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Early language is shaped by parent-child interactions and has been examined in relation to maternal psychopathology and parenting stress. Minimal work has examined the relation between maternal emotion dysregulation and toddler vocabulary development. This longitudinal study examined associations between maternal emotion dysregulation prenatally, maternal everyday stress at 7 months postpartum, and toddler vocabulary at 18 months. Data were collected from 289 typically developing, monolingual children (54% female) and their mothers (63% White and non-Hispanic; 56% held a college degree). During pregnancy, maternal emotion dysregulation was measured via self-report and resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Mothers completed questionnaires about their perceived everyday stress and their child's vocabulary at 7 and 18 months postpartum, respectively. Path analysis revealed that expectant mothers' self-reported emotion dysregulation was indirectly associated with toddlers' expressive vocabulary via their level of postpartum perceived everyday stress. In addition, prenatal maternal resting RSA directly predicted toddlers' expressive vocabulary size. These findings yield insights into the mechanisms by which perinatal mental health may shape early language development and highlight the potential utility of interventions targeting emotion dysregulation during pregnancy., (© 2025 The Author(s). Developmental Psychobiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

From its inception, development and psychopathology theorists have sought to uncover the earliest forms of risk for mental health challenges in children, to prevent the development of more severe, intractable manifestations of psychopathology. Large familial risk registries have advanced our understanding of early, potentially modifiable factors that could prevent or mitigate the expression of challenging symptoms of neurodevelopmental conditions, and similar registries have been proposed to advance understanding of ADHD and related phenotypes. Data from single-site studies, largely focused on perinatal exposure to maternal mood disorders, reveal that a robust predictor of child psychopathology is parental psychopathology. However, early developmental trajectories of psychopathology risk may be better captured using transdiagnostic approaches in pregnancy, capturing the full range of mental health symptoms. We describe here the need for a parental mental health registry that begins prenatally that includes deep behavioral phenotyping across a range of transdiagnostic indicators of mental health risk to prevent psychopathology in children. This registry has the potential to uncover pathways to psychopathology risk in childhood and support the discovery of novel mechanisms to be targeted for prevention and intervention.

Background: Rumination is implicated in the onset and maintenance of major depressive disorder (MDD). Rumination-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT) effectively targets rumination and may change resting-state brain connectivity and change in activation during a rumination induction task (RIT) post-intervention predicts depressive symptoms two years later. We examined brain activation changes during an RIT in adolescents with remitted MDD following RF-CBT and evaluated RIT reliability (or stability) during treatment as usual (TAU)., Method: Fifty-five adolescents ages 14-17 completed an RIT at baseline, were randomized to 10-14 sessions of RF-CBT (n = 30) or treatment as usual (n = 25) and completed an RIT at post-treatment or equivalent time delay. The RIT includes recalling negative memories (Rumination Instruction), dwelling on their meaning/consequences (Rumination Prompt), and imagining unrelated scenes and objects (Distraction). We assessed activation change in the RF-CBT group using paired-samples t-tests. We assessed reliability (or stability) via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of five rumination-related ROIs for TAU and RF-CBT separately across task blocks., Results: Following treatment, participants receiving RF-CBT demonstrated increased activation of left precuneus during Rumination Instruction and of left angular and superior temporal gyri during Rumination Prompt blocks (p < .01). From baseline to post-treatment, across most ROIs and task blocks, the RF-CBT group demonstrated poor stability (M = 0.21, range = -0.19-0.69), while the TAU group demonstrated fair-to-excellent stability (M = 0.52, range = 0.27-0.86)., Conclusion: RF-CBT changes activation of rumination-related circuitry during state-induced rumination, offering exciting avenues for future interventions. The RIT has fair-to-excellent stability among individuals not explicitly treated for rumination, and as expected, RIT stability is disrupted by RF-CBT., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest This research was funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH; R61MH118060/R33MH118060) awarded to Drs. Scott Langenecker and Edward Watkins. The authors have no financial conflicts of interest. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Utah., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Depressive symptoms during the perinatal period have broad and enduring health implications for birthing parents and their offspring. Rising prevalence rates of perinatal depression highlight the need for research examining factors influencing depressive symptoms during pregnancy, and trajectories during the early postnatal period. Grounded in bioecological systems theory, this longitudinal multimethod study examined whether prenatal bioecological factors predict depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum., Methods: Participants were 162 pregnant individuals, oversampled for high emotion dysregulation, who completed a life stress interview and physiological assessment during the 3rd trimester and a self-report measure of depression at five time-points (3rd trimester, within 48 h of birth, 7, 18, and 36 months postpartum). Multilevel models were used to test study aims., Results: Participants exhibited the highest levels of depressive symptoms at 3rd trimester, and substantial variability in depressive symptom trajectories over time. Lower resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of parasympathetic nervous system functioning, in the 3rd trimester was associated with higher concurrent depressive symptoms. Higher levels of stress related to partner relationships, finances, and health were concurrently associated with more depressive symptoms during pregnancy and decreases in depressive symptoms over time. Specifically, depressive symptoms decreased only for individuals who reported high levels of stress during pregnancy., Limitations: Although grounded in bioecological systems theory, this study did not assess the macrosystem., Conclusions: Results of this study underscore the importance of multilevel predictors of perinatal health and highlights potential targets for preventing depression and promoting well-being during the perinatal transition., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There are competing theoretical hypotheses regarding the consequences of early adversity, such as childhood maltreatment, for individuals' autonomic nervous system activity. Research examining potential implications of child maltreatment for sympathetic nervous system activity, specifically, is scarce. In this preregistered study, we examined whether childhood maltreatment history is associated with pregnant adults' sympathetic responses to different stressors. This population is particularly relevant, given potential intergenerational consequences of pregnant individuals' physiological responses to stress. Pregnant women's (N = 162) electrodermal levels were recorded while completing the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), which elicits social-evaluative threat, and while watching a video of an unfamiliar infant crying, which was intended to activate the attachment system. Pregnant women's retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment were negatively associated with their electrodermal reactivity to the TSST and to the video of the infant crying. Follow-up analyses indicated that these associations were specific to reported experiences of childhood abuse and not childhood neglect. Altogether, these findings indicate that self-reported childhood maltreatment experiences, and childhood abuse in particular, may result in blunted activity of the sympathetic nervous system in response to multiple types of stressors., (© 2024 The Author(s). Developmental Psychobiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Rumination is a vulnerability for depression and potentially linked to inhibitory control weaknesses. We aimed to replicate the association observed in adults between inhibitory control and rumination in adolescents, and to examine putative moderating roles of childhood maltreatment and perceived family cohesion in an adolescent sample at risk for depression due to familial/personal history. Ninety adolescents aged 11-17 (M = 14.6, SD = 1.8) completed self-report scales of rumination, maltreatment, and family cohesion, and performed a task assessing inhibitory control. Hierarchical regression models showed no significant relation between inhibitory control and moderator variables on rumination. However, adolescents who reported higher levels of maltreatment and who perceived lower family cohesion tended to indicate higher levels of rumination (B Chilhood Maltreatment = 27.52, 95% CIs [5.63, 49.41], B Family Cohesion = -0.40, 95% CIs [-0.65, -0.15]). These findings demonstrate an alternative understanding of factors that increase depression onset risk and recurrence in adolescents., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Prenatal maternal anxiety is considered a risk factor for the development of child internalizing problems. However, little is known about potential mechanisms that account for these associations. The current study examined whether prenatal maternal anxiety was indirectly associated with toddler internalizing problems via prenatal maternal physiology and infant negative affectivity. We examined these associations in a longitudinal study of 162 expectant mothers from their third trimester until 18 months postpartum. Path analyses showed that higher prenatal anxiety was associated with higher infant negative affectivity at 7 months, which in turn was associated with higher toddler internalizing problems at 18 months. Prenatal anxiety was not indirectly associated with child outcomes via baseline or task-evoked respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in response to an infant cry while pregnant. However, pregnant women with greater decreases in task-evoked RSA had toddlers with greater internalizing problems, which was mediated by infant negative affectivity at 7 months. Findings suggest that prenatal anxiety and RSA reactivity to an infant cry may be independent risk factors for the development of infant negative affectivity, which in turn increases risk for toddler internalizing problems. These findings contribute to a growing literature on mechanisms that underlie intergenerational transmission of internalizing problems.

