Child Psychology Commons^™

Annual Research Review: The Power Of Predictability – Patterns Of Signals In Early Life Shape Neurodevelopment And Mental Health Trajectories, Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The global burden of early life adversity (ELA) is profound. The World Health Organization has estimated that ELA accounts for almost 30% of all psychiatric cases. Yet, our ability to identify which individuals exposed to ELA will develop mental illness remains poor and there is a critical need to identify underlying pathways and mechanisms. This review proposes unpredictability as an understudied aspect of ELA that is tractable and presents a conceptual model that includes biologically plausible mechanistic pathways by which unpredictability impacts the developing brain. The model is supported by a synthesis of published and new data illustrating the significant …

Temporal Relation Between Pubertal Development And Peer Victimization In A Prospective Sample Of Us Adolescents, Jessica A. Marino, Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Peer victimization typically peaks in early adolescence, leading researchers to hypothesize that pubertal timing is a meaningful predictor of peer victimization. However, previous methodological approaches have limited our ability to parse out which puberty cues are associated with peer victimization because gonadal and adrenal puberty, two independent processes, have either been conflated or adrenal puberty timing has been ignored. In addition, previous research has overlooked the possibility of reverse causality—that peer victimization might drive pubertal timing, as it has been shown to do in non-human primates. To fill these gaps, we followed 265 adolescents (47% female) prospectively across three-time points …

Early Life Exposure To Unpredictable Parental Sensory Signals Shapes Cognitive Development Across Three Species, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Kari Mccormack, Hina Arora, Desiree Sharpe, Annabel K. Short, Jocelyne Bachevalier, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Hal S. Stern, Mar Sanchez, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Exposure to early life adversity has long term consequences on cognitive function. Most research has focused on understanding components of early life adversities that contribute to later risk, including poverty, trauma, maltreatment, and neglect. Whereas these factors, in the aggregate, explain a significant proportion of emotional and cognitive problems, there are serious gaps in our ability to identify potential mechanisms by which early life adversities might promote vulnerability or resilience. Here we discuss early life exposure to unpredictable signals from the caretaker as an understudied type of adversity that is amenable to prevention and intervention. We employ a translational approach …

Associations Between Cumulative Risk, Childhood Sleep Duration, And Body Mass Index Across Childhood, Tiffany Phu, Jenalee R. Doom

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Background: Although associations between cumulative risk, sleep, and overweight/obesity have been demonstrated, few studies have examined relationships between these constructs longitudinally across childhood. This study investigated how cumulative risk and sleep duration are related to current and later child overweight/obesity in families across the United States sampled for high sociodemographic risk.

Methods: We conducted secondary analyses on 3690 families with recorded child height and weight within the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. A cumulative risk composite (using nine variables indicating household/ environmental, family, and sociodemographic risk) was calculated for each participant from ages 3-9 years. Path analyses …

Psychological Well-Being In Childhood And Cardiometabolic Risk In Middle Adulthood: Findings From The 1958 British Birth Cohort, Julia K. Boehm, Farah Qureshi, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Childhood adversity is linked to poor cardiometabolic outcomes, but less is known about positive childhood factors. Using data from 4,007 members of the 1958 British Birth Cohort, we investigated whether children with greater psychological well-being had lower adulthood cardiometabolic risk. At age 11, participants wrote essays about their future. Two judges rated each essay for nine psychological well-being items (Finn’s r = .82–.91), which were combined into a standardized overall score (Cronbach’s α = .91). When participants reached age 45, nurses assessed their blood pressure, heart rate, lipids, glycosylated hemoglobin, fibrinogen, and C-reactive protein, which were standardized and summed for …

Manipulating Image Luminance To Improve Eye Gaze And Verbal Behavior In Autistic Children, Louanne Boyd, Vincent Berardi, Deanna Hughes, Franceli L. Cibrian, Jazette Johnson, Viseth Sean, Eliza Delpizzo-Cheng, Brandon Mackin, Ayra Tusneem, Riya Mody, Sara Jones, Karen Lotich

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Autism has been characterized by a tendency to attend to the local visual details over surveying an image to understand the gist–a phenomenon called local interference. This sensory processing trait has been found to negatively impact social communication. Although much work has been conducted to understand these traits, little to no work has been conducted to intervene to provide support for local interference. Additionally, recent understanding of autism now introduces the core role of sensory processing and its impact on social communication. However, no interventions to the end of our knowledge have been explored to leverage this relationship. This work …

