Early institutional care is associated with long-lasting adverse outcomes across neurodevelopmental, cognitive, socioemotional, and physical health domains. However, less is known about how resilience emerges following this type of severe neglect. In this review, we define resilience as a descriptive inference reflected in better-than-expected adaptation following adversity among individuals exposed to comparable adversity, and we argue that progress in resilience science requires designs that can test causal mechanisms. We highlight how the randomized foster care intervention in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) provides rare causal evidence on modifiable processes that support resilience following early institutional rearing. Drawing on BEIP findings, we synthesize evidence that improving early caregiving environments leads to more favorable developmental outcomes during childhood and adolescence in multiple domains, while also illustrating that recovery is partial and not uniform across domains. We conclude with key lessons learned about resilience from the BEIP and outline future directions leveraging adult and intergenerational follow-up data to refine how resilience is defined, measured, and mechanistically explained in the context of severe early neglect. By leveraging rare experimental evidence, the BEIP provides a blueprint for identifying modifiable mechanisms through which early intervention can shape resilience across the lifespan following early adversity.
Particulate matter (PM2.5) has been linked with brain and cognitive changes; however, longitudinal evidence characterizing associations with white matter (WM) development across adolescence remains limited. This study examined longitudinal associations between baseline PM2.5 and fronto-limbic WM integrity), as well as separately examined associations with cognition and substance use (SU), across adolescence. Baseline Adolscent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (n = 4,511; 47.4% female; mean age = 9.9 years, SD = 0.5, range = 9-11; 57.0% White, 10.5% Black, 20.4% Hispanic, 2.3% Asian, and 9.8% multiracial). Linear mixed effects/logistical regression tested for PM2.5 interactions with age/sex, controlling for neighborhood factors. PM2.5 and fronto-limbic mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) associations were observed, Cohen's d effect sizes were reported. At age 9, increased PM2.5 was associated with increased FA in the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), fornix, and uncinate fasciculus (UNC), whereas by age 14, PM2.5 was linked with reduced FA in all tracts. In the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), PM2.5 was linked to increased MD at age 9 and reduced FA at ages 12 and 14. We also observed reductions in MD in the fornix at ages 12 and 14, and in the SLF and UNC at age 14. The links between PM2.5 and cognition and SU were not significant. Findings suggest the association between baseline PM2.5 exposure and fronto-limbic WM varies as a function of age at assessment, with positive associations observed at younger ages and negative associations at older ages.
Despite widespread implementation of early childhood mental health prevention programs in Canada, variation in response across family adversity contexts remains unclear. Using data from the first Canadian randomized controlled trial of the Family Check-Up® (FCU®), this study examines what works for whom and why. In a sample of 206 caregivers and their two-to four-year-old children (M = 3.42, SD = 0.87; 88.3% White; 57.3% male) we identified four profiles: Socioeconomically Disadvantaged/Low Social Support (30.68%), Low Adversity (31.18%), Caregiver Mental Health Vulnerabilities (20.57%), and High Cumulative Adversity (17.6%). FCU® participation was associated with lower externalizing behaviors across profiles except for the Socioeconomically Disadvantaged/Low Social Support group, with the strongest effect observed among males in the High Cumulative Adversity profile (ß = -0.525, p = .002, 95% CI [-0.861, -0.189]). No effects were found for internalizing behaviors. Findings highlight the need to consider family risk factors and child sex when evaluating prevention programs.
Recently, we have witnessed a growing shift from an emphasis on problematic processes to that on positive processes and outcomes in developmental psychopathology and psychological research more generally. Adopting this lens, we addressed three aims. One, we examined developmental sequelae of cumulative positive childhood experiences (PCEs) in infancy, but in contrast to typical retrospective recall, we deployed multiple behavioral and parent-reported measures in a prospective design. We examined children's socioemotional strengths and competencies - rather than diminished or absent problems - as outcomes at preschool age. Two, we examined how PCEs exert their impact, proposing children's competence at toddler age as a mediator. Three, we proposed children's negative emotional reactivity (anger proneness) as a moderator, expecting anger-prone children to be especially affected by variations in early positive experiences. A longitudinal study of 200 mothers, fathers, and infants (96 girls, 104 boys; 20% not "White alone") from the U.S. Midwest, followed from 8 months to 4.5 years, confirmed the utility of a conceptual and methodological approach that emphasizes cumulative early PCEs and positive socioemotional outcomes and supported both hypotheses (mediation: B = 0.05, SE = 0.02, 95% CI [0.02, 0.10]; moderation: B = 0.12, SE = 0.06, 95% CI [0.01, 0.25]).
