Showing papers in "Journal of Abnormal Psychology in 2016"
TL;DR: 2 indices of a node's expected influence (EI) that account for the presence of negative edges are developed that suggest high-EI nodes, such as emotional pain and feelings of emptiness, may be especially important to the etiology and treatment of CG.
Abstract: The network approach to psychopathology conceptualizes mental disorders as networks of mutually reinforcing nodes (i.e., symptoms). Researchers adopting this approach have suggested that network topology can be used to identify influential nodes, with nodes central to the network having the greatest influence on the development and maintenance of the disorder. However, because commonly used centrality indices do not distinguish between positive and negative edges, they may not adequately assess the nature and strength of a node's influence within the network. To address this limitation, we developed 2 indices of a node's expected influence (EI) that account for the presence of negative edges. To evaluate centrality and EI indices, we simulated single-node interventions on randomly generated networks. In networks with exclusively positive edges, centrality and EI were both strongly associated with observed node influence. In networks with negative edges, EI was more strongly associated with observed influence than was centrality. We then used data from a longitudinal study of bereavement to examine the association between (a) a node's centrality and EI in the complicated grief (CG) network and (b) the strength of association between change in that node and change in the remainder of the CG network from 6- to 18-months postloss. Centrality and EI were both correlated with the strength of the association between node change and network change. Together, these findings suggest high-EI nodes, such as emotional pain and feelings of emptiness, may be especially important to the etiology and treatment of CG. (PsycINFO Database Record
502 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that the RMET measures emotion recognition rather than ToM ability and support the alexithymia hypothesis of emotion-related deficits in ASD.
Abstract: The ability to represent mental states (theory of mind [ToM]) is crucial in understanding individual differences in social ability and social impairments evident in conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is a popular measure of ToM ability, validated in part by the poor performance of those with ASD. However, the RMET requires recognition of facial emotion, which is impaired in those with alexithymia, which frequently co-occurs with ASD. Thus, it is unclear whether the RMET indexes emotion recognition, associated with alexithymia, or ToM, associated with ASD. We therefore investigated the independent contributions of ASD and alexithymia to performance on the RMET. ASD and alexithymia-matched control participants did not differ on RMET performance, whereas ASD participants demonstrated impaired performance on an alternative test of ToM, the Movie for Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). Furthermore, alexithymia, but not ASD diagnosis, significantly influenced RMET performance but did not affect MASC performance. These results suggest that the RMET measures emotion recognition rather than ToM ability and support the alexithymia hypothesis of emotion-related deficits in ASD. (PsycINFO Database Record
264 citations
TL;DR: The field is sorely in need of research reporting findings and reliability for attentional bias scores using multiple methods, including those focusing on dynamic processes over time, and researchers are urged to test and report reliability of all measures.
Abstract: The use of unreliable measures constitutes a threat to our understanding of psychopathology, because advancement of science using both behavioral and biologically oriented measures can only be certain if such measurements are reliable. Two pillars of the National Institute of Mental Health's portfolio-the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative for psychopathology and the target engagement initiative in clinical trials-cannot succeed without measures that possess the high reliability necessary for tests involving mediation and selection based on individual differences. We focus on the historical lack of reliability of attentional bias measures as an illustration of how reliability can pose a threat to our understanding. Our own data replicate previous findings of poor reliability for traditionally used scores, which suggests a serious problem with the ability to test theories regarding attentional bias. This lack of reliability may also suggest problems with the assumption (in both theory and the formula for the scores) that attentional bias is consistent and stable across time. In contrast, measures accounting for attention as a dynamic process in time show good reliability in our data. The field is sorely in need of research reporting findings and reliability for attentional bias scores using multiple methods, including those focusing on dynamic processes over time. We urge researchers to test and report reliability of all measures, considering findings of low reliability not just as a nuisance but as an opportunity to modify and improve upon the underlying theory. Full assessment of reliability of measures will maximize the possibility that RDoC (and psychological science more generally) will succeed. (PsycINFO Database Record
208 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that loneliness may be a potential antecedent to emerging mental health symptoms and that identifying and treating co-occurring social anxiety symptoms may reduce the severity of loneliness.
Abstract: Loneliness is known to be associated with multiple adverse physical outcomes, including higher mortality and morbidity risk. However, the impact of loneliness on mental health is less well researched, with most studies assessing how loneliness relates to depressive symptoms alone. We hypothesized that 2 mental health symptoms that relate to the fear of others-social anxiety and paranoia-would contribute to loneliness. We examined how loneliness relates to social anxiety, paranoia, and depression symptoms in a general community sample aged 18-87 years old (N = 1,010). We administered online measures over 3 time points across a 6-month period. In a cross-lagged structural equation model controlling for trait levels and prior states, our results indicated that earlier loneliness positively predicted future states of social anxiety, paranoia, and depression. However, in the same model, earlier social anxiety was the only predictor of future loneliness. These results suggest that loneliness may be a potential antecedent to emerging mental health symptoms and that identifying and treating co-occurring social anxiety symptoms may reduce the severity of loneliness. (PsycINFO Database Record
199 citations
TL;DR: Findings reveal several nonspecific or transdiagnostic personality and cognitive factors that may be targeted in new interventions to potentially prevent the development of multiple psychopathologies.
