Background: Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation (DNAm), can play a role in the biological embedding of early-life adversity (ELA) through serotonergic mechanisms. The current study examines methylation of the CpG island in the promoter region of the stress-responsive serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) and is the first to jointly assess how it is influenced by ELA severity, timing, and type-specifically, deprivation and threat.
Methods: We use data from 627 Youth Emotion Project study participants, recruited from two US high schools.
Landmark studies have shown decreased coherence between different emotion response systems (e.g., physiology and facial expressions) in people with psychosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Peer victimization predicts the development of mental health symptoms in the transition to adolescence, but it is unclear whether and how parents and school environments can buffer this link.
Methods: We analyzed two-year longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, involving a diverse sample of 11 844 children across the United States (average at baseline = 9.91 years; standard deviation = 0.
Purpose: Poor sleep is associated with short-term dysregulation of mood and is a risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD). This study examines whether objectively measured sleep in late adolescence prospectively predicts major depressive episode (MDE) onset in early adulthood as well as whether daily affect mediates this association.
Methods: The present study draws on subjective and objective sleep data, ecological momentary assessment, and diagnostic data from the longitudinal Youth Emotion Project to examine whether: a) short sleep predicts dysregulated ecological momentary assessment-measured mood the next day; b) sleep predicts depressive episodes over the subsequent 5 years; and c) dysregulated daily moods mediate the associations between short sleep and later MDD.
Putting feelings into words is often thought to be beneficial. Few studies, however, have examined associations between natural emotion word use and cardiovascular reactivity. This laboratory-based study examined emotion word use (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParent-child relationships are hotbeds of emotion and play a key role in mental health. The present proof-of-concept study examined facial expressions of emotion during adolescent-parent interactions and links with internalizing mental health symptoms. Neutral, negative, and positive facial expressions were objectively measured in 28 parent-adolescent dyads during three 10-min dyadic interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen confronted with an emotion prototype (e.g., loss), individuals may experience not only target emotions (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes to the daily lives of U.S. adolescents, including isolation from friends and extended family, transition to remote learning, potential illness and death of loved ones, and economic distress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHow individuals regulate emotions in the face of loss has important consequences for well-being and health, but we know little about which emotion regulation strategies are most effective for older adults for whom loss is ubiquitous. The present laboratory-based study examined effects of three emotion regulation strategies (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStress during pregnancy affects maternal health and well-being, as well as the health and well-being of the next generation, in part through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Although most studies have focused solely on proximal experiences (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF