Patterns of Childhood Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence: Associations with Prenatal Depression and Anxiety.

Purpose: Childhood maltreatment (CM) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are two deleterious relational experiences that have significant negative consequences during the prenatal period. The current study had two aims: a) use person-centered analyses to identify classes of pregnant individuals based on exposure to different types of CM and IPV and b) examine the associations between patterns of CM, IPV, prenatal anxiety and prenatal depression symptoms.

Methods: Participants were a majority Black sample of 222 pregnant individuals who completed self-report measures of CM, IPV in the last year, depression and anxiety.

Results of a pilot randomized controlled trial of Tuning in to Kids for children with FASD in nonbiological parent care.

Background: Emotion regulation difficulties and placements with nonbiological parents are common in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). We tested whether the Tuning in to Kids (TIK) intervention would improve emotion regulation in children with FASD living with nonbiological parents by targeting caregiver emotion socialization.

Method: A two-arm pilot randomized controlled trial of the 8-week, group-based TIK program was conducted from 8/2017 to 9/2021 (ClinicalTrials.

The Effects of Childhood Abuse on Emerging Adulthood Inflammation: Investigating Protective Characteristics.

Biological embedding of stress is a process commonly observed among individuals with histories of early life adversity. Adverse experiences can get "under the skin" and influence the neural and biological characteristics of an individual, impacting a range of health domains including inflammation. This study aimed to identify characteristics that protect individuals against immune health challenges following childhood abuse (e.

Intergenerational continuity of multidimensional patterns of child maltreatment exposure: A person-centered approach.

One of the most devastating and costly consequences of CM is that it persists across generations. Yet, we know little about whether there is intergenerational continuity of diverse dimensions of CM exposure (e.g.

Cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and depressive symptoms as pathways from child abuse to obesity.

Objective: Child abuse has been linked with obesity throughout the lifespan. The aim of the current study was to test two competing mechanisms underlying the association between child abuse exposure and obesity in childhood. Specifically, we examined whether depressive symptoms and the ratio of cortisol to dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), two hormones central to the stress response system, mediated the link between child abuse and obesity.

Understanding the Heterogeneity of Maltreatment Effect: the Role of Temperamental Sensitivity.

Despite the impact of maltreatment on child psychopathology, research has shown that the effects of maltreatment can vary depending on individual characteristics. Guided by differential susceptibility theory, this multi-method longitudinal study examined the role of temperamental sensitivity in shaping the relation between maltreatment and the development of child psychopathology over time. Participants included 316 maltreated and 269 non-maltreated children who attended a research summer camp and were followed over two measurement occasions spaced roughly one year apart (Wave 1: M = 9.

Common patterns of maltreatment exposure: A replication study using confirmatory latent class analysis.

Background: Child maltreatment (CM) is a multidimensional construct that requires complex multivariate approaches to properly operationalize the heterogeneity inherent in the exposure. Person-centered approaches, such as Latent Class Analysis (LCA), have emerged as promising methods, with a proliferation of studies in the past decade applying LCA to capture patterns of CM exposure across multiple dimensions. This line of research has been highly generative and also led to disparate findings about the conclusions regarding typical patterning of CM across studies, potentially due to differences in samples, measurements, and indicator selection.

Maternal History of Child Maltreatment Predicts Dysregulated Offspring Stress Response System Functioning.

Identifying proximal and multigenerational distal risk mechanisms through which adversity exposure may shape neuroendocrine dysregulation among children is critical to advancing effective preventive interventions for adversity-exposed individuals. Utilizing longitudinal data ( = 247), the current study examined maternal and offspring history of childhood maltreatment (CM) as predictors of offspring cortisol/DHEA ratios, and, in exploratory analyses, extended this longitudinally to offspring depressive symptoms in young adulthood. Youth (ages 8-13 years) initially attended a research camp, then were followed up approximately eight years later (ages 18-22 years).

Identity as a resource or a demand.

Individuals embody various social identities that can impact how they interface with the social environment. Stigma theories suggest that members of low-status or marginalized groups possess devalued social identities, and therefore, experience more stress. While social identities can lead to increased stress, individuals' appraisals of their identities are not necessarily perceived as harmful/demanding.

Understanding the intersection of prenatal alcohol exposure and postnatal adversity: A systematic review from a developmental psychopathology lens.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are among the most common neurodevelopmental disabilities. Individuals with FASD experience postnatal adversity (PA; i.e.

Patterns of childhood maltreatment and maternal substance use disorder on the development of emerging adult offspring substance use.

Exposure to child maltreatment and maternal substance use disorder represent two highly consequential and co-occurring experiences of family-level adversity for the development of concerning substance use behaviors among offspring. The present study uses latent class analysis to identify how characteristics of childhood maltreatment and maternal substance use disorder naturally cluster. Further, this study investigates how distinct patterns of maltreatment and maternal substance use differentially predict emerging adult substance use in offspring.

Profiles of socioemotional functioning in children with and without CPS-subtantiated maltreatment: Associations with child maltreatment and dating violence.

