in children’s psychopathology (Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA)), socioemotional functioning (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition (VABS-II)), maternal stress (Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI/SF)) and psychopathology (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R)), family functioning (Family Assessment Device (FAD)), and mother–child relational patterns (Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB)) were assessed. We found no differences between the previously treated and non-treated groups in the rate of given Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnosis. However, there was an interactive effect of treatment history × current psychiatric diagnosis, with the highest level of maternal stress in mothers of children exhibiting both early and late emotional and/or behavioral symptoms. Implications of these findings for identifying children and families at risk for continued child psychopathology and the importance of early parent–child psychotherapy interventions are discussed.

This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between Quality of Life (QoL) and psychosocial health status of caregivers of children living with diagnosed psychological disorder. A total of 309 caregivers of children with psychological disorders using a Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Nigeria (mean age = 41.2 years) were purposively selected during clinic appointment days and responded to Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Multidimensional Scale of Social Support (MSPSS), The World Health Organization Quality of Life - Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that burden of care and social support were significant joint predictors of the Quality Of Life of the participants (R2= .040, p = .003), age of caregiver, duration of marriage of caregiver, child age and duration of care failed to jointly significantly predict the quality of life of caregiver (R2= .013, p = .424), but significantly predicted the psychological health of the caregivers (R2= .084, p = .000).Social support had strong beta contribution on QoL while age of caregiver had significant beta contribution on psychological health of the caregivers.

Aim: This study examined the direct and indirect associations between childhood psychopathology symptoms, screen use, media multitasking and participation in non-digital recreation. Methods: Psychopathology symptoms, media use, media multitasking, participation in sports, social clubs and reading/games were reported by 520 parents about their 3- to 11-year-old children. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results: There were bidirectional negative associations between sports participation and emotional problems (β = −0.16, P

Objective Despite high comorbidity between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain evident in adult populations, little research has been conducted in the pediatric population to assess this association. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of trauma and PTSD in pediatric patients with chronic pain. Additionally, investigation into whether the Child Report of Posttraumatic Symptoms (CROPS) is a valid PTSD screening tool for this patient population and identification of an appropriate clinical cutoff for screening PTSD was undertaken. Method Data of N = 297 children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years were collected during an intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment. At admission, patients self-reported pain characteristics and posttraumatic stress symptoms (assessed with the CROPS). During the inpatient stay, therapists completed a checklist that enabled a PTSD diagnosis according to criteria of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Results Overall, 18.2% of the patients reported a trauma that met criterion A of DSM-5. Of those patients, approximately 59.3% had a PTSD diagnosis, equivalent to 10.8% of the whole sample. Overall, the CROPS demonstrated good reliability and validity in terms of internal consistency, item characteristics, and factor structure. Patients with PTSD had higher CROPS scores than patients without trauma. To identify patients with PTSD, a CROPS cutoff point of 21 is most appropriate in this population. Conclusions This study demonstrated high prevalence of PTSD in children and adolescents with severe chronic pain. Regarding PTSD screening in this population, results revealed that valid PTSD assessment and identification of patients with PTSD seems possible despite overlapping symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Few quantitative behavior genetic studies have examined why psychopathology is associated with suicide attempt (SA) and self-harm (SH) in adolescence. The present study analyzed data from the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden to examine the extent to which genetic and environmental factors explain SA/SH and its association with psychopathology in childhood, an often-cited risk factor of subsequent SA/SH. When children were 9 or 12 years old (n = 30,444), parents completed the Autism-Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities Inventory (Larson et al., 2010) regarding their children's psychiatric problems as part of an ongoing, longitudinal study. At age 18 years (n = 10,269), adolescents completed self-report questionnaires, including SA/SH assessments. In a bifactor model of childhood psychopathology, a general factor of psychopathology was a statistically significant predictor of adolescent SA/SH at a higher magnitude (β, 0.25, 95% confidence interval [CI; 0.15, 0.34] for suicide attempt), as compared with specific factors of inattention, impulsivity, oppositional behavior, and anxiety/emotion symptoms. Quantitative genetic modeling indicated that the additive genetic influences on the general factor accounted for the association with each outcome (β, 0.24, 95% CI [0.13, 0.34] for suicide attempt). The results remained virtually identical when we fit a higher order factors model. Two additional outcomes demonstrated comparable results. The results extend current literature by revealing the shared genetic overlap between general psychopathology during childhood and adolescent SA/SH. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

This paper is based on the keynote presentation for the biennial meeting of the International Society for Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ISRCAP) in Los Angeles, California. The topic was purposively selected to raise awareness of how the measurement of child behavioral health care quality at the national level, and corresponding standards for reliability and clinical validity, substantially differ from those traditionally applied to the measurement of child psychopathology. Under a federal mandate, an initial Core Set of quality measures for children was created for voluntary reporting by State Medicaid agencies. The four national child behavioral health quality measures in the 2019 Child Core Set encompass timeliness of care, vary by child age range, and two different types of psychotropic medication treatments. Measures are described and implications for data interpretation are provided. Findings are summarized from: 1) a systematic literature review; 2) State adherence rates; and 3) ten-year national trends in adherence rates by health plan type. Scientific evidence supporting the clinical validity of the measures is scarce, statewide adherence rates widely vary, and improvement over time has been modest. Nevertheless, State Medicaid agencies will be mandated to report measure adherence rates beginning in 2024. Together, these findings stimulate recommendations for health policies to allocate additional resources for data infrastructure to monitor child mental health care quality and identify areas for future research.

The Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Child Version (PQ-BC) has been developed as a tool for identifying psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in school-age children. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the PQ-BC, examined how well the PQ-BC estimates the latent construct of PLEs (θ), and began the process of developing a screening form informed by item response theory (IRT). Utilizing the baseline (N = 11,129) sample from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, we examined which PQ-BC items provide the most information and best discriminate individuals experiencing PLEs. Using hierarchical linear models (HLMs), we found that θ scores were significantly associated with several previously identified predictors of psychosis spectrum symptoms (i.e., history of psychosis, internalizing symptoms, cognitive impairments, developmental milestone delays, and resting-state functional connectivity impairments) at baseline and Year 1 (n = 5,532). Using item-level information and discrimination parameters of the PQ-BC from the baseline sample, we created a 7-item screening form. HLMs generally found significant associations between screening form scores for both baseline and Year 1 with the aforementioned predictors. The analyses provide evidence for the validity of a screening form derived from the PQ-BC using IRT-derived parameters. This screening form could prove useful when the full measure is not feasible. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental rearing behaviours characterised by high levels of rejection and overprotection have been implicated in the development and maintenance of child psychopathology, including paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran (EMBU) is a commonly used measure of perceived parental rearing. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the factor structure of the EMBU child and parent versions were examined in a sample of children and youth with OCD (n = 176), and their mothers (n = 162). Associations between rearing and clinical correlates of OCD were explored. For parents, a 4-factor model provided the best fit. For children, a higher order model was the best fit. Greater parent and child perceived negative rearing behaviours and lower perceived positive behaviours were associated with greater OCD severity, comorbid symptoms and impairment. The EMBU has a conceptually meaningful factor structure and provides a useful measure for assessing perceived rearing behaviours within paediatric OCD.

OBJECTIVE: Multiple cognitive risks from different theoretical paradigms (dysfunctional attitudes, negative inferential style, self-criticism, dependency, brooding) predict depression, but may be transdiagnostic vulnerabilities for multiple psychopathologies. Risk factors can be identified as broadly transdiagnostic and relatively specific to psychopathological outcomes by organizing the common and specific aspects of each respective construct using latent bifactor models, and by examining links between dimensions of risk and psychopathology. This study evaluated: (1) whether a bifactor model of cognitive vulnerabilities, including a general cognitive risk dimension (c factor) and several specific dimensions (Schweizer et al., 2018), replicated in early adolescents (M(age)=13.50) and extended to younger (M(age)=10.46) and older youth (M(age)=16.46), and (2) how the general and specific cognitive risk dimensions related to the general psychopathology (p factor) and internalizing- and externalizing-specific dimensions. METHOD: Community youth (N=571; 55% female) reported on cognitive risks; youth and a caregiver reported on psychopathologies (depression, anxiety, aggression, conduct, attention problems). RESULTS: The bifactor model of cognitive risk showed good fit and slight advantages over a correlated factors model. The bifactor model exhibited invariance across development and captured key associations that were identified when each individual cognitive risk was related to the bifactor model of psychopathology. C strongly related to the internalizing-specific dimension (β=.86), and moderately to p (β=.33) and the externalizing-specific dimension (β=.42). Specific cognitive risk dimensions (brooding, negative inferential style, dependency) related to all psychopathology dimensions. CONCLUSION: A general cognitive vulnerability (c factor) transdiagnostically associates with a breadth of psychopathologies and most potently to internalizing-specific among youth.

PURPOSE: Urbanization is linked to increased health risks, including mental health. However, the large majority of this research has been conducted in high-income countries, and little is known about effects in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) where urbanization is occurring most frequently and most rapidly. Within global mental health, children and adolescents are a critical but understudied population. The present study assessed relations between urbanization factors, and child mental health in Vietnam, a Southeast Asian LMIC. METHODS: Most studies investigating urbanization and mental health have used geographically-based dichotomous urban-vs.-rural variables. Because of significant limitations with this approach, the present study assessed parent-reported urbanization factors (e.g., pollution, crime). In Sub-study #1 (cross-sectional), 1,314 parents from 10 Vietnam provinces completed the Urbanization Factors Questionnaire, Child Behavior Checklist (mental health), and Brief Impairment Scale (life functioning). In Sub-study #2 (longitudinal), 256 parents from one highly urban and one highly rural province completed the same measures, at three timepoints across 12 months. RESULTS: Cross-sectional canonical correlations identified relatively small (e.g., R(2)=.08) but significant relations between urbanization factors, and child functioning. Parallel analyses using a geographically-defined urban-vs.-rural variable did not produce significant results. The large majority of longitudinal relations between different urbanization factors and child functioning were non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study, among the first to assess urbanization as a multi-dimensional continuous construct in relation to child psychopathology, highlights the value of use of urbanization factors approach. A new “urbanization factors differentials” theory is proposed to suggest how effects of urbanization factors might result in global health disparities.

Background Increasing attention has been paid to maternal prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms (depression thereafter), but little is known about the prevalence of paternal prenatal and postpartum depression. To fill this gap, the current study meta-analyzed the worldwide prevalence of prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers. Methods Studies that reported paternal depression occurring between the first trimester and the first postpartum year were identified by searching both international (PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and EMBASE) and Chinese (WanFang and CNKI) databases between their inception date and July 1, 2018. A random-effects model was used to calculate pooled estimates and 95% confidence intervals. Results Forty-seven studies with 20,728 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of prenatal depression in fathers was 9.76% in all three trimesters, 13.59% in the first, 11.31% in the second and 10.12% in the third trimester. The prevalence of postpartum depression was 8.75% within a whole year, 8.98% within one-month, 7.82% between one- and three months, 9.23% between three months and six months and 8.40% between six months to twelve months after child-birth. The prevalence of paternal postpartum depression was moderated by year of publication, study area, age of fathers of ≥18 years, quality assessment score and mean age (all P Conclusions This meta-analysis found that the prevalence of prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers was relatively common. Regular screening, effective prevention and appropriate treatment need to be implemented in this population.