Every 15 minutes in the US, an infant exposed to opioids is born. Approximately 50% of these newborns will develop Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) within 5 days of birth. It is not known which infants will develop NOWS, therefore, the current hospital standard-of-care dictates a 96-hour observational hold. Understanding which infants will develop NOWS soon after birth could reduce hospital stays for infants who do not develop NOWS and decrease burdens on hospitals and clinicians. We propose noninvasive clinical indicators of NOWS, including newborn neurobehavior, autonomic biomarkers, prenatal substance exposures, and socioeconomic environments. The goals of this protocol are to use these indicators shortly after birth to differentiate newborns who will be diagnosed with NOWS from those who will have mild/no withdrawal, to determine if the indicators predict development at 6 and 18 months of age, and to increase NOWS diagnostic sensitivity for earlier, more accurate diagnoses., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Maylott et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Opioid use among pregnant women has more than quadrupled over the past 20 years; however, comorbid risk factors such as emotion dysregulation confound the developmental consequences of prenatal opioid use. Maternal respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) may help to disentangle the comorbid risk factors of prenatal emotion dysregulation and substance use and isolate their consequences on newborn neurobehavior., Methods: We examined maternal RSA in response to a mild, infant-related stress task in pregnant people (N = 192; 30 on medications for opioid use disorder) recruited from hospitals and a specialty prenatal clinic for substance use disorder., Results: Three latent profiles emerged based on maternal RSA reactivity. Mothers with RSA increasing (Profile 3; more nervous system dysregulation) had higher levels of emotion dysregulation than mothers with RSA decreasing (Profile 1; well-regulated nervous system responses) but were not more likely to use opioids. Additionally, RSA profiles were associated with newborn neurobehavior, including attention, regulation, handling, and arousal., Conclusions: Given the variability in opioid use across RSA profiles and profile associations with newborn neurodevelopment, future studies should examine protective factors in pregnant individuals using opioids who show more flexible RSA responses., Impact: Our study examined maternal psychophysiology and newborn outcomes in a unique population with high levels of emotion dysregulation and opioid use. Three profiles of maternal respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) reactivity were identified during pregnancy: decreasing, blunted, and increasing. The RSA increasing and blunted profiles were associated with higher emotion dysregulation than the decreasing profile. Most pregnant people on medications for opioid use disorder (65%) were grouped into the blunted profile, suggesting they might be more at risk for dysregulated RSA reactivity. Differences in RSA profiles were associated with newborn outcomes, with increasing and blunted RSA predicting more newborn neurobehavioral dysregulation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.)

Infants' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis responses to acute stressors are theorized to be shaped by parents' sensitive responsiveness to infants' cues. The strength and direction of the association between maternal sensitivity and infants' HPA responses may depend on the context in which maternal sensitivity is observed and on broader environmental sources of stress and support. In this preregistered study, we used data from 105 mothers and their 7-month-old infants to examine whether two empirically identified forms of contextual stress-poor maternal psychosocial wellbeing and family socioeconomic hardship-moderate the association between maternal sensitivity and infants' cortisol responses to the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). Results indicated that maternal sensitivity during the free play and family socioeconomic hardship interacted to predict infants' cortisol responses to the SFP. Specifically, maternal sensitivity during this non-distressing interaction was negatively associated with cortisol responses only among infants whose mothers were experiencing relatively high socioeconomic hardship. Exploratory analyses revealed that poor maternal psychosocial wellbeing was positively associated with overall infant cortisol production during the SFP. Altogether, these findings suggest that experiences within early parent-infant attachment relationships and sources of contextual stress work together to shape infant HPA axis activity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest My coauthors (Bailey Speck, Elisabeth Conradt, and K. Lee Raby) and I do not have any conflicts of interests that might be interpreted as influencing the research, and APA ethical standards were followed in the conduct of the study., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the longitudinal associations between newborn neurobehavioral stress signs, maternal parenting stress, and several indices of toddler language development., Study Design: Participants include 202 mother-infant dyads (104 girls). We measured stress signs in neonates in the hospital at least 24 hours after birth using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale. At 7 months, parenting stress (competence, attachment, and role restriction) was assessed using the Parenting Stress Index. At 18 months, mothers completed the Communicative Development Inventories, which measured toddler gesturing, expressive vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary. Longitudinal path modeling was used to estimate associations between neonatal stress signs, parenting stress, and toddler language, and a model was generated for each language outcome. Child sex, birth weight, and family income were included as covariates., Results: Infants who exhibited greater neurobehavioral stress signs at birth produced significantly fewer social-communicative gestures at 18 months of age. Among infants whose mothers reported low (but not high) levels of parenting stress during the first postnatal year, newborn stress signs were negatively associated with 18-month-olds' receptive vocabulary size. Neither newborn stress signs nor parenting stress were significantly related to toddler expressive vocabulary size., Conclusions: Our findings uncover a negative association between newborn stress signs and toddler gesturing. Furthermore, our results suggest that caregiver stress and neonatal stress signs interact to predict toddler receptive vocabulary. Taken together, these results demonstrate that some neonates who exhibit increased neurobehavioral stress signs may be at heightened risk for experiencing language difficulties. These children may benefit from additional support in infancy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Funding: This manuscript is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant/award numbers R21MH109777 and R01MH119070 awarded to S.C. and E.C.). The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The present study prospectively examined dynamic associations among sleep, emotion dysregulation, and desire to live during the perinatal transition, as it was theorized that these factors may contribute to the emergence of postpartum suicide risk., Method: Ninety-four women ( Mage = 29.2 years; 23.4% Latina) wore wrist actigraphs and completed twice daily surveys for 7 days during the third trimester of pregnancy, 6 weeks postpartum, and 4 months postpartum. Multilevel, change-as-outcome models were built to examine changes in attractor dynamics among sleep, emotion dysregulation, and desire to live, as well as if sleep-emotion dysregulation dynamics differed based on participants' desires to live., Results: From pregnancy to 6 weeks postpartum, emotion dysregulation ( B = -0.09, p = .032) and desire to live ( B = -0.16, p < .001) exhibited more stable temporal patterns around higher emotion dysregulation and lower desire to live. Compared to women who reported consistently high desires to live, those who experienced fluctuations in their desires to live exhibited lower, more stable sleep efficiency during pregnancy ( B = -0.90, p < .001). At 4 months postpartum, those with fluctuating desires to live exhibited a coupling dynamic whereby low sleep efficiency predicted increases in emotion dysregulation ( B = -0.16, p = .020)., Conclusions: This study was the first to examine nonlinear dynamics among risk factors for postpartum suicide, which may be evident as early as pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. Sleep health, in particular, warrants further exploration as a key susceptibility factor in the emergence of postpartum suicide risk., Preregistration: Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/qxb75/?view&#95;only=799ffe5c048842dfb89d3ddfebaa420d )., (Copyright © 2024 by the American Psychosomatic Society.)

