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This research differentiated childhood unpredictability (i.e., perceptions of uncertainty or instability due to turbulent environmental changes) from other related constructs to identify its role in adult health. Study 1 (N = 441) showed that, beyond other childhood adversity variables (poverty and adverse childhood experiences or ACEs) and demographic characteristics, perceptions of unpredictability were associated with greater functional disability and worse health-related quality of life (assessed via the CDC's HRQOL Healthy Days measure and the RAND SF-36). Study 2 (N = 564) replicated those findings in a more racially diverse sample and showed that associations with childhood unpredictability held while also controlling for the Big 5 personality traits. Findings suggest that effects of unpredictability were especially pronounced among Hispanic (in Study 1), and Black/African American and low-income participants (in Study 2). Experiencing childhood environments that are perceived to be uncertain, unstable, or uncontrollable may put children on a path toward poor health outcomes in adulthood. Findings advance theories of child adversity and health and identify childhood unpredictability as a potentially valuable target for intervention., Author(s): Jon K. Maner [sup.1] , Connor R. Hasty [sup.1] , Jose L. Martinez [sup.1] , Katherine B. Ehrlich [sup.2] , Mary A. Gerend [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.255986.5, 0000 [...]

Little is known about how discrimination contributes to health behaviors in childhood. We examined the association between children's exposure to discrimination and their snacking behavior in a sample of youth of color (N = 164, Mage = 11.5 years, 49% female, 60% Black, 40% Hispanic/Latinx). We also explored whether children's body mass index (BMI) or sleepiness moderated the association between discrimination and calorie consumption. The significant link between discrimination and calorie consumption was moderated by children's BMI, such that discrimination was associated with calorie consumption for children with BMI percentiles above 79%. Children's sleepiness did not serve as an additional moderator. Efforts to promote health should consider children's broader socio‐contextual experiences, including discrimination, as factors that may shape eating patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is a risk factor for poor outcomes across development. Recent evidence suggests that, although psychosocial resilience among youth living in low‐SES households is common, such expressions of resilience may not extend to physical health. Questions remain about when these diverging mental and physical health trajectories emerge. The current study hypothesized that skin‐deep resilience – a pattern wherein socioeconomic disadvantage is linked to better mental health but worse physical health for individuals with John Henryism high‐effort coping – is already present in childhood. Methods: Analyses focus on 165 Black and Latinx children (Mage = 11.5) who were free of chronic disease and able to complete study procedures. Guardians provided information about their SES. Children reported on their John Henryism high‐effort coping behaviors. They also provided reports of their depressed and anxious mood, which were combined into a composite of internalizing symptoms. Children's cardiometabolic risk was captured as a composite reflecting high levels of systolic or diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, HbA1c, triglycerides, and low high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol. Results: Among youth who reported using John Henryism high‐effort coping, SES risk was unrelated to internalizing symptoms and was positively associated with cardiometabolic risk. In contrast, for youth who did not engage in high‐effort coping, SES risk was positively associated with internalizing symptoms and was unrelated to cardiometabolic risk. Conclusions: For youth with high‐effort coping tendencies, socioeconomic disadvantage is linked to cardiometabolic risk. Public health efforts to support at‐risk youth must consider both mental and physical health consequences associated with striving in challenging contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite evidence that nurturant-involved parenting is linked with children's social, psychological, and physiological development, less is known about the specific contexts in which nurturant-involved parenting is most beneficial for children's mental and physical health. The present study examined how associations between nurturant-involved parenting and children's internalizing symptoms and cardiometabolic risk varied as a function of children's stress and discrimination. Participants included 165 Black and Latinx children (M age = 11.5 years) and their guardians. Children reported on their ongoing stress, experiences of discrimination, and internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety). Guardians provided information about their nurturant-involved parenting practices. Children's cardiometabolic risk was assessed as a composite reflecting a high level of systolic or diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, HbA1c, triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol. Regression analyses indicated that among youth who reported high levels of stress and discrimination, nurturant-involved parenting was negatively associated with cardiometabolic risk. Although children's stress and discrimination were significantly associated with their internalizing symptoms, neither stress nor discrimination moderated the relation between nurturant-involved parenting and internalizing symptoms. Results highlight the significant role that parents play in shaping children's health, particularly among youth experiencing high levels of stress and discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment experiences are thought to contribute to physical health across the lifespan. Evidence suggests that attachment style may serve as a protective factor for individuals' physical health by mitigating the negative effects of social and environmental risk factors. In the present study, we evaluated how attachment styles may moderate the link between African American adolescents' exposure to neighborhood poverty and accelerated cellular aging in young adulthood. Analyses revealed that allostatic load at age 19 mediated the association between neighborhood poverty in adolescence and changes in cellular aging from age 20 to 27. Notably, attachment avoidance (but not attachment anxiety) moderated this association, such that allostatic load was only associated with faster cellular aging for individuals who were high in avoidance. These findings suggest that allostatic load may give rise to faster cellular aging, but these detrimental effects of allostatic load can be offset by young adults' effective use of attachment figures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]