Sterba and Bauer's Keynote Article does a superb job of reviewing the “… assumptions, strengths, and limitations of model-based person-oriented methods—clarifying which theoretical principles [researchers] can test and the compromises and trade-offs required to do so.” Their writing is exceptionally clear, and the examples given highly instructive. At the same time, their arguments may be so convincing that the reader may be reluctant to pursue person-oriented analyses in a longitudinal context. The purpose of this Commentary is not to contradict Sterba and Bauer's arguments but to briefly review the steps that substantive researchers can take in building a scientifically strong case for either assuming continuously varied growth “… or that [trajectory groups] actually exist” according to Raudenbush. These steps have been elaborated in a series of papers by Muthén and colleagues, but it is useful to briefly review them here.

We aim to determine the correlation between parental rearing, personality traits, and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in different quantiles. In particular, we created an intermediary effect model in which parental rearing affects OCD through personality traits. All predictors were measured at the time of the survey, comprising parental rearing (paternal rearing and maternal rearing), demographics (grade and gender), and personality traits (neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism). These results suggest that (a) paternal emotional warmth was negatively correlated with OCD at the 0.40–0.80 quantile, while maternal emotional warmth was positively correlated with the OCD at the 0.45–0.69 quantile. (b) The correlation between negative parental rearing and OCD ranged from the 0.67 to 0.95 quantile for paternal punishment, 0.14–0.82 quantile for paternal overprotection, 0.05–0.36 and >0.50 quantile for maternal over-intervention and overprotection, and 0.08–0.88 quantile for maternal rejection. (c) Extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism were not only associated with OCD in a particular quantile but also mediated between parental rearing (namely parental emotional warmth, paternal punishment, paternal overprotection, maternal rejection, maternal over-intervention, and overprotection) and OCD. These findings provide targets for early interventions of OCD to improve the form of family education and personality traits and warrant validation.

Studies suggest that children who have experienced neglect are at risk for bullying which in turn increases the risk for poor mental health. Here we extend this research by examining whether this risk extends to the neglect associated with severe institutional deprivation and then testing the extent to which these effects are mediated by prior deprivation-related neuro-developmental problems such as symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and autism. Data were collected at ages 6, 11, 15, and young adulthood (22–25 years) from 165 adoptees who experienced up to 43 months of deprivation in Romanian Orphanages in 1980s and 52 non-deprived UK adoptees (N = 217; 50.23% females). Deprivation was associated with elevated levels of bullying and neuro-developmental symptoms at ages 6 through 15 and young adult depression and anxiety. Paths from deprivation to poor adult mental health were mediated via cross-lagged effects from earlier neuro-developmental problems to later bullying. Findings evidence how deep-seated neuro-developmental impacts of institutional deprivation can cascade across development to impact social functioning and mental health. These results elucidate cascade timing and the association between early deprivation and later bullying victimization across childhood and adolescence.

Early adolescence is a vulnerable period for emotional distress. Both emotion regulation and social connection to peers and family adults are understood to be associated with distress. However, existing longitudinal work has not explored these constructs jointly in a way that estimates their reciprocal relationships over adolescence. We present a three-wave random-intercepts cross-lagged panel model of reciprocal relationships between emotional distress, perceived emotion regulation, and social connections during early adolescence, among 15,864 participants from education settings in disadvantaged areas of England, over three annual waves (at ages 11/12, 12/13, and 13/14 years). Findings showed that emotional distress and perceived emotion regulation share a negative relationship over time, and that higher perceived emotion regulation predicts greater family connection in the initial stages of early adolescence (from age 11–12 to 12–13 years). Findings also indicated that connection to peers is positively associated with family connection, but also positively predicts slightly greater distress in the later stages of early adolescence (from age 12–13 to 13–14 years). Findings indicate a risk of negative spiral between emotional distress and perceived emotion regulation in early adolescence, and that social connection may not necessarily play the role we might expect in reducing distress.