Despite recent applications of a developmental psychopathology perspective to the perinatal period, these conceptualizations have largely ignored the role that childbirth plays in the perinatal transition. Thus, we present a conceptual model of childbirth as a bridge between prenatal and postnatal health. We argue that biopsychosocial factors during pregnancy influence postnatal health trajectories both directly and indirectly through childbirth experiences, and we focus our review on those indirect effects. In order to frame our model within a developmental psychopathology lens, we first describe "typical" biopsychosocial aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. Then, we explore ways in which these processes may deviate from the norm to result in adverse or traumatic childbirth experiences. We briefly describe early postnatal health trajectories that may follow from these birth experiences, including those which are adaptive despite traumatic childbirth, and we conclude with implications for research and clinical practice. We intend for our model to illuminate the importance of including childbirth in multilevel perinatal research. This advancement is critical for reducing perinatal health disparities and promoting health and well-being among birthing parents and their children.

Challenges with childhood emotion regulation may have origins in infancy and forecast later social and cognitive developmental delays, academic difficulties, and psychopathology. This study tested whether markers of emotion dysregulation in infancy predict emotion dysregulation in toddlerhood, and whether those associations depended on maternal sensitivity. When children ( N = 111) were 7 months, baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), RSA withdrawal, and distress were collected during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). Mothers' reports of infant regulation and orientation and maternal sensitivity were also collected at that time. Mothers' reports of toddlers' dysregulation were collected at 18 months. A set of hierarchical regressions indicated that low baseline RSA and less change in RSA from baseline to stressor predicted greater dysregulation at 18 months, but only for infants who experienced low maternal sensitivity. Baseline RSA and RSA withdrawal were not significantly associated with later dysregulation for infants with highly sensitive mothers. Infants who exhibited low distress during the SFP and who had lower regulatory and orienting abilities at 7 months had higher dysregulation at 18 months regardless of maternal sensitivity. Altogether, these results suggest that risk for dysregulation in toddlerhood has biobehavioral origins in infancy but may be buffered by sensitive caregiving.

Background: Trait rumination is a habitual response to negative experiences that can emerge during adolescence, increasing risk of depression. Trait rumination is correlated with poor inhibitory control (IC) and altered default mode network (DMN) and cognitive control network (CCN) engagement. Provoking state rumination in high ruminating youth permits investigation of rumination and IC at the neural level, highlighting potential treatment targets., Methods: Fifty-three high-ruminating youth were cued with an unresolved goal that provoked state rumination, then completed a modified Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) that measures IC (commissions on no-go trials) in a functional MRI study. Thought probes measured state rumination about that unresolved goal and task-focused thoughts during the SART., Results: Greater state rumination during the SART was correlated with more IC failures. CCN engagement increased during rumination (relative to task-focus), including left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsalmedial prefrontal cortex. Relative to successful response suppression, DMN engagement increased during IC failures amongst individuals with higher state and trait rumination. Exploratory analyzes suggested more bothersome unresolved goals predicted higher left DLPFC activation during rumination., Limitations: The correlational research design did not permit a direct contrast of causal accounts of the relationship between rumination and IC., Conclusions: State rumination was associated with impaired IC and disrupted modulation of DMN and CCN. Increased CCN engagement during rumination suggested effortful suppression of negative thoughts, and this was greater for more bothersome unresolved goals. Relative task disengagement was observed during rumination-related errors. DMN-CCN dysregulation in high-ruminating youth may be an important treatment target., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: ERW receives royalties from the treatment manual for rumination-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy published by Guilford Press and licensing of rumination-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for internet treatment packages. SEC is a co-owner of the Utah Center for Evidence Based Treatment, an outpatient psychotherapy practice, unrelated to this work. SAL receives consultant payments from Stony Brook University, Johns Hopkins University (unrelated to this work), payments from the Center for Scientific Review (unrelated to this work), and reports part ownership of Secondary Triad Inc. (unrelated to this work).