Preconception Maternal Posttraumatic Stress And Child Negative Affectivity: Prospectively Evaluating The Intergenerational Impact Of Trauma, Danielle A. Swales, Elysia Poggi Davis, Nicole E. Mahrer, Christine M. Guardino, Madeleine Shalowitz, Sharon L. Ramey, Christine Dunkel Schetter

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

The developmental origins of psychopathology begin before birth and perhaps even prior to conception. Understanding the intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk is critical to identify sensitive windows for prevention and early intervention. Prior research demonstrates that maternal trauma history, typically assessed retrospectively, has adverse consequences for child socioemotional development. However, very few prospective studies of preconception trauma exist, and the role of preconception symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unknown. The current study prospectively evaluates whether maternal preconception PTSD symptoms predict early childhood negative affectivity, a key dimension of temperament and predictor of later psychopathology. One hundred and eighteen …

The Acute And Persisting Impact Of Covid-19 On Trajectories Of Adolescent Depression: Sex Differences And Social Connectedness, Sabrina R. Liu, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Anton M. Palma, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The COVID-19 era is a time of unprecedented stress, and there is widespread concern regarding its short- and long-term mental health impact. Adolescence is a sensitive period for the emergence of latent psychopathology vulnerabilities, often activated by environmental stressors. The present study examined COVID-19′s impact on adolescent depression and possible influences of different domains of social connectedness (loneliness, social media use, social video game time, degree of social activity participation).

Methods

A community sample of 175 adolescents (51% boys, mean age = 16.01 years) completed questionnaires once before and twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Piecewise growth modeling examined the …

Timing Of Childhood Adversities And Self-Injurious Thoughts And Behaviors In Adolescence, Samantha J. North, Kathryn R. Fox, Jenalee R. Doom

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Greater childhood adversity predicts a higher likelihood of later self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB). There is little research focused on whether the timing of childhood adversity predicts SITB. The current research examined whether the timing of childhood adversity predicted parent- and youth-reported SITB at age 12 and 16 years in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) cohort (n = 970). We found that greater adversity at age 11–12 years consistently predicted SITB at age 12 years, while greater adversity at age 13–14 years consistently predicted SITB at age 16 years. These findings suggest there may be sensitive …

How Multidimensional Is Emotional Intelligence? Bifactor Modeling Of Global And Broad Emotional Abilities Of The Geneva Emotional Competence Test, Daniel Simonet, Katherine E. Miller, Kevin Askew, Kenneth Sumner, Marcello Mortillaro, Katja Schlegel

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Drawing upon multidimensional theories of intelligence, the current paper evaluates if the Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo) fits within a higher-order intelligence space and if emotional intelligence (EI) branches predict distinct criteria related to adjustment and motivation. Using a combination of classical and S-1 bifactor models, we find that (a) a first-order oblique and bifactor model provide excellent and comparably fitting representation of an EI structure with self-regulatory skills operating independent of general ability, (b) residualized EI abilities uniquely predict criteria over general cognitive ability as referenced by fluid intelligence, and (c) emotion recognition and regulation incrementally predict grade point …

Parental Buffering In The Context Of Poverty: Positive Parenting Behaviors Differentiate Young Children's Stress Reactivity Profiles, Samantha M. Brown, Lisa J. Schlueter, Eliana Hurwich-Reiss, Julia Dmitrieva, Elly Miles, Sarah Enos Watamura

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Experiencing poverty increases vulnerability for dysregulated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis functioning and compromises long-term health. Positive parenting buffers children from HPA axis reactivity, yet this has primarily been documented among families not experiencing poverty. We tested the theorized power of positive parenting in 124 parent–child dyads recruited from Early Head Start (Mage = 25.21 months) by examining child cortisol trajectories using five samples collected across a standardized stress paradigm. Piecewise latent growth models revealed that positive parenting buffered children's stress responses when controlling for time of day, last stress task completed, and demographics. Positive parenting also interacted with income such that …

A Predictable Home Environment May Protect Child Mental Health During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Laura M. Glynn, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Joan L. Luby, Tallie Z. Baram, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Information about the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent and adult mental health is growing, yet the impacts on preschool children are only emerging. Importantly, environmental factors that augment or protect from the multidimensional and stressful influences of the pandemic on emotional development of young children are poorly understood.

Methods

Depressive symptoms in 169 preschool children (mean age 4.1 years) were assessed with the Preschool Feelings Checklist during a state-wide stay-at-home order in Southern California. Mothers (46% Latinx) also reported on externalizing behaviors with the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire. To assess the role of environmental factors in …

Parenting Stress And Child Disruptive Behaviors: The Mediating Role Of Parental Negative Talk, David Roehm

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

High parental stress and child disruptive behaviors tend to coexist. Furthermore, parental negative talk towards children cam impair child functioning later in life. In the present study, we sought to determine whether parental negative talk was a mediating variable between parenting stress and child disruptive behaviors. Fifty-two parent-child dyads from Eastern Kentucky participated in an analog Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) behavioral observation and parents were given self-report measures for parenting stress and child disruptive behaviors.

Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were used to predict variance in child disruptive behaviors based on parenting stress with parental negative talk as a mediating …

Strengthening The Quality Of Preschool, Childcare, And Parenting, Soo-Young Hong, Holly Hatton-Bowers, Lisa Knoche

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Early childhood is a critical period during which children learn to regulate and manage emotions and actions, develop and maintain social relationships, and interact effectively with others (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow, 2006). Children who know how to use appropriate behavioral and emotional strategies and effectively interact with others are more likely to develop positive relationships and be accepted by peers later on (Odom, McConnell, & Brown, 2008). Emotional well-being and competence is one of the key areas of development that goes through significant changes over the early childhood period (Hyson, Copple, & Jones, 2006; Keane & Calkins, 2004), and thus, …

The Impact Of Parental Health Mindset On Postoperative Recovery In Children, Alexandra Kain, Claudia Mueller, Brenda J. Goliamu, Brooke N. Jenkins, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Mindset, or one’s beliefs about the ability to change one’s outcomes, has been studied in the educational domain but not in surgical settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of parental health mindset on children’s recovery.

Methods

Participants were part of a larger National Institutes of Health‐funded trial that included 1470 children undergoing outpatient tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. We used measures of parental coping style (Monitor Blunter Style Scale; MBSS) and medication attitudes (Medication Attitudes Questionnaire; MAQ) to validate the Health Beliefs Scale (HBS; Criterion validity, Cohen’s kappa). HBS categorizes parents as having a growth mindset, …

Stress And Negative Affect As Mediators In The Association Between Parental Social Support And Lung Function In Adolescents With Asthma, Amber Osorno, Eric Sternlicht, Pornchai Tirakitsoontorn, Azucena Talamantes, Anchalee Yuengsrigul, Zeev N. Kain, Brooke Jenkins

SURF Posters and Papers

Asthma is the leading chronic condition amongst children in the United States as 7.5% of children are diagnosed with asthma. Studies have shown that positive social support is associated with positive asthma management. A strong social support system predicts good management of asthma symptoms; however, current literature has not yet examined how social support impacts lung function as opposed to merely symptom management. Stress and negative affect have been revealed to be associated with worse asthma control, as well as exacerbation of symptoms. Stressful situations, such as the death of a family member, unemployment, and familial tensions lead to worsening …

An Investigation Of Increased Rates Of Autism In U.S. Public Schools, Donald N. Cardinal, Amy Jane Griffiths, Zachary D. Maupin, Julie Fraumeni-Mcbride

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study is intended to enhance our understanding of the dramatic increase in autism prevalence rates across the United States. A robust national and multistate sample of children and youth (5–22 years of age) was gathered and analyzed, using visual and statistical analysis of autism eligibility over a 15‐ to 17‐year period. Although the impact of environmental or genetic influences cannot be entirely ruled out, we identified significant shifts in eligibility trends that substantially contribute to the remarkable increase in autism prevalence. Assessment procedures and criteria for autism have sustained an indelible influence from this diagnostic migration, which has had …

Neural Processing Of Infant And Adult Face Emotion And Maternal Exposure To Childhood Maltreatment, Aviva K. Olsavsky, Joel Stoddard, Andrew Erhart, Rebekah C. Tribble, Pilyoung Kim

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Face processing in mothers is linked to mother–infant social communication, which is critical for parenting and in turn for child development. Neuroimaging studies of child maltreatment-exposed (CME) mothers are sparse compared to studies of mothers with postpartum depression, which have suggested blunted amygdala reactivity to infant stimuli. We expected to see a similar pattern in CME mothers. Based on broader studies in trauma-exposed populations, we anticipated increased amygdala reactivity to negative adult face stimuli in a comparison task in CME mothers given heightened evaluation of potential threat. We examined Neuroimaging studies of mothers with childhood maltreatment exposure (CME) (18–37 years …

Paper Prototyping Comfortable Vr Play For Diverse Sensory Needs, Louanne E. Boyd, Kendra Day, Ben Wasserman, Kaitlyn Abdo, Gillian Hayes, Erik J. Linstead

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We co-designed paper prototype dashboards for virtual environments for three children with diverse sensory needs. Our goal was to determine individual interaction styles in order to enable comfortable and inclusive play. As a first step towards an inclusive virtual world, we began with designing for three sensory-diverse children who have labels of neurotypical, ADHD, and autism respectively. We focused on their leisure interests and their individual sensory profiles. We present the results of co-design with family members and paper prototyping sessions conducted by family members with the children. The results contribute preliminary empirical findings for accommodating different levels of engagement …

Measuring Novel Antecedents Of Mental Illness: The Questionnaire Of Unpredictability In Childhood, Laura M. Glynn, Hal S. Stern, Mariann A. Howland, Victoria B. Risbrough, Dewleen G. Baker, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Tallie Z. Baram, Elysia P. Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Increasing evidence indicates that, in addition to poverty, maternal depression, and other well-established factors, unpredictability of maternal and environmental signals early in life influences trajectories of brain development, determining risk for subsequent mental illness. However, whereas most risk factors for later vulnerability to mental illness are readily measured using existing, clinically available tools, there are no similar measures for assessing early-life unpredictability. Here we validate the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC) and examine its associations with mental health in the context of other indicators of childhood adversity (e.g., traumatic life events, socioeconomic status, and parenting quality). The QUIC was …

Parental Involvement Among Low-Income Filipinos: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Aileen S. Garcia

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Parental involvement in children’s education is an integral component of young children’s academic achievement. In the Philippines, a developing country with high rates of poverty and input deficit in basic education, school dropout rates are high especially among the poor. Given that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not get enough support (PIDS, 2012) and many parents are not equipped with skills to support their children’s education, it is essential to investigate how Filipino parents can help and contribute to their children’s academic success. In response to the lack of parental involvement literature situated in the Philippine context, the present …

Emotion Regulation And Positive Affect In The Context Of Salivary Alpha-Amylase Response To Pain In Children With Cancer, Brooke N. Jenkins, Douglas A. Granger, Ryan J. Roemer, Ariana Martinez, Tara K. Torres, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Children with cancer routinely undergo painful medical procedures invoking strong physiological stress responses. Resilience to this pain may be conferred through resources such as emotion regulation strategies and positive affect.

Procedure

This study measured dispositional positive affect in children with cancer (N = 73) and randomly assigned participants to one of three emotion regulation strategy conditions (distraction, reappraisal, or reassurance). Children applied their assigned strategy during an experimental pain procedure (the cold pressor task [CPT]) and provided saliva samples before, immediately after, and 15 min after the CPT. Saliva samples were later assayed for salivary alpha amylase (sAA)—a surrogate …

Examining The Roles Of Child Temperament And Teacher-Child Relationships As Predictors Of Turkish Children’S Social Competence And Antisocial Behavior, Ibrahim H. Acar, Traci Kutaka, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Julia C. Torquati, Robert J. Coplan, Süleyman Yıldız

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The present study examined the concurrent contribution of Turkish children’s temperament and teacher-child relationship quality to their social competence and antisocial behavior, with a specific focus on the moderating role of teacher-child relationships (closeness and conflict) on children’s temperament (inhibitory control and shyness) when predicting social competence and antisocial behavior. Participants were 94 children (56 boys) with mean age of 7.05 years (SD = .88) enrolled in 24 classrooms from five elementary schools in a suburban school district in Turkey. Mothers reported on children’s temperament and teachers reported on their relationships with children as well as children’s social competence …

Support With Fathering An Adolescent Daughter: A Heuristic Investigation Of Men's Experiences With A Targeted Fathering Intervention, Jeffrey Boatner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This heuristic study explored and described the experiences of fathers who participated in an intervention designed to promote and improve their relationships with their adolescent daughter(s). Despite increasing interest in the distinct contribution that fathers make to the development and well-being of their children, the father-daughter relationship remains the least studied and least understood of all parent-child pairings. Paternal involvement is a powerfully protective influence for girls—particularly as girls enter into adolescence and prepare for adulthood—yet there remain few interventions that are specifically designed to support fathers at this critical time. This study examined the experiences of 11 fathers who …

