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This study examined the relationship between emotional dating abuse perpetration and attachment anxiety and avoidance using multimethod, multi-informant dyadic data. Data were derived from a sample of young adult heterosexual dating couples (N = 113 couples). We measured attachment through self-report survey data and emotional dating abuse through self-report surveys, partner-report surveys, and ratings by independent observers of a videotaped couple interaction. Both female and male anxiety were related to female emotional abuse across each method. Male anxiety was related to male emotional abuse in survey data, but female anxiety was related to male emotional abuse in observed data. Neither male nor female avoidance was related to emotional abuse. Dating abuse prevention should focus on attachment anxiety factors (e.g., jealousy, anger) to reduce emotional abuse in young adult romantic relationships.

The present study provides a meta-analytic review of the association between alcohol use and engagement in casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs). Specifically, the meta-analysis focused on non-experimental studies of community and college samples. Results from the meta-analysis, which included 29 relevant studies (34 effect sizes), indicated that alcohol use was significantly associated with engaging in CSREs, r = .34, 95 % CI [.29-.38], but that this link showed considerable variability. Subsequent analyses examined moderators that may explain this heterogeneity. Results revealed that age and method of assessment significantly moderated the effect of alcohol use on CSRE engagement such that the association was greater for emerging adults (18-24 year olds) than older adults and online assessments produced greater effect sizes than paper-and-pencil assessments. These results have implications for future research and intervention development. In particular, this meta-analysis emphasizes the need for studies that utilize consistent measurements of CSRE engagement, include diverse methodology, and expand upon sampling.

Background: Some research suggests that higher levels of depression and anxiety-related symptoms at intake are associated with premature termination from psychotherapy, but findings are mixed. However, theoretical and measurement considerations - introduced by a common mood factor - might complicate literature synthesis. Tellegen (1985) demonstrated that demoralization causes multicollinearity between measures of depression and anxiety, and other lines of research have converged to indicate that this construct is an important non-specific factor to consider when assessing mood pathology., Methods: We utilized a sample of 557 community mental health center outpatients (188 males, 265 females; 80% Caucasian) with an average age of 32.2 years (SD=10.2). We used self-report indicators to model latent low positive emotionality and negative emotionality constructs, which are temperament markers of core depressive and anxiety symptoms. We further specified a latent demoralization bifactor from these indicators., Results: As hypothesized, the bifactor model yielded significantly better fit than competing one-factor and two-factor models. Furthermore, the bifactor was substantially correlated with a demoralization measure (r=.96). As expected, low positive emotionality and negative emotionality were significant predictors of therapist ratings of premature termination. Though demoralization was a non-significant predictor, the structural paths from the other two internalizing constructs markedly increased in the bifactor model relative to the two-factor model., Limitations: Replications with other, more diverse clinical populations using multi-method indicators of premature termination are needed., Conclusions: This research indicates that after accounting for demoralization patients presenting with core mood disorder symptoms are at substantially increased risk for premature termination., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The frequent occurrence of aggression within committed romantic relationships is well documented. However, little is known about experiences of interpersonal aggression within casual sexual relationships and experiences. This study aimed to describe the occurrence of emotional, physical, and sexual aggression victimization within committed romantic relationships, casual dating relationships, friends-with-benefit relationships, booty-calls, and one-night stands. College students (N = 172) provided data regarding the lifetime occurrence of emotional, physical, and sexual aggression across different forms of casual sexual relationships and experiences (friends-with-benefits, booty-call, casual dating, one-night stands, committed relationships). Emotional, physical, and sexual subtypes of aggression were reported across all casual sexual relationships and experiences. While a higher percentage of individuals who had been involved in committed relationships reported experiencing at least one form of aggression (approximately 69%), prevalence of at least one form of aggression ranged from approximately 31% to 36% for the various casual sexual relationships/experiences. Across relationships/experiences, emotional and sexual aggression were more common than physical aggression. The findings from this study indicate that emotional, physical, and sexual aggression occur across types of relationships and experiences. Thus, the current study underscores the importance of considering casual dating, friends-with-benefits, booty-calls, and one-night stands when assessing interpersonal aggression.