Temper tantrums are sudden, overt negative emotional displays that are disproportionate to the eliciting event. Research supports that severe temper tantrums during the preschool period are associated with preschool psychopathology, but few studies have identified which characteristics of preschool tantrums are predictive of distal psychopathological outcomes in later childhood and adolescence. To examine this question, we used a prospective, longitudinal dataset enriched for early psychopathology. Participants (N = 299) included 3-to 6-year-old children (47.8% female) assessed for tantrums and early childhood psychopathology using diagnostic interviews and then continually assessed using diagnostic interviews over 10 subsequent time points throughout childhood and adolescence. We identified two unique groupings of tantrum behaviors: aggression towards others/objects (e.g., hitting others) and aggression towards self (e.g., hitting self). While both types of tantrum behaviors were associated with early childhood psychopathology severity, tantrum behaviors characterized by aggression towards self were more predictive of later psychopathology. Children displaying high levels of both types of tantrum behaviors had more severe externalizing problems during early childhood and more severe depression and oppositional defiant disorder across childhood and adolescence. Findings suggest that tantrum behaviors characterized by aggression towards self are particularly predictive of later psychopathology.

In this 6-month prospective study, interactions between intelligence and emotional distress were examined in predicting social competence among 138 inner-city adolescents. The attempt was to extend previous cross-sectional findings obtained with a similar sample of disadvantaged youth. Intelligence was assessed via a nonverbal test of cognitive abilities, and social competence was operationalized based on teacher and peer ratings and school grades. Distress variables examined in interaction with intelligence included internalizing and externalizing symptomatology as well as the more specific internalizing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Interaction effects obtained indicated that intelligent youth who reported high depression and anxiety at Time I showed decreases in social competence over time, whereas those low on initial distress showed improvements in social competence levels. No such associations between initial distress and subsequent social competence were seen among the less intelligent children. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical issues and empirical evidence in developmental psychopathology, and implications for future research are noted.

Over the last 5 years, the topic of psychological maltreatment has received increasing attention and recognition in the developmental literature. The phenomenon was not discovered 5 years ago, of course: certain aspects of it have been investigated and discussed in conjunction with research on physical abuse and neglect for many years. Only recently, however, have many researchers and clinicians begun to argue that psychological maltreatment should be studied as a distinct phenomenon, rather than simply as one type or facet of child maltreatment (Garbarino, Guttman, & Seeley, 1986). In order to draw attention to this topic, some have even claimed that psychological maltreatment has more serious consequences for the child than physical or sexual abuse do (Hart & Brassard, 1987). Although empirical support for this claim is lacking, we know from other research that “nonphysical” experiences, such as abrupt and extended parent-child separations or marital discord, can have pervasive and long-lasting adverse influences on a child's development (Hess & Camara, 1979; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1982; Rutter, 1979).

Multiple studies have shown that reading abilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, mainly inattention symptoms, are phenotypically and genetically associated during childhood. However, few studies have looked at these associations during adolescence to investigate possible developmental changes. The aim of the study is to examine the genetic and environmental etiology of the associations between inattention and hyperactivity reported by parents, and reading accuracy, reading speed, and word reading in a population-based twin sample (Quebec Newborn Twin Study). Participants were between 14 and 15 years of age at the time of testing (N = 668–837). Phenotypic results showed that when nonverbal and verbal abilities were controlled, inattention, but not hyperactivity/impulsivity, was a modest and significant predictor of reading accuracy, reading speed, and word reading. The associations between inattention and all reading abilities were partly explained by genetic and unique environmental factors. However, the genetic correlations were no longer significant after controlling for verbal abilities. In midadolescence, inattention is the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder dimension associated with reading abilities, but they could also share genetic factors with general verbal skills.

Although infants born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; birth weight < 1000 g) are at increased risk for developing later psychopathology, the mechanisms contributing to this association are largely unknown. In the present study, we examined a putative cognitive link to psychopathology in a cohort of ELBW survivors. These individuals were followed up prospectively at age 8 and again at ages 22–26. At 8 years, participants completed measures of fluid and general intelligence. As young adults, a subset of ELBW survivors free of major neurosensory impairments provided self-reports of personality characteristics related to psychopathology. Data from 66 participants indicated that, as predicted, the association between ELBW and externalizing behaviors was moderated by fluid intelligence. Specifically, ELBW individuals with poor fluid intelligence who were born small for gestational age (birth weight < 10th percentile for gestational age) showed the highest level of externalizing behaviors. These findings provide support for a cumulative risk model and suggest that fluid intelligence might be a cognitive mechanism contributing to the development of psychopathology among nonimpaired individuals who were born at ELBW and small for gestational age.

