Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology最新文献

Caregiver strain influences service utilization and engagement. Prior work-largely centered on boys-shows that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) strongly contribute to strain; however, less is known about these relations in girls. This study examined associations between youth psychopathology symptom dimensions (ADHD, ODD, borderline personality features [BPF], a problem more commonly identified in girls) and caregiver strain facets (objective, subjective internalized, subjective externalized, total strain) among caregivers of 10- to 15-year-old girls (N = 197, M_age = 12.06), and whether these associations changed over one year. ADHD, ODD, BPF, and subjective externalized strain increased over time (ΔM_range = 0.03-0.36, 95% CIs [0.02, 0.50], p ≤ .007, d = 0.06-0.15), whereas total and subjective internalized strain decreased (ΔM_range = - 0.19 to - 0.05, 95% CIs [-0.21, - 0.03], p < .001, d = 0.08-0.24). All psychopathology dimensions were positively associated with each caregiver strain facet, concurrently and longitudinally. Linear mixed models revealed positive, facet-specific main effects: ADHD, ODD, and BPF on total and subjective internalized strain; ADHD and BPF on objective strain; and ODD and BPF on subjective externalized strain. A Time × ADHD interaction indicated a weakening association between ADHD and objective strain over time (b = - 0.24, 95% CI [-0.43, - 0.05], p_FDR = 0.022), whereas Time × ODD interactions indicated strengthening associations with total, objective, and subjective externalized strain (b_range = 0.25-0.27, 95% CIs [0.05, 0.48], p_FDR ≤ 0.032). Findings underscore domain-specific and developmentally dynamic associations between youth psychopathology and caregiver strain in families of adolescent girls.

Cognitive models of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) propose that traumatic events are encoded in fragmented, sensory-rich, and poorly contextualised memories that maintain PTSD symptoms. Although this hypothesis has received support in adults, evidence in children and adolescents remains limited, methodologically heterogeneous, and largely restricted to high-income, English-speaking settings. We pooled data from 407 children and adolescents exposed to trauma (6-17 years) recruited from emergency departments in South Africa and the United Kingdom. A month after their traumatic experience, participants were asked to recall their traumatic event and completed self-report measures of trauma memory quality and PTSD symptoms. Trauma narratives were transcribed, and indices of coherence and sensory valence were derived using three narrative-based approaches. We examined the validity of narrative-derived indices with self-reported memory quality, their associations with concurrent PTSD symptoms, and whether these patterns varied across cultural context and age. Across both cultural contexts, self-reported trauma memory qualities were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. By contrast, narrative-derived indices showed no convergence with the corresponding self-report measures and did not meaningfully predict PTSD symptoms. Limited age-related differences were observed: in the South African sample, self-reported trauma memory characteristics were associated with PTSD only among older youth, whereas in the UK sample, they were predictive across age groups. In children and adolescents exposed to trauma, commonly used narrative-based indices of memory disorganisation and sensory content have no construct validity nor clinical utility for predicting PTSD. In contrast, self-report measures of trauma memory features emerge as a reliable and cross-culturally valid indicator of PTSD symptomatology.

Identifying the strategies adolescents use to manage mental health challenges can offer important insights into factors protecting against more severe difficulties. Yet little is known about adolescent-specific strategies to manage these challenges. To address this gap, we created an innovative online tool in which adolescents could share how they manage specific mental health challenges, that is, symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention, conduct problems, and emotional problems, and in which they could rate perceived helpfulness of their strategies. The first study, during the pandemic, investigated a community sample of 218 adolescents aged 16 to 19. Inductive analysis uncovered 51 strategies, some mirroring established emotion regulation or coping strategies, while others were novel. Strategies varied across symptoms; quantitative analyses indicated that the most frequently used strategies were considered helpful. To check for robustness, we performed a second study after the pandemic in an independent community sample of 118 adolescents aged 16-20. This study largely replicated the first study findings, suggesting that strategies used and rated as helpful during the pandemic were also used and rated helpful after it. In addition, the second study investigated whether perceived helpfulness was related to the specific goal of a strategy: problem solving or cognitive or experiential avoidance, which proved not to be the case. These two studies thus shed light on the wide array of adolescent-specific and symptom-specific strategies that adolescents find helpful. They offer valuable insights for designing prevention programs that may protect against more severe difficulties, as they resonate with adolescents' unique lives and needs.

