Individual differences in brain structure and self-reported empathy in children.

Empathy refers to the understanding and sharing of others' emotions and comprises cognitive and affective components. Empathy is important for social functioning, and alterations in empathy have been demonstrated in many developmental or psychiatric disorders. While several studies have examined associations between empathy and brain structure in adults, few have investigated this relationship in children.

Parent and Peer Attachments in Adolescence and Paternal Postpartum Mental Health: Findings From the ATP Generation 3 Study.

When adolescent boys experience close, secure relationships with their parents and peers, the implications are potentially far reaching, including lower levels of mental health problems in adolescence and young adulthood. Here we use rare prospective intergenerational data to extend our understanding of the impact of adolescent attachments on subsequent postpartum mental health problems in early fatherhood. At age 17-18 years, we used an abbreviated Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment to assess trust, communication, and alienation reported by 270 male participants in their relationships with mothers, fathers, and peers.

Associations between cognitive and affective empathy and internalizing symptoms in late childhood.

Background: Empathy is a multidimensional construct, which includes cognitive and affective components. Studies in adults have demonstrated that both cognitive and affective empathy are associated with anxious and depressive symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine these associations in childhood.

Structural Brain Development and Aggression: A Longitudinal Study in Late Childhood.

This longitudinal study examined the neurodevelopmental correlates of aggression in children, focusing on structural brain properties. A community sample of 110 (60 females) children participated at age 8 years and again at age 10 years. Brain structure was assessed by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and parents reported on child aggression using the Child Behavior Checklist.

Parenting × Brain Development interactions as predictors of adolescent depressive symptoms and well-being: Differential susceptibility or diathesis-stress?

It is unclear how individual differences in parenting and brain development interact to influence adolescent mental health outcomes. This study examined interactions between structural brain development and observed maternal parenting behavior in the prediction of adolescent depressive symptoms and psychological well-being. Whether findings supported diathesis-stress or differential susceptibility frameworks was tested.

Exploratory Factor Analysis of Observational Parent-Child Interaction Data.

The majority of studies using observational coding systems for family interaction data derive scales describing family members' behaviors based on rational/theoretical approaches. This study explored an empirical approach to identifying the component structure of parent-child observational data that incorporated the affective context of the interaction. Dyads of 155 typically developing 8-year-olds and their mothers completed questionnaires and two interaction tasks, one each designed to illicit positive and negative interactions.