Using latent class growth analysis, we were interested in investigating how experiences of loneliness emerge in distinct developmental patterns over the course of middle childhood and adolescence (NICHD Study of Early Child Care, N = 832). Second, we examined the role of demographic, mental health, and behavioral variables in association with these discrete patterns of loneliness. Loneliness was measured at 3 time points: age 9, age 11, and age 15. Results indicated five discrete trajectories of loneliness from middle childhood to adolescence. Most children exhibited a stable and low level of loneliness over time. The remaining children were split among moderate increasing, high increasing, decreasing, and chronic loneliness groups. Ethnicity, income, age 7 social skills, age 7 depression, and age 7 aggression were associated with trajectory membership. In addition, the loneliness trajectories predicted self-reports of social skills deficits, depression, aggression, and suicidal ideation at age 15., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Objective: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an increasingly popular practice demonstrated to alleviate stress and treat certain health conditions. MBSR may reduce elevated blood pressure (BP). Treatment guidelines recommend life-style modifications for BP in the prehypertensive range (systolic BP [SBP] 120-139 mm Hg or diastolic BP [DBP] 80-89 mm Hg), followed by antihypertensives if BP reaches hypertensive levels. MBSR has not been thoroughly evaluated as a treatment of prehypertension. A randomized clinical trial of MBSR for high BP was conducted to determine whether BP reductions associated with MBSR exceed those observed for an active control condition consisting of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) training., Methods: Fifty-six men (43%) and women (57%) averaging (standard deviation) 50.3 (6.5) years of age (91% white) with unmedicated BP in the prehypertensive range were randomized to 8 weeks of MBSR or PMR delivered in a group format. Treatment sessions were administered by one treatment provider and lasted approximately 2.5 hours each week. Clinic BP was the primary outcome measure. Ambulatory BP was a secondary outcome measure., Results: Analyses were based on intent to treat. Patients randomized to MBSR exhibited a 4.8-mm Hg reduction in clinic SBP, which was larger than the 0.7-mm Hg reduction observed for PMR (p = .016). Those randomized to MBSR exhibited a 1.9-mm Hg reduction in DBP compared with a 1.2-mm Hg increase for PMR (p = .008). MBSR did not result in larger decreases in ambulatory BP than in PMR., Conclusions: MBSR resulted in a reduction in clinic SBP and DBP compared with PMR. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00440596.

Internalization of societal standards of physical attractiveness (i.e., internalization of the thin ideal for women and internalization of the mesomorphic ideal for men) is a widely studied and robust risk factor for body dissatisfaction and maladaptive body change behaviors. Substantial empirical research supports internalization as both a mediator and a moderator of the relation between societal influences and body dissatisfaction. In this paper, a primer on mediation and moderation is followed by a review of literature and discussion of the extent to which internalization can theoretically fulfill the roles of both mediation and moderation. The literature review revealed a stark contrast in research design (experimental versus non-experimental design) when alternate conceptualizations of internalization are adopted. A meta-theoretical, moderated mediation model is presented. This model integrates previous research and can inform future empirical and clinical endeavors., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Measures of exploitativeness evidence problems with validity and reliability. The present set of studies assessed a new measure [the Interpersonal Exploitativeness Scale (IES)] that defines exploitativeness in terms of reciprocity. In Studies 1 and 2, 33 items were administered to participants. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated that a single factor consisting of six items adequately assess interpersonal exploitativeness. Study 3 results revealed that the IES was positively associated with "normal" narcissism, pathological narcissism, psychological entitlement, and negative reciprocity and negatively correlated with positive reciprocity. In Study 4, participants competed in a commons dilemma. Those who scored higher on the IES were more likely to harvest a greater share of resources over time, even while controlling for other relevant variables, such as entitlement. Together, these studies show the IES to be a valid and reliable measure of interpersonal exploitativeness. The authors discuss the implications of these studies.

The goal of the current study was to determine the prevalence and psychosocial correlates associated with frequent fighting among US high school students. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N=16 410). Multivariate logistic regression analyses determined associations between demographic and psychosocial correlates of frequent fighting. Among students, 13.6% reported fighting once, 15.3% reported fighting 2-11 times and 2.6% reported fighting 12 or more times in the past year. Risk factors associated with frequent fighting were weapon carrying (adjusted OR=10.55; 95% CI 7.40 to 15.05), suicide attempt (adjusted OR=6.16; 95% CI 3.70 to 10.28), binge drinking (adjusted OR=3.15; 95% CI 2.16 to 4.59) and feeling too unsafe to go to school (adjusted OR=3.09; 95% CI 2.00 to 4.77). There is a clear need to better understand the patterns and psychosocial characteristics of frequent physical fighting and the prevention and interventions strategies that may be most relevant for these vulnerable youth.

