The science of developmental psychopathology has made outstanding progress over the past 40 years in understanding adaptive and maladaptive developmental processes across the life span. Yet most of this work has been researcher driven with little involvement of community partners in the research process, limiting the potential public health significance of our work. To continue to advance the field we must move beyond the physical and conceptual walls of our research laboratories and into the real world. In this article, we define and describe the importance of community-engaged research, and present our overarching principles for engaging the community including practicing respect, shared power and decision-making, prioritizing the needs of the community, and engaging in consistent and transparent communication. We present several associated recommendations for best practice and highlight examples from our own research that is grounded in a developmental psychopathology perspective to illustrate these practices. Recommendations for the future of the discipline of development and psychopathology, with emphasis on training and continuing education, are described.

Children’s externalizing behaviors are associated with impairments across the lifespan. Developmental psychopathology theories propose transactional (bidirectional) associations between child externalizing behaviors and parenting during childhood and adolescence. Yet, these foundational relations in early childhood are not well-studied. Utilizing a large, mixed-sex sample, we examined the reciprocal nature of parenting and child externalizing behaviors across early childhood using robust repeated-measures models. Repeated measures data were drawn from a socioeconomically diverse, longitudinal pregnancy cohort of 1287 (64% Black, 31% White) mother-child dyads at four time points (ages one to six). Three variables were included in cross-lagged panel models: observed parenting quality, child externalizing symptoms, and a maternal risk composite. In covariate-adjusted models, higher parenting quality at Wave 1 predicted lower child externalizing symptoms at Wave 2. Higher externalizing symptoms at Wave 1 and Wave 2 predicted lower parenting quality at Wave 2 and Wave 3, respectively. Maternal risk and parenting quality were not significantly associated. Findings showed both parent-driven and child-driven effects across early childhood that did not vary by child sex. The transactional nature of the parent-child relationship begins in infancy, underscoring the importance of early screening and provision of supports for families to minimize and prevent the development of serious psychopathology.

Using data from a 15-year longitudinal follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of a parenting-focused preventive intervention for divorced families (N = 240) with children aged 9–12, the current study examined alternative cascading pathways through which the intervention led to improvements in offspring’s perceived health problems, BMI, and cigarette smoking in emerging adulthood. It was hypothesized that the program would lead to improvements in these health-related outcomes during emerging adulthood through progressive associations between program-induced changes in parenting and offspring outcomes, including mental health problems, substance use, and competencies. Intervention-induced improvements in positive parenting at posttest led to improvements in mental health problems in late childhood/early adolescence, which led to lower levels of mental health and substance use problems as well as higher levels of competencies in adolescence, which led to improvements in the health-related outcomes. Academic performance predicted all three health-related outcomes and other aspects of adolescent functioning showed different relations across outcomes. Results highlight the potential for intervention effects of preventive parenting interventions in childhood to cascade over time to affect health-related outcomes in emerging adulthood.

This study aimed to delineate profiles of self-regulation among sexually abused children and their association with behavior problems using a person-centered approach. A sample of 223 children aged six to 12, their parents, and teachers were recruited in specialized intervention centers. Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles: (1) Dysregulated, (2) Inhibited, (3) Flexibly Regulated, and (4) Parent Perceived Self-Regulation. Children from the Flexibly Regulated profile showed relatively low behavior problems, and those from the Dysregulated profile were characterized by high behavior problems. Children from the Parent Perceived Self-Regulation profile showed overall good adaptation, although teachers reported higher behavior problems than parents. Children from the Inhibited profile, characterized by the highest level of inhibition but low parent-rated emotion regulation competencies and executive functions, showed the highest level of internalizing behavior problems, indicating that high inhibition does not necessarily translate to better adaptation. Results also show a moderation effect of sex. Being assigned to the Inhibited profile was associated with decreased externalizing behaviors in boys and increased internalizing behaviors in girls. This study underscores the complexity of self-regulation in sexually abused children and supports the need to adopt a multi-method and multi-informant approach when assessing these children.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and subclinical symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentiveness coincide with an increased risk of peer victimization. What remains unclear are the developmental dynamics of these associations. In a sample drawn from two Norwegian birth cohorts (n = 872; 49.94 % girls), assessed biennially from age 6 to age 14, reciprocal relations between ADHD symptoms and victimization were examined while controlling for symptoms of anxiety and depression. ADHD symptoms were assessed through clinical interviews with parents, whereas victimization was reported by teachers using questionnaires. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling revealed a consistent reciprocal within-person effect of increased ADHD symptoms on victimization, and vice versa. Analyses of subdimensions of ADHD projected a consistent cross-lagged bidirectional relationship between victimization and inattentiveness symptoms only, whereas no such reciprocity was found for hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms. Results did not differ by gender. Findings suggest that the social context may constitute a vulnerability factor in the etiology of the inattentive subtype of ADHD, and at the same time, that inattentiveness symptoms pose a risk for becoming victimized.

The growing base of research on parenting stress and its relation to child behavior problems has largely paralleled the emergence of developmental psychopathology as a field of inquiry. Specifically, the focus on mechanism rather than main effects has begun to elevate explanatory models in the connection between parenting stress and a variety of adverse child and parent conditions. Still, work on parenting stress is limited by conceptual confusion, the absence of attention to developmental differentiation, a focus on child-specific rather than system influences. Recent research on these parenting stress issues is briefly reviewed, highlighting studies that have illustrated developmental psychopathology perspectives. A conceptual model is offered to illustrate the complex recursive nature of connections between parenting stress, parenting behavior, parent well-being, and children’s adjustment, and I make a case for the adoption of a more systemic perspective to influence the next generation of developmental psychopathology research on parenting stress.

Research points to the substantial impact of parents' exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on parents and their children. However, most studies have been conducted in North America, and research on ACEs effects on observed parenting or on intergenerational transmission of ACE effects is limited. We therefore studied families from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds in Israel and examined whether mothers’ ACEs hampered maternal sensitivity and the quality of the home environment and whether mothers’ psychological distress mediated these links. We also explored whether mothers’ ACEs predicted children’s behavior problems indirectly through maternal psychological distress and whether maternal sensitivity and the home environment attenuated this mediating path. Participants were 232 mothers (Mchild age = 18.40 months, SD = 1.76; 63.36% non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish, 17.24% ultra-Orthodox Jewish, 19.40% Arab Muslim). Results showed mothers’ ACEs were directly associated with decreased maternal sensitivity. Mothers’ ACEs were indirectly associated with more behavior problems in children through mothers’ higher psychological distress, and maternal sensitivity moderated this indirect link; it was significant only for mothers who showed lower sensitivity. Findings emphasize the significant role ACEs play in early mother-child relationships. The importance of including ACE assessment in research and practice with families of infants and toddlers is discussed.

Previous studies show that maternal mind-mindedness positively impacts children’s social development. In the current studies, we examine the relation between mind-mindedness during parent–child interaction, oxytocin (OT), and postnatal depression in a sample of mothers (N = 62, ages 23–44) and their infant (ages 3–9 months). In Study 1, infant salivary OT was positively correlated with mothers’ appropriate mind-related comments, and negatively correlated (at trend level) with maternal depression scores. Mothers experiencing symptoms of depression used fewer appropriate mind-related comments than controls. Study 2 was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, experimental study, in which the same women who participated in Study 1 were administered nasal OT. This did not significantly influence levels of mind-mindedness. Study 2 warrants a larger trial to investigate the effect of OT on mind-mindedness further. Study 1 is the first to demonstrate an association between maternal mind-mindedness and variation in children’s OT levels. Since both OT and mind-mindedness have been repeatedly implicated in processes of maternal–infant attachment, this association highlights the centrality of mothers’ caregiving representations in facilitating the parent–child relationship and children’s early development.

Dante Cicchetti’s earliest work, his studies of social-emotional development in infants and children with Down syndrome, set the stage for the emergence of the larger field of developmental psychopathology. By applying basic developmental principles, methodologies, and questions to the study of persons with Down syndrome, Dante took on the challenge of searching for patterns in atypical development. In doing so, he extended traditional developmental theory and introduced a more “liberal” approach that both continues to guide developmentally based research with persons with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), including Down syndrome. We highlight five themes from Dante’s work: (1) appreciating the importance of developmental level; (2) prioritizing the organization of development; (3) examining whether developmental factors work similarly in those with known genetic conditions; (4) rethinking narratives about ways of being; and (5) examining the influence of multiple levels of the environment on the individual’s functioning. We highlight ways that these essential lessons anticipated present-day research with persons with a variety of NDCs, including Down syndrome, other genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disability, and autism. We conclude with visions to the future for research with these populations as well as for the field of developmental psychopathology more generally.

Alexithymia (difficulties identifying and describing feelings) predicts increased risks for psychopathology, especially during the transition from childhood to adolescence. However, little is known of the early contributors to alexithymia. The language hypothesis of alexithymia suggests that language deficits play a primary role in predisposing language-impaired groups to developing alexithymia; yet longitudinal data tracking prospective relationship between language function and alexithymia are scarce. Leveraging data from the Surrey Communication and Language in Education cohort (N = 229, mean age at time point 1 = 5.32 years, SD = 0.29, 51.1% female), we investigated the prospective link between childhood language development and alexithymic traits in adolescence. Results indicated that boys with low language function at ages 4–5 years, and those who later met the diagnostic criteria for language disorders at ages 5–6 years, reported elevated alexithymic traits when they reached adolescence. Parent-reported child syntax abilities at ages 5–6 years revealed a dimensional relationship with alexithymic traits, and this was consistent with behavioral assessments on related structural language abilities. Empirically derived language groups and latent language trajectories did not predict alexithymic traits in adolescence. While findings support the language hypothesis of alexithymia, greater specificity of the alexithymia construct in developmental populations is needed to guide clinical interventions.

Rising rates of suicide fatality, attempts, and ideations among adolescents aged 10–19 over the past two decades represent a national public health priority. Theories that seek to understand suicidal ideation overwhelmingly focus on the transition from ideation to attempt and on a sole cognition: active suicidal ideation – the serious consideration of killing one’s self, with less attention to non-suicidal cognitions that emerge during adolescence that may have implications for suicidal behavior. A large body of research exists that characterizes adolescence not only as a period of heightened onset and prevalence of active suicidal ideation and the desire to no longer be alive (i.e., passive suicidal ideation), but also for non-suicidal cognitions about life and death. Our review synthesizes extant literature in the content, timing and mental imagery of thoughts adolescents have about their (1) life; and (2) mortality that may co-occur with active and passive suicidal ideation that have received limited attention in adolescent suicidology. Our “cognition-to-action framework for adolescent suicide prevention” builds on existing ideation-to-action theories to identify life and non-suicidal mortality cognitions during adolescence that represent potential leverage points for the prevention of attempted suicide and premature death during this period and across the life span.

Psychopathology is intergenerationally transmitted through both genetic and environmental mechanisms via heterotypic (cross-domain), homotypic (domain-specific), and general (e.g., “p-factor”) pathways. The current study leveraged an adopted-at-birth design, the Early Growth and Development Study (57% male; 55.6% White, 19.3% Multiracial, 13% Black/African American, 10.9% Hispanic/Latine) to explore the relative influence of these pathways via associations between adoptive caregiver psychopathology (indexing potential environmental transmission) and birth parent psychopathology (indexing genetic transmission) with adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. We included composite measures of adoptive and birth parent internalizing, externalizing, and substance use domains, and a general “p-factor.” Age 11 adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptom scores were the average of adoptive parent reports on the Child Behavior Checklist (n = 407). Examining domains independently without addressing comorbidity can lead to incorrect interpretations of transmission mode. Therefore, we also examined symptom severity (like the “p-factor”) and an orthogonal symptom directionality score to more cleanly disentangle transmission modes. The pattern of correlations was consistent with mostly general transmission in families with youth showing comorbid internalizing and externalizing symptoms, rather than homotypic transmission. Findings more strongly supported potential environmental or evocative mechanisms of intergenerational transmission than genetic transmission mechanisms (though see limitations). Parent-specific effects are discussed.

Fear of positive evaluation (FPE) has recently emerged as an important aspect of social anxiety, alongside fear of negative evaluation. These evaluation fears peak during adolescence, a developmental stage that is also often accompanied by difficulties in emotion regulation, thereby increasing young individuals’ vulnerability to mental disorders, such as social anxiety. We aimed to examine the longitudinal within-person associations between fears of evaluation, social anxiety, and three emotion regulation strategies (i.e., acceptance, suppression, rumination) in adolescents. Data were collected from a sample of 684 adolescents through an online survey three times over the course of 6 months and were analyzed using random intercept cross-lagged panel models. At the between-person level, FPE was linked to all three emotion regulation strategies, whereas fear of negative evaluation and social anxiety were associated with acceptance and rumination. At the within-person level, difficulties in accepting emotions predicted FPE, suppression predicted social anxiety, and social anxiety predicted rumination over time. These findings reveal complex interdependencies between emotion regulation, social anxiety, and evaluation fears, both reflecting individual differences and predicting changes within individuals, and further elucidate the developmental trajectory of social anxiety in adolescence.

Associations between adversity and youth psychopathology likely vary based on the types and timing of experiences. Major theories suggest that the impact of childhood adversity may either be cumulative in type (the more types of adversity, the worse outcomes) or in timing (the longer exposure, the worse outcomes) or, alternatively, specific concerning the type (e.g., parenting, home, neighborhood) or the timing of adversity (e.g., specific developmental periods). In a longitudinal sample from the Future of Families and Wellbeing Study (N = 4,210), we evaluated these competing hypotheses using a data-driven structured life-course modeling approach using risk factors examined at child age 1 (infancy), 3 (toddlerhood), 5 (early childhood), and 9 (middle childhood). Results showed that exposures to more types of adversity for longer durations (i.e., cumulative in both type and timing) best predicted youth psychopathology. Adversities that occurred at age 9 were better predictors of youth psychopathology as compared to those experienced earlier, except for neglect, which was predictive of internalizing symptoms when experienced at age 3. Throughout childhood (across ages 1–9), aside from the accumulation of all adversities, parental stress and low collective efficacy were the strongest predictors of internalizing symptoms, whereas psychological aggression was predictive of externalizing symptoms.

Difficulties in empathy are frequent among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and often considered a core feature of autism. Reduced empathy during the second year of life has been shown to predict subsequent ASD diagnosis. However, links between empathy in the first year and ASD have not yet been investigated. Moreover, prior work focused on empathy for others’ distress but not for others’ joy. To address these gaps, this prospective longitudinal study followed 60 infants (33% girls), 39 at high genetic risk of ASD (siblings of children with ASD) and a matching control group. Infants’ empathic responses to others’ distress and happiness were assessed at ages 6, 9, and 12 months, using simulations by the mother/experimenter and videos of crying and laughing infants. Diagnosis was determined between 18 and 36 months. Infants later diagnosed with ASD showed a reduced empathic response toward a person simulating distress, but not toward a video of a crying peer, and not in response to others’ joy (either in simulation or video). Overall, reduced empathic concern during the first year of life appears to be an early prodromal marker of subsequent ASD. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Dimensional models of early life adversity highlight the distinct roles of deprivation and threat in shaping neurocognitive development and mental health. However, relatively little is known about the role of unpredictability within each dimension. We estimated both the average levels of, and the temporal unpredictability of deprivation and threat exposure during adolescence in a high-risk, longitudinal sample of 1354 youth (Pathways to Desistance study). We then related these estimates to later life psychological distress, and Antisocial and Borderline personality traits, and tested whether any effects are mediated by future orientation. High average levels of both deprivation and threat exposure were found to be associated with worse mental health on all three outcomes, but only the effects on Antisocial and Borderline personality traits were mediated by decreased future orientation, a pattern consistent with evolutionary models of psychopathology. Unpredictability in deprivation exposure proved to be associated with increased psychological distress and a higher number of Borderline traits, but with increased future orientation. There was some evidence of unpredictability in threat exposure buffering against the detrimental developmental effects of average threat levels. Our results suggest that the effects of unpredictability are distinct within different dimensions of early life adversity.

Resolving trauma may contribute to mental health and parenting in mother with histories of childhood maltreatment. The concept of trauma-specific reflective functioning (T-RF) was developed to assess the complexity of thought processes regarding trauma. The study aimed to validate the T-RF scale applied to the Trauma Meaning-Making Interview by examining its psychometric properties, associations with measures of trauma-processing strategies, maternal reflective functioning and mental health (depression and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), as well as evaluating whether T-RF offered a unique contribution to maternal insightfulness. Good construct validity of the T-RF scale was confirmed in a sample of 112 mothers with histories of childhood maltreatment using an independent coding system of trauma-processing. Better mentalization of trauma was prospectively associated with higher parental reflective functioning and mothers with high T-RF were much more likely to be insightful regarding the child’s mental states than non-reflective mothers and mothers with limited T-RF. The association between T-RF and insightfulness was observed even when controlling for maternal reflective functioning, trauma-processing strategies, maternal education and sociodemographic risk. T-RF was associated neither with depression, PTSD nor the characteristics of trauma. Findings suggest that mentalizing trauma would be an important protective factor in the intergenerational trajectories of trauma.

Moral emotions such as shame, guilt and pride are crucial to young children’s social-emotional development. Due to the restrictions caused by hearing loss in accessing the social world, deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children may encounter extra difficulties in their development of moral emotions. However, little research so far has investigated the development trajectory of moral emotions during preschool years in DHH children. The present study used a longitudinal design to explore the development trajectories of shame, guilt, and pride, in a sample of 259 Chinese DHH and typically hearing (TH) preschoolers aged 2 to 6 years old. The results indicated that according to parent reports, DHH children manifested lower levels of guilt and pride compared to their TH peers, yet the manifested levels of shame, guilt, and pride increased throughout the preschool time at a similar pace in all children. Moreover, whilst guilt and pride contributed to increasing levels of psychosocial functioning over the preschool years, shame contributed to lower social competence and more externalizing behaviors in DHH and TH preschoolers. The outcomes imply that early interventions and adjustment to hearing loss could be useful to safeguard the social development of children with severe hearing loss, and cultural variances shall be taken into consideration when studying moral emotions in a Chinese cultural background.

This study aimed (1) to identify distinct family trajectory profiles of destructive interparental conflict and parent-child emotional warmth reported by one parent, and (2) to examine whether these codevelopmental profiles were associated with the longitudinal development of children and adolescents’ self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. Six longitudinal data waves from the German Family Panel (pairfam) study (Waves 2–7) from 722 parent-child dyads were used (age of children and adolescents in years: M = 10.03, SD = 1.90, range = 8–15; 48.3% girls; 73.3% of parents were native Germans). Data were analyzed using growth mixture and latent growth curve modeling. Two classes, harmonious and conflictual-warm families, were found based on codevelopmental trajectories of interparental conflict and emotional warmth. These family profiles were linked with the development of externalizing problems in children and adolescents but not their internalizing problems. Family dynamics are entangled in complex ways and constantly changing, which appears relevant to children’s behavior problems.