Abstract: The traditional view that mental disorders are distinct, categorical disorders has been challenged by evidence that disorders are highly comorbid and exist on a continuum (e.g., Caspi et al., 2014; Tackett et al., 2013). The first objective of this study was to use structural equation modeling to model the structure of psychopathology in an adolescent community-based sample (N = 2,144) including conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, substance use, anxiety, depression, phobias, and other emotional symptoms, assessed at 16 years. The second objective was to identify common personality and cognitive correlates of psychopathology, assessed at 14 years. Results showed that psychopathology at 16 years fit 2 bifactor models equally well: (a) a bifactor model, reflecting a general psychopathology factor, as well as specific externalizing (representing mainly substance misuse and low ADHD) and internalizing factors; and (b) a bifactor model with a general psychopathology factor and 3 specific externalizing (representing mainly ADHD and ODD), substance use and internalizing factors. The general psychopathology factor was related to high disinhibition/impulsivity, low agreeableness, high neuroticism and hopelessness, high delay-discounting, poor response inhibition and low performance IQ. Substance use was specifically related to high novelty-seeking, sensation-seeking, extraversion, high verbal IQ, and risk-taking. Internalizing psychopathology was specifically related to high neuroticism, hopelessness and anxiety-sensitivity, low novelty-seeking and extraversion, and an attentional bias toward negatively valenced verbal stimuli. Findings reveal several nonspecific or transdiagnostic personality and cognitive factors that may be targeted in new interventions to potentially prevent the development of multiple psychopathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record
193 citations
TL;DR: It was found that general PD exhibited much lower absolute stability and was most strongly related to broad markers of psychosocial functioning, concurrently and longitudinally, whereas specific features had much higher mean stability and exhibited more circumscribed associations with functioning.
Abstract: Theorists have long argued that personality disorder (PD) is best understood in terms of general impairments shared across the disorders as well as more specific instantiations of pathology. A model based on this theoretical structure was proposed as part of the DSM-5 revision process. However, only recently has this structure been subjected to formal quantitative evaluation, with little in the way of validation efforts via external correlates or prospective longitudinal prediction. We used the Collaborative Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders dataset to: (a) estimate structural models that parse general from specific variance in personality disorder features, (b) examine patterns of growth in general and specific features over the course of 10 years, and (c) establish concurrent and dynamic longitudinal associations in PD features and a host of external validators including basic personality traits and psychosocial functioning scales. We found that general PD exhibited much lower absolute stability and was most strongly related to broad markers of psychosocial functioning, concurrently and longitudinally, whereas specific features had much higher mean stability and exhibited more circumscribed associations with functioning. However, both general and specific factors showed recognizable associations with normative and pathological traits. These results can inform efforts to refine the conceptualization and diagnosis of personality pathology. (PsycINFO Database Record
147 citations
TL;DR: The goal is to provide a useful guide for researchers who consider life stress to be an important factor in their theoretical models of disease, wish to incorporate measures of life stress in their research, and seek to avoid the common pitfalls of past measurement practices.
Abstract: Life stress is a central factor in the onset and course of a wide range of medical and psychiatric conditions. Determining the precise etiological and pathological consequences of stress, though, has been hindered by weaknesses in prevailing definitional and measurement practices. The purpose of the current paper is to evaluate the primary strategies for defining and measuring major and minor acute life events, chronic stressors, and daily hassles as informed by 3 basic scientific premises. The first premise concerns the manner in which stress is conceptualized and operationally defined, and specifically we assert that stress measures must not conflate the stress exposure with the stress response. The second premise concerns how stress exposures are measured, and we provide guidelines for optimizing standardized and sensitive indicators of life stress. The third premise addresses the consequences of variations in the procedures for life event measurement with regard to the validity of the research designs employed. We show that life stress measures are susceptible to several sources of bias, and if these potential sources of bias are not controlled in the design of the research, spurious findings may result. Our goal is to provide a useful guide for researchers who consider life stress to be an important factor in their theoretical models of disease, wish to incorporate measures of life stress in their research, and seek to avoid the common pitfalls of past measurement practices. (PsycINFO Database Record
146 citations
TL;DR: It is found that both a General factor and specific Externalizing and Internalizing dimensions are necessary for characterizing youth psychopathology at both the phenotypic and etiologic levels, and that the 3 higher-order factors differed substantially in the magnitudes of their underlying genetic and environmental influences.
