Early-life threat and deprivation: Are children similarly affected by exposure to each?

Extensive evidence documents negative consequences of adversity for children's development. Here, we extend such work by looking beyond average effects to consider variation in susceptibility to both threat and deprivation in terms of cognitive and social-emotional development, using an influence-statistic methodology. Data come from the ongoing Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 14,541, 49.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and bullying victimization from childhood to adolescence - A within-person cross-lagged approach.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and subclinical symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentiveness coincide with an increased risk of peer victimization. What remains unclear are the developmental dynamics of these associations. In a sample drawn from two Norwegian birth cohorts ( = 872; 49.

The nature of nurture: Darwinian and mendelian perspectives.

Two perspectives on the nature of nurture are reviewed, one Mendelian and the other Darwinian, in an effort to draw links between the two and, thereby, integrate them in a developmental modern synthesis, mirroring the one that took place in biology early in the last century. Thus, the heritability of environmental measures and gene-X-environment interaction are discussed with respect to Mendelian nature before turning attention to Darwinian nature and thus the development of reproductive strategies and differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Conclusions are drawn with respect to both frameworks indicating that it is time to abandon the biology-is-destiny resistance to both approaches to studying and thinking about development, especially when it comes to the nature of nurture.

Prenatal programming of environmental sensitivity.

According to several theories, people differ in their sensitivity to environmental influences with some more susceptible than others to both supportive and adverse contextual conditions. Such differences in environmental sensitivity have a genetic basis but are also shaped by environmental factors. Herein we narratively build on our previous work proposing that prenatal experiences contribute to the development of environmental sensitivity.

Parents' differential susceptibility to a "micro" parenting intervention: Rationale and study protocol for a randomized controlled microtrial.

Background: Given evidence that parenting can influence children's development, parenting interventions are often the strategy of choice when it comes to treating children's disruptive behavior problems-or preventing problems from developing in the first place. What remains under appreciated, however, is that some parents appear to be more responsive to interventions to foster skilled parenting than others. Notable in this regard is the ever-increasing observational and, perhaps more importantly, experimental evidence indicating that some children prove more susceptible to parenting interventions than others.

Childhood sexual abuse and pervasive problems across multiple life domains: Findings from a five-decade study.

The aim of this study was to use longitudinal population-based data to examine the associations between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and risk for adverse outcomes in multiple life domains across adulthood. In 937 individuals followed from birth to age 45y, we assessed associations between CSA (retrospectively reported at age 26y) and the experience of 22 adverse outcomes in seven domains (physical, mental, sexual, interpersonal, economic, antisocial, multi-domain) from young adulthood to midlife (26 to 45y). Analyses controlled for sex, socioeconomic status, prospectively reported child harm and household dysfunction adverse childhood experiences, and adult sexual assault, and considered different definitions of CSA.

Neural correlates of face familiarity in institutionalised children and links to attachment disordered behaviour.

Background: One of the most well-documented sequelae of early maltreatment and institutionalisation is attachment problems, including behaviours under the labels of reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED). Despite growing evidence of the neurobiological effects of institutionalisation, the neural correlates of these behavioural patterns are largely unknown.

Methods: The current study examined effects of both institutionalisation in general and attachment disordered behaviour, in particular, on brain-based markers of face processing, in 100 Portuguese children (70 currently institutionalised, 30 continuously raised by their families).

Cumulative risk exposure and child cellular aging in a Dutch low-risk community sample.

One of the proposed mechanisms linking childhood stressor exposure to negative mental and physical health outcomes in later life is cellular aging. In this prospective, longitudinal, and pre-registered study, we examined the association between a cumulative pattern of childhood risk exposure from age 6 to age 10 (i.e.

Reciprocal Relations Between Conflicted Student-teacher Relationship and Children's Behavior Problems: Within-person Analyses from Norway and the USA.

Current evidence suggests that conflicted student-teacher relationships may increase behavior problems in children and vice-versa, but this may be due to confounding. We therefore analyzed their relation applying a within-person approach that adjusts for all time-invariant confounding effects, involving samples from Norway (n = 964, 50.9% females) and the USA (n = 1,150, 48.

