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Background: Midlife adults are experiencing a crisis of deaths of despair (i.e. deaths from suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related liver disease). We tested the hypothesis that a syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife is preceded by psychopathology during adolescence. Methods: Participants are members of a representative cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1972–73 and followed to age 45 years, with 94% retention. Adolescent mental disorders were assessed in three diagnostic assessments at ages 11, 13, and 15 years. Indicators of despair-related maladies across four domains – suicidality, substance misuse, sleep problems, and pain – were assessed at age 45 using multi-modal measures including self-report, informant-report, and national register data. Results: We identified and validated a syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife involving suicidality, substance misuse, sleep problems, and pain. Adults who exhibited a more severe syndrome of despair-related maladies at midlife tended to have had early-onset emotional and behavioral disorders [ β = 0.23, 95% CI (0.16–0.30), p < 0.001], even after adjusting for sex, childhood SES, and childhood IQ. A more pronounced midlife despair syndrome was observed among adults who, as adolescents, were diagnosed with a greater number of mental disorders [ β = 0.26, 95% CI (0.19–0.33), p < 0.001]. Tests of diagnostic specificity revealed that associations generalized across different adolescent mental disorders. Conclusions: Midlife adults who exhibited a more severe syndrome of despair-related maladies tended to have had psychopathology as adolescents. Prevention and treatment of adolescent psychopathology may mitigate despair-related maladies at midlife and ultimately reduce deaths of despair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A joint, hierarchical structure of psychopathology and personality has been reported in adults but should also be investigated at earlier ages, as psychopathology often develops before adulthood. Here, we investigate the joint factor structure of psychopathology and personality in eight-year-old children, estimate factor heritability and explore external validity through associations with established developmental risk factors. Methods: Phenotypic and biometric exploratory factor analyses with bifactor rotation on genetically informative data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort (MoBa) study. The analytic sub-sample comprised 10 739 children (49% girls). Mothers reported their children's symptoms of depression (Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire), anxiety (Screen for Anxiety Related Disorders), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattention and hyperactivity, oppositional-defiant disorder, conduct disorder (Parent/Teacher Rating Scale for Disruptive Behavior Disorders), and Big Five personality (short Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children). Developmental risk factors (early gestational age and being small for gestational age) were collected from the Medical Birth Registry. Results: Goodness-of-fit indices favored a p factor model with three residual latent factors interpreted as negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and antagonism, whereas psychometric indices favored a one-factor model. ADE solutions fitted best, and regression analyses indicated a negative association between gestational age and the p factor, for both the one- and four-factor solutions. Conclusion: Correlations between normative and pathological traits in middle childhood mostly reflect one heritable and psychometrically interpretable p factor, although optimal fit to data required less interpretable residual latent factors. The association between the p factor and low gestational age warrants further study of early developmental mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Neuroimaging research has revealed that structural brain alterations are common across broad diagnostic families of disorders rather than specific to a single psychiatric disorder. Such overlap in the structural brain correlates of mental disorders mirrors already well-documented phenotypic comorbidity of psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses, which can be indexed by a general psychopathology or p factor. The authors hypothesized that if general psychopathology drives the convergence of structural alterations common across disorders, then 1) there should be few associations unique to any one diagnostic family of disorders, and 2) associations with the p factor should overlap with those for the broader diagnostic families.Methods: Analyses were conducted on structural MRI and psychopathology data collected from 861 members of the population-representative Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study at age 45.Results: Study members with high scores across three broad diagnostic families of disorders (externalizing, internalizing, thought disorder) exhibited highly overlapping patterns of reduced global and widely distributed parcel-wise neocortical thickness. Study members with high p factor scores exhibited patterns of reduced global and parcel-wise neocortical thickness nearly identical to those associated with the three broad diagnostic families.Conclusions: A pattern of pervasively reduced neocortical thickness appears to be common across all forms of mental disorders and may represent a transdiagnostic feature of general psychopathology. As has been documented with regard to symptoms and diagnoses, the underlying brain structural correlates of mental disorders may not exhibit specificity, and the continued pursuit of such specific correlates may limit progress toward more effective strategies for etiological understanding, prevention, and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A recent genome‐wide association study identified molecular‐genetic associations with age‐at‐first‐birth. However, the