Episodic future thinking (EFT), the mental projection of oneself forward in time to pre-experience a future event, is an everyday yet consequential cognitive process relevant for hopelessness and suicidal ideation (SI). Despite its multifaceted nature, no study has examined patterns of various EFT characteristics among hopeless and suicidal individuals, particularly youth. This secondary analysis of Cha et al. (2024) adopted for the first time a person-centered approach to identify four latent classes, each, of positive and negative EFT among 151 community-based adolescents based on subjective characteristics of their imagined future events. Positive and negative EFT classes were distinguished by different subjective characteristics. Imagining less vivid positive future events with emotional detachment statistically predicted higher hopelessness at baseline. Imagining negative future events with a perseverative quality (i.e., previously imagined, ambiguous in likelihood) predicted higher SI severity both at baseline and 6 months later. Our findings suggest positive and negative EFT are not mere opposites of each other, and the relationship between EFT and psychological outcomes may depend on the particular features assessed.

Prior research in pediatric OCD has addressed sensory processing characteristics and executive functions (EF), typically within separate lines of investigation. This study examined the interrelationships among OCD symptom severity, sensory processing characteristics, and performance-based EF in adolescents with OCD and assessed whether sensory processing and symptom severity are associated with executive outcomes. One hundred adolescents aged 12-18 years meeting DSM-5 criteria exclusively for OCD were assessed. Symptom severity was measured with the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), sensory processing with the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP), and EF with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT), Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT), and Verbal Fluency Tests (VFT). Associations were examined using bivariate correlations and multivariate linear regression models. CY-BOCS Total scores were moderately correlated with AASP Sensory Sensitivity and Sensory Avoiding, and weakly with Low Registration. Greater OCD symptom severity was associated with poorer WCST performance and longer CCTT-2 completion time, whereas no significant associations emerged with Stroop completion times or VFTs. In regression models, higher CY-BOCS Total scores were independently associated with poorer WCST indices and longer CCTT-2 completion time, whereas AASP subscales were not independently associated with executive outcomes. These findings suggest that sensory processing characteristics are associated with OCD symptom severity and that OCD symptom severity is independently linked to cognitive flexibility-related EF performance in adolescents with OCD. Further longitudinal and case-control studies including healthy and clinical comparison groups are needed to determine the direction, specificity, and clinical significance of these associations.

Immune-related problems have been implicated in mental health disorders, yet their role in youth remains unclear. This study examined (a) the prevalence of perinatal risk factors and allergic conditions in youth receiving psychiatric care, (b) the association between these risks, and (c) their combined impact on psychosocial functioning. Participants included 2,193 children and adolescents (ages 6-17; M = 11.52, SD = 3.35). Parent-reported questionnaires assessed perinatal risks, allergic conditions, and psychosocial symptoms. Perinatal risks were reported in 31% and allergic conditions in 20% of the sample. No significant association emerged between the two risk domains. However, allergic conditions were linked to elevated internalizing symptoms. For externalizing symptoms, an effect of allergic conditions was only found in those with perinatal risks. Findings support the immuno-psychiatry framework, indicating that allergic conditions, particularly in combination with early-life risk, may contribute to psychosocial difficulties in clinically referred youth. Implications for early intervention are discussed.