Abstract: Several recent studies of the hierarchical phenotypic structure of psychopathology have identified a General psychopathology factor in addition to the more expected specific Externalizing and Internalizing dimensions in both youth and adult samples and some have found relevant unique external correlates of this General factor. We used data from 1,568 twin pairs (599 MZ & 969 DZ) age 9 to 17 to test hypotheses for the underlying structure of youth psychopathology and the external validity of the higher-order factors. Psychopathology symptoms were assessed via structured interviews of caretakers and youth. We conducted phenotypic analyses of competing structural models using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and used Structural Equation Modeling and multivariate behavior genetic analyses to understand the etiology of the higher-order factors and their external validity. We found that both a General factor and specific Externalizing and Internalizing dimensions are necessary for characterizing youth psychopathology at both the phenotypic and etiologic levels, and that the 3 higher-order factors differed substantially in the magnitudes of their underlying genetic and environmental influences. Phenotypically, the specific Externalizing and Internalizing dimensions were slightly negatively correlated when a General factor was included, which reflected a significant inverse correlation between the nonshared environmental (but not genetic) influences on Internalizing and Externalizing. We estimated heritability of the general factor of psychopathology for the first time. Its moderate heritability suggests that it is not merely an artifact of measurement error but a valid construct. The General, Externalizing, and Internalizing factors differed in their relations with 3 external validity criteria: mother's smoking during pregnancy, parent's harsh discipline, and the youth's association with delinquent peers. Multivariate behavior genetic analyses supported the external validity of the 3 higher-order factors by suggesting that the General, Externalizing, and Internalizing factors were correlated with peer delinquency and parent's harsh discipline for different etiologic reasons. (PsycINFO Database Record
122 citations
TL;DR: Typical individuals were better able to identify the mental state portrayed in the animations produced by typical, relative to autistic, individuals, which confirmed the primary hypothesis that individuals with ASD move in a quantifiably different way from typical individuals.
Abstract: Recent work suggests that we are better at interpreting the movements of others who move like us, and that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) move in a quantifiably different way from typical individuals. Therefore, "social impairments" exhibited by individuals with ASD may, at least in part, represent a failure by typical individuals to infer the correct mental states from the movements of those with ASD. To examine this possibility, individuals with ASD and typical adults manually directed 2 triangles to generate animations depicting mental state interactions. Kinematic analysis of the generated animations demonstrated that the participants with ASD moved atypically, specifically with increased jerk compared to the typical participants. In confirmation of our primary hypothesis, typical individuals were better able to identify the mental state portrayed in the animations produced by typical, relative to autistic, individuals. The participants with ASD did not show this "same group" advantage, demonstrating comparable performance for the 2 sets of animations. These findings have significant implications for clinical assessment and intervention in ASD, and potentially other populations with atypical movement. (PsycINFO Database Record
109 citations
TL;DR: The pattern of findings suggests that dynamic processes of symptom exacerbation and diminution that are stable in mean level and variability in expression over time characterizes personality pathology.
Abstract: Very little is known about the daily stability and fluctuation of personality pathology. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigated the naturalistic manifestation of personality pathology over the course of 100 days. A group of individuals (N = 101) diagnosed with any personality disorder (PD) completed a daily diary study over 100 consecutive days (Mdn = 94 days, range = 33-101 days). Participants completed daily ratings of 30 manifestations of personality pathology. Patterns of stability and variability over the course of the study were then examined. Results indicated that individual PD manifestations and domains of PD manifestations were variable across days and differed widely in their frequency. Additionally, individual averages and level of variability in PD domains were highly stable across months, individual averages of PD domains were predicted by baseline dispositional ratings of PD traits with a high degree of specificity, and daily variability PD domains was associated with elevated levels of PD traits. This pattern of findings suggests that dynamic processes of symptom exacerbation and diminution that are stable in mean level and variability in expression over time characterizes personality pathology. Further, dispositional ratings are significant predictors of average daily expression of PD features. (PsycINFO Database Record
100 citations
TL;DR: Preliminary support for interpersonal reinforcement models of NSSI is provided and the importance of expanding research in this area to include interpersonal contingencies that may influence this behavior is highlighted.
Abstract: Although accumulating microlongitudinal research has examined emotion regulatory models of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), few studies have examined how interpersonal contingencies influence daily NSSI behavior. Participants with repeated NSSI (N = 60) provided daily ratings of perceived social support, interpersonal conflict, and NSSI urges and behaviors for 14 days. Consistent with interpersonal models of NSSI, we hypothesized that participants would be more likely to engage in NSSI on days when they experienced high levels of interpersonal conflict, that NSSI acts that were revealed to others would be followed by desirable interpersonal changes (i.e., greater support, less conflict), and that these interpersonal changes would, in turn, predict stronger NSSI urges and more frequent NSSI behavior. Consistent with hypotheses, daily conflict was associated with stronger same-day NSSI urges and greater likelihood of NSSI acts. Perceived support increased following NSSI acts that had been revealed to others, but not unrevealed NSSI acts. This perceived support was, in turn, associated with a stronger NSSI urges and greater likelihood of engaging in NSSI on the following day. Moreover, participants whose NSSI was revealed to others engaged in more total NSSI acts during the diary period than those whose NSSI was not revealed to others. Inconsistent with hypotheses, interpersonal conflict did not decrease following NSSI, regardless of whether or not these acts were revealed to others. Together, these results provide preliminary support for interpersonal reinforcement models of NSSI and highlight the importance of expanding research in this area to include interpersonal contingencies that may influence this behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: Dysfunction in neural markers of attention to threat and reward can effectively distinguish features of depression from anxiety, particularly early onset depression, and may track suicidal ideation across disorders.