meaning of these genetic discoveries is unclear. Drawing on evidence linking early pregnancy with disinhibitory behavior, we tested the hypothesis that genetic discoveries for age‐at‐first‐birth predict disinhibition. Methods: We included participants with genotype data from the two‐decade‐long Environmental Risk (E‐Risk) Study (N = 1,999) and the four‐decade‐long Dunedin Study (N = 918). We calculated a genome‐wide polygenic score for age‐at‐first‐birth and tested whether it was associated with a range of disinhibitory outcomes across the life course, including low childhood self‐control; risk for externalizing psychopathology; officially recorded criminal offending; substance dependence; informant reports of disinhibitory problems; and number of lifetime sexual partners. We further tested whether associations were attributable to accelerated pubertal maturation. Results: In both cohorts, the age‐at‐first‐birth polygenic score predicted low childhood self‐control, externalizing psychopathology, officially recorded criminal offending, substance dependence, and number of sexual partners. Associations were modest, but robust across replication. Childhood disinhibition partly mediated associations between the polygenic score and reproductive behaviors. In contrast, associations were not attributable to accelerated pubertal timing. Conclusions: Genomic discoveries for age‐at‐first‐birth are about more than reproductive biology: They provide insight into the disinhibitory traits and behaviors that accompany early parenthood. Age‐at‐first‐birth is a useful proxy phenotype for researchers interested in disinhibition. Further, interventions that improve self‐regulation abilities may benefit young parents and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In both child and adult psychiatry, empirical evidence has now accrued to suggest that a single dimension is able to measure a person's liability to mental disorder, comorbidity among disorders, persistence of disorders over time, and severity of symptoms. This single dimension of general psychopathology has been termed "p," because it conceptually parallels a dimension already familiar to behavioral scientists and clinicians: the "g" factor of general intelligence. As the g dimension reflects low to high mental ability, the p dimension represents low to high psychopathology severity, with thought disorder at the extreme. The dimension of p unites all disorders. It influences present/absent status on hundreds of psychiatric symptoms, which modern nosological systems typically aggregate into dozens of distinct diagnoses, which in turn aggregate into three overarching domains, namely, the externalizing, internalizing, and psychotic experience domains, which finally aggregate into one dimension of psychopathology from low to high: p. Studies show that the higher a person scores on p, the worse that person fares on measures of family history of psychiatric illness, brain function, childhood developmental history, and adult life impairment. A dimension of p may help account for ubiquitous nonspecificity in psychiatry: multiple disorders share the same risk factors and biomarkers and often respond to the same therapies. Here, the authors summarize the history of the unidimensional idea, review modern research into p, demystify statistical models, articulate some implications of p for prevention and clinical practice, and outline a transdiagnostic research agenda. [AJP AT 175: Remembering Our Past As We Envision Our Future October 1910: A Study of Association in Insanity Grace Helen Kent and A.J. Rosanoff: "No sharp distinction can be drawn between mental health and mental disease; a large collection of material shows a gradual and not an abrupt transition from the normal state to pathological states."(Am J Psychiatry 1910; 67(2):317-390 )]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Despite the widespread belief that neuropsychological decline is a cardinal feature of the progression from the premorbid stage to the chronic form of schizophrenia, few longitudinal studies have examined change in neuropsychological functioning from before to after illness onset. The authors examined whether neuropsychological decline is unique to schizophrenia, whether it is generalized or confined to particular mental functions, and whether individuals with schizophrenia also have cognitive problems in everyday life. Method: Participants were members of a representative cohort of 1,037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973 and followed prospectively to age 38, with 95% retention. Assessment of IQ and specific neuropsychological functions was conducted at ages 7, 9, 11, and 13, and again at age 38. Informants also reported on any cognitive problems at age 38. Results: Individuals with schizophrenia exhibited declines in IQ and in a range of mental functions, particularly those tapping processing speed, learning, executive function, and motor function. There was little evidence of decline in verbal abilities or delayed memory, however, and the developmental progression of deficits in schizophrenia differed across mental functions. Processing speed deficits increased gradually from childhood to beyond the early teen years, whereas verbal deficits emerged early but remained static thereafter. Neuropsychological decline was specific to schizophrenia, as no evidence of decline was apparent among individuals with persistent depression, children with mild cognitive impairment, individuals matched on childhood risk factors for schizophrenia, and psychiatrically healthy individuals. Informants also noticed more cognitive problems in individuals with schizophrenia. Conclusions: There is substantial neuro-psychological decline in schizophrenia from the premorbid to the postonset period, but the extent and developmental progression of decline varies across mental functions. Findings suggest that different pathophysiological mechanisms may underlie deficits in different mental functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the large, 30-year