Conduct problems emerge early in childhood and can lead to severe maladjustment across the lifespan if not appropriately managed. These problems are highly prevalent in school settings, yet educators reportedly struggle to manage them. When conduct problems co-occur with callous-unemotional (CU) traits, risk for severe, persistent disruptive behavior and academic underachievement increases, necessitating targeted management strategies. The current study evaluated a brief internet-delivered positive classroom management training (iPCMT), informed by the principles and strategies of home- and school-implemented parent management training programs, including those targeting CU traits. Of the 275 elementary school educators that were randomly assigned to either the Immediate-iPCMT condition (n = 137) or the Waitlist Control condition (n = 138), 228 educators (Mean age = 40.22, 86.1% female-identifying) were included in the final intent-to-treat analyses. At post-intervention, the final educator sample showed significant improvement in their knowledge of conduct problems, but this gain was not maintained for the 28.1% of educators who participated in the 5-week follow-up. Educators who nominated a disruptive student also reported significant decreases in student-educator conflict, but no significant improvements in student-educator closeness, student conduct problems, or student CU traits. Acceptability and feasibility ratings among participants who completed iPCMT were high, but there was a high overall attrition rate. Although iPCMT requires further refinement to increase participant retention and effectiveness, it may serve as a starting point for further research on developing educators' knowledge of heterogeneous conduct problems. More research is also needed to test the effects of iPCMT in the longer-term, with multi-method outcome measures.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant public health concern among adolescents. Yet, the longitudinal mechanisms linking depressive symptoms to NSSI—particularly the role of emotion dysregulation and potential sex differences—remain insufficiently understood. This study examined whether difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) serve as a within-person mediator in the longitudinal association between depressive symptoms and NSSI, and whether this indirect pathway differs between male and female adolescents. We analyzed three-wave longitudinal data collected from 1,555 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.97 ± 1.53; 47.85% girls) at six-month intervals. A Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) was employed to disentangle within-person fluctuations from stable between-person differences, thereby providing a rigorous test of temporal dynamics. The results revealed a significant temporally ordered mediation pathway at the within-person level: increases in depressive symptoms predicted subsequent elevations in emotion dysregulation, which in turn predicted an increased risk of NSSI. Notably, multi-group analyses indicated that this indirect effect was significant only among female adolescents; for males, no significant mediation was observed. These findings identify emotion dysregulation as a key, sex-specific mechanism through which depressive symptoms translate into NSSI behavior over time, with a small but meaningful indirect effect (β = 0.03) at the within-person level. The results underscore the importance of targeting emotion regulation skills in interventions for adolescents with depressive symptoms, and suggest that sex-informed approaches may enhance the efficacy of prevention and early intervention efforts for NSSI.

Socioemotional skills are essential for healthy development, shaping emotional health, interpersonal functioning, and long-term academic success. Disruptions in socioemotional development can emerge as early as infancy and may have lasting consequences. This study examined how prenatal maternal emotion dysregulation, assessed via self-report and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), related to toddler socioemotional outcomes at 18 months, and whether maternal mindfulness, measured via everyday mindful attention and awareness, moderated these associations. Participants were 385 mother-toddler dyads from a longitudinal study on maternal emotion dysregulation. Toddler socioemotional outcomes were assessed at 18 months through parent report. We tested associations between maternal emotion dysregulation and toddler outcomes, with mindfulness examined as a moderator. Findings suggest that higher self-reported maternal emotion dysregulation is associated with toddler socioemotional difficulties (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and dysregulation), while higher prenatal baseline RSA predicts greater toddler competence. Additionally, maternal mindfulness moderated these associations, amplifying the positive association between prenatal RSA and toddler competence and the negative association between self-reported prenatal emotion dysregulation and competence. These findings underscore the critical role of maternal well-being during pregnancy and highlight that prenatal mindful attention and awareness plays a role in toddler socioemotional development.

Although emotion socialization during preschool years is well studied, how mother-child mutual emotional responses unfold in naturalistic contexts remains largely unknown. This pilot study examined within-dyad associations between children’s emotion expressions and maternal socialization behaviors, and the moderating effects of maternal depressive symptoms and child negative emotionality. Forty mother-child dyads participated (42.5% girls; Mage = 5.16 years). Across two consecutive weekend days, mothers completed ecological momentary assessments 12 times, reporting children’s positive and negative emotion expressions, the intensity of child peak negative expressions, and their own emotion coaching (EC) and emotion dismissing (ED) behaviors. Children’s peak negative emotion was associated with mothers’ use of EC and ED, and the peak negative emotion and EC link was moderated by child negative emotionality. Maternal EC/ED also predicted children’s subsequent positive and/or negative emotion expressions, and the association between maternal ED and child negative expressions was further moderated by maternal depressive symptoms or child negative emotionality. Using an ecologically valid, real-time assessment approach, this study explored how the mother-child emotion socialization process unfolds in everyday life. Findings highlight the negative impact of maternal ED on children’s emotional experiences and highlight the potential value of early interventions targeting parental ED behaviors.