Purpose: The current article extended previous research on the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and suicidality by longitudinally investigating their mutual impact from adolescence into early adulthood., Methods: We analyzed data from a subsample (N= 4,675) of individuals with complete data on IPV victimization from Waves II (mean age = 16.41 years), III (mean age = 22.36 years), and IV (mean age = 28.85 years) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Suicidality was measured through questions assessing suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts during the past 12 months. IPV victimization was measured through a construct assessing whether individuals had experienced threat of violence, being pushed/shoved, or had something thrown at them during the past 12 (Waves III and IV) or 18 (Wave II) months., Results: Using a path analysis framework, we found that IPV victimization and suicidality were highly stable across time. Suicidality was associated with IPV victimization prospectively, but IPV victimization did not predict suicidality prospectively. This longitudinal effect was limited to adolescent suicidality predicting IPV in early adulthood, and this effect was not qualified by gender., Conclusions: Although the findings from this study confirm the importance of considering concurrent IPV victimization in evaluating risk for suicidality, they also highlight the importance of considering a history of adolescent suicidality as an important risk marker for IPV victimization., (Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The assessment of verbal aggression in adolescent and young adult dating relationships has largely relied on self-report methodology. We investigated whether information on verbal aggression derived from an observational assessment would enhance the prediction of romantic relationship satisfaction and dissolution in a sample of young adult dating relationships (N = 113). Observationally assessed verbal aggression was moderately associated with self-reported verbal aggression. Consistent with previous findings, neither self-reported nor observationally assessed verbal aggression was associated with relationship dissolution. Observationally assessed verbal aggression and self-reported verbal aggression each uniquely accounted for a substantial amount of variability in romantic relationship satisfaction. The findings of this study provide additional support for conducting multimethod assessments of verbal aggression and incorporating observational methodology in the study of aggression in young adult dating relationships.

The association between loneliness and suicidality has been documented in many studies, but these studies have been limited by cross-sectional designs and the use of adult-only populations. The purpose of the current study was to overcome these limitations by (a) investigating whether the link between loneliness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors occurs cross-sectionally, longitudinally, or both and (b) investigating how the link between loneliness and suicidality might be influenced by different demographic variables, including gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze data from a large sample (N = 937) of youth from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Results indicated that loneliness at age 15 years was concurrently associated with both suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior at age 15 years. Loneliness in middle childhood was longitudinally associated with suicidal behaviors at age 15 years, but not with suicidal ideation at age 15 years. None of the demographic characteristics influenced these associations.

Guided by conceptual and empirical work on emerging adulthood, this study investigated the role of closeness to mother and father and behavioral autonomy during adolescence on the development of adult-onset antisocial behavior. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we identified four aggressive (abstainer, adolescent-limited, adult-onset, chronic) and three nonaggressive (adolescent-limited, adult-onset, chronic) trajectories. Members of the aggressive adult-onset trajectory reported higher levels of paternal closeness during adolescence compared to the members of the aggressive chronic trajectory. Maternal closeness and behavioral autonomy did not differentially predict trajectory membership. In addition, members of the adult-onset trajectories were less likely to be employed or in a romantic relationship and reported decreased physical health during emerging adulthood compared to members of all other trajectories.

Empirical findings from previous studies indicate that the risk factors for adolescent suicide are multifaceted and likely the result of the interaction between individual and contextual risk factors. In this special section, we focus on one subdomain of risk factors for adolescent suicide, namely, displacement. During adolescence, experiences of displacement due to changes in family or peer relationships may be particularly important because these relationships play a key role in meeting developmental tasks. This special section brings together new findings from four empirical studies investigating how displacement affects risk for suicide across individuals in different contexts and across various domains of displacement. The findings suggest that (a) these risk factors are multifaceted and (b) they often represent an interaction between individual and contextual risk factors. At the same time, the articles in this special section indicate that the role of displacement is complex, and it may sometimes serve a protective role when combined with other factors (e.g., mental health treatment).

We investigated whether changes in loneliness during middle childhood as well as from middle childhood into adolescence were associated with adolescent self-harm behaviors and suicidal thoughts using a community sample of 889 participants. Multivariate logistic regressions indicate that the relationship between changes in loneliness and suicidality is no longer statistically significant once depression and externalizing behavior problems are included as controls. Follow-up analyses indicate that increases in loneliness indirectly affect self-harm behaviors and suicidal thoughts through depression and externalizing behavior problems. These findings are consistent with other studies on peer relationships and adolescent suicidality, suggesting that experiences with peers indirectly affect risk for suicidality through mental health problems. These findings highlight the importance of considering how experiences in middle childhood peer relationships affect risk for suicide in consecutive developmental periods, particularly adolescence.