prospective Dunedin cohort study, we examined whether preexisting individual differences in childhood temperament predicted adulthood disordered gambling (a diagnosis covering the full continuum of gambling-related problems). A 90-min observational assessment at age 3 was used to categorize children into five temperament groups, including one primarily characterized by behavioral and emotional undercontrol. The children with undercontrolled temperament at 3 years of age were more than twice as likely to evidence disordered gambling at ages 21 and 32 than were children who were well-adjusted at age 3. These associations could not be explained by differences in childhood IQ or family socioeconomic status. Cleanly demonstrating the temporal relation between behavioral undercontrol and adult disordered gambling is an important step toward building more developmentally sensitive theories of disordered gambling and may put researchers in a better position to begin considering potential routes to disordered-gambling prevention through enhancing self-control and emotional regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current diagnostic system suggests that personality disorder categories be applied to children and adolescents in rare circumstances because of expected changes in personality pathology across development. The present study examined the stability in personality pathology, specifically psychopathy, across childhood and adolescence. Using a short form of the CPS and mixed models incorporating fixed and random effects, we examined the reliability, individual stability, mean-level stability, and predictive utility of juvenile psychopathy as a function of age (i.e., from 7 to 17 years old) in over 1,500 boys from the three cohorts of the Pittsburgh Youth Study. If adolescent development contributes to instability in personality pathology, large age-related fluctuations in reliability, stability, and predictive utility should be observed, particularly in the latter part of adolescence when normative changes are hypothesized to influence levels of psychopathy. Such fluctuations were not observed. In general, juvenile psychopathy could be reliably assessed beginning in childhood, was fairly stable across short and long intervals, showed little mean-level fluctuation, and predicted delinquency across adolescence. These results suggest that concerns about large changes in personality pathology across childhood and adolescence may be overstated. Implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cognitive reserve has been proposed as important in the etiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, tests of the association between premorbid IQ and adult mental disorders other than schizophrenia have been limited and inconclusive. The authors tested the hypothesis that low childhood IQ is associated with increased risk and severity of adult mental disorders. Method: Participants were members of a representative 1972-1 973 birth cohort of 1,037 males and females in Dunedin, New Zealand,.who were followed up to age 32 with 96% retention. WISC-R 10 was assessed at ages 7, 9, and 11. Research diagnoses of DSM mental disorders were made at ages 18, 21, 26, and 32. Results: Lower childhood 10 was associated with increased risk of developing schizophrenia spectrum disorder, adult depression, and adult anxiety. Lower childhood IQ was also associated with greater comorbidity and with persistence of depression; the association with persistence of generalized anxiety disorder was nearly significant. Higher childhood 10 predicted increased risk of adult mania. Conclusions: Lower cognitive reserve, as reflected by childhood 10, is an antecedent of several common psychiatric disorders and also predicts persistence and comorbidity. Thus, many patients who seek mental health treatment may have lower cognitive ability; this should be considered in prevention and treatment planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the epidemiological validity of childhood- versus adolescent-onset conduct problems in a prospective birth cohort, and explores whether life-course-persistent conduct problems are linked to a greater adult health problem. Results support the epidemiological validity of the DSM-IV conduct disorder distinction based on age of onset but highlight the need to also take into account long-term persistence to refine diagnosis.

Objective: Information about the psychiatric histories of adults with anxiety disorders was examined to further inform nosology and etiological/ preventive efforts. Method: The authors used data from a prospective longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort (N=1,037) from ages 11 to 32 years, making psychiatric diagnoses according to DSM criteria. For adults with anxiety disorders at 32 years, follow-back analyses ascertained first diagnosis of anxiety and other juvenile disorders. Results: Of adults with each type of anxiety disorder, approximately half had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder (one-third with an anxiety disorder) by age 15. The juvenile histories of psychiatric problems for adults with different types of anxiety disorders were largely nonspecific, partially reflecting comorbidity at 32 years. Histories of anxiety and depression were most common. There was also specificity. For example, adults with panic disorder did not have histories of juvenile disorders, whereas those with other anxiety disorders did. Adults with posttraumatic stress disorder had histories of conduct disorder, whereas those with other anxiety disorders did not. Adults with specific phobia had histories of juvenile phobias but not other anxiety disorders. Conclusions: Strong comorbidity between different anxiety disorders and lack of specificity in developmental histories of adults with anxiety disorders supports a hierarchical approach to classification, with a broad class of anxiety disorders having individual disorders within it. The early first diagnosis of psychiatric difficulties in individuals with anxiety disorders suggests the need to target research examining the etiology of anxiety disorders and preventions early in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Many depressed women have a history of antisocial behavior, but research into maternal depression has not ascertained if this has implications for children of depressed mothers. This study compared the developmental outcomes in and caregiving environments provided to children by depressed mothers with or without an antisocial history. Method: In the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative study of 1,106 families, mothers were administered the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Major Depressive Disorder and interviewed about their lifetime history of antisocial personality disorder symptoms. Mothers and teachers provided information regarding the children's behavior problems at 5 and 7 years of age. The authors assessed the quality of the caregiving environment through maternal reports and interviewer observations. Results: Compared with children of mothers with depression only, the children of depressed and antisocial mothers had significantly higher levels of antisocial behavior and rates of DSM-IV conduct disorder, even after the authors controlled for numbers of symptoms and chronicity of maternal major depressive disorder. The children of depressed and antisocial mothers were at an elevated risk of experiencing multiple caregiving abuses, including physical maltreatment, high levels of maternal hostility, and exposure to domestic violence. Conclusions: If one ignores the common co-occurrence of an antisocial history in depressed mothers, it may obscure the significantly elevated risks in children's development. Clinicians treating women's depression should be aware that children of depressed and antisocial mothers constitute a group at extremely high risk for early-onset psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much curiosity about interactions between genes and environmental risk factors for psychopathology, but this interest is accompanied by uncertainty. This article aims to address this uncertainty. First, we explain what is and is not meant by gene-environment interaction. Second, we discuss reasons why such interactions were thought to be rare in psychopathology, and argue instead that they ought to be common. Third, we summarize emerging evidence about gene-environment interactions in mental disorders. Fourth, we argue that research on gene-environment interactions should be hypothesis driven, and we put forward strategies to guide future studies. Fifth, we describe potential benefits of studying measured gene-environment interactions for basic neuroscience, gene hunting, intervention, and public understanding of genetics. We suggest that information about nurture might be harnessed to make new discoveries about the nature of psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene–environment interplay is a general term that covers several divergent concepts with different meanings and different implications. In this review, we evaluate research evidence on four varieties of gene–environment interplay. First, we consider epigenetic mechanisms by which environmental influences alter the effects of genes. Second, we focus on variations in heritability according to environmental circumstances. Third, we discuss what is known about gene–environment correlations. Finally, we assess concepts and findings on the interaction between specific identified genes and specific measured environmental risks. In order to provide an understanding of what may be involved in gene–environment interplay, we begin our presentation with a brief historical review of prevailing views about the role of genetic and environmental factors in the causation of mental disorders, and we provide a simplified account of some of the key features of how genes ‘work’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research suggests that young children are incapable of reporting information about their own behavior problems. To test this, we examined the validity and the usefulness of children's self-reports in the E-Risk Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2,232 children. We used the Berkeley Puppet Interview to obtain children's self-reports of conduct problems when they were 5-years old and the Dominic-R when they were 7-years old. We also collected information about the children and their families by interviewing mothers, sending questionnaires to teachers, and rating examiners' observations during home visits. Results indicate that when children's self-reports are gathered with structured and developmentally appropriate instruments, they are shown to be valid measures: conduct problems reported by the children themselves were associated with known correlates including individual characteristics (e.g., IQ), related behaviors (e.g., hyperactivity), and family variables (e.g., economic disadvantages). Observed correlations closely matched effect sizes reported in the literature using adults' reports of children's behavioral problems. In addition, children's self-reports can be useful: both measures distinguished children meeting DSM-IV criteria for research diagnoses of conduct disorder. Children's reports also contributed unique information not provided by adults. For research and clinical purposes, young children's self-reports can be viewed as a valuable complement to adults' ratings and observational measures of children's behavior problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the relation between psychopathy and the Big Five dimensions of personality in two samples of adolescents. Specifically, the study tests the hypothesis that the aspect of psychopathy representing selfishness, callousness, and interpersonal manipulation (Factor 1) is most strongly associated with low Agreeableness, whereas the aspect of psychopathy representing impulsivity, instability, and social deviance (Factor 2) is associated with low Agreeableness, low Conscientiousness, and high Neuroticism. Data from 13- and 16-year-old boys and their mothers from two samples of the Pittsburgh Youth Study are used to test these hypotheses. Results were consistent across age and rating source in supporting the initial hypotheses, providing support for the construct of juvenile psychopathy and the interpretation of psychopathy as a constellation of traits drawn from a general model of personality functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews behavioral-genetic research to show how it can help address questions of causation in developmental psychopathology. The article focuses on studies of antisocial behavior, because these have been leading the way in investigating environmental as well as genetic influences on psychopathology. First, the article illustrates how behavioral-genetic methods are being newly applied to detect the best candidates for genuine environmental causes among the many risk factors for antisocial behavior. Second, the article examines findings of interaction between genes and environments (G × E) associated with antisocial behavior, outlining steps for testing hypotheses of measured G × E. Third, the article envisages future work on gene-environment interplay, arguing that it is an interesting and profitable way forward for psychopathology research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent evidence documents that cannabis use by young people is a modest statistical risk factor for psychotic symptoms in adulthood, such as hallucinations and delusions, as well as clinically significant schizophrenia. The vast majority of cannabis users do not develop psychosis, however, prompting us to hypothesize that some people are genetically vulnerable to the deleterious effects of cannabis. Methods: In a longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort followed to adulthood, we tested why cannabis use is associated with the emergence of psychosis in a minority of users, but not in others. Results: A functional polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene moderated the influence of adolescent cannabis use on developing adult psychosis. Carriers of the COMT valine158 allele were most likely to exhibit psychotic symptoms and to develop schizophreniform disorder if they used cannabis. Cannabis use had no such adverse influence on individuals with two copies of the methionine allele. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence of a gene × environment interaction and suggest that a role of some susceptibility genes is to influence vulnerability to environmental pathogens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Little is known about the extent to which minor self-harm in the general population is associated with psychiatric disorder. A population-based sample of 980 young adults was interviewed independently about past-year suicidal and self-harm behavior and thoughts, and psychiatric disorders. Self-harm included self-harmful behaviors such as self-battery, as well as traditional methods of suicide (ICD [International Classification of Diseases] self-harm). All with ICD self-harm and most with other self-harmful behavior met the criteria for DSM-IV disorder. Suicidal/self-harmful thoughts increased the odds for self-harm, even in men without psychiatric disorder (odds ratio 4.9, 95% confidence interval 1.3-17.9). Young adults engaging in even minor self-harm warrant screening for psychiatric disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an unselected birth cohort (N = 980, age 24-26 years), individuals in abusive relationships causing injury and/or official intervention (9% prevalence) were compared with participants reporting physical abuse without clinical consequences and with control participants who reported no abuse, on current characteristics and prospective developmental risks. In nonclinically abusive relationships, perpetrators were primarily women. In clinically abusive relationships, men and women used physical abuse, although more women needed medical treatment for injury. Women in clinically abusive relationships had childhood family adversity, adolescent conduct problems, and aggressive personality; men had disinhibitory psychopathology since childhood and extensive personality deviance. These findings counter the assumption that if clinical abuse was ascertained in epidemiological samples, it would be primarily man-to-woman, explained by patriarchy rather than psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the delay of gratification behavior of 428 twelve-and thirteen-year-old boys, half of whom were known to manifest symptoms of behavioral disturbance. Consistent with the hypothesis that low self-control is a risk factor specific to externalizing (aggressive and delinquent) disorders, boys who showed signs of externalizing disorders tended to seek immediate gratification in a laboratory task more often than both nondisordered boys and boys who showed signs of internalizing (anxious and depressed) disorders. In addition, children who were able to delay immediate gratification were described by their mothers as ego controlled, ego resilient, conscientious, open to experience, and agreeable. These results suggest that poor delay of gratification may be one of a select number of specific risk factors for externalizing disorder, and that good delay of gratification is linked to multiple adaptive tendencies in early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing multiple types of victimization (poly-victimization) during adolescence is associated with the onset of psychotic experiences (such as hearing voices, having visions, or being extremely paranoid). However, many poly-victimized adolescents will not develop such subclinical phenomena and the factors that protect them are unknown. This study investigated whether individual, family, or community-level characteristics were associated with an absence of psychotic experiences amongst poly-victimized adolescents. Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally-representative cohort of 2232 UK-born twins. Exposure to seven different types of victimization between ages 12–18 was ascertained using a modified version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire at age 18. Adolescents were also interviewed about psychotic experiences at age 18. Protective factors were measured at ages 12 and 18. We found that exposure to poly-victimization during adolescence was associated with age-18 psychotic experiences (OR = 4.62, 95% CI 3.59–5.94, P < 0.001), but more than a third of the poly-victimized adolescents reported having no psychotic experiences (40.1%). Greater social support was found to be protective against adolescent psychotic experiences even amongst those exposed to poly-victimization. Engaging in physical activity and greater neighborhood social cohesion were also associated with a reduced likelihood of age-18 psychotic experiences in the whole sample, with non-significant trends in the poly-victimized group. Increasing social support and promoting physical activity appear to be important areas for future research into the development of preventive interventions targeting adolescent psychotic experiences. This adds further weight to calls to increase the promotion of these factors on a public health scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both prospective informant-reports and retrospective self-reports may be used to measure childhood maltreatment, though both methods entail potential limitations such as underestimation and memory biases. The validity and utility of standard measures of childhood maltreatment requires clarification in order to inform the design of future studies investigating the mental health consequences of maltreatment. The present study assessed agreement between prospective informant-reports and retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment, as well as the comparative utility of both reports for predicting a range of psychiatric problems at age 18. Data were obtained from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally-representative birth cohort of 2232 children followed to 18 years of age (with 93% retention). Childhood maltreatment was assessed in two ways: (i) prospective informant-reports from caregivers, researchers, and clinicians when children were aged 5, 7, 10 and 12; and (ii) retrospective self-reports of maltreatment experiences occurring up to age 12, obtained at age 18 using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Participants were privately interviewed at age 18 concerning several psychiatric problems including depression, anxiety, self-injury, alcohol/cannabis dependence, and conduct disorder. There was only slight to fair agreement between prospective and retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment (all Kappa's ≤ 0.31). Both prospective and retrospective reports of maltreatment were associated with age-18 psychiatric problems, though the strongest associations were found when maltreatment was retrospectively self-reported. These findings indicate that prospective and retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment capture largely non-overlapping groups of individuals. Young adults who recall being maltreated have a particularly elevated risk for psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review epidemiological evidence indicating that most people will develop a diagnosable mental disorder, suggesting that only a minority experience enduring mental health. This minority has received little empirical study, leaving the prevalence and predictors of enduring mental health unknown. We turn to the population-representative Dunedin cohort, followed from birth to midlife, to compare people never-diagnosed with mental disorder (N = 171; 17% prevalence) to those diagnosed at 1-2 study waves, the cohort mode (N = 409). Surprisingly, compared to this modal group, never-diagnosed Study members were not born into unusually well-to-do families, nor did their enduring mental health follow markedly sound physical health, or unusually high intelligence. Instead, they tended to have an advantageous temperament/personality style, and negligible family history of mental disorder. As adults, they report superior educational and occupational attainment, greater life satisfaction, and higher-quality relationships. Our findings draw attention to "enduring mental health" as a revealing psychological phenotype and suggest it deserves further study. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Many children with conduct disorder develop life-course persistent antisocial behavior; however, other children exhibit childhood-limited or adolescence-limited conduct disorder symptoms and escape poor adult outcomes. Prospective prediction of long-term prognosis in pediatric and adolescent clinical settings is difficult. Improved prognosis prediction would support wise allocation of limited treatment resources. The purpose of this article is to evaluate whether family history of psychiatric disorder can statically predict long-term prognosis among conduct-problem children.Method: Participants were male members of the Dunedin Study, a birth cohort of 1,037 children (52% male). Conduct-problem subtypes were defined using prospective assessments between ages 7 and 26 years. Family history interviews assessed mental disorders for three generations: the participants' grandparents, parents, and siblings.Results: Family history of externalizing disorders distinguished life-course persistent antisocial males from other conduct-problem children and added significant incremental validity beyond family and child risk factors. A simple three-item family history screen of maternal-reported alcohol abuse was associated with life-course persistent prognosis in our research setting and should be evaluated in clinical practice.Conclusions: : Family history of externalizing disorders distinguished between life-course persistent versus childhood-limited and adolescent-onset conduct problems. Brief family history questions may assist clinicians in pediatric settings to refine the diagnosis of conduct disorder