Abstract: Abnormal patterns of attention to threat and reward have been proposed as potential mechanisms of dysfunction in anxiety and unipolar depressive disorders. However, few studies have simultaneously examined whether these patterns of attention are shared among disorders or distinguish between them. In the present study, we recorded the Late Positive Potential (LPP), an event-related potential and putative index of motivated attention, from 145 patients with anxiety and unipolar depressive disorders and 32 controls, as they viewed blocks of rewarding and threatening images, respectively. We found that a current diagnosis of depression was associated with a reduced LPP to rewarding visual stimuli. This appeared to be specific to a subgroup of individuals with early onset depression; this subgroup was also characterized by a reduced LPP to threatening images. Anxiety diagnosis and age of onset of anxiety, whether comorbid with depression or not, was unrelated to the magnitude of the LPP. Finally, a transdiagnostic symptom dimension measuring current severity of suicidal ideation was related to a reduced LPP to both rewarding and threatening images. These data suggest that dysfunction in neural markers of attention to threat and reward can effectively distinguish features of depression from anxiety, particularly early onset depression, and may track suicidal ideation across disorders.
TL;DR: Developing and implementing mindfulness-based interventions aimed at assuaging alexithymia and IU, while increasing emotional acceptance, may be especially helpful in treating anxiety in ASD.
Abstract: Emotional acceptance, alexithymia, and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) contribute to anxiety disorders in neurotypical populations. Their association with anxiety in people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has not been studied. We aimed to model the contributions of these constructs on the relationship between dimensional measures of autism and anxiety. Participants were 151 adults recruited from 2 sites, including those diagnosed with ASD (n = 76) and a matched comparison group (n = 75). All participants completed a battery of questionnaires measuring core autism symptoms, anxiety, emotional acceptance, alexithymia, and intolerance of uncertainty. Structural equation modeling with mediation was used to examine directional relationships among these variables. Autism symptoms directly predicted less emotional acceptance and increased alexithymia and IU. Alexithymia and acceptance were shown to explain 64% of the effect between autism symptom severity and anxiety level. This suggests that people with ASD experience increased levels of anxiety because they are more likely to react aversively to their emotional experiences, while lacking the ability to identify and understand their emotions. Developing and implementing mindfulness-based interventions aimed at assuaging alexithymia and IU, while increasing emotional acceptance, may be especially helpful in treating anxiety in ASD. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: Women with PTSD, compared to those without, showed impaired retention of extinction learning in the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle, raising potential considerations regarding the coordination of psychopharmacologic and trauma exposure-based treatments for PTSD with specific phases of the menstruation cycle.
Abstract: The propensity to acquire and retain conditioned fear responses may contribute to the risk of developing and maintaining posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a traumatic event. There is growing evidence that the gonadal hormones estrogen and progesterone are associated with how well women retain extinction of previously conditioned fear responses. Thus, sex steroid effects may contribute to the increased prevalence of PTSD in women. For the current study, 32 nonmedicated female trauma survivors with and without PTSD completed a differential fear conditioning task both during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle when estradiol and progesterone levels are low, and during the midluteal phase when estradiol and progesterone levels are high. Skin conductance served as the measure of conditioned fear. Women with PTSD, compared to those without, showed impaired retention of extinction learning in the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Therefore, the impact of menstrual phase on extinction retention may differ between women with and without PTSD. These findings raise potential considerations regarding the coordination of psychopharmacologic and trauma exposure-based treatments for PTSD with specific phases of the menstrual cycle.
TL;DR: It is shown that sleep disturbance is a predictor of next-day impaired functioning and psychotic symptom severity in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and interventions targeting sleep may have the potential to directly and indirectly enhance functional and symptomatic recovery in those experiencing psychosis.
Abstract: Sleep disturbance is common in schizophrenia, but its role in predicting functioning and psychotic symptoms has yet to be rigorously examined. The purpose of this study was to conduct a prospective, high-resolution examination of the relationship between nightly sleep and next-day functioning and psychotic symptoms in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Experience sampling methodology was integrated with actigraphy and sleep diaries across 7 days in 22 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Momentary assessments of mood, psychotic symptoms, and functioning were gathered at 5 points each day following pseudorandom schedules. Multilevel modeling was performed to evaluate the links between variables. Objective and subjective sleep disturbance predicted reduced next-day functioning, which remained significant after controlling for psychotic symptom severity. Increased sleep fragmentation and reduced subjective and objective sleep efficiency predicted greater next-day auditory hallucinations, whereas increased objective sleep fragmentation and reduced subjective sleep quality predicted greater paranoia and delusions of control. Negative affect on awakening mediated a proportion of these relationships (range: 17.9-57.3%). For the first time, we show that sleep disturbance is a predictor of next-day impaired functioning and psychotic symptom severity in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Therefore, interventions targeting sleep may have the potential to directly and indirectly enhance functional and symptomatic recovery in those experiencing psychosis. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: It is shown that, compared with controls, schizophrenia patients demonstrate decreased reliance on model-based decision-making, suggesting that model- based deficits seen in schizophrenia may be partially explained by higher-order cognitive deficits.
Abstract: Individuals with schizophrenia have a diminished ability to use reward history to adaptively guide behavior. However, tasks traditionally used to assess such deficits often rely on multiple cognitive and neural processes, leaving etiology unresolved. In the current study, we adopted recent computational formalisms of reinforcement learning to distinguish between model-based and model-free decision-making in hopes of specifying mechanisms associated with reinforcement-learning dysfunction in schizophrenia. Under this framework, decision-making is model-free to the extent that it relies solely on prior reward history, and model-based if it relies on prospective information such as motivational state, future consequences, and the likelihood of obtaining various outcomes. Model-based and model-free decision-making was assessed in 33 schizophrenia patients and 30 controls using a 2-stage 2-alternative forced choice task previously demonstrated to discern individual differences in reliance on the 2 forms of reinforcement-learning. We show that, compared with controls, schizophrenia patients demonstrate decreased reliance on model-based decision-making. Further, parameter estimates of model-based behavior correlate positively with IQ and working memory measures, suggesting that model-based deficits seen in schizophrenia may be partially explained by higher-order cognitive deficits. These findings demonstrate specific reinforcement-learning and decision-making deficits and thereby provide valuable insights for understanding disordered behavior in schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: These findings extend the current literature on abnormal-effort cost computations in schizophrenia by establishing a clear relationship between the costliness of cognitive effort and negative symptoms.
Abstract: Motivational deficits in schizophrenia are proposed to be attributable in part to abnormal effort-cost computations. Inflated subjective cognitive effort costs may explain diminished functioning in schizophrenia to the extent that they drive avoidance of complex decision-making and planning. Although previous data support inflated subjective physical effort costs for individuals with schizophrenia, evidence on cognitive effort is mixed. We exploited the methodological advantages of a recently developed cognitive effort-discounting paradigm (Westbrook, Kester, & Braver, 2013) to examine effort-cost computations in schizophrenia. The paradigm quantifies subjective costs in terms of explicit, continuous discounting of monetary rewards based on parametrically varied demands (levels N of the N-back working memory task), holding objective features of task duration and reward likelihood constant. Both healthy participants (N = 25) and schizophrenia patients (N = 25) showed systematic influences of reward and task demands on choice patterns. Critically, however, participants with schizophrenia discounted rewards more steeply as a function of effort, indicating that effort was more costly for this group. Moreover, discounting varied robustly with symptomatology, such that schizophrenia patients with greater clinically rated negative symptom severity discounted rewards more steeply. These findings extend the current literature on abnormal-effort cost computations in schizophrenia by establishing a clear relationship between the costliness of cognitive effort and negative symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: Reactivity to monetary reward and positive social images, at both behavioral and neurobiological levels, is a potential marker of resilience to depression among adolescents exposed to maltreatment and adds to a growing body of work highlighting individual differences in reactivity to reward as a core neurodevelopmental mechanism in the etiology of depression.
Abstract: Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with depression, which is characterized by reduced reactivity to reward. Identifying factors that mitigate risk for depression in maltreated children is important for understanding etiological links between maltreatment and depression as well as improving early intervention and prevention. We examine whether high reward reactivity at behavioral and neurobiological levels is a marker of resilience to depressive symptomology in adolescence following childhood maltreatment. A sample of 59 adolescents (21 with a history of maltreatment; Mean Age = 16.95 years, SD = 1.44) completed an fMRI task involving passive viewing of emotional stimuli. BOLD signal changes to positive relative to neutral images were extracted in basal ganglia regions of interest. Participants also completed a behavioral reward-processing task outside the scanner. Depression symptoms were assessed at the time of the MRI and again 2 years later. Greater reward reactivity across behavioral and neurobiological measures moderated the association of maltreatment with baseline depression. Specifically, faster reaction time (RT) to cues paired with monetary reward relative to those unpaired with reward and greater BOLD signal in the left pallidum was associated with lower depression symptoms in maltreated youth. Longitudinally, greater BOLD signal in the left putamen moderated change in depression scores over time, such that higher levels of reward response were associated with lower increases in depression over time among maltreated youths. Reactivity to monetary reward and positive social images, at both behavioral and neurobiological levels, is a potential marker of resilience to depression among adolescents exposed to maltreatment. These findings add to a growing body of work highlighting individual differences in reactivity to reward as a core neurodevelopmental mechanism in the etiology of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: Eye-tracking patterns indicating threat avoidance predicted greater 2-year depression scores, over and above baseline and posttreatment symptoms, and biobehavioral markers imply that avoidant attentional processing in the context of anxiety may be a gateway to depression across a key maturational window.