This study tested whether the associations between interparental conflict, children’s emotional reactivity, and school adjustment were moderated by children’s cortisol reactivity in a sample of young children (N = 243; mean age = 4.6 years at Wave 1; 56% female, 44% male) and their parents. Using a longitudinal, autoregressive design, observational assessments of children’s emotional reactivity at Wave 2 mediated the relationship between an observational measure of Wave 1 conflict between parents and teacher’s report of children’s school adjustment at Wave 3. However, children’s cortisol reactivity to parent conflict at Wave 1 moderated the first link, such that emotional reactivity operated as a mediator for children with heightened cortisol reactivity but not children with low cortisol reactivity. Moderation was expressed in a “for better” or “for worse” form hypothesized by biological sensitivity to context theory. Thus, children with high cortisol reactivity experienced greater emotional reactivity than their peers when faced with more destructive conflict but also lower emotional reactivity when exposed to more constructive interparental conflict. Results are discussed as to how they advance emotional security and biological sensitivity to context theories.

Research on the etiology of dyslexia typically uses an approach based on a single core deficit, failing to understand how variations in combinations of factors contribute to reading development and how this combination relates to intervention outcome. To fill this gap, this study explored links between 28 cognitive, environmental, and demographic variables related to dyslexia by employing a network analysis using a large clinical database of 1,257 elementary school children. We found two highly connected subparts in the network: one comprising reading fluency and accuracy measures, and one comprising intelligence-related measures. Interestingly, phoneme awareness was functionally related to the controlled and accurate processing of letter–speech sound mappings, whereas rapid automatized naming was more functionally related to the automated convergence of visual and speech information. We found evidence for the contribution of a variety of factors to (a)typical reading development, though associated with different aspects of the reading process. As such, our results contradict prevailing claims that dyslexia is caused by a single core deficit. This study shows how the network approach to psychopathology can be used to study complex interactions within the reading network and discusses future directions for more personalized interventions.

American Indians and Alaska Natives suffer from disproportionately high rates of chronic mental and physical health conditions. These health inequities are linked to colonization and its downstream consequences. Most of the American Indian and Alaska Native health inequities research uses a deficit framework, failing to acknowledge the resilience of American Indian and Alaska Native people despite challenging historical and current contexts. This scoping review is based on a conceptual model which acknowledges the context of colonization and its consequences (psychological and health risk factors). However, rather than focusing on health risk, we focus on protective factors across three identified domains (social, psychological, and cultural/spiritual), and summarize documented relationships between these resilience factors and health outcomes. Based on the scoping review of the literature, we note gaps in extant knowledge and recommend future directions. The findings summarized here can be used to inform and shape future interventions which aim to optimize health and well-being in American Indian and Alaska Native peoples.

The reader might get the impression that the four projects described in this Special Section proceeded in a systematic and predictable way. Of course, those of us engaged in each research project encountered pitfalls and challenges along the way. A main goal of this Special Section is to provide pathways and encouragement for those who may be interested in advancing high-quality research on this topic. In this paper, we describe a set of practical and ethical challenges that we encountered in conducting our longitudinal, process-oriented, and translational research with conflict-affected youth, and we illustrate how problems can be solved with the goal of maintaining the internal and external validity of the research designs. We are hopeful that by describing the challenges of our work, and how we overcame them, which are seldom treated in this or any other literature on research on child development in high-risk contexts, we can offer a realistic and encouraging picture of conducting methodologically sound research in conflict-affected contexts.

Neuroticism is associated with increased stress reactivity. In autism spectrum disorders (ASD), emotional stress reactivity is increased and there is some evidence for an increased negative affect (NA) when with less familiar people. The aim of this study was to compare adults with ASD and controls on levels of neuroticism and on interactions between neuroticism and appraised stress or social context in models of NA. This is a cross-sectional observational study comprising a group of 50 adults with ASD and 51 controls. Experience sampling method (ESM) reports were collected for 10 days to measure daily life stress, mood, and social context. Multilevel regression analyses revealed significantly higher neuroticism levels in ASD than in controls. Adults with ASD who scored high on neuroticism showed a significantly stronger association between activity/social stress and NA (i.e., higher stress reactivity) than those with low scores. Furthermore, the association between neuroticism and NA was stronger when adults with ASD were with less familiar people compared with being alone or with familiar people. No consistent corresponding significant interactions were found in the control group. In conclusion, in ASD, neuroticism moderates the association between appraised stress and NA as well as the association between social context and NA.