Objective: To examine the implications of using proxies of medically attended injuries (minor injuries and close calls) for understanding concurrent relations among-and behavioral antecedents of-pediatric injuries., Methods: Participants were 812 children from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Measures of externalizing behavior, maternal depression, SES, and the home environment were examined as prospective predictors of minor injuries, close calls, and medically attended injuries., Results: Minor injuries and close calls were associated with medically attended injuries concurrently. Regression equations revealed different prospective predictors across the three outcome variables., Conclusions: This study was the first to examine concurrent associations among minor injuries, close calls, and medically attended injuries. Prospective antecedents of each injury assessment were also examined. The present findings signify the importance of distinguishing between these different methods of assessing pediatric injury. The study also illustrated that different analytic strategies were needed to represent observed data of each outcome variable.

Objective: To offer a practical demonstration of regression models recommended for count outcomes using longitudinal predictors of children's medically attended injuries., Method: Participants included 708 children from the NICHD child care study. Measures of temperament, attention, parent-child relationship, and safety of physical environment were used to predict medically attended injuries., Results: Statistical comparisons among five estimation methods revealed that a zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model provided the best fit with observed data. ZIP models simultaneously model dichotomous and continuous outcomes of count variables, and different constellations of predictors emerged for each aspect of the estimated model., Conclusions: This study offers a practical demonstration of techniques designed to handle dependent count variables. The conceptual and statistical advantages of these methods are emphasized, and Stata script is provided to facilitate adoption of these techniques.

Using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the rate and type of behavior problems associated with being reared in an institution prior to adoption were examined in 1,948, 4- through 18-year-old internationally adopted children, 899 of whom had experienced prolonged institutional care prior to adoption. The children's adoptions were decreed between 1990 and 1998 in Minnesota. Binomial logistic regression analyses revealed that early institutional rearing was associated with increased rates of attention and social problems, but not problems in either the internalizing or externalizing domains. Independent of institutional history, children who were adopted >or=24 months had higher rates of behavior problems across many CBCL scales, including internalizing and externalizing problems. In general, time in the adoptive home, which also reflected age at testing, was positively associated with rates of problem behavior. Thus, there was little evidence that the likelihood of behavior problems wane with time postadoption. Finally, children adopted from Russia/Eastern Europe appeared at greater risk of developing behavior problems in several domains compared to children adopted from other areas of the world.

This study examined the relationship between acute cortisol responses to trauma and subsequent PTSD symptoms (PTSS) in children and their biological mothers. Urinary cortisol levels were assessed in 54 children aged 8-18 upon admission to a level-1 trauma center. Six weeks posttrauma, 15-hour urine samples were collected from children and their mothers. Depression and PTSS were assessed at 6 weeks (N = 44) and 7 months (N = 38) posttrauma. Higher child in-hospital cortisol significantly predicted 6-week child PTSS. This was true only for boys at 7 months. In mothers, lower 6-week cortisol levels significantly predicted 7-month PTSS. Results extend findings of differing directions of acute hormonal predictors of PTSS in adults versus children to a sample of genetically related individuals.

Decentering is defined as the ability to observe one's thoughts and feelings as temporary, objective events in the mind, as opposed to reflections of the self that are necessarily true. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) was designed to measure both decentering and rumination but has not been empirically validated. The current study investigated the factor structure of the EQ in both undergraduate and clinical populations. A single, unifactorial decentering construct emerged using 2 undergraduate samples. The convergent and discriminant validity of this decentering factor was demonstrated in negative relationships with measures of depression symptoms, depressive rumination, experiential avoidance, and emotion regulation. Finally, the factor structure of the EQ was replicated in a clinical sample of individuals in remission from depression, and the decentering factor evidenced a negative relationship to concurrent levels of depression symptoms. Findings from this series of studies offer initial support for the EQ as a measure of decentering.

The purpose of this study was to reveal underlying processes in adoptive kinship networks that experienced increases or decreases in levels of openness during the child's adolescent years. Intensive case study analyses were conducted for 8 adoptive kinship networks (each including an adoptive mother, adoptive father, adopted adolescent, and birth mother), half of whom had experienced an increase in openness from indirect (mediated) to direct (fully disclosed) contact and half of whom had ceased indirect contact between Waves 1 and 2 of a longitudinal study. Adoptive mothers tended to be more involved in contact with the birth mother than were adoptive fathers or adopted adolescents. Members of adoptive kinship networks in which a decrease in level of contact took place had incongruent perspectives about who initiated the stop in contact and why the stop took place. Birth mothers were less satisfied with their degree of contact than were adoptive parents. Adults' satisfaction with contact was related to feelings of control over type and amount of interactions and permeability of family boundaries. In all adoptive kinship networks, responsibility for contact had shifted toward the adopted adolescent regardless of whether the adolescent was aware of this change in responsibility.

