Although fathers play a critical role in their children’s outcomes, the role of fathers in the developmental pathways of delinquency remains understudied. Guided by a developmental cascade framework, this study examined prospective, bidirectional associations among child externalizing behaviors, father engagement, and father aggravation in parenting across childhood in predicting adolescent delinquency. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,296; 47

Terrorism exposure may be longitudinally associated with adolescents' community violence exposure, but these associations may depend on preexisting externalizing behavior. Guided by ecological-transactional theory and competing stress-diathesis, dual-vulnerability, and rival-vulnerability perspectives, this study examined whether aggression and severe violence commission moderated associations of past terror exposure and cumulative Kassam rocket exposure, referring to exposure to short-range rockets launched from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, with Time 2 violence witnessing and victimization. Participants were 362 Israeli adolescents enrolled in a longitudinal study with assessments in 2008 and 2010; cumulative Kassam rocket exposure incorporated exposure reports from 2008, 2009, and 2010. Models controlled for baseline community violence exposure, depressive and anxiety symptoms, sex, grade, and locality. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized models. Under low levels of both aggression and severe violence commission, past terror exposure was prospectively associated with higher Time 2 violence witnessing. Under high levels of severe violence commission, past terror exposure was prospectively associated with lower Time 2 violence victimization. A three-way interaction involving past terror exposure, cumulative Kassam rocket exposure, and aggression was also found and interpreted with caution. Overall, the pattern was consistent with a dual-vulnerability or rival-vulnerability pattern, but not with a stress-diathesis model. This pattern highlights the importance of assessing terrorism exposure, externalizing behavior, and distinct forms of community violence exposure when designing preventive interventions for adolescents living under chronic armed threat.

The relationships between neighborhood characteristics, like disadvantage and collective efficacy, and criminal behavior are complex, with few studies examining their longitudinal interplay over the course of adolescence to adulthood. The present study investigated direct, indirect, and interactive effects of neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy in adolescence on adult violent and non-violent criminal behaviors (age 16–29), using data from three waves of the Healthy Passages study (N = 663). We tested indirect pathways through adolescent delinquency, exposure to neighborhood violence, and perceived neighborhood disorder. Neither neighborhood disadvantage nor collective efficacy directly predicted adult violent or non-violent criminal behaviors. Results indicated that neighborhood disadvantage was associated with higher adolescent exposure to neighborhood violence and greater perceptions of neighborhood disorder, but not with adolescent delinquency. However, an indirect effect emerged, with neighborhood disadvantage related to a lower likelihood of non-violent criminal behavior via greater perceived neighborhood disorder. Adolescent delinquency robustly predicted both violent and non-violent criminal behaviors in adulthood. No significant interactive effects between neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy were observed. Findings underscore the complexity of neighborhood influences on crime development and suggest that adolescents’ perceptions of their environments may serve as one potential mechanism linking structural disadvantage to certain long-term behavioral outcomes.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Research on the relationship between digital media use in adolescence and mental health outcomes in young adulthood remains unclear. This study aims to (1) assess how trajectories of digital media use from adolescence to young adulthood predict mental health outcomes and (2) identify factors in adolescence that contribute to digital media use trajectories. METHODS:Participants (Mage = 15.53 years; 56.86% female; 66.89% White) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health database provided digital media use data across Waves I-IV. At Wave I, participants self-reported parental support, family connectedness, face-to-face interactions with peers, and self-esteem. At Wave IV, participants self-reported anxiety and depression diagnoses, depressive symptomology, suicidal ideation and attempts, and short-term and working memory. General linear and logistic regression models assessed the relationships. RESULTS:Four trajectory groups emerged: Group 1 "increase" (9.97%), Group 2 "low" (73.36%), Group 3 "decrease" (13.94%), and Group 4 "high" (2.73%). Individuals in Group 4 experienced decreased short-term memory compared to individuals in Group 2. The odds of a suicide attempt in the past 12 months were significantly higher for individuals in Groups 3 and 4 compared to Group 2. CONCLUSIONS:Patterns of digital media use from adolescence to young adulthood may contribute to suicide attempts and short-term memory in young adulthood, highlighting the need for interventions to reduce screen time. Non-significant findings highlight the need for additional research aimed at clarifying these relationships and identifying factors in early adolescence that may contribute to digital media use trajectories.