This study aimed to identify distinct profiles of children's perceived family environments and examine how these profiles and their transitions are associated with psychological symptoms. Data were drawn from 9,786 children (mean age = 9.92 years; 47.8% female; 55.7% White) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Latent profile analysis identified four family environment profiles at both baseline and 1-year follow-up: Harmonious, Moderate with Two Loving Caregivers, Moderate with One Loving Caregiver, and Adverse. Overall, children in the first two profiles exhibited fewer psychological symptoms than those in the latter two profiles. Latent transition analysis revealed that the Harmonious Profile was highly stable (85% unchanged), whereas only 39-43% of children in the remaining three profiles stayed in their baseline profile at the one-year follow-up. Notably, transition trajectories were predictive of psychological problems. Specifically, transitions away from the Harmonious Profile were generally associated with higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Cohen's ds = 0.18-0.37), while shifts from Moderate with One Loving Caregiver and Adverse profiles to the Harmonious Profile were linked to lower externalizing symptoms (ds = 0.27 and 0.58). These findings underscore the importance of longitudinal monitoring of perceived family environments for supporting mental health during late childhood.
Abstract Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are linked with various psychosocial maladjustments. Scant research has investigated its developmental pattern during the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood, and whether the pattern may function as a mechanism against daily stressors in stressful contexts. This study adopted a multi-timescale approach to elucidate how long-term developmental trajectories of CU traits relate to both socioemotional maladjustment and daily emotion dynamics during the transition period. A three-wave longitudinal study ( N = 313; M age = 18 years, 72% female, 30% White) with two 30-day daily diary bursts embedded over three years was conducted. Latent growth curve modeling revealed a modest group-level increase in CU traits. Higher initial levels and faster increase in CU traits were associated with higher depressive symptoms and peer problems and lower empathy and peer attachment in wave 3. Multilevel modeling showed that individuals with faster growth in CU traits displayed lower daily emotional problems, blunted reactivity to stress, and reduced stress-unrelated emotional fluctuations; these associations persisted over two-and-a-half years. These findings suggest that the developmental growth of CU traits may buffer daily stress reactivity in the short-term but could be maladaptive in the long-term.
Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is a risk factor for psychopathology. Youth living in low SES neighborhoods experience a myriad of stressors, particularly social stressors (e.g., discrimination), which may be particularly stressful for adolescents sensitive to peer feedback (i.e., blunted sensitivity to acceptance from peers). This study thus aimed to test whether neighborhood SES moderates the relationship between brain responses to peer feedback and affect outside of the lab, measured through ecological momentary assessment (EMA). To measure neural response to acceptance (relative to rejection), 13-18-year-old adolescents (N = 172) completed an event-related potential (ERP) task during which they received accepting or rejecting feedback from peers. They also rated their positive and negative affect via EMA for a week. Neighborhood SES moderated the relationship between brain responses to peer acceptance and negative affect. Specifically, for adolescents living in low SES neighborhoods, blunted brain response to acceptance was related to elevated negative affect. Prevention and intervention efforts (e.g., neighborhood/community interventions) may benefit from focusing on increasing hedonic responses to social feedback.
This study examined explicit mentalising (EM) in preschoolers with a history of language delay (HLD) and tested whether vocabulary mediates the association between theory of mind (ToM) and EM, after controlling for family socio-economic status (SES). Ninety Mandarin-speaking preschoolers (45 with HLD, 32 boys; 45 without HLD, 24 boys; aged 4-6 years) completed measures of cognitive and affective ToM, receptive emotional and non-emotional vocabulary, expressive emotional and non-emotional vocabulary, and EM. The results showed that participants with HLD scored lower on vocabulary, ToM, and EM than their peers without HLD. Expressive vocabulary partially mediated the ToM-EM relationship. For cognitive ToM, mediation followed a sequential path from receptive to expressive vocabulary, whereas affective ToM was mediated only by expressive vocabulary; the association of nonemotional expressive vocabulary in the cognitive pathway was attenuated after controlling for SES. EM interventions for preschoolers with HLD may benefit from targeting reasoning processes and supporting the development of emotional understanding and expression through vocabulary growth and ToM-related mechanisms.