Unresolved loss/trauma in the context of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) has been theorised to result from dissociative processing of fear-related memories and ideas. To examine the plausibility of this model, this study tested hypothesised associations between unresolved loss/trauma and indicators of autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity. First-time pregnant women (N = 235) participated in the AAI while heart rate (interbeat interval; IBI) and indicators of parasympathetic reactivity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) and sympathetic reactivity (pre-ejection period; PEP, skin conductance level; SCL) were recorded. Using multilevel modelling, ANS reactivity was examined in relation to topic (loss/trauma versus other questions); discussion of actual loss/trauma; classification of unresolved/disorganised; and unresolved responses during the interview. Responses to loss/trauma questions and discussion of loss were associated with respectively larger and smaller IBIs. There was no moderation by unresolved/disorganised status. Unresolved responses about loss were associated with smaller IBIs. Participants classified as unresolved/disorganised showed decreasing PEP and blunted SCL throughout the whole interview. The findings suggest that unresolved speech about loss co-occurs with physiological arousal, although the inconclusive findings regarding parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system responses fail to clearly support the role of fear.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) plays a protective role in the development of children with histories of early adversity, including adopted children. This is the first study to investigate the developmental trajectories of PRF and children’s socio-emotional problems in the first 4 years after international adoption (N = 48 families, mean age (T1) = 20.7 months) and to examine the mediating role of parenting stress in the relation between PRF and child socio-emotional problems. Multilevel modeling indicated that age at adoption and parent gender moderated the development of PRF and child socio-emotional problems. Moreover, decreases in PRF were associated with more socio-emotional problems in the children. These relations were mediated by parenting stress, and particularly feelings of incompetence and marital dissatisfaction.

Previous studies have established that individual characteristics such as violent behavior, substance use, and high-risk sexual behavior, as well as negative relationships with parents and friends, are all risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV). In this longitudinal prospective study, we investigated whether violent behavior, substance use, and high-risk sexual behavior in early adulthood (ages 22–23 years) mediated the link between family conflict and coercive relationship talk with friends in adolescence (ages 16–17 years) and dyadic IPV in adulthood (ages 28–30 years). A total of 998 individuals participated in multimethod assessments, including observations of interactions with parents and friends. Data from multiple reporters were used for variables of interest including court records, parental and self-reports of violence, self-reports of high-sexual-risk behaviors and substance use, and self- and romantic partner-reports of IPV. Longitudinal mediation analyses showed that violent behavior during early adulthood mediated the link between coercive relationship talk with friends in adolescence and dyadic IPV in adulthood. No other mediation paths were found and there was no evidence of gender differences. Results are discussed with attention to the interpersonal socialization processes by which IPV emerges relative to individual risk factors.

Childhood self-control has been linked with better health, criminal justice, and economic outcomes in adulthood in predominately white cohorts outside of the United States. We investigated whether self-control in first grade predicted success in the transition to adulthood in a longitudinal cohort of first graders who participated in a universal intervention trial to prevent poor achievement and reduce aggression in Baltimore schools. We also explored whether the intervention moderated the relationship between self-control and young adult outcomes. Teachers rated self-control using the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised. Study outcomes were on-time high school graduation, college participation, teen pregnancy, substance use disorder, criminal justice system involvement, and incarceration (ages 19–26). Latent profile analysis was used to identify classes of childhood self-control. A high self-control class (n = 279, 48.1%), inattentive class (n = 201, 35.3%), and inattentive/hyperactive class (n = 90, 16.6%) were identified. Children with better self-control were more likely to graduate on time and attend college; no significant class differences were found for teen pregnancy, substance use disorder, criminal justice system involvement, or incarceration. A classroom-based intervention reduced criminal justice system involvement and substance use disorder among children with high self-control. Early interventions to promote child self-control may have long-term individual and social benefits.

We evaluated whether the association between deviant peer affiliation and onset of substance use is conditional upon sex and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity as measured by pre-ejection period (PEP). Community-sampled adolescents (N = 251; M = 15.78 years; 53% female; 66% White, 34% Black) participated in three waves. PEP reactivity was collected during a mirror star-tracer stress task. Alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, or any substance use, as well as binge drinking and sexual activity involving substance use were outcomes predicted by affiliation with deviant peers and two- and three-way interactions with sex and PEP reactivity. Probability of substance use increased over time, but this was amplified for adolescents with greater deviant peer affiliation in conjunction with blunted PEP reactivity. The same pattern of results was also found for prediction of binge drinking and sexual activity involving substance use. Findings are discussed in the context of biosocial models of adolescent substance use and health risk behaviors.