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Symptoms of psychopathology that onset during childhood are often more severe, chronic, and difficult to treat than symptoms that first appear later in life. Maternal psychological symptoms are associated with the development of psychological symptoms in children. However, less research focuses on whether children's behaviors may presage maternal psychological difficulties that, in turn, contribute to the child's own psychological functioning. Identifying psychological difficulties in families and intervening in early life may lower risk for intergenerational transmission of subsequent psychological symptoms. Even at non-clinical or normative levels, exploring transactional models of parent-child behavior and psychological functioning may provide insight into the development of later psychological difficulties or symptoms within families. Thus, the current study examined whether difficult infant behavior (e.g., fussiness, unpredictability) is associated with future maternal psychological difficulties and subsequently, the child's own psychological functioning in early childhood. The current sample includes 847 dyads from a multi-wave birth cohort in England ('Born in Bradford'), who identified as predominantly non-White (62.2%) and socioeconomically diverse. Mothers reported on their child's behaviors at 6 months, their own psychological functioning during pregnancy and at 18 months postpartum, and their child's psychological functioning at age 3. Results of a mediation model revealed that the association between infant behavior at 6 months and child psychological functioning at 3 years is partially explained by maternal psychological functioning at 18 months, even after accounting for psychological difficulties during pregnancy, maternal age at birth, child sex, family income, and ethnicity. Post-hoc exploratory analyses revealed that the association between infant behavior, maternal psychological functioning, and subsequent child psychological functioning was significant for Pakistani British families but not White British families. These findings provide preliminary evidence that infant behaviors (e.g., temperament) may presage future maternal psychological difficulties and subsequent child psychological functioning, above and beyond previous maternal psychological functioning. Importantly, these results highlight infant behavior as a potential catalyst for later psychological difficulties within families. • Difficult infant behavior influences psychological functioning in families. • Children and parents may contribute each other's mental wellbeing. • Infant behavior may alter child psychological functioning via maternal psychological functioning. • Parent interventions for responding to difficult infant behavior may be important to explore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between biopsychosocial functioning and pain severity and to evaluate whether pain self-efficacy (PSE) mediates this relationship. This study used archival data from a multidisciplinary pain management program. Participants were 99 individuals (69% female) with chronic low back pain who completed measures of biological, psychological, and social functioning; pain severity; and PSE at admission. They ranged in age from 18 to 72 yr (mean = 42.6, standard deviation = 12.1). Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping techniques were used to test the significance of the mediated model. As we predicted, lower biological functioning (beta=- 0.011; 95% confidence interval [CI] =-0.019 to- 0.004, p = 0.002) and social functioning (beta = 0.009; 95% CI = 0.016 to- 0.003, p = 0.007) were found to significantly predict higher pain severity, and lower social functioning was found to significantly predict lower PSE (beta = 0.196; 95% CI =- 0.130 to 0.273, p = 0.002). PSE did not mediate the relationship between biopsychosocial functioning and pain severity, and psychological functioning did not significantly predict pain severity or PSE. These findings suggest that social functioning is an important factor in predicting outcomes and has a number of treatment implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a study of attitudes and beliefs about seasonal psychological cycles in a sample of 160 people living in London. Participants rated their perceptions of seasonal fluctuations on cognitive, emotional, physical, and social functioning in themselves, in others at the same latitude, and in the Arctic population by means of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire and a specially designed questionnaire. They also completed a test of astronomical knowledge, a test of knowledge about seasonal affective disorder, and an instrument measuring the Big Five personality dimensions. Seasonal mood swings correlated positively with SAD knowledge and extraversion and negatively with the respondents' emotional stability and knowledge of astronomy. Perception of seasonal change in others appeared to be mediated by their perceptions of their own seasonal fluctuations. Generally, participants did not have unwarranted negative predictions about the impact of the annual cycle on psychological swings in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]