Onset of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is most frequent during adolescence. Etiological models indicate that abnormal affective reactivity and regulation within interpersonal contexts is related to heightened NSSI risk. The current study examined the effects of maternal emotional support on adolescent sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity and observed anger during a conflict discussion among 56 mother-daughter dyads consisting of healthy adolescents and adolescents with a history of self-injury. During the conflict discussion task, maternal emotional support and adolescent anger were coded from behavior, and cardiovascular pre-ejection period was used to index SNS responding. Results demonstrated that maternal emotional support was negatively associated with adolescent anger and SNS activity during the conflict. However, these associations were not significant among adolescents with heightened NSSI history. Maternal emotional support may serve as an interpersonal mechanism for adolescent physiological and behavioral regulation, yet may function differently among adolescents with more frequent NSSI., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Research suggests that women's autonomic nervous system responses to infant cries capture processes that affect their parenting behaviors. The aim of this study was to build on prior work by testing whether pregnant women's autonomic responses to an unfamiliar infant crying also predict their infants' emerging regulation abilities. Participants included 97 women in their third trimester of pregnancy, located in the United States. Most participants identified as White/non-Hispanic (48%) or Hispanic (30%), their mean age was approximately 30 years, and the modal family income was $40,000-$79,999. Pregnant women's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance levels (SCL)-which are thought to capture emotional engagement and behavioral inhibition, respectively-were measured while the women watched a relaxing video and a video of an unfamiliar infant crying. Approximately 7 months later, women and their infants completed the still-face paradigm (SFP). Infants' avoidance and resistance behaviors during the SFP reunions were rated. Pregnant women's RSA and SCL responses to the infant cry video uniquely predicted infants' avoidance (but not resistance) during the SFP. Infants displayed higher levels of avoidance when their mothers exhibited lower levels of RSA reactivity or when their mothers exhibited higher levels of SCL activity in response to the infant cry video. Maternal sensitivity during mother-infant free-play interactions did not mediate the associations between pregnant women's autonomic responses to the cry video and infants' avoidant behavior during the SFP. Discussion focuses on potential mechanisms underlying associations between pregnant women's autonomic responses to infant distress and infants' socioemotional development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Rumination-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (RF-CBT) is designed to reduce depressive rumination or the habitual tendency to dwell on experiences in a repetitive, negative, passive, and global manner. RF-CBT uses functional analysis, experiential exercises, and repeated practice to identify and change the ruminative habit. This preregistered randomized clinical trial (NCT03859297, R61) is a preregistered replication of initial work. We hypothesized a concurrent reduction of both self-reported rumination and cross-network connectivity between the left posterior cingulate cortex and right inferior frontal and inferior temporal gyri., Methods: Seventy-six youths with a history of depression and elevated rumination were randomized to 10 to 14 sessions of RF-CBT ( n  = 39; 34 completers) or treatment as usual ( n  = 37; 28 completers). Intent-to-treat analyses assessed pre-post change in rumination response scale and in functional connectivity assessed using two 5 minute, 12 second runs of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging., Results: We replicated previous findings: a significant reduction in rumination response scale and a reduction in left posterior cingulate cortex to right inferior frontal gyrus/inferior temporal gyrus connectivity in participants who received RF-CBT compared with those who received treatment as usual. Reductions were large ( z change = 0.84; 0.73, respectively [ p s < .05])., Conclusions: This adolescent clinical trial further demonstrates that depressive rumination is a brain-based mechanism that is modifiable via RF-CBT. Here, we replicated that RF-CBT reduces cross-network connectivity, a possible mechanism by which rumination becomes less frequent, intense, and automatic. This National Institute of Mental Health-funded fast-fail study continues to the R33 phase during which treatment-specific effects of RF-CBT will be compared with relaxation therapy., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of Society of Biological Psychiatry.)

To assess the public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, investigators from the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) research program developed the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale (PTSS). Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) acute stress disorder symptom criteria, the PTSS is designed for adolescent (13-21 years) and adult self-report and caregiver-report on 3-12-year-olds. To evaluate psychometric properties, we used PTSS data collected between April 2020 and August 2021 from non-pregnant adult caregivers ( n = 11,483), pregnant/postpartum individuals ( n = 1,656), adolescents ( n = 1,795), and caregivers reporting on 3-12-year-olds ( n = 2,896). We used Mokken scale analysis to examine unidimensionality and reliability, Pearson correlations to evaluate relationships with other relevant variables, and analyses of variance to identify regional, age, and sex differences. Mokken analysis resulted in a moderately strong, unidimensional scale that retained nine of the original 10 items. We detected small to moderate positive associations with depression, anxiety, and general stress, and negative associations with life satisfaction. Adult caregivers had the highest PTSS scores, followed by adolescents, pregnant/postpartum individuals, and children. Caregivers of younger children, females, and older youth had higher PTSS scores compared to caregivers of older children, males, and younger youth, respectively. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: Emerging literature suggests that childhood trauma may influence facial emotion perception (FEP), with the potential to negatively bias both emotion perception and reactions to emotion-related inputs. Negative emotion perception biases are associated with a range of psychiatric and behavioral problems, potentially due or as a result of difficult social interactions. Unfortunately, there is a poor understanding of whether observed negative biases are related to childhood trauma history, depression history, or processes common to (and potentially causative of) both experiences., Methods: The present cross-sectional study examines the relation between FEP and neural activation during FEP with retrospectively reported childhood trauma in young adult participants with remitted major depressive disorder (rMDD, n  = 41) and without psychiatric histories (healthy controls [HC], n  = 34). Accuracy of emotion categorization and negative bias errors during FEP and brain activation were each measured during exposure to fearful, angry, happy, sad, and neutral faces. We examined participant behavioral and neural responses in relation to total reported severity of childhood abuse and neglect (assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ)., Results: Results corrected for multiple comparisons indicate that higher trauma scores were associated with greater likelihood of miscategorizing happy faces as angry. Activation in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) positively correlated with trauma scores when participants viewed faces that they correctly categorized as angry, fearful, sad, and happy., Discussion: Identifying the neural mechanisms by which childhood trauma and MDD may change facial emotion perception could inform targeted prevention efforts for MDD or related interpersonal difficulties., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Reisch, Bessette, Jenkins, Skerrett, Gabriel, Kling, Stange, Ryan, Schreiner, Crowell, Kaufman and Langenecker.)

Background: Rumination is a transdiagnostic problem that is common in major depressive disorder (MDD). Rumination Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT) explicitly targets the ruminative habit. This study examined changes in brain activation during a rumination induction task in adolescents with remitted MDD following RF-CBT. We also evaluated the reliability of the rumination task among adolescents who received treatment as usual (TAU)., Method: Fifty-five adolescents ages 14-17 completed a self-relevant rumination induction fMRI task and were then randomized to either RF-CBT (n = 30) or TAU (n = 25). Participants completed the task a second time either following 10-14 sessions of RF-CBT or the equivalent time delay for the TAU group. We assessed activation change in the RF-CBT group using paired-samples t-tests and reliability by calculating intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of five rumination-related ROIs during each of three blocks for the TAU and RF-CBT groups separately (Rumination Instruction, Rumination Prompt, and Distraction)., Results: Following treatment, participants in the RF-CBT group demonstrated an increase in activation of the left precuneus during Rumination Instruction and the left angular and superior temporal gyri during Rumination Prompt ( p < .01). The TAU group demonstrated fair to excellent reliability ( M = .52, range = .27-.86) across most ROIs and task blocks. In contrast, the RF-CBT group demonstrated poor reliability across most ROIs and task blocks ( M = .21, range = -.19-.69)., Conclusion: RF-CBT appears to lead to rumination-related brain change. We demonstrated that the rumination induction task has fair to excellent reliability among individuals who do not receive an intervention that explicitly targets the ruminative habit, whereas reliability of this task is largely poor in the context of RF-CBT. This has meaningful implications in longitudinal and intervention studies, particularly when conceptualizing it as an important target for intervention. It also suggests one of many possible mechanisms for why fMRI test-retest reliability can be low that appears unrelated to the methodology itself.

