► There are marked sex differences in the neural activation underlying emotion processing. ► Ignoring sex differences in affective neuroimaging may mask meaningful results. ► Males and females likely ...use different strategies during emotional processing.
Sex differences in emotional processes represent some of the most robust sex stereotypes worldwide. However, empirical support for these stereotypes is lacking, especially from research utilizing objective measures, such as neuroimaging methodologies. We conducted a selective review of functional neuroimaging studies that have empirically tested for sex differences in the association between brain function and emotional processes (including perception, reactivity, regulation and experience). Evidence was found for marked sex differences in the neural mechanisms underlying emotional processes, and in most cases suggested that males and females use different strategies during emotional processing, which may lead to sex differences in the observed (or subjectively reported) emotional process. We discuss how these findings may offer insight into the mechanisms underlying sex differences in emotional behaviors, and outline a number of methodological considerations for future research. Importantly, results suggest that sex differences should not be ignored in research investigating the neurobiology of emotion.
Burgeoning evidence that modifiable parental factors can influence children's and adolescents' risk for depression and anxiety indicates that parents can play a crucial role in prevention of these ...disorders in their children. However, it remains unclear whether preventive interventions that are directed primarily at the parent (i.e. where the parent receives more than half of the intervention) are effective in reducing child internalizing (including both depression and anxiety) problems in the longer term.
Compared to a range of comparison conditions, parenting interventions reduced child internalizing problems, at a minimum of 6months after the intervention was delivered. Mean effects were very small for measures of internalizing and depressive symptoms, and small for measures of anxiety symptoms. Pooled effects for anxiety diagnoses were significant and indicated a number needed to treat (NNT) of 10. Pooled effects for depression diagnoses approached significance but suggested a NNT of 11. These results were based on effects reported at the longest follow-up interval for each included study, which ranged from 6months up to 15years for internalizing measures, 5.5years for depressive measures, and 11years for anxiety measures.
Our findings underscore the likely benefits of increasing parental involvement in preventing internalizing problems, particularly anxiety problems, in young people.
•Preventive parenting interventions can reduce child internalizing problems.•The effects of parenting interventions can last for up to 11years.•Preventive interventions directed primarily at parents can have long-term benefits for children.•We should increase parental involvement in preventing child internalizing problems.
Purpose
In this study, we examined whether young people’s help-seeking intentions and beliefs about the helpfulness of various sources of help are influenced by their own, and their parents’ ...stigmatising attitudes towards young people with mental disorders.
Methods
A national telephone survey was conducted with 3,746 Australians aged 12–25 years and 2,005 of their parents. Stigmatising attitudes, help-seeking intentions, and perceived helpfulness of various sources of help were assessed in relation to four vignettes of a young person with a mental disorder (psychosis, depression, depression with alcohol misuse or social phobia).
Results
Unlike ‘stigma perceived in others’, the ‘weak-not-sick’, ‘social distance’ and ‘dangerous/unpredictable’ dimensions of young people’s stigma were associated with both help-seeking intentions and helpfulness beliefs about various sources of help. Attributing mental disorder to a personal weakness rather than an illness was associated with less intention to seek help from a doctor and less positive beliefs about professional sources (including doctors, counsellors, and psychologists). In contrast, young adults aged 18–25 years who perceived the vignette character as more dangerous or unpredictable had greater intention to seek help from a psychiatrist and a helpline, and more positive beliefs about psychiatrists. Greater social distance was associated with less intention to seek help from informal sources and less positive beliefs about these sources. No consistent pattern of associations was found for parent stigma.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that different dimensions of youth stigma differentially influence help-seeking intentions and beliefs about the helpfulness of different sources of help.
Emotional inertia refers to the degree to which a person's current emotional state is predicted by their prior emotional state, reflecting how much it carries over from one moment to the next. ...Recently, in a cross-sectional study, we showed that high inertia is an important characteristic of the emotion dynamics observed in psychological maladjustment such as depression. In the present study, we examined whether emotional inertia prospectively predicts the onset of first-episode depression during adolescence. Emotional inertia was assessed in a sample of early adolescents (N = 165) based on second-to-second behavioral coding of videotaped naturalistic interactions with a parent. Greater inertia of both negative and positive emotional behaviors predicted the emergence of clinical depression 2.5 years later. The implications of these findings for the understanding of the etiology and early detection of depression are discussed.
The importance of parenting in influencing mental health outcomes, particularly depression, during childhood and adolescence is well known. However, the mechanisms are unclear. Emotion processing ...impairments in children are believed to be influenced by negative parenting behaviors and fundamental to depression. As such, investigating the association between parenting behavior and the neural underpinnings of emotion processing in children could provide fundamental clues as to the link between parenting and depression.