Abstract: Anxious youth are at heightened risk for subsequent development of depression; however, little is known regarding which anxious youth are at the highest prospective risk. Biased attentional patterns (e.g., vigilance and avoidance of negative cues) are implicated as key mechanisms in both anxiety and depression. Aberrant attentional patterns may disrupt opportunities to effectively engage with, and learn from, threatening aspects of the environment during development and/or treatment, compounding risk over time. Sixty-seven anxious youth (ages 9-14; 36 female) completed a dot-probe task to assess baseline attentional patterns provoked by fearful-neutral face pairs. The time course of attentional patterns both during and after threat was assessed via eye-tracking and pupilometry. Self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed 2 years after the conclusion of a larger psychotherapy treatment trial. Eye-tracking patterns indicating threat avoidance predicted greater 2-year depression scores, over and above baseline and posttreatment symptoms. Sustained, postthreat pupillary avoidance (reflecting preferential neural engagement with the neutral relative to the previously threatening location) predicted additional variance in depression scores, suggesting sustained avoidance in the wake of threat further exacerbated risk. Identical eye-tracking and pupil indices were not predictive of anxiety at 2 years. These biobehavioral markers imply that avoidant attentional processing in the context of anxiety may be a gateway to depression across a key maturational window. Excessive avoidance of threat could interfere with acquisition of adaptive emotion regulation skills during development, culminating in the broad behavioral deactivation that typifies depression. Prevention efforts explicitly targeting avoidant attentional patterns may be warranted.
TL;DR: Results suggest that the correlated risk factors model may best explain the development of comorbidity between symptoms of ADHD and anger/irritable symptoms in children, whereas the developmental precursors model may better explain theDevelopment of comorebiditybetween symptoms ofADHD and argumentative/defiance.
Abstract: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) are among the most common childhood disorders and frequently co-occur. The present study sought to advance our understanding of how comorbidity between ADHD and ODD develops during the preschool years by testing a cross-lagged model that integrates 2 prominent models: the developmental precursor model and the correlated risk factors model. Participants were 199 children (107 boys) who took part in a longitudinal study of preschoolers with behavior problems. Parent reports of ADHD and ODD symptoms were collected annually from ages 3 to 6 and a family history interview was administered at age 3. In support of the developmental precursors model, ADHD symptoms predicted later argumentative/defiant symptoms. In support of the correlated risk factors model, family histories of ADHD and ODD/CD symptoms were correlated risk factors that uniquely predicted ADHD and anger/irritable symptoms in children. Results suggest that the correlated risk factors model may best explain the development of comorbidity between symptoms of ADHD and anger/irritability, whereas the developmental precursors model may better explain the development of comorbidity between symptoms of ADHD and argumentative/defiance.
TL;DR: The results agreed with the existing literature, suggesting that factors other than the incoherence of trauma memories are most likely to be central to the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder and thus its treatment.
Abstract: We examined the coherence of trauma memories in a trauma-exposed community sample of 30 adults with and 30 without posttraumatic stress disorder. The groups had similar categories of traumas and were matched on multiple factors that could affect the coherence of memories. We compared the transcribed oral trauma memories of participants with their most important and most positive memories. A comprehensive set of 28 measures of coherence including 3 ratings by the participants, 7 ratings by outside raters, and 18 computer-scored measures, provided a variety of approaches to defining and measuring coherence. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated differences in coherence among the trauma, important, and positive memories, but not between the diagnostic groups or their interaction with these memory types. Most differences were small in magnitude; in some cases, the trauma memories were more, rather than less, coherent than the control memories. Where differences existed, the results agreed with the existing literature, suggesting that factors other than the incoherence of trauma memories are most likely to be central to the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder and thus its treatment.
TL;DR: Examining the empirical network structure of 95 emotional and behavioral problems of the Youth Self-Report to explore how well this structure reflected the predefined YSR domains indicates that network models provide a promising addition to the more traditional way of distinguishing diagnoses or scale scores.
Abstract: Psychopathology is often classified according to diagnostic categories or scale scores. These ignore potentially important information about associations between specific symptoms and, consequently, lead to heterogeneous constructs that may mask relevant individual differences. Network analyses focus on these specific symptom associations, providing the opportunity to explore the complex structure of psychopathology in more detail. We examined the empirical network structure of 95 emotional and behavioral problems of the Youth Self-Report (YSR) to explore how well this structure reflected the predefined YSR domains. The study was conducted in a large community sample (N = 2,175) of preadolescents (mean age = 11.1, SD = 0.6 years), and the network structure was determined by means of the recently developed network analysis technique, eLasso. Although problems within the same domain, in general, showed more and stronger connections than problems belonging to different domains, some problems showed substantially more or stronger associations than others; consequently, problems cannot be considered interchangeable indicators of their domain. Furthermore, no sharp boundaries were found between the domains as specific symptom pairs of different domains showed strong connections. Taken together, our findings indicate that network models provide a promising addition to the more traditional way of distinguishing diagnoses or scale scores. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: It is suggested that ADHD identified in early childhood predicts an increased likelihood of functional impairment through adolescence for most, but not all, children.