Drawing on the "social misfit" hypothesis, this study tested whether peer victimization is more predictive of maladjustment when children have many same-race classmates who they view as low in aggression. Also accounted for were children's race, the racial composition of the classroom, and children's perceptions of other-race peers. Data were collected in the fall, winter, and spring of a school year from 1,424 4th and 5th grade children (Mage = 10.06; SDage = 0.67; Rangeage = 8.43-13.03; 683 girls; 741 boys; 39.61% Black; 60.39% White) in the Southeastern United States. Measures included children's ratings of the aggressiveness of their participating Black and White classmates; teacher-reports of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and social withdrawal; and peer-reports of peer victimization, aggression, and prosocial behavior. Consistent with the social misfit hypothesis, when children viewed same-race classmates as low in aggression, peer victimization was more strongly associated with internalizing problems in the fall for Black children (R2: 0.05-0.16) and with heightened anxiety in the spring for White children with many same-race classmates (R2 = 0.09). Although some protective effects of viewing other-race classmates as aggressive emerged, associations with heightened anxiety (R2: 0.06-0.09) underscored the need to promote positive interracial relationships to optimize children's mental health.
This investigation examined pathways connecting dysfunctional conflict (parent and family aggression, parental psychological control) in adolescents' families of origin to parenting of the next generation across two studies. Study 1 included 184 Generation 2 (G2) adolescents (58% White, 29% Black, 13% other identities; 99 females, 85 males) who provided data on their Generation 1 (G1) parents. A subset of 72 G2s later became parents and reported on their parenting of Generation 3 (G3) children. Study 2 included three generations: mothers and fathers (G1; N = 193), adolescents who later became parents (G2; N = 266; 63.5% White, 29.7% Latinx, 6.8% other identities; 96 males, 170 females), and their offspring (G3; N = 385). In both studies, participants reported on either their parental aggression or family aggression, parents' psychological control, and substance use problems. In adulthood, G2s reported on their punitive responses to G3 children's distress (Study 1); G3s reported on G2s' inconsistent parental discipline (Study 2). Across both studies, results revealed heterotypic continuity from G1 dysfunctional family conflict to G2 dysfunctional parenting responses (βs = 0.23-0.33), as well as paths from dysfunctional family conflict to adolescent substance use problems (βs = 0.14-0.25), which subsequently predicted greater next-generation dysfunctional parenting responses (βs = 0.24-0.33).
Few studies have examined prospective or neurobiological predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) in Latino youth. We hypothesized that autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity at baseline and in response to social exclusion would distinguish Mexican-origin adolescents with versus without histories of suicidality, and would predict subsequent suicidality. Skin conductance responses and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, indicators of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively, were recorded at baseline and during Cyberball exclusion trials, in 229 Mexican-origin youths (M = 17.16 years, 110 females). STB was assessed 11 times across ages 10 to 20 years; 62 youths had histories of STB prior to the physiological measures, and 61 youths reported STB in the following 2.5 years. Cyberball elicited parasympathetic withdrawal without sympathetic activation, compared to baseline. Adolescents with histories of STB, compared to those without, had lower sympathetic activity during baseline and social exclusion. Lower basal sympathetic activity paired with greater uncoupled sympathetic activation during Cyberball predicted prospective STB. These findings support bioecological theories of stress vulnerability that suggest acute autonomic activity may serve as a biomarker for suicidality risk and extend prior work by identifying pathophysiology that could be the target of interventions to reduce risk in Mexican-origin youth.
The current study examined mothers' and fathers' dyadic trajectories of perceived social support and their associations with children's prosociality. Data were drawn from 4,329 children (52% male, 48% female; 44% Black, 22% Hispanic, 17% White) in a prospective birth cohort study of low-income families. Repeated-measures latent class analysis identified three trajectories of social support at the level of the mother-father dyad from birth to age five: "High and Concordant" (64%), "Paternal-Advantaged, Declining Maternal" (20%), and "Maternal-Advantaged" (16%) social support. Child prosocial behavior differed significantly across dyadic social support trajectories. Children of parents in the "Paternal-Advantaged, Declining Maternal" (M = -0.06, SE = 0.20; p < .001) and "Maternal-Advantaged" (M = -0.26, SE = 0.19; p < .001) social support trajectories scored significantly lower on prosocial behavior at age five than those with "High and Concordant" social support (M = 0.37, SE = 0.04). These differences persisted at age nine for children of parents in the "Paternal-Advantaged, Declining Maternal" social support trajectory. Findings suggest that consistent and adequate social support within the parental dyad is critical to cultivating children's prosocial skills.