In this study we examined associations over time between social anxiety symptoms and peer victimization in preadolescent children. We hypothesized that social anxiety symptoms would be both a risk factor for and a consequence of peer victimization. We tested this hypothesis through estimating bidirectional longitudinal effects of social anxiety symptoms and peer victimization. The study used secondary analysis of data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort 2011. We used data from child reports of social anxiety symptoms and child and teacher reports of peer victimization from three annual waves of assessment in third, fourth, and fifth grade. We tested for cross-lag effects using linear latent curve model with structured residuals. Social anxiety symptoms were correlated with peer victimization both between- and within-subjects, with stronger correlations for child-reported peer victimization. No cross-lagged associations were found between social anxiety symptoms and child-reported peer victimization. Social anxiety symptoms were a risk factor for increases in teacher-reported peer victimization, although the effect was small. This study adds to accumulating evidence that social anxiety and peer victimization are related concurrently, but we did not find the hypothesized dynamical reciprocal associations over time. Findings suggest that early identification of and intervention for social anxiety symptoms and peer victimization may be of value.

Positive parenting behaviors and children's internalizing problems (Int. Probs) are bidirectionally associated during late childhood and early adolescence. These bidirectional associations likely emerge earlier and may be stronger when children are prone to reactive negative emotions, making parents' support especially critical in children's regulation of negative emotions. The purpose of this study was to test (a) bidirectional associations between parents' positive responsivity and children's internalizing problems from very early through middle childhood and (b) the moderating role of children's negative emotionality in these bidirectional associations (N = 4,898). Small bidirectional associations between internalizing problems and responsivity were found from ages 3 to 5. Internalizing problems at 3 years were negatively associated with responsive parenting at 5 years. Parent responsivity at 3 and 5 years was negatively associated with later internalizing problems at ages 5 and 9 years, respectively. Negative emotionality only moderated the parent-driven association between responsivity at 3 years and internalizing problems at 5 years, with higher responsivity associated with lower internalizing problems only for children with moderate to high negative emotionality. Parents' positive responsivity to children's behavior and children's internalizing problems were only bidirectionally associated in early childhood (ages 3-5). Across ages 3-5 and 5-9, greater parent responsivity to children's behavior was associated with fewer internalizing problems and may be especially beneficial for children with higher negative emotionality. Results further suggest that young children experiencing internalizing problems may be more likely to receive less responsive parenting later, regardless of children's negative emotionality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Given the potential impact on brain development and social issues related to trauma, better understanding and attending to transgenerational trauma (TT) are necessary. Typically, specific groups are examined when studying TT, which limits research on universal aspects. The present study presents qualitative data from a college sample of emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 23. This study was performed to identify potential indicators of TT. Method: The Family Impact Study Questionnaire was initially constructed after a literature review and revised after cognitive interviews from a college sample of 11 emerging adults. Fifty-six ethnically diverse participants completed the Family Impact Study Questionnaire. Results: Findings suggest 10 indicators related to TT. Six indicators, dangerous place, overprotection, parental role reversal, neglect, perceived parental burden, and resilience are consistent with current findings in the literature. Four indicators, no knowledge, no effect, concerns about transference of parental issues, parental behavior as a model, and importance of exposure expand on current findings in the literature. Conclusions: This research suggests that further development of the Family Impact Study Questionnaire into a mixed methods TT measure would help to advance knowledge of the TT construct.

Paternal incarceration history has been linked to a range of negative outcomes in offspring, including an increased risk criminal justice involvement. However, less is known about the mechanisms underlying this association, such as legal cynicism and early delinquency during a critical developmental period. The current longitudinal study examined paternal history of incarceration as a predictor of arrest likelihood in early adulthood, considering adolescent legal cynicism as a mediator. Further, adolescent negative interactions with police was examined as a moderator of the relationship between legal cynicism and subsequent arrest likelihood. Racial and ethnic differences in these relationships were also considered. This three-wave longitudinal study included an analytic sample 4897 individuals who participated in the Future of Families and Child Well-being study, which is a longitudinal birth cohort study. Results indicated that paternal history of incarceration was associated with higher legal cynicism and a heightened likelihood of arrest by Year 22 but was not associated with adolescent negative police interactions. Adolescent legal cynicism and negative police interactions both predicted a higher likelihood of arrest, as well. Indirect effect analyses revealed that paternal incarceration history was associated with later offspring arrest via higher adolescent legal cynicism. Multigroup analyses indicated that the pathways did not differ significantly by race/ethnicity. Overall, the findings highlight the complex relationships between paternal incarceration history, adolescent legal cynicism, teen delinquency, and criminal justice involvement.