Abstract: Children who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with functional impairment in at least one setting at 4-6 years of age were followed prospectively through age 18 years. On average, the 125 children (107 boys) with ADHD at baseline improved over time, but still continued to exhibit more symptoms, functional impairment, and risky behavior through adolescence than demographically matched healthy comparison children. These findings support the predictive validity of the diagnosis of ADHD at younger ages by demonstrating that the symptoms and impairment are enduring. Nonetheless, there were marked variations in developmental outcomes. Among children with ADHD, higher numbers of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms and higher number of concurrent symptoms (oppositional, conduct disorder, anxiety, and depression) measured at baseline each predicted higher future levels of the same dimension of symptoms. In addition, higher baseline levels of inattention, oppositional, conduct disorder, and anxiety symptoms predicted greater future functional impairment. Among children with ADHD, girls and children from families with lower family incomes had relatively poorer outcomes. Although outcomes varied along a continuum, approximately 10% of the children with ADHD at 4-6 years could be classified as functioning in the normative range on multiple measures during 15-18 years. Although this finding awaits replication, lower levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms at 4-6 years predicted more normative functioning during adolescence. These findings suggest that ADHD identified in early childhood predicts an increased likelihood of functional impairment through adolescence for most, but not all, children.
TL;DR: This multistudy article examined the relative strength of mediational pathways involving hostile, disengaged, and uncooperative forms of interparental conflict, children's emotional insecurity, and their externalizing problems across 2 longitudinal studies to determine how they inform and advance developmental models of family risk.
Abstract: This multistudy article examined the relative strength of mediational pathways involving hostile, disengaged, and uncooperative forms of interparental conflict, children's emotional insecurity, and their externalizing problems across 2 longitudinal studies Participants in Study 1 consisted of 243 preschool children (M age = 460 years) and their parents, whereas Study 2 consisted of 263 adolescents (M age = 1262 years) and their parents Both studies utilized multimethod, multi-informant assessment batteries within a longitudinal design with 3 measurement occasions Across both studies, lagged, autoregressive tests of the mediational paths revealed that interparental hostility was a significantly stronger predictor of the prospective cascade of children's insecurity and externalizing problems than interparental disengagement and low levels of interparental cooperation Findings further indicated that interparental disengagement was a stronger predictor of the insecurity pathway than was low interparental cooperation for the sample of adolescents in Study 2 Results are discussed in relation to how they inform and advance developmental models of family risk (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: The study reveals the potential power and efficiency of studying highly cooperative child-attracted men recruited via the Internet and shows that men most attracted to prepubescent children were especially likely to have bisexual attractions to children.
Abstract: To our knowledge, this is the first large study of the attractions of child-attracted men recruited in any manner other than their being charged with legal offenses. We recruited 1,189 men from websites for adults attracted to children. Men in our sample were highly attracted to children, and they were much less attracted to adults, especially to adult men. However, men varied with respect to which combination of gender and age they found most attractive. Men in our sample were especially attracted to pubescent boys and prepubescent girls. Their self-reported attraction patterns closely tracked the age/gender gradient of sexual arousal established in prior research. Consistent with the gradient, men most attracted to prepubescent children were especially likely to have bisexual attractions to children. Pedohebephilia-attraction to sexually immature children-is best considered a collection of related if distinct sexual orientations, which vary in the particular combination of gender and sexual maturity that elicits greatest sexual attraction. Finally, our study reveals the potential power and efficiency of studying highly cooperative child-attracted men recruited via the Internet. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: Novel evidence is provided that abnormal electrocortical reactivity to negative self-referential words indexes vulnerability for depression in 8 to 14 year-old girls.
Abstract: Cognitive vulnerabilities, such as a negative self-referential processing bias, have been theorized to play a causal role in the development of depression. Indeed, depression is associated with the endorsement and recall of more negative and fewer positive emotional words (i.e., recall biases) in the self-referential encoding task (SRET). In addition, currently depressed adults and adolescents, compared to healthy controls, show an enhanced late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) component that reflects sustained attentional engagement, during the processing of negative relative to positive words in the SRET. However, it is unclear whether these behavioral and neural measures in the SRET are indicators of risk for depression, or are concomitants of the disorder. The present study included 121 8 to 14 year-old girls with no lifetime history of depression, and examined the association between maternal history of depression (i.e., risk) and both behavioral and ERP measures while viewing positive and negative adjectives during the SRET. Lifetime history of major depressive disorder and/or dysthymia in the biological mother was assessed via a semistructured diagnostic interview. Results indicated that participants with maternal history of depression, compared with those with no maternal history of depression, demonstrated an enhanced LPP to negative words. There were no group differences in the LPP to positive words. Maternal history of depression was also related to faster response time when rejecting negative words. Participant's current depression symptoms were associated with increased negative recall bias and decreased positive recall bias. The present study provides novel evidence that abnormal electrocortical reactivity to negative self-referential words indexes vulnerability for depression in 8 to 14 year-old girls. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: This study was the first to provide systematic ratings of 15 detailed case studies of prototypic psychopaths, including ratings with respect to the 16 Cleckley criteria, and 33 additional traits included within or considered for more recently developed measures and models of psychopathy.
Abstract: The most influential figure in the study of psychopathy is Hervey Cleckley, the author of the widely cited text, "The Mask of Sanity" (Cleckley, 1941, 1955). Researchers often refer to Cleckley when disputing what should belong within a conceptualization or assessment of psychopathy, at times disagreeing as to what Cleckley meant or intended. Cleckley though included within his text 15 detailed case studies of prototypic psychopaths. The current study was the first to provide systematic ratings of these 15 cases, including ratings with respect to (a) the 16 Cleckley criteria (e.g., anxiousness and inadequately motivated antisocial behavior), (b) 33 additional traits included within or considered for more recently developed measures and models of psychopathy (e.g., boldness, fearlessness, disobliged, cruelty, and aggression), and (c) 30 traits of the 5-factor model of general personality. The results are discussed with respect to implications for both historic and current models of psychopathy.