Objective: Person-centered approaches are essential for characterizing heterogeneity in child development as it relates to child maltreatment (CM) and dating violence. The present study had two aims: 1) identify person-centered patterns of childhood socioemotional functioning, 2) examine whether patterns of child socioemotional functioning mediate the association between CM and dating violence.

Participants And Setting: Wave 1 comprised N = 680 children ages 10-12 years with and without experiences of CPS-substantiated CM facing socio-economic challenge.

Person-centered methods to advance developmental psychopathology.

Dante Cicchetti's remarkable contributions to the field of developmental psychopathology include the advancement of key principles such as the interplay of typical and atypical development, multifinality and equifinality, the dynamic processes of resilience, and the integration of multiple levels of analysis into developmental theories. In this paper we assert that person-centered data analytic methods are particularly well-suited to advancing these tenets of developmental psychopathology. We illustrate their utility with a brief novel empirical study focused on underlying patterns of childhood neuroendocrine regulation and prospective links with emerging adult functioning.

Social victimization, default mode network connectivity, and psychotic-like experiences in adolescents.

Social victimization (SV) and altered neural connectivity have been associated with each other and psychotic-like experiences (PLE). However, research has not directly examined the associations between these variables, which may speak to mechanisms of psychosis-risk. Here, we utilized two-year follow-up data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study to test whether SV increases PLE through two neural networks mediating socio-affective processes: the default mode (DMN) and salience networks (SAN).

Interpersonal Mechanisms Between Child Maltreatment Timing and Young Adult Internalizing and Externalizing Symptomatology.

Objective: Children who experience maltreatment are prone to exhibit interpersonal deficits and lack secure attachment, which can lead to internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. This study investigated timing and chronicity of maltreatment and its impacts on psychopathology outcomes in young adulthood. Two interpersonal mediators were examined: problems with peers and childhood attachment security.

The relative effects of parental alcohol use disorder and maltreatment on offspring alcohol use: Unique pathways of risk.

Childhood adversity represents a robust risk factor for the development of harmful substance use. Although a range of empirical studies have examined the consequences of multiple forms of adversity (i.e.

Negative Perceptions of Peer Relationships as Mechanisms in the Association Between Maltreatment Timing and the Development of Psychopathology.

Despite findings that developmental timing of maltreatment is a critical factor in predicting subsequent outcomes, children's developmental stage is understudied in maltreatment research. Moreover, childhood maltreatment is associated with the development of maladaptive peer relationships and psychopathology, with social cognition identified as a process underlying this risk. The current study utilizes structural equation modeling to examine the impact of developmental timing of maltreatment (i.

Patterns of life stress and the development of ruminative brooding in adolescence: A person-centered approach.

Research links life stressors, including acute, chronic, and early life stress, to the development of ruminative brooding. However, singular forms of life stress rarely occur in isolation, as adolescents typically encounter stressors that vary on important dimensions (e.g.

Childhood attachment security mediates the effect of childhood maltreatment chronicity on emotion regulation patterns in emerging adulthood.

This study uses a 2-wave, longitudinal design to evaluate mother-child attachment security (child-reported) and emotion regulation capacities (wave 1, age 10-12) as mediators linking childhood maltreatment chronicity and emotion regulation (ER) patterns in emerging adulthood (wave 2;  = 399; 48.1% male; 77.2% Black/African-American, 11.

The trauma experiences of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: Developmental outcomes utilizing a threat/deprivation child adversity framework.

Background: Individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) experience heightened rates of childhood trauma and adversity. Research has examined the negative impact adverse childhood experiences have on developmental outcomes. This study aims to take the field a step further by examining the details of traumatic events, including duration, perpetrator, whether the event significantly impacted the child, and trauma subtype.

A person-centered data analytic approach to dopaminergic polygenic moderation of child maltreatment exposure.

The present study illustrates the utility of latent class analysis, a person-centered data analytic approach, as an innovative method for identifying naturally occurring patterns of polygenic risk, specifically within the dopaminergic system. Moreover, this study tests whether latent classes of polygenic variation moderate the effect of child maltreatment exposure on internalizing symptoms among African ancestry youth. African ancestry youth were selected for this study because youth of color are overrepresented in the child welfare system and because African ancestry individuals are significantly underrepresented in genomics research.

The Role of Peer- and Self-Appraisals in the Association Between Maltreatment and Symptomatology.

Recent research highlights the use of artificial boundaries between distinct types of adverse experiences, including forms of maltreatment. Commonly-utilized methods that isolate the impact of one maltreatment subtype over others and fail to consider the often co-occurring nature of maltreatment may not adequately capture the complex heterogeneous nature of maltreatment and may obscure understanding of developmental pathways. Moreover, childhood maltreatment is associated with the development of maladaptive peer relationships and psychopathology, with negative conceptions of relationships identified as a risk pathway.

Adverse childhood experiences in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and their effects on behavior.

Background: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have high rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are associated with a wide range of health outcomes including difficulty with behavior regulation, an important intervention target. However, the effect of ACEs on different areas of behavior has not been well characterized in children with disabilities.