Objective:Suicide attempt (SA) risk is especially high among youth with early nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) onset and persistent NSSI. Still, few youth experience persistent NSSI, and few attempt suicide. Identifying which youth follow specific NSSI trajectories and which NSSI trajectories are at higher risk for SA has strong potential to inform more targeted early suicide risk identification and prevention. The present study aimed to identify NSSI trajectories, identify characteristics forecasting which NSSI trajectories youth followed, and compare SA risk across trajectories. Method:A subsample of youth (N = 2,524) with at least 1 NSSI event before typical onset was retrospectively identified. Youth were followed for 4 years (ages 9-14 years) using the first 5 annual assessments from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ (ABCD) Study (release 5.1). Results:Latent-class growth modeling identified 2 subgroups of youth following distinct NSSI trajectories. The earlier-onset group (15%, mean [SD] age at onset = 9.83 [0.59] years) experienced baseline limited NSSI. The later-onset group (85%, mean [SD] age at onset =11.63 [1.60] years) had moderate risk for more than 1 NSSI endorsement. The later-onset group was significantly more likely to attempt suicide than the earlier-onset group (21% vs. 17% reported ≥1 SAs). Sex, psychopathology, family conflict, and positive parenting predicted group membership and SA risk. Conclusion:SA risk among youth with early-onset or persistent NSSI was high; however, risk was slightly higher for youth with persistent NSSI. Whereas youth and family characteristics may forecast which NSSI trajectories youth follow, clinical implications of this research support children with NSSI are at risk for SA and may need continued monitoring and intervention. Findings support promoting broad public health awareness of SA risk in youth with NSSI.

Purpose: To identify risk subgroups of youth suicide decedents using demographic and clinical psychiatric and medical diagnostic pro files to inform tailored youth suicide prevention efforts. Methods: This study linked Ohio Medicaid and death certi ficate data for Medicaid enrolled youth aged 8-25 years who died by suicide between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2020 (N = 511). Latent class analysis was used to identify distinct clinical risk subgroups. Results: Three latent classes were identi fied. Internalizing problems were common across all classes, but especially prevalent in class 1, the High Internalizing + Multiple Comorbidities group (n = 152, 30%). A prior history of suicidal behavior was con fined to class 1 decedents, who were otherwise characterized by substance misuse, and multiple psychiatric and medical comorbidities. Class 2 decedents, the Internalizing + Externalizing group (n = 176, 34%), were more often younger, male, Black, and unlikely to have a history of substance misuse. Decedents in class 3, the Internalizing + Substance Misuse group (n = 183, 36%), were more often older and likely to have a history of substance misuse, but unlikely to exhibit other externalizing problems. Discussion: Internalizing psychopathology is particularly common among youth who die by suicide, with comorbid externalizing psychopathology, substance misuse, and medical problems contributing to youth suicide risk. Because less than a third of youth who die by suicide have a prior history of recognized suicidal thinking or behavior, universal screening for youth suicide risk should be considered, particularly in younger children, and efforts to integrate suicide prevention in traditional health care settings should be prioritized. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Paternal incarceration is an important predictor of teen delinquency, but the factors that may explain this relationship—such as early child problem behaviors and level of father engagement—have not been adequately explored. The current longitudinal study examined paternal history of incarceration as a predictor of teen self-reported delinquency over a 15-year gap, considering early child problem behaviors and father engagement as mediators. Sex differences in these relationships were also evaluated. This four-wave longitudinal study included an analytic sample of 4897 teens who participated in the birth-cohort Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study. Mothers and fathers were interviewed shortly after the focal child’s birth and were then reassessed in follow-up interviews at child ages 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15. The focal children were interviewed at ages 9 and 15. Results showed that paternal prior incarceration at year 1 was associated with greater child behavior problems and father engagement at year 5; however, those relationships disappeared by age 9. Paternal history of incarceration was not related to teen delinquency, but child behavior problems at age 9 were directly related to subsequent engagement in delinquent behaviors. Paternal current incarceration was related to subsequent father engagement but was not associated with later child behaviors. No significant indirect pathways emerged, indicating a lack of support for mediation. No sex differences in these relationships were observed. Overall, the findings underscore the complexity of the relationships between paternal incarceration, child behavior, and father engagement in the emergence of delinquent behaviors.

Developmental psychopathology has, since the late 20th century, offered an influential integrative framework for conceptualizing psychological health, distress, and dysfunction across the lifespan. Leaders in the field have periodically generated predictions about its future and have proposed ways to increase the macroparadigm's impact. In this paper, we examine, using articles sampled from each decade of the journal Development and Psychopathology's existence as a rough guide, the degree to which the themes that earlier predictions have emphasized have come to fruition and the ways in which the field might further capitalize on the strengths of this approach to advance knowledge and practice in psychology. We focus in particular on two key themes first, we explore the degree to which researchers have capitalized on the framework's capacity for principled flexibility to generate novel work that integrates neurobiological and/or social-contextual factors measured at multiple levels and offer ideas for moving this kind of work forward. Second, we discuss how extensively articles have emphasized implications for intervention or prevention and how the field might amplify the voice of developmental psychopathology in applied settings.

A major challenge for juvenile correctional facilities (JCF) is providing literacy instruction to a transitory student population with a wide range of literacy abilities. The purpose of this study was to identify unique literacy profiles of students in long-term JCF taking into consideration their reading abilities, language abilities, intelligence quotient (IQ), disability classification, age, and grade level. Using latent profile analyses with a sample of 370 in the southeastern United States, we identified three distinct classes. Three ability groups of students (average literacy abilities, below-average literacy abilities, substantially below-average literacy abilities) were identified. Thirty-six percent performed at the average level, 55% performed below grade level; and 8% had substantial literacy deficits with an overrepresentation of students with emotional disturbance (ED) and specific learning disability (SLD). Findings provide the foundation for an evidence-based multi-tiered system of supports literacy framework within JCF. Instructional implications concerning the provision of English Language Arts in JCF are provided.

With cross-lag mixture modeling we tested the direction of associations between peer victimization and social confidence over time for youth with developmental disabilities. We conducted secondary analysis on a subsample of 3188 youths from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS; three measurement waves over four years). The model revealed three classes. The first class had relatively high levels of peer victimization and comprised youths with varied disability classifications. The second and smallest class had high levels of peer victimization and more likelihood of having emotional disturbance. The third and largest class had relatively low peer victimization levels and greater proportions of older youths with learning disabilities. In the third class, more socially confident youths were less victimized by peers at subsequent waves, and peer victimization at Wave 1 predicted increased social confidence at Wave 3. Findings underscore the value of identifying factors that decrease risk for peer victimization or promote resilience.

Background: The stress of a mother's depression may increasingly tax psychobiological systems that help children with self-regulation, increasing children's allostatic load over time. Some evidence supports children exposed to maternal depression tend to have shorter telomeres and tend to have more somatic and psychological problems. Children having one or more A1 alleles of dopamine receptor 2 (DRD2, rs1800497), tend to have greater sensitivity to maternal depression and could experience more adverse child outcomes that contribute to greater allostatic load. Methods: Using the Future Families and Child Wellbeing dataset, secondary-data analyses were used to test the effect of repeated exposure to maternal depression during early childhood on children's telomere length during middle childhood moderated by children's DRD2 genotype (N = 2884). Results: Greater maternal depression was not significantly associated with shorter child telomere length and this association was not moderated by DRD2 genotypes while controlling for factors associated with child telomere length. Implications: The effect of maternal depression on children's TL may not be significant in populations from diverse racial-ethnic and family backgrounds during middle childhood. These findings could help further our current understanding psychobiological systems affected by maternal depression that result in adverse child outcomes. Limitations: Even though this study used a relatively large and diverse sample, replication of DRD2 moderation in even larger samples is an important next step.

