Background: International literature has underlined the complex interplay between genetic and environmental variables in shaping children's emotional-behavioral functioning. Objective: This study aimed to explore the dynamic relationship between children's Dopamine Transporter (DAT1) genotype and methylation, and maternal and paternal affective…

Individual differences in emotional reactivity emerge early in development and predict important child outcomes. Unfortunately, methods used to assess these often fail to tap dynamic changes in emotion, obscuring nuanced relationships between maladaptive emotional reactivity and early internalizing psychopathology. We therefore explored the…

Psychiatric disorders in individuals with co-occurring autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) are common, but diagnosis presents many challenges. The Psychopathology in Autism checklist (PAC) is among the very few instruments specifically developed for this group of individuals. The psychometric properties of the PAC…

This study examined children's attention biases to negative emotional stimuli as mediators of associations between interparental hostility and children's externalizing symptoms. Participants included 243 children (M[subscript age] = 4.60 years) and their parents and teachers across three annual measurement occasions. Cross-lagged latent change…

This review used 4 types of longitudinal models (descriptive models, prediction models, developmental sequence models and longitudinal mediation models) to identify regular patterns of psychosocial development in adolescence. Eight patterns of adolescent development were observed across countries: (1) adolescent maturation in multiple…

Child and youth conduct problems are known to be a heterogeneous category that implies different factors and processes. The current study aims to analyze whether the early manifestation of psychopathic traits designates a group of children with severe, pervasive and persistent conduct problems. To this end, cluster analysis was conducted in a…

Three generations of participants were assessed over approximately 27 years, and intergenerational prediction models of growth in the third generation's (G3) externalizing and internalizing problems across ages 3-9 years were examined. The sample included 103 fathers and mothers (G2), at least 1 parent (G1) for all of the G2 fathers (99 mothers,…

Moffitt, Caspi, Harrington, and Milne (2002) found in a follow-up study that many of the supposedly adolescence-limited offenders had committed offenses past adolescence. This finding raises the question of whether adulthood starts later or whether there are two distinct delinquency types, adolescence limited and adolescence onset, each with its…

Background: We assessed trajectories of children's internalizing symptoms as predicted by interactions among maternal internalizing symptoms, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and child sex. Method: An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of children (n = 251) participated during three study waves. Children's mean ages were 8.23 years…

The current study aimed to examine the relation between experiential avoidance and anxiety disorders, as well as the usefulness of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y; Greco, Lambert, & Baer, 2008) in detecting anxiety disorder in a sample of adolescent inpatients. First, the relation between experiential avoidance and anxiety…

The present study explored the reciprocal relations between nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), negative emotions and relationship problems in a community sample of 2,435 (57.6% females) Chinese adolescents. Participants completed measures assessing 12 NSSI behaviors, three negative emotions (depression, anxiety and tension), and relationship problems…

Objective: To study the independent association of parental depression and ADHD on three dimensions of child psychopathology among 178 children aged 5 to 10 years. Method: Self-reported measures of parental depression and ADHD as well as rating scales and structure diagnostic interviews of child internalizing, ADHD, and externalizing problems were…

Integrity testing has long been utilized in personnel selection to screen for tendencies toward counterproductive workplace behaviors. The construct of externalizing from the psychopathology literature represents a coherent spectrum marked by disinhibitory traits and behaviors. The present study drew on a sample of male and female undergraduates…

Background: Language has been shown to play a critical role in social cognitive reasoning in preschool and school-aged children, but little research has been conducted with adolescents. During adolescence, the ability to understand figurative language becomes increasingly important for social relationships and may affect social adjustment. This…

According to a recent evolutionary life history model of development proposed by Ellis, Figueredo, Brumbach, and Schlomer (2009), growing up in harsh versus unpredictable environments should have unique effects on life history strategies in adulthood. Using data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, we tested how harshness…