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We examined the longitudinal relation between behavioral inhibition (BI) and social anxiety symptoms and behavior and the mediating role of emotion regulation (ER). Moreover, we investigated the influence of parenting behavior on the development of ER strategies. Participants were 291 children (135 male) followed longitudinally from 2 to 13 years. Mothers were predominantly well educated and non-Hispanic Caucasian. Children were screened for BI using maternal report and observational measures (ages 2 and 3), parenting behavior was observed while children and their mothers participated in a fear-eliciting task (age 3), ER strategies were observed while children completed a disappointment task (age 5), and socially anxious behavior was measured via multimethod assessment at 10 and 13 years. Children who exhibited high BI in early childhood exhibited more socially anxious behavior across ages 10 and 13, and there was a significant indirect effect of BI on socially anxious behavior through ER strategies. Children who were high in BI demonstrated less engaged ER strategies during the disappointment task, which in turn predicted more socially anxious behavior. Furthermore, parenting behavior moderated the pathway linking early BI and ER strategies to social anxiety outcomes such that children who exhibited high BI and who received more affectionate/oversolicitous behavior from their mother displayed less engaged ER strategies and more socially anxious behavior than children low in BI or low in oversolicitous parenting behaviors. These findings expand on our understanding of the role that ER strategies and parenting play in the developmental pathway linking early BI to future social anxiety outcomes.

This study characterized patterns and correlates of parent-youth agreement on social anxiety in youth with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants (279 verbally-fluent youth aged 8-16 years, NASD = 144, NTD = 135) completed the SASC-R. Youth with ASD exhibited higher social anxiety across informants. While TD youth endorsed higher anxiety than did parents, self- and parent-reports did not differ in youth with ASD. For children with ASD, higher parent-youth agreement was associated with lower lifetime ASD symptoms and higher adaptive skills. For TD youth, agreement on high anxiety was associated with lowest adaptive skills. Demographic factors (age, verbal IQ, gender) did not relate to agreement for either group. In ASD, parent-child agreement on youth anxiety, either high or low, was associated with better outcomes.

The ability to regulate behaviors and emotions depends in part on the ability to flexibly monitor one's own progress toward a goal. Atypical patterns of response monitoring have been reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In the current study we examined the error related negativity (ERN), an electrophysiological index of response monitoring, in relation to behavioral, social cognitive, and emotional presentation in higher functioning children (8-16 years) diagnosed with autism (HFA: N = 38) and an age- and IQ-matched sample of children without autism (COM: N = 36). Both HFA and COM participants displayed larger amplitude responses to error compared to correct response trials and these amplitudes did not differ by diagnostic group. For participants with HFA, larger ERN amplitudes were associated with more parent-reported autistic symptoms and more self-reported internalizing problems. However, across the full sample, larger ERN amplitudes were associated with better performance on theory of mind tasks. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of electrophysiological measures for understanding essential moderating processes that contribute to the spectrum of behavioral expression in the development of ASD.

Background: We examined performance on a self-referenced memory (SRM) task for higher-functioning children with autism (HFA) and a matched comparison group. SRM performance was examined in relation to symptom severity and social cognitive tests of mentalizing. Method: Sixty-two children (31 HFA, 31 comparison; 8-16 years) completed a SRM task in which they read a list of words and decided whether the word described something about them, something about Harry Potter, or contained a certain number of letters. They then identified words that were familiar from a longer list. Dependent measures were memory performance (d') in each of the three encoding conditions as well as a self-memory bias score (d' self-d' other). Children completed The Strange Stories Task and The Children's Eyes Test as measures of social cognition. Parents completed the SCQ and ASSQ as measures of symptom severity. Results: Children in the comparison sample showed the standard SRM effect in which they recognized significantly more self-referenced words relative to words in the other-referenced and letter conditions. In contrast, HFA children showed comparable rates of recognition for self- and other-referenced words. For all children, SRM performance improved with age and enhanced SRM performance was related to lower levels of social problems. These associations were not accounted for by performance on the mentalizing tasks. Conclusions: Children with HFA did not show the standard enhanced processing of self- vs. other-relevant information. Individual differences in the tendency to preferentially process self-relevant information may be associated with social cognitive processes that serve to modify the expression of social symptoms in children with autism. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

In this paper we review current definitions and measurement approaches used to assess individual differences in children's temperament. We review the neural bases of temperamental reactivity and self-regulation and propose that these constructs provide a framework for examining individual differences and developmental change in emotion-cognition interactions across development. Studies are reviewed in which some well-documented contextual effects on the expression of temperament can be interpreted in terms of the influence of biological and non-biological factors on CNS functioning. We conclude with ideas regarding future directions for the study of individual differences and developmental change in cognition-emotion interactions as they are shaped throughout development.