This paper uses data from the NICHD study of Early Child Care to investigate how exposure to different home and childcare/school environmental settings are associated with children’s trajectories of externalizing problem from age 2 to age 12. The sample included 1232 children (52% male). Different classes of children exhibiting low, moderate desisting, moderate, high desisting and chronic externalizing problems across the 10 year period were identified. Boys were more likely to be identified in the chronic group and girls in the low group. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the chronic externalizing problems group was also at high risk for experiencing a negative home environment across time, being born into a low familial socio-economic environment, and for experiencing a low quality classroom environment during middle childhood. Therefore, the quality of both the home and school environment are important for identifying these children at high and continuous risk for externalizing psychopathology. Finally, the findings suggested that the quality of the child’s home environment had the more pervasive consequences for the establishment and continuation of externalizing problems in comparison to the quality of the child’s childcare environment.

State and local education agencies continue to make an effort to systematically assess school climate through student surveys. These assessments typically collect data from individual students about their perceptions of different components of the school and their relationship to individuals in the school and aggregate those responses to the school level. To date, few researchers have examined the extent to which aggregating students’ perceptions of climate is a valid and reliable way to understand climate as a characteristic of the school. If this hypothesis is true, there are opportunities for school and district leaders to use this information to improve and sustain school climate practices. This study used middle and high school-grade student-level responses from the Georgia Student Health Survey and tested the extent to which the different dimensions of school climate varied across school and were associated with school behavioral data. Our findings suggest that student perceptions of climate are multi-dimensional at the student level at the student level, but not necessarily at the school level. Indeed, school climate appears to be uni-dimensional at the school level and is robustly associated with administrator-reported behavioral data. This study supports efforts to include student perceptions of school climate and school climate ratings as valid assessments of school climate. School and district leaders can use school climate ratings as a valid way to measure, improve, and sustain practices that build capacity and support school improvement.

The bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child psychological functioning are generally well-established. Paternal depression may also share some bidirectional associations with child psychological functioning, but there is limited research in this area. It is unclear how or when one family member's anxiety or depression might affect another family member's mental health. The present study tested the bidirectional associations between maternal depression, paternal depression, and children's internalizing problems of anxiety and depression from early childhood into mid-adolescence. The present study also included unmarried parents, who are often underrepresented in research. Secondary analyses were performed using a subset of data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) study, beginning when children were 3-years-old and ending when children were 15-years-old. Families (N = 4,873) were from racially and economically diverse backgrounds-nearly half of the mothers were non-Hispanic Black and 65% of mothers had a high school degree or further education. We found evidence of bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child internalizing problems across early childhood and into adolescence. We found no bidirectional associations between paternal and maternal depression or between paternal depression and children's internalizing problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The purpose of this article was to examine the relationships between (a) youth and facility characteristics and (b) youth risk and resilience factors (i.e., mental health, self-determination [SD]) in juvenile justice facilities. Extant self-report data from 205 nationally representative correctional facilities and 7,073 youth, collected as part of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Survey of Residential Placement, were analyzed. Youth charateristics included sex, race, disability classification, mental health status, traumatic events/abuse encountered, offense committed, and SD. Facility factors included facility climate and counseling services. Results indicated that both prior abuse and victimization in the facility were positively correlated with mental health symptoms and SD. Positive perceptions of facility climate were associated with lower mental health symptoms. Youth who were female, younger, with a learning disability, and had committed a violent offense, reported more mental health symptoms. Positive perceptions of facility climate and receipt of counseling in the facility were associated with higher SD. Contrary to expectations, prior abuse and victimization in the facility were associated with higher SD. Recommendations include creating positive facility climates, developing targeted SD instruction, and providing tailored counseling services to facilitate successful transitions out of juvenile justice.

After-school programs provide a range of support for students. During school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many after-school programs were also forced to close or to find new ways to provide services to youth, such as through virtual after-school programming. We surveyed 244 youth who participated in virtual after-school programs about their access to virtual programming as well as their experiences. We considered their pre-closure experiences as well. We also surveyed 8 program directors of after-school programs who were providing virtual programming. We found that Internet access hindered the ability of more than 1 in 4 students to access the programs. Pre-closure program experiences, including ongoing relationships with program staff and positive peer relationships contributed to more positive experiences with virtual programming. Whenever students were able to access the programs, they generally reported positive experiences. This work has implications for after-school program providers, parents, and policymakers.