Background: Single-cohort studies have identified distinct neurobehavioral profiles that are associated with prenatal and neonatal factors based on the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). We examined socioeconomic, medical, and substance use variables as predictors of NNNS profiles in a multi-cohort study of preterm and term-born infants with different perinatal exposures., Methods: We studied 1112 infants with a neonatal NNNS exam from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) consortium. We used latent profile analysis to characterize infant neurobehavioral profiles and generalized estimating equations to determine predictors of NNNS profiles., Results: Six distinct neonatal neurobehavioral profiles were identified, including two dysregulated profiles: a hypo-aroused profile (16%) characterized by lethargy, hypotonicity, and nonoptimal reflexes; and a hyper-aroused profile (6%) characterized by high arousal, excitability, and stress, with low regulation and poor movement quality. Infants in the hypo-aroused profile were more likely to be male, have younger mothers, and have mothers who were depressed prenatally. Infants in the hyper-aroused profile were more likely to be Hispanic/Latino and have mothers who were depressed or used tobacco prenatally., Conclusions: We identified two dysregulated neurobehavioral profiles with distinct perinatal antecedents. Further understanding of their etiology could inform targeted interventions to promote positive developmental outcomes., Impact: Prior research on predictors of neonatal neurobehavior have included single-cohort studies, which limits generalizability of findings. In a multi-cohort study of preterm and term-born infants, we found six distinct neonatal neurobehavioral profiles, with two profiles being identified as dysregulated. Hypo- and hyper-aroused neurobehavioral profiles had distinct perinatal antecedents. Understanding perinatal factors associated with dysregulated neurobehavior could help promote positive developmental outcomes., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.)

Separate literatures have demonstrated that mothers' experiences with trauma during childhood or pregnancy are associated with maternal prenatal health risks, adverse childbirth outcomes, and offspring internalizing and externalizing disorders. These literatures largely align with the intergenerational transmission or fetal programming frameworks, respectively. However, few studies have tested the effects of maternal childhood and prenatal trauma simultaneously on mothers' and infants' health outcomes, and no studies have examined these effects on newborn neurobehavioral outcomes. Thus, in the present study, we examined how the developmental timing of pregnant women's traumatic life experiences associated with their physical health and psychopathology (Aim 1) as well as their newborns' birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes (Aim 2; for pre-registered aims and hypotheses, see https://osf.io/ygnre/?view&#95;only=cbe17d0ac7f24af5a4d3e37e24eebead). One hundred and fifty-two 3rd trimester pregnant women (M age = 29 years; 17.1% Hispanic/Latina) completed measures of trauma history and psychopathology. Then, 24-48 h after birth, trained clinicians conducted newborn neurobehavioral exams (n = 118 newborns; 52.6% female). Results indicated that lifetime traumatic experiences associated with multiple prenatal maternal health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, emotion dysregulation, and pregnancy complications. Pregnant women's experiences with childhood trauma, but not adulthood or prenatal trauma, predicted higher neurobehavioral attention scores among female newborns. Our discussion highlights the importance of considering the developmental timing of maternal trauma on perinatal outcomes and contextualizes our findings within the intergenerational transmission and fetal programming literatures. DATA AVAILABILITY: Data pertaining to R01MH119070 (MPIs Crowell & Conradt) and that support these findings are uploaded to the NIMH repository., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Comments on the article by S. Sauer-Zavala et al. (see record 2022-23735-001). Since its empirical debut in the early 1990s, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has amassed substantial support for treating individuals struggling with chronic suicidality, emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, and interpersonal distress. Today, it is known to be one of the most effective psychotherapies for complex mental health presentations, such as in borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this comment, the authors highlight strengths and limitations of one promising intervention, BPD Compass, as presented by Sauer-Zavala et al. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: Rumination, or repetitive and habitual negative thinking, is associated with psychopathology and related behaviors in adolescents, including non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Despite the link between self-reported rumination and NSSI, there is limited understanding of how rumination is represented at the neurobiological level among youth with NSSI., Method: We collected neuroimaging and rumination data from 39 adolescents with current or past NSSI and remitted major depression. Participants completed a rumination induction fMRI task, consisting of both rumination and distraction blocks. We examined brain activation associated with total lifetime NSSI in the context of the rumination versus distraction contrast., Results: Lifetime NSSI was associated with a greater discrepancy in activation during rumination relative to distraction conditions in clusters including the precuneus, posterior cingulate, superior, and middle frontal gyrus, and cerebellum., Conclusion: Difficulties associated with rumination in adolescents with NSSI may be related to requiring greater cognitive effort to distract from ruminative content in addition to increased attention in the context of ruminative content. Increasing knowledge of neurobiological circuits and nodes associated with rumination and their relationship with NSSI may enable us to better tailor interventions that can facilitate lasting well-being and neurobiological change., (© 2023 American Association of Suicidology.)

The dynamics of parent-infant physiology are essential for understanding how biological substrates of emotion regulation are organized during infancy. Although parent-infant physiological processes are dyadic in nature, research is limited in understanding how one person's physiological responses predict one's own and as well as the other person's responses in the subsequent moment. In this study, we examined mother-infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) dynamics during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) among 106 mothers (M age  = 29.54) and their 7-month-old infants (55 males). Given mothers' role in shaping dyadic interactions with their infant, we also tested how mothers' self-reported emotion dysregulation (measured via the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) associated with these dynamics. Results showed that both mothers' and infants' RSA tended to return to their respective homeostatic points (i.e., exhibited return strength) during each SFP episode, indicating stability in RSA for mother-infant dyads. Significant shifts in mother and infant RSA return strength were observed across SFP episodes, highlighting the role of contextual demands on each individual's physiological dynamics. Mother-infant RSA dynamics varied as a function of maternal self-reported emotion dysregulation. Specifically, RSA levels of infants with more dysregulated mothers had a weaker tendency to return to homeostasis during the Reunion episode and were less affected by their mothers' RSA during the Still-Face and Reunion episodes of the SFP, suggesting a less effective coregulatory influence. Our findings have implications for the intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation via mother-infant physiological dynamics., (© 2023 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Background: Initial studies found that mental health symptoms increased in pregnant and postpartum individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Less research has focused on if these putative increases persist over time and what factors influence these changes. We examined the longitudinal change in mental health symptoms in pregnant and postpartum individuals and investigated moderation by maternal emotion dysregulation and the incidence of coronavirus., Methods: Pregnant and postpartum individuals at the University of Utah were invited to join the COVID-19 and Perinatal Experiences (COPE) Study. Beginning on April 23, 2020 participants were sent a survey comprised of demographics, medical and social history, pregnancy information and self-assessments (Time 1). Participants were contacted 90 days later and invited to participate in a follow-up questionnaire (Time 2). Daily coronavirus case counts were accessed from the state of Utah and a 7-day moving average calculated. Within-subject change in mental health symptom scores, as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory, was calculated. Linear mixed effects regression modeling adjusted for history of substance abuse and mental health disorders., Results: 270 individuals responded between April 23rd, 2020 and July 15th, 2021. Mental health symptom scores improved by 1.36 points (0.7-2.0 p < 0.001). The decrease in mental health symptoms was not moderated by the prevalence of COVID-19 cases (p = 0.19) but was moderated by emotion dysregulation (p = 0.001) as defined by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale short form. Participants with higher emotion dysregulation also had higher mental health symptom scores., Conclusion: Mental health symptoms improved over the course of the pandemic in the same pregnant or postpartum participant. Our findings do not negate the importance of mental health care during the pandemic. Rather, we believe this identifies some aspect of resiliency and adaptability. Examining emotion dysregulation, or asking about a history of mental health, may be helpful in identifying persons at higher risk of heightened responses to stressors., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Paternal stress is often assessed by maternal report and is posited to influence infant development indirectly by contributing to a mother's stress and experiences during pregnancy. Far less is known about how direct effects of prenatal paternal stress, as described by fathers themselves, are related to an infant's physiological functioning. We assessed fathers' own experiences of stress and examined its direct impact on infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a biological index of self-regulation, at seven-month postpartum., Method: During the third trimester of pregnancy, the UCLA Life Stress Interview was conducted to assess chronic stress in mothers and fathers ( N = 90). Infant baseline RSA and RSA reactivity in response to the Still-Face paradigm were assessed at seven-month postpartum., Results: Infants of fathers with high prenatal stress showed lower baseline RSA, possibly reflective of poor infant psychophysiological regulation. The predictive role of paternal stress remained significant after controlling for maternal stress., Conclusions: Our findings provide emerging empirical evidence to support the influence of prenatal paternal stress on infant RSA, highlighting the important role of fathers for child development.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide a more comprehensive look into the demographics of the veteran student subpopulation while exploring the relationship between the mental health of student veterans and their academic performance. Methods: A nationwide anonymous survey was distributed to student veterans who were enrolled in postsecondary institutions. Results: A large number of participants reported distress with symptoms of PTSD, depression, sleep disturbances, and/or suicidal ideation and attempts, and screened likely for mental health problems in these areas. Participants also endorsed academic problems ranging from the ability to stay focused to failing tests and quizzes. Additional findings demonstrated a positive association between GPA and both PTSD and depression. Conclusion: These findings can be used as a platform upon which to begin the discussion on the implications for mental health professionals, administrators, and educators.