The study of phenotypic variability in social impairments and comorbid emotional disorders in autism is important because it provides information on phenotypic differences that currently complicate diagnosis, research, and treatment of this disorder. Currently, though, relatively little is known about the processes that contribute to individual differences in social impairments and comorbidity in autism. In this paper, we present a model that suggests modifier processes (MPs), which are not necessarily specific to the syndrome, refract or alter the expression of autism and contribute to fundamental behavioral and psychological differences in children diagnosed with this disorder. One MPs involves the somewhat surprising tendency of some children with higher functioning autism (HFA) to make attributions about other peoples thoughts, although they have social cognitive deficits. Just as in other children, the attributions of children with HFA are linked to some of their behavioral problems. Another MP involves the influence of differences in motivation associated with the behavioral activation and inhibition systems that can be assessed with measures of anterior EEG asymmetry. This dimension of motivation may be linked to how active but inappropriate and withdrawn children with HFA may appear. Third, differences in the self-monitoring of errors among children with HFA appear to be related to individual differences in IQ and social symptom severity in these children. The possible role of these MPs in diagnostic subgroups and differences in treatment responses among children with HFA are discussed. In addition, the role of MPs in understanding the effects associated with specific genetic functions in autism, such as those associated with the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), is discussed. A conclusion of this paper is that the varied expression of autism may require that we understand how autism interacts with other non-syndrome-specific processes that are relatedto individual differences in all people. (Contains 5 figures.)

Reviews approaches to children's reactions to the unfamiliar, emphasizing how they differ in terms of measurement and interpretation of individual differences. Suggestions are made for school psychologists and educators regarding assessment and modifications of classroom environments to meet the needs of temperamentally diverse students. (Author/JDM)

The authors examined temperamental and sociocognitive predictors of socially anxious behavior from preschool to early adolescence. Children (N = 227; 59% male; 69% White) completed a speech task at ages 5, 7, 10, and 13 and socially anxious behaviors were coded. Behavioral inhibition (BI) was assessed at ages 2/3 and Theory of Mind (ToM) was assessed at age 4. Data collection occurred between 2003 and 2016. Three trajectories of socially anxious behavior were identified: high stable, average increasing, and low stable. Higher BI was related to the high stable trajectory, whereas lower ToM was related to the increasing trajectory of socially anxious behavior. There are heterogenous pathways of socially anxious behavior, which may be uniquely influenced by early temperamental and sociocognitive factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children with the temperament of behavioral inhibition (BI) face increased risk for social anxiety. However, not all children with BI develop anxiety symptoms. Inhibitory control (IC) has been suggested as a moderator of the pathway between BI and social anxiety. This study uses longitudinal data to characterize development of IC and tests the hypothesis that IC moderates associations between early BI and later social anxiety symptoms. Methods: Children completed a Go/Nogo task at ages 5, 7, and 10 years as part of a longitudinal study of BI (measured at 2–3 years) and social anxiety symptoms (measured at 12 years). To assess IC development, response strategy (criterion) and inhibitory performance (d′) were characterized using signal detection theory. Latent growth models were used to characterize the development of IC and examine relations among BI, IC parameters, and social anxiety symptoms. Results: IC response strategy did not change between 5 and 10 years of age, whereas IC performance improved over time. BI scores in toddlerhood predicted neither initial levels (intercept) nor changes (slope) in IC response strategy or IC performance. However, between ages 5 and 10, rate of change in IC performance, but not response strategy, moderated relations between BI and later parent‐reported social anxiety symptoms. Specifically, greater age‐related improvements in IC performance predicted higher levels of social anxiety in high BI children. Conclusions: IC development in childhood occurs independent of BI levels. However, rapid increases in IC performance moderate risk for social anxiety symptoms in children with BI. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objectives of this study were to describe the characteristics and survival outcomes for children supported with the HeartWare HVAD® system from the global community. This was a retrospective survey of patients <18 years of age with an HVAD® system. Questionnaires were sent to sites worldwide in April 2015 and collected between May 2015 and 2016. Information on 205 patients was collected. The median age at implantation was 13.1 years (interquartile range [IQR] 9.8-15.8 years) and the weight was 42 kg (IQR 28-60 kg). Over half of the implants occurred in males (61%), with the most common diagnosis being cardiomyopathy (n = 168, 82%). The majority of HVAD® systems implanted were left ventricular assist device (n = 189, 92.2%). Temporary right ventricular support was utilized in 24 patients (12%) with a median duration of 12 days (6-32 days). Fifty-five percent (n = 111) of the patients were discharged home after implantation after a median (IQR) duration of hospital stay of 40 days (28-71 days). By 12 months, the proportion of patients who underwent heart transplant was 65.4%, 10.7% had died, 3.2% were explanted for recovery, and 20.8% remained on the device. Death on the device on multivariable analysis was associated with the need for temporary RV support (hazard ratio [HR] 10.65 (95% CI 12.53-44.81), P = 0.001) and pump exchange (HR 7.9 (95% CI 1.8-34.2], P = 0.006). The use of the HeartWare HVAD system in the pediatric population is associated with mortality with the majority of patients supported to heart transplant by 1 year post implant. These positive results are independent of geographic location. The need for a temporary right heart support and pump exchange is associated with a higher risk of poor outcomes, and further work is required to predict these patients to allow for optimization. Although survival results are promising, further studies are needed to delineate the associated morbidities with this technology in the pediatric population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few behavioral indices of risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are present before 12 months, and potential biomarkers remain largely unexamined. This prospective study of infant siblings of children with ASD ( n = 16) and low-risk comparison infants ( n = 15) examined group differences in event-related potentials (ERPs) indexing processing of facial positive affect (N290/P400, Nc) at 9 months and their relation to joint attention at 15 months. Group differences were most pronounced for subtle facial expressions, in that the low-risk group exhibited relatively longer processing (P400 latency) and greater attention resource allocation (Nc amplitude). Exploratory analyses found associations between ERP responses and later joint attention, suggesting that attention to positive affect cues may support the development of other social competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characterized by heightened negative affect and social reticence to unfamiliar peers. In a longitudinal study, 291 infants were assessed for BI at 24 and 36 months of age. At age 7, N2 amplitude was measured during a Flanker task. Also at age 7, children experienced social exclusion in the lab during an interaction with an unfamiliar peer and an experimenter. Our findings indicate that children characterized as high in BI, relative to those low in BI, had larger (i.e., more negative) N2 amplitudes. Additionally, among children with a large N2, BI was positively related to withdrawal and negatively related to assertiveness during social exclusion. These findings suggest that variations in conflict detection among behaviorally inhibited children plays a role in their social behavior during stressful social situations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relations among infant anger reactivity, approach behavior, and frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, and their relations to inhibitory control and behavior problems in early childhood were examined within the context of a longitudinal study of temperament. Two hundred nine infants' anger expressions to arm restraint were observed at 4 months of age. Infants' approach behaviors during play with an unpredictable toy and baseline frontal EEG asymmetry were assessed at 9 months of age. Inhibitory control during a Go/No-Go task and parent report of behavior problems were evaluated at 4 years of age. High anger-prone infants with left, but not right, frontal EEG asymmetry showed significantly more approach behaviors and less inhibitory control relative to less anger-prone infants. Although a link between anger proneness in infancy and behavior problems in early childhood was not found, a combination of low approach behaviors and poor inhibitory control was predictive of internalizing behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is characterized by a pattern of extreme social reticence, risk for internalizing behavior problems, and possible protection against externalizing behavior problems. Parenting style may also contribute to these associations between BI and behavior problems (BP). A sample of 113 children was assessed for BI in the laboratory at 14 and 24 months of age, self-report of maternal parenting style at 7 years of age, and maternal report of child internalizing and externalizing BP at 4, 7, and 15 years. Internalizing problems at age 4 were greatest among behaviorally inhibited children who also were exposed to permissive parenting. Furthermore, greater authoritative parenting was associated with less of an increase in internalizing behavior problems over time and greater authoritarian parenting was associated with a steeper decline in externalizing problems. Results highlight the importance of considering child and environmental factors in longitudinal patterns of BP across childhood and adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Positive Affect Processing and Joint Attention in Infants at High Risk for Autism: An Exploratory Study," published in a previous issue of the journal is presented.