Eighty-six children (49 girls, mean age 10.1 years), as part of a longitudinal study, participated. Observational measures of maternal behavior were collected during 2 mother-child interactions. Children underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing an implicit emotion-processing task, and measures of child internalizing symptoms were collected.
Maternal negative behavior exhibited during an event-planning interaction was associated with decreased activation in the lingual gyrus in girls, whereas maternal negative behavior during a problem-solving interaction was associated with increased amygdala activation in the entire sample during processing of angry and fearful faces. Maternal communicative behavior during the 2 mother-child interactions was associated with increased activity in the bilateral middle orbitofrontal cortex in the entire sample. Negative behavior during the problem-solving interaction was associated with connectivity between the amygdala and superior parietal lobe. Brain activity/connectivity was not related to internalizing symptoms.
Results suggest that, in children, maternal behavior could be associated with activity in brain regions involved in emotion processing. However, more research is needed to elucidate the link among parenting, emotion processing, and depressive symptoms in young people.
Background and aims
Adolescent alcohol misuse is a growing global health concern. Substantial research suggests that parents have an important role in reducing young people's risk for early ...initiation of alcohol and alcohol‐related harms. To facilitate research translation, we conducted a systematic review and meta‐analyses of longitudinal studies examining the range of modifiable parenting factors that are associated with adolescent alcohol initiation and levels of later use/misuse.
Methods
A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO and Embase. Studies were included if they (i) used a longitudinal design; (ii) were published in English; (iii) measured any modifiable parenting factors in adolescence as predictors; (iv) assessed any alcohol‐related outcome variables in adolescence and/or alcohol‐related problems in adulthood; and (v) had a follow‐up interval of at least 1 year. Parental behaviours were categorized into 12 parenting factors. Stouffer's P analyses were used to determine whether the associations between variables were reliable; when there were sufficient studies available, meta‐analyses were also conducted to estimate mean effect sizes.
Results
Based on 131 studies, three risk factors (parental provision of alcohol, favourable parental attitudes towards alcohol use and parental drinking) and four protective factors (parental monitoring, parent–child relationship quality, parental support and parental involvement) were identified as longitudinal predictors of both alcohol initiation and levels of later alcohol use/misuse, based on their significant results in both Stouffer's P analyses and meta‐analyses. The mean effect sizes were mainly small (rs = −0.224 to 0.263).
Conclusions
Risk of adolescent alcohol misuse is positively associated with parental provision of alcohol, favourable parental attitudes towards alcohol use and parental drinking. It is negatively associated with parental monitoring, parent–child relationship quality, parental support and parental involvement.
Sleep problems are prevalent during adolescence, but parents may be able to support adolescents to sleep better. A systematic search of records from six databases from inception up to November 2019, ...identified 103 peer-reviewed publications that examined behaviourally and cognitively modifiable parental factors associated with sleep in adolescents aged 12–18 years. Although included studies were largely cross-sectional and heterogeneous, with heavy reliance on self-reported measures, associations with sound, convergent levels of evidence were found for: 1) parental rule-setting for bedtimes and parent sleep behaviours with longer sleep duration in adolescents; 2) healthy parent sleep and family functioning with better adolescent sleep quality; and 3) parental warmth with better adolescent daytime functioning. Effect sizes were in the small to moderate range. The identified parental factors are recommended targets for inclusion in parenting programs to support adolescent sleep, however, would require validation in intervention studies. Opportunities for research are outlined for the identified parental factors, sleep domains with limited evidence, and better understanding the mechanisms or possible moderators in the associations between parental factors and sleep outcomes.
School refusal is a complex problem that refers to difficulty attending/remaining at school due to emotional distress about attendance. Despite its occurrence being associated with negative outcomes, ...many are unresponsive to the current treatment options. While parent factors have a key role to play in school refusal, they are not adequately addressed in existing treatments. Further research is needed to consolidate understanding and implement new treatments. Employing the PRISMA method, this review aims to identify modifiable parent factors associated with child and/or adolescent school refusal. Eight studies met inclusion criteria from which nine factors were identified. Factors found to be associated with school refusal included: parent psychopathology, family functioning and maternal overprotection (communication subdomain). Other factors such as maternal overprotection (affection, assistance and travel subdomains) and parental self-efficacy had weak or inconsistent results warranting further investigation. Overall, findings call for action in this field that has sparse and dated literature.
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