This prospective study of young children (M = 11.62 months, SD = 8.28) with prior child welfare contact examined trajectories of exposure to various types of maltreatment (i.e., domestic violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect) as risk factors for children's psychopathology sequelae. Data were drawn from 1,059 children (52% male, 48% female; 39% White, 28% Hispanic, 27% Black) in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II. Repeated-measures latent class analysis identified four trajectories of child maltreatment exposure: "Stable Low Multi-Type," "Increasing Emotional-Physical," "Stable High Emotional-Physical," and "Stable High Multi-Type." Maltreatment trajectories significantly predicted internalizing (χ2[3] = 21.89, p < .001) and externalizing symptoms (χ2[3] = 33.04, p < .001). Children in both the "Stable High Multi-Type" trajectory (M = 18.42, SE = 1.05, p < .001) and the "Increasing Emotional-Physical" trajectory (M = 14.61, SE = 0.53, p < .01) exhibited elevated externalizing symptoms. The "Increasing Emotional-Physical" trajectory was associated with elevated internalizing symptoms (M = 13.27, SE = 0.93, p < .001). Findings indicate the need for continuous, comprehensive assessment of maltreatment exposure and underscore the value of early, targeted interventions in enhancing children's well-being.
Guided by the evolutionary developmental perspective, this multi-method, longitudinal study seeks to examine “hyperparameters” that organize young children’s learning. In particular, we adopt computational modeling and a person-centered approach to characterize children’s exploration-exploitation profiles during a reward-probability task. We also explored the family socioeconomic precursors and child psychological sequelae of the profiles. Participants were 243 families with a preschooler (Mean age=4.60 years, 56% girls) from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds (46% Black, 19% Latinx). Family socioeconomic risks were measured at wave one, and exploration-exploitation and socioemotional functioning were assessed two years later via a reward probability task and teacher-report, respectively. Person-centered approach revealed three exploration-exploitation profiles, reflecting (a) a high-random exploration, (b) a high-directed exploration, and (c) a balanced exploration-exploitation profile. Greater family socioeconomic risk was linked to an elevated likelihood of membership in the high-random-exploration profile (e.g., Z = -2.37). In turn, the high-random-exploration profile exhibited the highest attention problems and greater externalizing problems. Findings have critical implications for understanding the processes through which children adapt to adverse family contexts.
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major public health problem. Although maternal PPD has received more attention, less is known about paternal PPD and how parents' depressive symptoms influence one another over time. The present study investigated longitudinal patterns of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms during the first 18 months postpartum using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model in 119 mothers (Mage = 31.15, 89% White, 93% non-Hispanic, 91% married) and fathers (Mage = 32.74), while also considering the role of maternal prenatal depression and maternal childhood neglect. Results indicated strong autoregressive stability for maternal depressive symptoms across all time points (β = 0.24-0.61), whereas paternal symptoms showed less consistency, with stability emerging later. Our results revealed a bidirectional effect, where maternal symptoms at 1 month (β = 0.35) predicted paternal symptoms at 6 months (β = 0.26), which in turn predicted maternal symptoms at 12 months (β = 0.28). Additionally maternal emotional (β = 0.33) and physical neglect (β = 0.18) were associated with higher maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy, and emotional neglect (β = 0.35), uniquely predicted higher maternal depressive symptoms at 1 month postpartum. These findings highlight the interconnected nature of parental depressive symptoms and the lasting impact of maternal neglect on early postpartum mental health.
Childhood adversity impairs well-being, yet psychological resilience may buffer its impact. Using resting-state fMRI in 94 rural Chinese children (ages 10-14), we examined whether psychological resilience protects brain network connectivity from adversity and its relevance to psychological well-being. Psychological resilience significantly moderated the impact of abuse, but not neglect, on limbic connectivity. Low-resilience children exposed to abuse showed heightened limbic-somatomotor and limbic-ventral attention connectivity, which predicted greater somatization and depression at baseline and more severe levels of anxiety six months later. These associations were absent in high-resilience children. Our findings reveal that psychological resilience specifically shields against the neurotoxic effects of abuse by modulating networks involved in emotion regulation, salience, and sensorimotor processing. Targeted interventions should consider adversity dimensions and psychological resilience capacity to mitigate long-term mental health risks.