Background Traditionally, an elevated pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) has been a relative contraindication to pediatric orthotopic heart transplantation. This study examined the risk of elevated pre-transplant PVRI on early (30-day) and intermediate-term mortality in pediatric heart transplant recipients without congenital heart disease (CHD). Methods A review of the prospective multicenter Pediatric Heart Transplant Study registry identified all patients without CHD in whom a pre-transplant PVRI was recorded. Of 35 participating centers, 29 reported heart transplants in children with a markedly elevated PVRI (> 5 WU × m 2 , corresponding to the highest quartile). Multiphase parametric analysis was performed, adjusting for potential risk factors to assess the association of PVRI with early and intermediate-term mortality. Results Between 1993 and 2011, 1,909 children without CHD underwent heart transplantation at a median age of 9.7 years (range, 1.6 months–18 years). Of those, 795 (42%) had a recorded or calculable pre-transplant PVRI, and PVRI > 5 WU × m 2 was present in 193 patients (24%). For all recipients, median pre-transplant PVRI was 3.15 WU × m 2 (range, 0.4–23 WU × m 2 ); 2.8 WU × m 2 in infants < 1 year, 3.5 WU × m 2 in patients aged 1 to 10 years, and 3.0 WU × m 2 in patients aged > 10 years ( p = 0.03). Multivariable hazard analysis controlling for graft ischemic time and pre-transplant ventilation showed no association of elevated PVRI with early mortality (relative risk, 1.2; p = 0.66), nor with intermediate mortality when controlled for year of transplant, age, race, and pre-sensitization (relative risk, 0.7; p = 0.27). Conclusions Elevation of PVRI did not affect post-transplant survival in this large, multicenter cohort of pediatric heart transplant recipients without CHD, suggesting that the barrier of elevated PVRI can be successfully overcome in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]