How and why do internalizing and externalizing problems, psychopathological problems from different diagnostic classes representing separate forms of psychopathology, co-occur in children? We ...investigated the development of pure and co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems from ages 2 to 12 with the use of latent class growth analysis. Furthermore, we examined how early childhood factors (temperament, cognitive functioning, maternal depression, and home environment) and early adolescent social and behavioral adjustment variables were related to differential trajectories of pure and co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems. The sample (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care) consisted of 1,232 children (52% male). Mother reports on the Child Behavior Checklist (
Achenbach, 1991
,
1992
) were used to construct the trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems. Analyses identified groups of children exhibiting pure and co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems. Children exhibiting continuous externalizing or continuous co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems across the 10-year period under investigation were more likely to (a) engage in risky behaviors, (b) be associated with deviant peers, (c) be rejected by peers, and (d) be asocial with peers at early adolescence. However, children exhibiting pure internalizing problems over time were only at higher risk for being asocial with peers as early adolescents. Moreover, the additive effects of individual and environmental early childhood risk factors influenced the development of chronic externalizing problems, although pure internalizing problems were uniquely influenced by maternal depression. Results also provided evidence for the concepts of equifinality and multifinality.
The aim of this study is to examine the role of repeated exposure to rocket attacks in the links between personality vulnerability (dependency and self-criticism) and internalizing/externalizing ...psychopathology. A main-effect vulnerability model (personality leads to psychopathology) was compared with a main-effect scarring model (psychopathology leads to personality vulnerability). Also, a stress-diathesis pattern (personality vulnerability is activated under stress) was compared to a dual-vulnerability pattern (either personality vulnerability or stress, but not both, lead to psychopathology). Israeli adolescents (N = 362) repeatedly exposed to rocket attacks were assessed annually over 3 years. In 2008 and 2010, personality and psychopathology were assessed. Cumulative exposure was measured as the sums of exposure across the three assessment waves. Theoretical models were tested via Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Structural Equation Modeling analyses. Baseline dependency and self-criticism were associated with an increase in anxiety, whereas baseline depression was associated with an increase in dependency. Under low, not high, levels of rocket exposure, self-criticism and depression were longitudinally associated. Violence commission was associated with an increase in dependency under high, not low, cumulative exposure. Results are consistent with both scarring and vulnerability models, and with both stress-diathesis and dual-vulnerability patterns of adolescent risk and resilience.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Even though this study used a relatively large and diverse sample, replication of DRD2 moderation in even larger samples is an important next step.
•Children exposed to maternal depression tend to have shorter telomeres and more adverse somatic and psychological problems.•Having greater genetic sensitivity to early-caregiving experiences like maternal depression may explain why some children are more strongly affected.•Exposure to maternal depression was not significantly associated with shorter child telomere length during middle childhood.•The association between maternal depression and child telomere length was not moderated by children's DRD2 genotype.•The present study uses a large sample of racially and ethnically diverse families, and many families were unmarried.
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.
We describe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific T cell responses, soluble markers of inflammation, and antibody levels and neutralization capacity longitudinally in ...70 individuals with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants represent a spectrum of illness and recovery, including some with persistent viral shedding in saliva and many experiencing post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). T cell responses remain stable for up to 9 months. Whereas the magnitude of early CD4+ T cell immune responses correlates with severity of initial infection, pre-existing lung disease is independently associated with higher long-term SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell responses. Among participants with PASC 4 months following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptom onset, we observe a lower frequency of CD8+ T cells expressing CD107a, a marker of degranulation, in response to Nucleocapsid (N) peptide pool stimulation, and a more rapid decline in the frequency of N-specific interferon-γ-producing CD8+ T cells. Neutralizing antibody levels strongly correlate with SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell responses.
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•The magnitude of early CD4+ T cell responses correlates with severity of COVID-19•Prior lung disease correlates with higher SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell responses•PASC is associated with a decline in N-specific interferon-γ-producing CD8+ T cells•Neutralizing capacity correlates with SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell responses
CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses following natural infection with COVID-19 are stable over 8 months. Individuals with PASC demonstrate a lower frequency of CD8+ T cells expressing CD107a, a marker of degranulation, and a more rapid decline in the frequency of N-specific interferon-γ-producing CD8+ T cells.
As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues, reports have demonstrated neurologic sequelae following COVID-19 recovery. Mechanisms to explain long-term neurological sequelae are unknown and need to be ...identified. Plasma from 24 individuals recovering from COVID-19 at 1 to 3 months after initial infection were collected for cytokine and antibody levels and neuronal-enriched extracellular vesicle (nEV) protein cargo analyses. Plasma cytokine IL-4 was increased in all COVID-19 participants. Volunteers with self-reported neurological problems (nCoV,
= 8) had a positive correlation of IL6 with age or severity of the sequalae, at least one co-morbidity and increased SARS-CoV-2 antibody compared to those COVID-19 individuals without neurological issues (CoV,
= 16). Protein markers of neuronal dysfunction including amyloid beta, neurofilament light, neurogranin, total tau, and p-T181-tau were all significantly increased in the nEVs of all participants recovering from COVID-19 compared to historic controls. This study suggests ongoing peripheral and neuroinflammation after COVID-19 infection that may influence neurological sequelae by altering nEV proteins. Individuals recovering from COVID-19 may have occult neural damage while those with demonstrative neurological symptoms additionally had more severe infection. Longitudinal studies to monitor plasma biomarkers and nEV cargo are warranted to assess persistent neurodegeneration and systemic effects.
The authors compared the protective effects of 3 sources of perceived social support-from family members, friends, and school personnel-on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescents ...exposed to rocket attacks. Data were based on 362 Israeli adolescents (median age = 14), chronically exposed to rockets from the Gaza Strip, for whom robust effects of exposure on internalizing and externalizing symptoms were reported during the 2009-2010 period (Henrich & Shahar, 2013). New analyses revealed that perceived family social support assessed in 2009 buffered against the effect of exposure to rocket attacks on depression, aggression, and severe violence during 2009-2010. Findings are consistent with a human-ecological perspective exposure to political violence and encourage the employment of family-based preventive interventions in afflicted areas.
The current study investigates the longitudinal association, across a 1-year period, between self-esteem and narcissism with bullying and peer victimization. The sample consisted of 1,416 (50.1% ...girls) Greek Cypriot early adolescents (M age = 12.89) who completed a battery of self-report measures. The small correlation found between self-esteem and narcissism suggests that the two constructs are distinct from one another. Results from the Hierarchical Linear Regression analyses suggested that the combination of low self-esteem (i.e., fragile self-concept) with high narcissism (i.e., grandiose self-view) may contribute to the continuation of both bullying and victimization. Person-centered analyses clarified narcissism predicted membership into “bully” and “bully-victim” groups, although “bullies” were distinguished by low self-esteem when compared with uninvolved children. Current findings can help provide an explanation of the inconsistency reported in the literature in terms of the association between self-esteem and bullying behavior, in that low self-esteem is more strongly associated with bullying for narcissistic youth.
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