TL;DR: Dot Probe data among remitted depressed patients and nondepressed controls that previously yielded null effects are reexamined to indicate that dysregulation in attentional processing of emotional information reflected in AB dynamics may be key to depression vulnerability.
Abstract: Theory implicates attentional bias (AB) or dysregulated attentional processing of emotional information in the recurrence of major depressive episodes. However, empirical study of AB among remitted depressed patients is limited in scope and has yielded mixed findings. Mixed findings may be accounted for by how the field has conceptualized and thereby studied AB. We propose that a novel temporal dynamic process perspective on AB may help disambiguate extant findings and elucidate the nature of AB in remitted depression. Thus, we reexamined Dot Probe data among remitted depressed patients (RMD; n = 328) and nondepressed controls (NDC; n = 82) that previously yielded null effects when AB was quantified by means of the traditional aggregated mean bias score (Vrijsen et al., 2014). We reanalyzed data using a novel computational approach that extracts a series of bias estimations from trial to trial (Zvielli, Bernstein, & Koster, 2015). Key features of these dynamic process signals revealed moderate to excellent reliability relative to the traditional aggregated mean bias scores. These features of AB dynamics-specifically temporal variability in AB including AB toward and away from emotional stimuli-were significantly elevated among RMDs relative to NDCs. Moreover, among RMDs, a greater number of past depressive episodes were associated with elevation in these features of AB dynamics. Effects were not accounted for by residual depressive symptoms or social anxiety symptoms. Findings indicate that dysregulation in attentional processing of emotional information reflected in AB dynamics may be key to depression vulnerability. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: The results reaffirm the value of separating disorganization and reality distortion, are consistent with recent findings distinguishing inexpressivity and apathy/asociality, and suggest that these 4 dimensions are fundamental to understanding neural abnormalities and long-term outcomes in psychosis.
Abstract: Heterogeneity of psychosis presents significant challenges for classification. Between 2 and 12 symptom dimensions have been proposed, and consensus is lacking. The present study sought to identify uniquely informative models by comparing the validity of these alternatives. An epidemiologic cohort of 628 first-admission inpatients with psychosis was interviewed 6 times over 2 decades and completed an electrophysiological assessment of error processing at year 20. We first analyzed a comprehensive set of 49 symptoms rated by interviewers at baseline, progressively extracting from 1 to 12 factors. Next, we compared the ability of resulting factor solutions to (a) account for concurrent neural dysfunction and (b) predict 20-year role, social, residential, and global functioning, and life satisfaction. A four-factor model showed incremental validity with all outcomes, and more complex models did not improve explanatory power. The 4 dimensions-reality distortion, disorganization, inexpressivity, and apathy/asociality-were replicable in 5 follow-ups, internally consistent, stable across assessments, and showed strong discriminant validity. These results reaffirm the value of separating disorganization and reality distortion, are consistent with recent findings distinguishing inexpressivity and apathy/asociality, and suggest that these 4 dimensions are fundamental to understanding neural abnormalities and long-term outcomes in psychosis. (PsycINFO Database Record
TL;DR: For many children, ADHD symptoms decrease as they transition to adolescence, and family environmental factors, such as parental criticism, may help explain for whom symptom remission is less likely.
Abstract: UNLABELLED In the transition from childhood to adolescence, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) developmental trajectories diverge. Family environment, as indexed by parental expressed emotion, may moderate these trajectories. 388 children with ADHD and 127 controls were assessed using multi-informant, multimethod diagnostic procedures at up to 3 time points 1 year apart in an accelerated longitudinal design spanning ages 7-13 years. Latent-class growth analysis was used to identify developmental trajectories for parent- and teacher-rated ADHD and oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms within the ADHD sample. Parental expressed emotion, criticism, and emotional overinvolvement were coded from a 5-min speech sample at 2 time points, 1 year apart, for 208 of these children and compared among ADHD trajectory groups. RESULTS Parent-rated hyperactivity yielded a 4-class trajectory solution in latent-class growth analysis; teacher-rated inattention yielded a 3-trajectory solution. Teacher-rated ODD also yielded 3-trajectory solution. A parent-rated high persistent hyperactive group was more likely than the other ADHD groups to have parents with stable high criticism (34.6%, p < .001), with ODD symptoms controlled. A teacher-identified high ODD-worsening group was more likely to experience high criticism, particularly the initial time point; (87.5%, p < .001), with hyperactivity controlled. Parental criticism, an index of the family environment, is uniquely associated with divergent developmental trajectories among children with ADHD in addition to those associated with ODD symptoms. Lay summary: For many children, ADHD symptoms decrease as they transition to adolescence. Family environmental factors, such as parental criticism, may help explain for whom symptom remission is less likely.