As diving foragers, sea ducks are vulnerable to underwater anthropogenic activity, including ships, underwater construction, seismic surveys and gillnet fisheries. Bycatch in gillnets is a contributing source of mortality for sea ducks, killing hundreds of thousands of individuals annually. We researched underwater hearing in sea duck species to increase knowledge of underwater avian acoustic sensitivity and to assist with possible development of gillnet bycatch mitigation strategies that include auditory deterrent devices. We used both psychoacoustic and electrophysiological techniques to investigate underwater duck hearing in several species including the long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) and common eider (Somateria mollissima). Psychoacoustic results demonstrated that all species tested share a common range of maximum auditory sensitivity of 1.0-3.0 kHz, with the long-tailed ducks and common eiders at the high end of that range (2.96 kHz), and surf scoters at the low end (1.0 kHz). In addition, our electrophysiological results from 4 surf scoters and 2 long-tailed ducks, while only tested at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz, generally agree with the audiogram shape from our psychoacoustic testing. The results from this study are applicable to the development of effective acoustic deterrent devices or pingers in the 2-3 kHz range to deter sea ducks from anthropogenic threats., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2022. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Objective: Integrating best practices for health disparities to adapt evidence-based treatments is imperative to adequately meet the needs of diverse cultures, particularly ones that therapists can apply flexibility across multiple diverse communities., Method: Using a mixed-methods, community-engaged approach, we examined how a range of community participants (N = 169) defined mental health, perceived barriers to treatment, and used culturally based coping methods to manage their mental health. Phase 1 (n = 49) included qualitative focus group data from five distinct racial/ethnic communities (African immigrants/refugees, Black/African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians). Phase 2 included quantitative surveys from members of four of these communities (n = 59) and the frontline providers serving them (n = 61)., Results: The communities and providers highlighted chronic worry and distress related to daily activities as primary treatment concerns. Further, this mixed-methods data informed our proposed best practice treatment adaptation framework using chronic worry as an example., Conclusion: The main aims of this study were to exemplify best practices for addressing mental health inequities in communities of color in terms of (a) conducting health disparities research and (b) applying a treatment adaptation framework for culturally responsive clinical care. Specific features of how this framework was conceived and applied provide a unique and critical view into integrating best practices to address health disparities in diverse communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Our primary objective was to document COVID-19 induced changes to perinatal care across the USA and examine the implication of these changes for maternal mental health. We performed an observational cross-sectional study with convenience sampling using direct patient reports from 1918 postpartum and 3868 pregnant individuals collected between April 2020 and December 2020 from 10 states across the USA. We leverage a subgroup of these participants who gave birth prior to March 2020 to estimate the pre-pandemic prevalence of specific birthing practices as a comparison. Our primary analyses describe the prevalence and timing of perinatal care changes, compare perinatal care changes depending on when and where individuals gave birth, and assess the linkage between perinatal care alterations and maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms. Seventy-eight percent of pregnant participants and 63% of postpartum participants reported at least one change to their perinatal care between March and August 2020. However, the prevalence and nature of specific perinatal care changes occurred unevenly over time and across geographic locations. The separation of infants and mothers immediately after birth and the cancelation of prenatal visits were associated with worsened depression and anxiety symptoms in mothers after controlling for sociodemographic factors, mental health history, number of pregnancy complications, and general stress about the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analyses reveal widespread changes to perinatal care across the US that fluctuated depending on where and when individuals gave birth. Disruptions to perinatal care may also exacerbate mental health concerns, so focused treatments that can mitigate the negative psychiatric sequelae of interrupted care are warranted., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Prenatal intrauterine exposures and postnatal caregiving environments may both shape the development of infant parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. However, the relative contributions of prenatal and postnatal influences on infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)-an index of PNS functioning-are relatively unknown. We examined whether prenatal and postnatal maternal emotion dysregulation, a transdiagnostic construct that spans mental health diagnoses, were independently related to infant RSA trajectories during a social stressor, the still-face paradigm. Our sample included 104 mothers and their 7-month-old infants. Maternal emotion dysregulation was measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and again at a 7-month postpartum laboratory visit. Infant RSA was recorded during the still-face paradigm. Only postnatal maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with infant RSA. Specifically, high postnatal emotion dysregulation was associated with a blunted (i.e., dampened reactivity and recovery) infant RSA response profile. Infant sex did not moderate the associations between maternal emotion dysregulation and infant RSA. Findings suggest that postnatal interventions to promote effective maternal emotion regulation may reduce risk for infants' dysregulated psychophysiological stress responses., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Pregnant women struggling with emotion dysregulation may be more likely to engage in a wide range of health risk behaviors. This protocol describes a study on intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation from the third trimester of pregnancy to 18 months postpartum. Biobehavioral markers of emotion dysregulation are typically measured in laboratory settings which was prohibited by many universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe how markers of emotion dysregulation (e.g. maternal, fetal, and infant heart rate variability) are collected remotely. We detail how data collection can be augmented to reach diverse populations who may not otherwise participate in laboratory-based research.

Background: Mood disorders are associated with neurobiological disruptions in subliminal and supraliminal emotion processing. There may be additional variation based on sex and the presence of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs). Examining individuals in remission allows us to understand trait-like emotion processing characteristics that persist in the absence of symptoms. This study investigates neural processing in response to supraliminal and subliminal emotional stimuli based upon mood disorder diagnosis, sex, and SITBs., Methods: Seventy-five participants with a history of any mood disorder (AMD; 52 female) and 27 healthy controls (HC; 14 female) completed a fMRI task presenting subliminal and supraliminal facial stimuli. Within the AMD group, 20 had no history of SITBs, 26 had histories of suicidal ideation only, and 27 had histories of both SI and self-injurious behavior. We examined activation of salience network regions of interest including the amygdala, insula, and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) during the task., Results: AMD showed greater insula activation in response to happy faces relative to sad faces, which was not seen in the HC group. Males exhibited lower insula activation in response to sad faces relative happy faces, a pattern not seen in females. Individuals with SITBs demonstrated a lack of sgACC blunting during supraliminal versus subliminal trials., Conclusions: We found different patterns of neural responses related to mood disorder status, sex, and SITBs. Findings highlight the importance of considering heterogeneity within diagnoses and examining neurobiological features in the context of remission., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study tested whether newborn attention and arousal provide a foundation for the dynamics of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in mother-infant dyads. Participants were 106 mothers (M age  = 29.54) and their 7-month-old infants (55 males and 58 White and non-Hispanic). Newborn attention and arousal were measured shortly after birth using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale. Higher newborn arousal predicted a slower return of infant RSA to baseline. Additionally, greater newborn attention predicted mothers' slower return to baseline RSA following the still-face paradigm, and this effect only held for mothers whose infants had lower newborn arousal. These findings suggest that newborn neurobehavior, measured within days of birth, may contribute to later mother-infant physiological processes while recovering from stress., (© 2022 The Authors. Child Development © 2022 Society for Research in Child Development.)

Suicide accounts for >800,000 deaths annually worldwide; prevention is an urgent public health issue. Identification of risk factors remains challenging due to complexity and heterogeneity. The study of suicide deaths with increased extended familial risk provides an avenue to reduce etiological heterogeneity and explore traits associated with increased genetic liability. Using extensive genealogical records, we identified high-risk families where distant relatedness of suicides implicates genetic risk. We compared phenotypic and polygenic risk score (PRS) data between suicides in high-risk extended families (high familial risk (HFR), n = 1,634), suicides linked to genealogical data not in any high-risk families (low familial risk (LFR), n = 147), and suicides not linked to genealogical data with unknown familial risk (UFR, n = 1,865). HFR suicides were associated with lower age at death (mean = 39.34 years), more suicide attempts, and more PTSD and trauma diagnoses. For PRS tests, we included only suicides with >90% European ancestry and adjusted for residual ancestry effects. HFR suicides showed markedly higher PRS of suicide death (calculated using cross-validation), supporting specific elevation of genetic risk of suicide in this subgroup, and also showed increased PRS of PTSD, suicide attempt, and risk taking. LFR suicides were substantially older at death (mean = 49.10 years), had fewer psychiatric diagnoses of depression and pain, and significantly lower PRS of depression. Results suggest extended familiality and trauma/PTSD may provide specificity in identifying individuals at genetic risk for suicide death, especially among younger ages, and that LFR of suicide warrants further study regarding the contribution of demographic and medical risks., (© 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Strategies to link impulsivity and self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) show highly variable results, and may differ depending on the impulsivity measure used. To better understand this lack of consistency, we investigated correlations between self-report and behavioral impulsivity, inhibitory control, SIBs, and rumination. We included participants aged 13-17 years with either current or remitted psychopathology who have ( n = 31) and who do not have ( n = 14) a history of SIBs. Participants completed self-report measures of impulsivity, the Rumination Responsiveness Scale (RRS), and two behavioral measures of impulsivity: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Parametric Go/No-Go (PGNG). Lifetime SIBs were positively associated with self-reported impulsivity, specifically positive and negative urgency. However, individuals with greater lifetime SIBs demonstrated greater risk aversion (lower impulsivity) as measured by the BART, whereas there was no relation between lifetime SIBs and PGNG performance. There was no relation between rumination and behavioral impulsivity, although greater rumination was associated with higher negative urgency. Future research examining the role of SIBs in the context of active versus remitted psychopathology is warranted. Because most adolescents were remitted from major depressive disorder at the time of study, follow-up studies can determine if lower risk-taking may aid individuals with more prior SIBs to achieve and maintain a remitted state.

The impact of COVID-19-related stress on perinatal women is of heightened public health concern given the established intergenerational impact of maternal stress-exposure on infants and fetuses. There is urgent need to characterize the coping styles associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes in perinatal women during the COVID-19 pandemic to help mitigate the potential for lasting sequelae on both mothers and infants. This study uses a data-driven approach to identify the patterns of behavioral coping strategies that associate with maternal psychosocial distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large multicenter sample of pregnant women (N = 2876) and postpartum women (N = 1536). Data was collected from 9 states across the United States from March to October 2020. Women reported behaviors they were engaging in to manage pandemic-related stress, symptoms of depression, anxiety and global psychological distress, as well as changes in energy levels, sleep quality and stress levels. Using latent profile analysis, we identified four behavioral phenotypes of coping strategies. Critically, phenotypes with high levels of passive coping strategies (increased screen time, social media, and intake of comfort foods) were associated with elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, and global psychological distress, as well as worsening stress and energy levels, relative to other coping phenotypes. In contrast, phenotypes with high levels of active coping strategies (social support, and self-care) were associated with greater resiliency relative to other phenotypes. The identification of these widespread coping phenotypes reveals novel behavioral patterns associated with risk and resiliency to pandemic-related stress in perinatal women. These findings may contribute to early identification of women at risk for poor long-term outcomes and indicate malleable targets for interventions aimed at mitigating lasting sequelae on women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Suicide is a persistent issue in the United States and across the globe. A large body of published research shows that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increases the risk of suicidal ideation, suicidal behaviors, and death by suicide. However, the existing literature examining why that association might pertain is widely dispersed across disciplines (e.g., psychology, nursing) and lacks an integrative theoretical framework, making it difficult to conceptualize the current state of science in this area. Therefore, the primary aims of this narrative review were to (a) provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary critique of the current state of knowledge regarding mechanisms that underlie the association between PTSD and suicide and (b) organize that knowledge according to a specified theoretical framework. The framework guiding this review is "fluid vulnerability theory," a diathesis-stress model of suicide that emphasizes the dynamic nature of suicide risk across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological domains. A summary of the findings, including patterns that emerged, gaps that remain, and recommendations for the advancement of science and practice in this area are addressed in this narrative review., (© 2021 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.)

Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: None

We examined whether Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-informed measures of prenatal stress predicted newborn neurobehavior and whether these effects differed by newborn sex. Multilevel, prenatal markers of prenatal stress were obtained from 162 pregnant women. Markers of the Negative Valence System included physiological functioning (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and electrodermal [EDA] reactivity to a speech task, hair cortisol), self-reported stress (state anxiety, pregnancy-specific anxiety, daily stress, childhood trauma, economic hardship, and family resources), and interviewer-rated stress (episodic stress, chronic stress). Markers of the Arousal/Regulatory System included physiological functioning (baseline RSA, RSA, and EDA responses to infant cries) and self-reported affect intensity, urgency, emotion regulation strategies, and dispositional mindfulness. Newborns' arousal and attention were assessed via the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Network Neurobehavioral Scale. Path analyses showed that high maternal episodic and daily stress, low economic hardship, few emotion regulation strategies, and high baseline RSA predicted female newborns' low attention; maternal mindfulness predicted female newborns' high arousal. As for male newborns, high episodic stress predicted low arousal, and high pregnancy-specific anxiety predicted high attention. Findings suggest that RDoC-informed markers of prenatal stress could aid detection of variance in newborn neurobehavioral outcomes within hours after birth. Implications for intergenerational transmission of risk for psychopathology are discussed.

There is limited understanding of factors across the lifespan that influence pregnant women's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which could have implications for their health and offspring development. We examined associations among 162 English- and Spanish-speaking pregnant women's childhood maltreatment history, emotion dysregulation, recent life stress, and resting RSA during the third trimester. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that more severe childhood maltreatment history (95% confidence interval (CI) [0.26, 0.63]) and higher emotion dysregulation (95% CI [0.001, 0.006]) predicted more stress during pregnancy, and childhood maltreatment history interacted with emotion dysregulation to predict resting RSA (95% CI [-0.04, -0.0003]). Exploratory analyses revealed that women's health-related stress during pregnancy mediated the relation between emotion dysregulation and RSA regardless of childhood maltreatment severity (95% CI [-0.007, -0.002]). These findings suggest that women's resting RSA during pregnancy may reflect physical and emotional stress accumulation across the lifespan and that relations between early life adversity and prenatal psychophysiology may be buffered by protective factors, such as emotion regulation. In addition, these findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between types of prenatal stress. Given the implications for women's health and offspring development, we urge researchers to continue exploring factors associated with pregnant women's psychophysiology., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Newborn neurobehavioral competencies portend a young child's abilities to modulate their arousal and attention in response to dynamic environmental cues. Although evidence suggests prenatal contributions to newborn neurobehavioral differences, no study to date has examined wellness-promoting traits, such as a pregnant woman's mindfulness, in this association. We examined whether a mother's mindfulness while pregnant related to neurobehavioral outcomes in her neonate, as well as whether maternal mindfulness moderated the link between prenatal maternal emotion dysregulation and newborn neurobehavior. Mothers (N = 162) reported on their mindfulness and emotion dysregulation while pregnant. Newborn arousal and attention were assessed at least 24 h after birth (M = 3.8 days, SD = 8.3) using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). Highly mindful pregnant women reported lower levels of emotion dysregulation. Newborns of highly mindful mothers exhibited higher levels of arousal (e.g., excitability, motor activity) but did not differ in regards to attention at birth. Maternal emotion dysregulation while pregnant was associated with blunted newborn attention, but only among mothers who were less mindful. Our findings suggest that a mother's mindfulness while pregnant may influence her fetus' neurobehavioral development in ways that are evident at birth., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Bipolar disorder (BP) suicide death rates are 10-30 times greater than the general population, likely arising from environmental and genetic risk factors. Though suicidal behavior in BP has been investigated, studies have not addressed combined clinical and genetic factors specific to suicide death. To address this gap, a large, harmonized BP cohort was assessed to identify clinical risk factors for suicide death and attempt which then directed testing of underlying polygenic risks. 5901 individuals of European ancestry were assessed: 353 individuals with BP and 2498 without BP who died from suicide (BPS and NBPS, respectively) from a population-derived sample along with a volunteer-derived sample of 799 individuals with BP and a history of suicide attempt (BPSA), 824 individuals with BP and no prior attempts (BPNSA), and 1427 individuals without several common psychiatric illnesses per self-report (C). Clinical and subsequent directed genetic analyses utilized multivariable logistic models accounting for critical covariates and multiple testing. There was overrepresentation of diagnosis of PTSD (OR = 4.9, 95%CI: 3.1-7.6) in BPS versus BPSA, driven by female subjects. PRS assessments showed elevations in BPS including PTSD (OR = 1.3, 95%CI:1.1-1.5, versus C), female-derived ADHD (OR = 1.2, 95%CI:1.1-1.4, versus C), and male insomnia (OR = 1.4, 95%CI: 1.1-1.7, versus BPSA). The results provide support from genetic and clinical standpoints for dysregulated traumatic response particularly increasing risk of suicide death among individuals with BP of Northern European ancestry. Such findings may direct more aggressive treatment and prevention of trauma sequelae within at-risk bipolar individuals.

Ethical and consensual digital phenotyping through smartphone activity (i. e., passive behavior monitoring) permits measurement of temporal risk trajectories unlike ever before. This data collection modality may be particularly well-suited for capturing emotion dysregulation, a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, across lifespan transitions. Adolescence, emerging adulthood, and perinatal transitions are particularly sensitive developmental periods, often marked by increased distress. These participant groups are typically assessed with laboratory-based methods that can be costly and burdensome. Passive monitoring presents a relatively cost-effective and unobtrusive way to gather rich and objective information about emotion dysregulation and risk behaviors. We first discuss key theoretically-driven concepts pertaining to emotion dysregulation and passive monitoring. We then identify variables that can be measured passively and hold promise for better understanding emotion dysregulation. For example, two strong markers of emotion dysregulation are sleep disturbance and problematic use of Internet/social media (i.e., use that prompts negative emotions/outcomes). Variables related to mobility are also potentially useful markers, though these variables should be tailored to fit unique features of each developmental stage. Finally, we offer our perspective on candidate digital variables that may prove useful for each developmental transition. Smartphone-based passive monitoring is a rigorous method that can elucidate psychopathology risk across human development. Nonetheless, its use requires researchers to weigh unique ethical considerations, examine relevant theory, and consider developmentally-specific lifespan features that may affect implementation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Vlisides-Henry, Gao, Thomas, Kaliush, Conradt and Crowell.)

Emotional concordance refers to dynamic coordination of two or more components of the emotion system in response to environmental demands. Concordance can occur within a person (e.g., sympathetic arousal with a fearful expression) and between persons (e.g., similar emotional expressions in couples). This introduction to the 2021 special issue examines current models and methods of concordance. First, we highlight how emotion researchers have begun to focus on concordance across a range of populations and contexts. Second, we note concordance research benefits from examination of multiple emotion systems simultaneously (within- and/or between-persons), resulting in a multivariate time series. Finally, we describe recent efforts to understand the functional (e.g., health-related) consequences of concordance. The articles in this special issue collectively point toward exciting new directions in examining whether and when concordance occurs, and how it varies by individual differences, context, and measures., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)