This study represents a developmentally informed, empirically validated examination of competence across multiple domains (Social, Cognitive, Emotional well-being), gender and age (early childhood, middle childhood, early adolescence, middle adolescence). Competence indicators were created and the structure of these domains was tested using multi-method, multi-informant data collected on 191 participants drawn from a prospective study of at-risk children. The results indicated that inter-individual differences in Cognitive and Social competence were stable across time, whereas inter-individual differences in Emotional well-being were stable only between early and middle adolescence. While the strength of stability of Cognitive competence was similar across different time points, the stability of Social competence declined after middle childhood, suggesting more inter-individual variability with regard to change. The findings also indicated that both the structure and the stability of competence are similar for boys and girls.

Background: Research examining intergenerational transmission of psychopathology is often limited by reliance on the same individuals for information on multiple constructs of interest. To counteract this limitation, data from a prospective, longitudinal study of at-risk youth were analyzed to test the hypothesis that parenting and family environmental factors mediate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and offspring psychopathology in late adolescence., Method: Data were taken from 184 families of the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Measures included the CES-D and Beck depression inventories, home environment ratings and a family conflict scale, and CBCL behavior problem checklist and K-SADS psychiatric symptom scores. Regression analyses were conducted to test for mediation of maternal depression effects by family environmental factors., Results: Analyses using a single informant and time point showed evidence for substantial mediation; however, in analyses spanning independent informants and multiple time points mediating effects were markedly reduced. Sex differences were found, in that parenting and family environmental factors related to psychopathology for males, whereas maternal depression was more directly related to psychopathology for females., Conclusions: Results emphasize the importance of independent data for testing mediational claims, and support claims that the processes involved in the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology are different for male and female youth.

Background: Cumulative risk research has established the deleterious effects of co-occurring risk factors on child behavior outcomes. However, extant literature has not addressed potential differential effects of cumulative risk at different points in development and has left open questions about whether a threshold model or a linear risk model better describes the impact of cumulative risk on behavior outcomes. The current study examined the impact of cumulative risk factors (i.e., child maltreatment, inter-parental violence, family disruption, low socioeconomic status, and high parental stress) in early and middle childhood on child behavior outcomes in adolescence., Methods: Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of at-risk urban children (N=171), the cumulative effects of these five risk factors across early and middle childhood were investigated., Results: The findings support the cumulative risk hypothesis that the number of risks in early childhood predicts behavior problems in adolescence. Evidence for a linear but not a threshold model of cumulative risk was found; the more risks present, the worse the child outcome. Moreover, the presence of multiple risks in early childhood continues to explain variations in predicting adolescent behavior outcomes even after including the effects of risk in middle childhood., Conclusions: The results support the need for comprehensive prevention and early intervention efforts with high-risk children, such that there does not appear to be a point beyond which services for children are hopeless, and that every risk factor we can reduce matters.

Purpose: To show how connections can be made among items in a nationally representative survey of adolescents and criteria for "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition" (DSM-IV) diagnoses., Methods: Data for this study came from the Wave I in-home interview of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationwide study of approximately 90,000 adolescents and their parents. Proxy variables were developed for four DSM-IV diagnoses based on Wave I survey questions: conduct disorder, alcohol abuse, cannabis abuse, and major depressive disorder (single episode). Prevalence rates, comorbidity rates, and detailed item analyses of these four constructs are reported., Results: Of the adolescents in the sample under study, 3.4% scored above the threshold for conduct disorder. For the alcohol abuse proxy 4.7% scored above the threshold, compared with 6.3% for the cannabis abuse proxy, and 1% scored above the threshold for major depressive disorder (single episode). Adolescents who scored above the threshold for conduct disorder were three times more likely to receive psychological counseling than adolescents who scored below the threshold for conduct disorder. The rates for alcohol abuse, cannabis abuse, and major depressive disorder (single episode) were 2.0, 3.0, and 5.0, respectively., Conclusions: The prevalence rates for the four constructs in the Add Health data set were generally lower or comparable to prevalence rates found in other epidemiological studies in which DSM-IV criteria were applied. The approach described in this study provides a way to identify adolescents who are likely at risk for the development of mental health problems.