Longitudinal research on the development of deception across the lifespan remains limited, particularly regarding trajectories of lie-telling and their associations with later problems. The current study aimed to address this gap using longitudinal data of 3,017 Quebec francophone children (47.2% girls, 52.8% boys, aged ∼6 years). Growth mixture modeling identified distinct trajectories of parent and teacher reported lie-telling from ages 6 to 19 years, with reports showing links to early aggressive-disruptive behavior. Trajectories of perceived lying by parents and teachers were also associated with antisocial personality disorder and criminal records in early adulthood. Findings suggest that identifying patterns of observed lying may inform theoretical understanding of the developmental evolution and interpersonal significance of deception over time, as well as highlight potential long-term interventions for problematic lying.
This study investigates the dynamic, time-varying associations between multiple socio-ecological stressors and internalizing symptoms among Mexican-origin youth from low-income immigrant families. Grounded in a socioecological framework and employing time-varying effect modeling (TVEM), we examine how stressors at the interpersonal, family, and neighborhood levels differentially influence anxiety and depressive symptoms across early adolescence (ages 11-13), middle adolescence (ages 14-17), and late adolescence/emerging adulthood (ages 18-20). Participants included 604 Mexican-origin adolescents (54% female) from low-income immigrant families, assessed across three waves spanning nine years. Five distinct stressors were identified: discrimination, foreigner stress, economic stress, language brokering stress, and neighborhood violence/non-safety. Results from TVEM analyses revealed that the impact of discrimination on internalizing symptoms was more pronounced during early and middle adolescence, while foreigner stress became increasingly more pronounced in late adolescence/emerging adulthood. Economic hardship and language brokering stress consistently predicted internalizing symptoms across all developmental periods, whereas neighborhood violence/non-safety exerted the greatest influence during early adolescence. These findings underscore the importance of considering how stressor type and developmental timing intersect to shape mental health outcomes. Moreover, the results suggest that identifying sensitive windows for specific socio-ecological stressors can inform the optimal timing of tailored, developmentally sensitive interventions to mitigate their adverse effects.
Can feelings of loneliness and depression be adaptive for adolescents? Yes, suggests the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness: initially, loneliness activates depressive responses for self-preservation. In turn, these feelings prepare adolescents for reaffiliation, thereby reducing loneliness (H1a: short-term balancing feedback loop). If this fails, loneliness and depressive symptoms may become long-term traits that exacerbate each other over time (H1b: long-term reinforcing feedback loop). Therefore, the short-term balancing feedback loop between loneliness and depressive symptoms may buffer against their long-term increases (H2: across-timescale influence). We tested these hypotheses in Dutch adolescents (Mage_Wave1 = 12.9, SDage_Wave1 = 0.7, 53% female) using six-wave, half-yearly panel data (N = 774; 2017-2021) and 7-day, 1.5-hourly experience sampling data (nsubsample = 84; mid-2021). Residual dynamic structural equation modeling revealed reinforcing feedback loops at both short-term (1.5-hourly) and long-term (half-yearly), supporting H1b but not H1a. Bayesian latent change score modeling supported H2: Adolescents who felt more depressed an hour after heightened loneliness showed smaller half-yearly increases in trait loneliness. However, this buffering effect was not predicted by the hourly depressed-to-loneliness relation, nor did either hourly relations predict half-yearly changes in depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that feeling depressed shortly after loneliness may protect adolescents from long-term loneliness.
While studies suggest that maternal smartphone use causes disruptions to mother-infant interactions and distress to the infant, little work currently explores how mother-infant dyads co-regulate after periods of technoference, or how different modes of smartphone use impact co-regulation strategies within the dyad. This pilot study used a modified still-face paradigm to explore differential impacts of texting and phone call on mother-infant emotion regulation behavioral strategies after technoference. We recruited 46 mother-infant dyads, living in Scotland, where the infant was aged 3-6 months old. Linear modeling identified that after a phone call, synchronous negative affect significantly increased compared to free play (t(131) = 3.26, p < .01, d = .68), while after texting, synchronous negative affect was significantly higher still (t(131) = 7.03, p < .001, d = 1.47). Conversely, synchronous positive affect significantly reduced after a phone call compared to free play (t(131) = -4.42, p < .001, d = -0.92) and significantly reduced further still after texting (t(131) = -6.69, p < .001, d = -1.40). This has direct implications for maternal support and education, suggesting that communicating using audio functions rather than texting has the potential to reduce experiences of mother-infant negative affect after episodes of technoference.