and identify children who most need treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relation between psychopathy assessed at age 13 by using the mother-reported Childhood Psychopathy Scale (D. R. Lynam, 1997) and psychopathy assessed at age 24 by using the interviewer-rated Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995). Data from over 250 participants of the middle sample of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were used to examine this relation; approximately 9% of the sample met criteria for a possible PCL:SV diagnosis. Despite the long time lag, different sources, and different methods, psychopathy from early adolescence into young adulthood was moderately stable (r=.31). The relation was present for the PCL:SV total and facet scores, was not moderated by initial risk status or initial psychopathy level, and held even after controlling for other age 13 variables. Diagnostic stability was somewhat lower. Both specificity and negative predictive power were good, and sensitivity was adequate, but positive predictive power was poor. This constitutes the first demonstration of the relative stability of psychopathy from adolescence into adulthood and provides evidence for the incremental utility of the adolescent psychopathy construct. Implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with early-emerging conduct problems are likely to become parents who expose their children to considerable adversity. The current study tested the specificity of and alternative explanations for this trajectory. The sample included 246 members of a prospective, 30-year cohort study and their 3-year-old children. Parents who had a history of conduct disorder were specifically at elevated risk for socioeconomic disadvantage and relationship violence, but suboptimal parenting and offspring temperament problems were common to parents with any history of disorder. Recurrent disorder, comorbidity, and adversity in the family of origin did not fully account for these findings. The cumulative consequences of early-onset conduct disorder and assortative mating for antisocial behavior may explain the long-term effects of conduct disorder on young adult functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research explored the controversial link between global self-esteem and externalizing problems such as aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. In three studies, we found a robust relation between low self-esteem and externalizing problems. This relation held for measures of self-esteem and externalizing problems based on self-report, teachers' ratings, and parents' ratings, and for participants from different nationalities (United States and New Zealand) and age groups (adolescents and college students). Moreover, this relation held both cross-sectionally and longitudinally and after controlling for potential confounding variables such as supportive parenting, parent-child and peer relationships, achievement-test scores, socioeconomic status, and IQ. In addition, the effect of self-esteem on aggression was independent of narcissism, an important finding given recent claims that individuals who are narcissistic, not low in self-esteem, are aggressive. Discussion focuses on clarifying the relations among self-esteem, narcissism, and externalizing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses 5 unresolved issues in the neuropsychology of antisocial behavior using a community sample of 325 school boys in whom neurocognitive measures were assessed at age 16-17 years. Antisocial behavior measures collected from age 7-17 years were cluster analyzed and produced 4 groups: control, childhood-limited, adolescent-limited, and life-course persistent. Those on the lifecourse persistent path and also on the childhood-limited path were particularly impaired on spatial and memory functions. Impairments were independent of abuse, psychosocial adversity, head injury, and hyperactivity. Findings provide some support for the life-course persistent versus adolescent-limited theory of antisocial behavior and suggest that (a) neurocognitive impairments are profound and not artifactual and (b) childhood-limited antisocials may not be free of long-lasting functional impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Co-occurrence of mental disorders is commonly observed, but the etiology underlying this observation is poorly understood. Studies in adolescents and adults have identified a general psychopathology factor associated with a high risk for different psychiatric disorders. We defined a multi-informant general psychopathology factor in school-aged children and estimated its single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heritability. The goal was to test the hypothesis that child behavioral and emotional problems are under the influence of highly pleiotropic common autosomal genetic variants that nonspecifically increase the risk for different dimensions of psychopathology.Method: Children from the Generation R cohort were repeatedly assessed between ages 6 to 8 years. Child behavior problems were reported by parents, teachers, and children. Confirmatory factor analysis estimated a general psychopathology factor across informants using various psychiatric problem scales. Validation of the general psychopathology factor was based on IQ and temperamental measures. Genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA) was used to estimate the SNP heritability (N = 2,115).Results: The general psychopathology factor was associated with lower IQ, higher negative affectivity, and lower effortful control, but not with surgency. Importantly, the general psychopathology factor showed a significant SNP heritability of 38% (SE = 0.16, p = .008).Conclusion: Common autosomal SNPs are pleiotropically associated with internalizing, externalizing, and other child behavior problems, and underlie a general psychopathology factor in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor about the cumulative prevalence of psychiatric disorder in child and adolescent.