Attachment insecurity and the biological embedding of reproductive strategies: Investigating the role of cellular aging.

Evolutionary-developmental psychologists have posited that individuals who grow up in stressful rearing circumstances follow faster life history strategies, thereby increasing their chances of reproduction. This preregistered study tested this stress-acceleration hypothesis in a low-risk longitudinal sample of 193 Dutch mother-child dyads, by investigating whether infant-mother attachment insecurity at 12 months of age predicted earlier pubertal onset and more callous-unemotional traits, aggression and risk-taking about a decade later. Also evaluated were the possible mediating roles of two biomarkers of accelerated aging (i.

Parental history of positive development and child behavior in next generation offspring: A two-cohort prospective intergenerational study.

This study examined whether positive development (PD) in adolescence and young adulthood predicts offspring behavior in two Australasian intergenerational cohorts. The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study assessed PD at age 19-28 (years 2002-2010) and behavior in 1165 infants (12-18 months; 608 girls) of 694 Australian-born parents (age 29-35; 2012-2019; 399 mothers). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Parenting Study assessed PD at age 15-18 (years 1987-1991) and behavior in 695 preschoolers (3-5 years; 349 girls) and their New Zealand born parents (age 21-46; 1994-2018; 363 mothers; 89% European ethnicity).

Indirect effects, via parental factors, of income harshness and unpredictability on kindergarteners' socioemotional functioning.

Drawing on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort ( = 10,700), we evaluate indirect effects - via parent negative psychology and harsh-inconsistent parenting - of income harshness, unpredictability, and their interaction on kindergarteners' socioemotional development. Income harshness is operationalized as the typical level of family income-to-needs across four repeated measurements from 9 months to kindergarten and unpredictability as random variation across the same repeated measurements. Results indicate that the effects of greater income harshness and the harshness-X-unpredictability interaction (reflecting more predictable income harshness) on more "problematic" child behavior operated via both parent negative psychology (i.

Why and how does early adversity influence development? Toward an integrated model of dimensions of environmental experience.

Two extant frameworks - the harshness-unpredictability model and the threat-deprivation model - attempt to explain dimensions of adversity have distinct influences on development. These models address, respectively, based on a history of natural selection, development operates the way it does across a range of environmental contexts, and the neural mechanisms that underlie plasticity and learning in response to environmental experiences influence brain development. Building on these frameworks, we advance an integrated model of dimensions of environmental experience, focusing on threat-based forms of harshness, deprivation-based forms of harshness, and environmental unpredictability.

Testing the empirical integration of threat-deprivation and harshness-unpredictability dimensional models of adversity.

Recent dimensional models of adversity informed by a neurobiological deficit framework highlights threat and deprivation as core dimensions, whereas models informed by an evolutionary, adaptational and functional framework calls attention to harshness and unpredictability. This report seeks to evaluate an integrative model of threat, deprivation, and unpredictability, drawing on the Fragile Families Study. Confirmatory factor analysis of presumed multiple indicators of each construct reveals an adequate three-factor structure of adversity.

Individual differences in timing of susceptibility to adverse effects of family dysfunction.

Do adolescents vary in the timing of their susceptibility to family-related adversity? Does early exposure to family dysfunction affect later adolescent plasticity? To address these two questions an influence statistic, DFBETAS, was used to capture degree to which 605,344 Danish children (294,479 females, 5.21% immigrants; race/ethnicity information not available in Danish registry) appeared susceptible to the adverse effects of household dysfunction measured annually at ages 0-5 and 13-18 on problematic development at age 18-19. Degree of susceptibility to family-adversity effects proved generally consistent across periods (γ = 0.

Genetic sensitivity predicts long-term psychological benefits of a relationship education program for married couples.

Objective: Relationship education programs have proven effective in promoting relationship quality and preventing divorce among married couples. However, according to theories of , people differ for genetic reasons in their sensitivity to environmental influences with some more affected by both negative and positive experiences, including psychological interventions.

