Early childhood and family experience have profound effects on both emotional and neural development. The present study examined the unique associations between three early risk factors for depression-family history of depression, parenting style, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)-and neurophysiological reactivity to emotional stimuli, as indexed by the P300/Late Positive Potential (LPP) complex. Seventy-nine young adults (72.2% females; M = 21.7 years) completed the Family History Screen, Parental Bonding Instrument, and ACE questionnaire and performed an EEG task with pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that family history of depression and greater ACE scores were associated with reduced P300/LPP complex amplitude to pleasant images and greater P300/LPP complex amplitude to negative images, indicating a pattern of blunted sensitivity to positive stimuli and heightened sensitivity to negative stimuli. Conversely, greater parental care predicted lower LPP amplitude, particularly to negative images, indicative of a protective effect of supportive parenting. No significant associations were found with overprotection. These findings suggest that early experiences and family factors jointly contribute to modulate emotional neural processing, informing developmental pathways of vulnerability and resilience to affective disorders.

State rumination is a temporary activation of repetitive, negative, self-focused thinking in response to specific situational triggers or mood states. We present the results of two studies that examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Italian version of the Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI). Study 1 tested its unidimensionality and measurement invariance across administration methods (paper-and-pencil, N = 216, vs. online, N = 222) and national samples. Study 2 (N = 675) tested its measurement invariance across sex and its construct validity. Results supported the BSRI's unidimensional structure. Configural and weak (metric) invariance were supported across administration methods and national samples, whereas partial strong invariance was established across sex. The Italian BSRI showed construct-validity evidence consistent with theoretical expectations, correlating more strongly with brooding than reflection and more strongly with depression than anxiety or stress. Neuroticism and limited access to emotion regulation strategies emerged as other significant correlates. These findings support the Italian BSRI as a robust tool for assessing state rumination.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Personality traits have been consistently linked to alcohol use. High neuroticism and extraversion and low agreeableness and conscientiousness are known risk factors for both alcohol use frequency and problematic use across the lifespan. These associations have mostly been studied in the sufficient causality domain ("if X, then probably Y"), whereas little is known about these relationships in the necessary causality one ("if not X, then not Y"). Knowing that a variable is a necessary cause for an outcome helps identify who will be at risk for the outcome and who will be virtually immune. The aim of this study was to test whether personality traits in childhood, adolescence and emerging adulthood might serve as necessary conditions for problematic alcohol use in adulthood. DESIGN:The study is part of the "Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality, and Development", and it is a 23-year longitudinal study across four time points [childhood (T1), adolescence (T2), emerging adulthood (T3), adulthood (T4)]. SETTING:Flanders (Belgium). PARTICIPANTS:At T1, the total sample consisted of 306 participants (age = 7.8 ± 1.13 years, and 59.15% females), at T2 of 289 participants (age = 15.78 ± 1.16 years, 59.86% females), at T3 of 290 participants (age = 21.78 ± 1.15 years, 59.66% females) and at T4 of 306 participants (age = 30.08 ± 1.13 years, 59.15% females). MEASUREMENTS:Personality traits were assessed in childhood, adolescence and emerging adulthood using the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) and were related to problematic alcohol use, measured through the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), in adulthood. Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) was used to test whether specific traits were necessary for the outcome, and to what extent. FINDINGS:Conscientiousness emerged as a developmentally stable necessary condition for problematic alcohol use in adulthood (childhood: d = 0.31, P = 0.050; adolescence: d = 0.33, P = 0.052; emerging adulthood: d = 0.33, P = 0.023; all large effects). No other personality traits reached statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS:It is possible to identify, already in childhood and through the lifespan, personality characteristics that distinguish individuals vulnerable to developing problematic alcohol use in adulthood from those who are not. Specifically, lower levels of conscientiousness appear to be necessary to be at risk of potentially developing problematic alcohol use in adulthood, whereas high levels of conscientiousness appear to lead to virtual immunity.

