There is an ongoing debate as to whether autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is expressed differently in women than men. It is unclear whether differences found are specific to autism or merely reflecting normative development. In this study, we compared sex differences in developmental trajectories of autistic and co-occurring psychopathological…

In recent years, some models for binary and graded format responses have been proposed to assess unipolar variables or "quasi-traits." These studies have mainly focused on clinical variables that have traditionally been treated as bipolar traits. In the present study, we have made a proposal for unipolar traits measured with continuous…

Early preventive interventions can improve outcomes in childhood, but the most effective interventions can continue to deliver benefits through the life course. The Fast Track intervention, a randomized controlled trial for children at risk of conduct problems, has lowered psychopathology, substance use problems, and criminality and elevated…

The Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) consists of level of personality functioning (Criterion A) and maladaptive personality traits (Criterion B). The brief scale versions of these are understudied, while often being used by clinicians and researchers. In this study, we wanted to investigate the overlap and predictive…

Meeting the needs of gifted students is particularly challenging for school counselors. This practitioner action research study examined the effectiveness of implementing complete universal mental health screening with early college high school students. Using a complete mental health approach, we classified students into need-based groups. The…

Little is known about the role children's processing of emotions plays in altering children's vulnerability to interparental conflict. To address this gap, the present study examined whether the mediational cascade involving children's exposure to interparental conflict, their insecure responses to interparental conflict, and their psychological…

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…

Academic Engagement (AE) can explain part of the success of current educational programmes. This observational and prospective study aims to identify the facilitating and hindering psychosocial variables involved in AE. We included achievement goals and academic motivation as facilitating academic variables and perceived stress and social problems…

The aim of this research was to examine the hypothetical model of conditionings of adolescents to positive adaptation and to identify risk and protective factors for being victims or aggressors in interpersonal relation. In the research exploratory model adopted for the study, the following variables were considered: temperament; attachment;…

Adolescents who experience social anxiety concerns often display symptoms and impairments when interacting with unfamiliar peers. For adolescent clients, reducing symptoms and impairments within these interactions comprises a key treatment target within exposure-based therapies for social anxiety. Recent work on mechanisms of change in…

Background: This study explored the role of demographic, psychosocial, stress and life event-related risk factors for psychopathology and challenging behaviour in a clinical sample of adults with Down syndrome. Method: A convenience sample of adults with Down syndrome seen through a specialised clinic was assessed through interviews and…

In 2017, more than one million children became identity theft victims. Many perpetrators of child identity theft are parents, but there are limited data on these perpetrators. The purpose of this study was to understand parental perpetrators of child identity theft through the experiences of victims. Using a phenomenological approach, six adult…

Background: The influence of parental psychopathology and parental expectations on child well-being is well documented among typically developing populations. However, to date little research has examined the relationship among these factors in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examines an observed relationship…

Background: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) appears more prevalent among children with intellectual disabilities (ID) as compared to children with typical development. However, it remains unclear what drives this difference. Methods: Data from 70 youth with typical development (TD) and 20 youth with ID were drawn from (The Collaborative Family…

Social anhedonia, a tendency toward experiencing social stimuli as less positive or pleasurable, is associated with maladaptive personality traits, poor interpersonal functioning, and psychopathology, and is typically elevated in males compared with females. However, the correlates of social anhedonia in youth have not been well defined. In this…