Method: Here we test in two studies whether the positive effects of the established (PREP) are moderated by two different polygenic scores (PGS) for environmental sensitivity, one based on nine established candidate genes and one based on several thousand variants across the genome, derived from recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) results.

Parenting, Peers and Psychosocial Adjustment: Are the Same-or Different-Children Affected by Each?

The prospective research presented herein extends work on parent and peer effects on adolescent psychosocial adjustment by looking beyond average effects. Instead, it considers variation in susceptibility to each source of influence in order to assess the extent to which those individuals most and least susceptible to parent effects are similarly-or differentially-susceptible to peer effects. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1364, 48.

Beyond early years versus adolescence: The interactive effect of adversity in both periods on life-course development.

Developmental scholars, parents, and policymakers alike have long heralded the opening years of life as disproportionately influential. Recent work on adolescence has revealed, however, greater influence of these later years-but without considering how experience during these two periods interact. We address this issue by studying adverse experiences (e.

Beyond orchids and dandelions: Susceptibility to environmental influences is not bimodal.

This study focused on generality versus specificity of susceptibility of effects of eight family and child-care exposures measured between 3 and 54 months of age (e.g., sensitive parenting, child-care quality) on five child development outcomes assessed at age 4.

Environmental harshness and unpredictability: Do they affect the same parents and children?

Differential susceptibility theory stipulates that individuals vary in their susceptibility to environmental effects, often implying that the same individuals differ in the same way in their susceptibility to different environmental exposures. The latter point is addressed herein by evaluating the extent to which early-life harshness and unpredictability affect mother's psychological well-being and parenting, as well as their adolescent's life-history strategy, as reflected in number of sexual partners by age 15 years, drawing on data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results indicated that mothers whose well-being and parenting proved more susceptible to harshness also proved somewhat more susceptible to environmental unpredictability, with the same being true of adolescent sexual behavior.

The Value of Dimensional Models of Early Experience: Thinking Clearly About Concepts and Categories.

We review the three prevailing approaches-specificity, cumulative risk, and dimensional models-to conceptualizing the developmental consequences of early-life adversity and address fundamental problems with the characterization of these frameworks in a recent piece by Smith and Pollak. We respond to concerns raised by Smith and Pollak about dimensional models of early experience and highlight the value of these models for studying the developmental consequences of early-life adversity. Basic dimensions of adversity proposed in existing models include threat/harshness, deprivation, and unpredictability.

Differential susceptibility 2.0: Are the same children affected by different experiences and exposures?

Differential susceptibility theory stipulates that some children are more susceptible than others to both supportive and adverse developmental experiences/exposures. What remains unclear is whether the individuals are most affected by exposures (i.e.

Infant temperament, early-childhood parenting, and early-adolescent development: Testing alternative models of Parenting × Temperament interaction.

Here we evaluate whether infant difficult temperament (6 months) functions as a vulnerability or more general plasticity factor when investigating effects of early-childhood parenting (8-42 months) on both positive and negative early-adolescent socioemotional development (age 8-11 years). Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, = 14,541) and a re-parameterized model-testing approach to distinguish alternative person × environment conceptual models, results indicated that temperament × parenting interacted in predicting externalizing (i.e.

Attachment goes to court: child protection and custody issues.

Attachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, evidence-based direction, especially with regard to child protection and child custody decision-making. The article is divided into two parts.

Early life adversity, pubertal timing, and epigenetic age acceleration in adulthood.

Background: Given associations linking early life adversity, pubertal timing, and biological aging, we examined the direct and indirect effects of early life trauma on adult biological aging (via age of menarche).

Methods: Participants were premenopausal women (N = 183). Path models evaluated whether early life trauma predicted early pubertal timing and thereby, adult epigenetic age acceleration (indexed via four epigenetic clocks: Horvath DNAm Age, Hannum DNAm Age, DNAm PhenoAge, and DNAm GrimAge).