Previous studies have shown that emotional dynamics, that is, moment to moment variability and inertia of emotional states, are related to depression, but have no significant contribution after their overlap with mean affect is taken into account. However, few studies considered clinical samples. In our study, we compared a sample of euthymic formerly depressed persons (n = 94) at high risk of depression recurrence and healthy controls with no history of depression (n = 56), while using ecological momentary assessment data collected 10 times per day. The samples differed with respect to indicators of negative and positive affect dynamics computed from ecological momentary assessment data. However, when jointly considering all of emotional variability, inertia, and mean affect, only emotional inertia emerged as a significant predictor of group assignment. Specifically, the higher emotional inertia of positive affect proved to be the most influential predictor of belonging to the sample of formerly depressed persons versus being a healthy control. The finding remained even after controlling for differences in depressive symptoms between the samples. These findings indicate that positive affect inertia may characterize formerly depressed persons after symptoms have subsided, potentially indicating vulnerability for recurrence of depression episodes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This study compared individuals with Restrictive Anorexia Nervosa (R-AN; n = 40), Healthy Controls (HCs; n = 45), and individuals at risk for eating disorders (RI; n = 38) using a Reinforcement Learning (RL) paradigm. Participants completed a Probabilistic Reversal Learning (PRL) task involving food-related and neutral contexts. The study examined whether RL impairments in R-AN are context-specific and whether they reflect maintaining factors or preclinical markers. R-AN participants showed reduced learning rates in food-related contexts compared to HC and RI but performed similarly in neutral contexts. Only R-AN individuals showed within-group differences between food and neutral tasks, indicating a disorder-specific impairment. The RI group performed comparably to HCs, suggesting that RL deficits are unlikely to be risk markers. These findings highlight the context-specificity of RL deficits in R-AN, which may act as maintaining factors and could be targeted to improve cognitive flexibility and food-related decision-making.

Understanding the causal mechanisms underlying the development of mental disorders and their symptoms is essential for advancing effective prevention and treatment strategies. However, research in this field has predominantly relied on sufficiency logic within a probabilistic framework, coupled with traditional statistical methods (i.e., multiple linear regression, Structural Equation Modelling, etc.) where risk factors are associated with an increased likelihood of developing a disorder. While valuable, this approach also carries inherent assumptions and limitations. Additionally, the crucial concept of causal necessity has been largely overlooked. By integrating necessity logic within a deterministic framework—where the absence of a necessary risk factor prevents the development of a disorder in nearly everyone— we propose a novel and promising approach, exemplified by Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). In this paper, we outline the theoretical foundations of NCA and illustrate its potential for advancing mental health research, with a specific application to the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. We also discuss how NCA can address critical challenges in mental health science, refine existing methodologies, and open new pathways for enhancing both research and clinical practice.

Adolescent depressive symptoms are a major global health concern, with a higher prevalence observed among females. While numerous risk factors have been identified, limited research has examined necessary conditions - factors whose absence ensures symptoms do not occur. Crucially, no prior study has explored gender differences in these necessary conditions during adolescence. To address this gap, the present study assessed 292 female adolescents (Mage = 15.23, SDage = 0.63; 72.26

BACKGROUND:Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a well-established risk factor for anxiety disorders, as higher levels of IU increase the likelihood of future maladaptive outcomes. However, the presence of low levels of IU does not imply that maladaptive outcomes will not occur, as other risk factors can still lead to the onset of anxiety symptoms. Currently, it is unknown whether IU also serves as a necessary cause for anxiety symptoms, meaning that its absence would ensure the absence of these symptoms. METHODS:A sample of 186 adolescents (58.6 % boys) between 14 and 18 years of age (M = 16.58 ± 1.01) was followed for six months, with evaluations every three months. Several self-reports were administered to measure IU and general anxiety problems, derived from the Youth Self Report 11-18, and anxiety-specific symptoms, derived from the Self-Administered Psychiatric Scales for Children and Adolescents. The Necessary Condition Analysis approach was applied to determine the extent to which IU is a necessary condition for anxiety. FINDINGS:The analyses revealed that IU is a necessary condition for anxiety problems (d =.23 -.24), generalized anxiety disorder symptoms (d =.18 -.19), social anxiety disorder symptoms (d =.19 -.29), and school-related anxiety symptoms (d =.19 -.23) after three and six months. However, IU was not a statistically significant necessary condition for separation anxiety disorder symptoms. At baseline, between 29 % and 70 % of the sample exhibited the necessary levels of IU to potentially experience subclinical anxiety symptoms at subsequent follow-ups. DISCUSSION:IU is a necessary condition for the potential development of anxiety symptoms during adolescence. Recognizing necessary conditions for anxiety symptoms and mental disorders, in general, could lead to substantial progress, given its impact on enhancing our theoretical understanding and improving prevention strategies and clinical treatments.

Eating disorder (ED) symptoms are common psychopathological manifestations, with significant impacts on quality of life, particularly among female adolescents. Despite the high mortality rates of full-blown EDs (5–20

Rates of subclinical symptoms and full-blown depression significantly increase during adolescence. Hence, understanding how multiple cognitive risk factors are related to depression in adolescence is of major importance. For this purpose, we simultaneously considered multiple cognitive vulnerabilities, as proposed by three major cognitive theories for depression, namely Beck’s cognitive theory, hopelessness theory, and response style theory. In this four-wave study, we investigated the architecture, interplay, and stability of cognitive vulnerability mechanisms, depressive symptoms, and stressors in a large group of adolescents over a period of one year (n = 469; mean age = 15 years; 64% female). Network analysis was used to shed light on the structure of cognitive vulnerabilities in a data-driven fashion. Analyses revealed that different cognitive vulnerabilities were intertwined and automatic thoughts played the role of hub node in the network. Moreover, the interplay among cognitive vulnerabilities and depressive symptoms was already markedly stable in adolescence and did not change over a 12-month period. Finally, no evidence was found that cognitive vulnerabilities interacted with stressors, as proposed by diathesis-stress models. These findings advance our understanding of multiple cognitive risk factors for depression in adolescence.

Substance addiction (SA) is a risk factor of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), although it is still unclear which SAs are reliably associated with increased risk for suicidal ideation, planning, and attempt. The current study aimed to meet this goal using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) referring to years from 2008 to 2020. The information extracted included sociodemographic and contextual information, eleven SAs (e.g., nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, pain relievers, heroin, inhalants, hallucinogens, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquillizers), and STB. The analysis revealed that SAs for alcohol, pain relievers, marijuana, and cocaine were stable and reliable predictors for STB (e.g., suicidal ideation, planning, and attempt), while cocaine was not a stable predictor for suicide attempt. The selected SAs model showed a greater predictive accuracy than only sociodemographic and contextual factors as well as not selected SAs. Moreover, selected SAs showed comparable predictive accuracy to the full model. Furthermore, SA to alcohol showed to be an extremely effective predictor of STB, having a comparable predictive accuracy to all the other ten SAs together. In conclusion, SAs to pain relievers, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine can be considered as important risk factors for concurrent STB.

OBJECTIVE:Although many factors predict adolescent depression, risks that operate as necessary conditions (ie, absence of the factor conveys absence of the outcome) have been largely unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate which psychosocial risk factors might serve as necessary conditions for future onset of depression across adolescence. METHOD:At baseline, cognitive and personality risks, symptom severity, stressful events, and past depression history were assessed among 382 adolescents (225 girls; mean age = 12.6), who were then followed over 2 years with repeated diagnostic interviews to ascertain depression onset. An innovative statistical approach in mental health research, necessary condition analysis, was applied. RESULTS:Baseline rumination (d = 0.50), stressful events (d = 0.37), depressive symptoms (d = 0.23), and self-criticism (d = 0.35) all emerged as significant necessary conditions for adolescents to be diagnosed with a depressive disorder over the subsequent 24 months. Overall, 13.5% of the sample did not show all the necessary conditions (ie, they lacked 1 or more conditions) and were therefore virtually immune from experiencing 1 or more major depressive episodes over the follow-up, and 65.5% did not meet all those conditions for experiencing 3 or more major depressive episodes (ie, recurrent depression). CONCLUSION:These findings can inform future theory building and testing as well as clinical applications via screening of necessary risk to future pediatric depression so that youth who may most benefit from effective interventions can be identified. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY:This longitudinal study explored which factors are necessary (but not sufficient) for adolescents to develop depression. Authors analyzed data from 382 adolescents over two years and found rumination, stressful events, depressive symptoms, and self-criticism to be necessary for depression to occur. Only 13.5% of participants did not report all of these "necessary" factors and were nearly immune to developing one or more major depressive episodes (MDEs) over the follow-up. Conversely, 86.5% of the participants possessed all the necessary conditions for developing a major depressive disorder with 13.2% of these participants experiencing 1 or more MDEs over the 2-year follow-up. STUDY PREREGISTRATION INFORMATION:The Necessary Conditions for Depressive Symptoms and Major Depression in Adolescence; https://osf.io/b5ced. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT:We worked to ensure race, ethnic, and/or other types of diversity in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science.