Priming For Honesty: A Novel Technique For Encouraging Children's True Disclosures Of Adult Wrongdoing, Allison P. Mugno

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children are often involved in the legal system as victims of maltreatment, and their disclosure of adult wrongdoing is necessary to initiate effective legal responses and protect them from continued abuse. However, external pressures and children's perceptions of the consequences of truth-telling (e.g., punishment, removal from the home) may result in the delay of disclosure or failure to disclose altogether. Research examining techniques for promoting children's truth-telling has almost exclusively relied on explicit requests to tell the truth (e.g., a promise, reassurance, assessments of conceptual knowledge and moral discussions), and the success of these techniques has varied. The present study …

Say It Again: A Case Study On Improving Communication In An Autistic Adolescent, Olivia P. Seymour

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

Diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased significantly in recent years, necessitating a deeper understanding of its symptoms and how to improve on the resulting deficits in communication and social skills. This study examined the possibility of improving the communication of a thirteen-year-old boy with ASD. Within eight sessions, several methods of improving communication were tested, including using a computer to type messages, using pictures to guide conversations, and using simple, open-ended questions. Despite predictions that his communication would improve with the help of focused efforts to communicate and the implementation of these strategies, the participant’s communication skills did …

Temperament Factors And Dimensional, Latent Bifactor Models Of Child Psychopathology: Transdiagnostic And Specific Associations In Two Youth Samples, Benjamin L. Hankin, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Hannah Snyder, Jami F. Young, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Common emotional and behavioral symptoms co-occur and are associated with core temperament factors. This study investigated links between temperament and dimensional, latent psychopathology factors, including a general common psychopathology factor (p factor) and specific latent internalizing and externalizing liabilities, as captured by a bifactor model, in two independent samples of youth. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that temperament factors of negative affectivity (NA), positive affectivity (PA), and effortful control (EC) could serve as both transdiagnostic and specific risks in relation to recent bifactor models of child psychopathology. Sample 1 included 571 youth (average age 13.6, SD = 2.37, range 9.3–17.5) …

Adolescent Perceptions Of Dating Violence: A Qualitative Study, Sarah Taylor, Carrie A. Calkins, Yan Ruth Xia, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Scholars have identified dating violence as a public health issue among adolescents. Yet, minimal research has detailed adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, specifically gender differences in perceptions. Research suggests that in order for dating violence prevention and intervention to be effective, services need to be delivered in a manner that is understood by adolescents. Therefore, this study used a qualitative phenomenology study to investigate adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, including gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions. Thirty adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 from a Midwest public high school participated in focus groups. Focus group participants were asked semistructured …

The Ripple Effects Of Stranger Harassment On Objectification Of Self And Others, Meghan Davidson, Sarah Gervais, Lindsey W. Sherd

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Despite the frequency and negative consequences of stranger harassment, only a scant number of studies have explicitly examined stranger harassment and its consequences through the lens of objectification theory. The current study introduced and tested a mediation model in which women’s experiences of stranger harassment may lead to self-objectification, which in turn may lead to objectification of other people. To examine this model, undergraduate women (N = 501) completed measures of stranger harassment (including the verbal harassment and sexual pressure subscales of the Stranger Harassment Index), body surveillance, and objectification of other women and men. Consistent with hypotheses, significant positive …

A Community Conversation On Adolescent Pregnancy And Parenting Services: Networks Of Support, Gatekeepers To Care, And Non-Compulsory Fathering In A Black Urban Community, Tamara Leech, Elizabeth A. Adams, Marci Littlefield

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

This study employed Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods to document needs and capacity around adolescent pregnancy and parenting in one predominately Black, low-income urban community. Using an iterative focus group method, we engaged 60 participants in a two-day community conversation. Quantitative data from an enrollment questionnaire and qualitative transcripts of the discussions are analyzed. Our results indicate that the community’s greatest capacity lies in a network of women. Men tend to participate in parenting more holistically once formal paternity is established. Neighborhood women typically introduce adolescents to prenatal care, so delays in revealing the pregnancy to them serve as a …