Eating Disorders (EDs) and related symptoms pose a substantial public health concern due to their widespread prevalence among both genders and associated negative outcomes, underscoring the need for effective preventive interventions. In this context, deepening our understanding of the interplay between ED symptoms and related protective factors appears crucial. Therefore, this study employed a structural network analysis approach considering both ED symptom dimensions (i.e., drive for thinness, bulimic symptoms, and body dissatisfaction) and related protective factors (i.e., body and functionality appreciation, intuitive eating, and self-esteem) to shed light on how these factors are interrelated. A community sample of 1391 individuals (34.4% men; Mage = 26.4 years) completed a socio-demographic schedule and self-report questionnaires. The network showed that the nodes with the highest positive expected influence were body and functionality appreciation, while those with the highest negative expected influence were eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and unconditional permission to eat (i.e., two components of intuitive eating). Crucially, the most relevant bridges between the conceptual communities "ED symptom dimensions" and "Protective factors" were the negative relations between (a) eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and bulimic symptoms, (b) unconditional permission to eat and drive for thinness, and (c) body appreciation and body dissatisfaction. Finally, age, gender, and body mass index did not moderate any edge in the network. The practical implications of these findings are discussed, especially in terms of preventive interventions for ED symptoms.

Background Important individual differences exist in how people respond to major stressors. Despite the key roles attributed to emotion regulation and cognitive control in resilience and vulnerability to stress, relatively few studies have directly investigated these relationships upon confrontation with major stressors, such as unemployment. Methods The current preregistered study set out to prospectively test mediational hypotheses, in which baseline cognitive control (assessed by performance on a cognitive task) and self-reported effortful control predict emotion regulation (follow-up 1), in turn predicting internalizing symptomatology or resilience (follow-up 2). Data of 84 people confronted with unemployment were analyzed using path models: one based on primary outcome measures (repetitive negative thinking and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress) and one based on secondary questionnaire outcome measures (positive thinking style and resilience). Results The results show that effortful control and cognitive control are relevant distal factors to consider when investigating emotional symptoms in the unemployed. Limitations This study has sample modest in size, so it's important to interpret the results cautiously. Conclusion The current study shows how cognitive factors and emotion regulation can contribute to emotional distress and resilience when facing unemployment.

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of depressive symptoms and the understanding of vulnerability factors that facilitate their onset is pivotal. In this study, we focused on Beck's cognitive triad, namely its three-fold structure, comprising views of the self, world, and future. Despite its crucial role in the cognitive theory of depression, the relationship between the cognitive triad and depressive symptoms in adolescence is still unclear. In our study, we adopted a meta-analytic commonality analysis approach, in order to clarify whether the three components of the triad overlap in accounting for depressive symptoms, or they show distinct profiles of association. By relying on six independent samples of early adolescents (age range = 13-14: n = 174, 66% female, n = 347, 41% female), mid adolescents (age range = 15-17: n = 304, 61% female; n = 92, 34% female), and late adolescents (age range = 18-21: n = 217, 84% female, n = 101, 56% female), we showed that the views of the self, world, and future substantially overlap in accounting for depressive symptoms, although specific areas of distinctiveness could be detected. Moreover, the association between the cognitive triad and depressive symptoms appeared to be a function of both the developmental phase and gender. Furthermore, the cognitive triad emerged as specifically related to symptoms related to negative mood, absence of positive mood, and negative appraisal of the past. These findings advance our understanding of cognitive vulnerability for depressive symptoms in adolescence.

Hopelessness is a painful cognitive state that is related to depression and suicide. Despite its importance, only unsystematic efforts have been made to specifically target hopelessness in interventions, and no comprehensive review is currently available to guide future clinical studies. In this narrative review, we first analyze the phenomenon of hopelessness, by highlighting its components (e.g., dismal expectations, blocked goal-directed processing, and helplessness), antecedents (e.g., inferential styles), and contextual factors (e.g., loneliness and reduced social support). Then, we review the currently available interventions and manipulations that target these mechanisms, either directly or indirectly, and we highlight both their strengths and lacunae. Finally, we propose possible avenues to improve our clinical toolbox for breaking the vise of hopelessness.

Compulsive sexual behavior is a phenomenon characterized by a persistent failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges, resulting in repetitive sexual behavior that causes marked distress or impairment in personal, familial, social, educational, or occupational areas of functioning. Despite its major impact on mental health and quality of life, little is known about its internal structure and whether this phenomenon differs across genders, age groups, and risk status. By considering a large online sample (n = 3186; 68.3% males), ranging from 14 to 64 years old, compulsive sexual behavior was explored by means of network analysis. State-of-the-art analytical techniques were adopted to investigate the pattern of association among the different elements of compulsive sexual behavior, identify possible communities of nodes, pinpoint the most central nodes, and detect differences between males and females, among different age groups, as well as between individuals at low and high risk of developing a full-blown disorder. The analyses revealed that the network was characterized by three communities, namely Consequence, Preoccupation, and Perceived Dyscontrol, and that the most central node was related to (perceived) impulse dyscontrol. No substantial differences were found between males and females and across age. Failing to meet one's own commitments and responsibilities was more central in individuals at high risk of developing a full-blown disorder than in those at low risk.

Comorbidity between depression and anxiety is well-established across various settings and cultures. We approached comorbidity from the network psychopathology perspective and examined the depression, anxiety/autonomic arousal and stress/tension symptoms in naturalistic clinical samples from Serbia, Italy and Croatia. This was a multisite study in which regularized partial correlation networks of the symptoms, obtained via self-reports on the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) in three cross-cultural, clinical samples (total N = 874), were compared with respect to centrality, edge weights, community structure and bridge centrality. A moderate degree of similarity in a number of network indices across the three networks was observed. While negative mood emerged to be the most central node, stress/tension nodes were the most likely bridge symptoms between depressive and anxiety/autonomic arousal symptoms. We demonstrated that the network structure and features in mixed clinical samples were similar across three different languages and cultures. The symptoms such as agitation, restlessness and inability to relax functioned as bridges across the three symptom communities explored in this study. Important theoretical and clinical implications were derived.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the defense styles in the African context by exploring their internal structure in Burkinabé individuals. Moreover, we explored how defense styles were related to sociocultural variables. Finally, we tested whether defense styles could mediate the relationship between sociocultural variables and mental well-being as well as functional disability. METHOD The study recruited 998 individuals (66.9% male; age = 25.50 ± 7.8 years) living in Burkina Faso. Standard measures for defense mechanisms, mental well-being, and functional disability were administered as a structured interview in the local vehicular language, that is, Dyula. RESULTS Principal component analysis identified three major defense styles-mature, neurotic, and immature. Gender, formal education, living area, and believing in traditional practices were associated with any of the three defense styles. Moreover, the immature style mediated the impact of sociocultural variables on specific outcomes, such as higher functional disability and lower mental well-being. The neurotic style was associated with lower functional disability, while the mature style was not associated with any of the outcome variables. CONCLUSION Our study provided preliminary support to the notion that defense styles may function similarly across cultures and they are likely reactive to the sociocultural context.