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Background Social anxiety symptoms are most likely to emerge during adolescence, a developmental window marked by heightened concern over peer evaluation. However, the neurocognitive mechanism(s) underlying adolescent social anxiety remain unclear. Emerging work points to the error-related negativity (ERN) as a potential neural marker of exaggerated self/error-monitoring in social anxiety, particularly for errors committed in front of peers. However, social anxiety symptoms are marked by heterogeneity and it remains unclear exactly what domain(s) of social anxiety symptoms are associated with ERN variation in peer presence, particularly within the adolescent period. Methods To advance and deepen the mechanistic understanding of the ERN's putative role as a neural marker for social anxiety in adolescence, we leveraged a social manipulation procedure and assessed a developmentally salient domain of social anxiety during adolescence – fear of negative evaluation (FNE). Adolescents residing in Hanzhong, a small city in the southwestern region of mainland China, had EEG recorded while performing a flanker task, twice (peer presence/absence); FNE, as well as global social anxiety symptoms, was assessed. Results Overall ERN increases in peer presence. FNE specifically, but not global levels of social anxiety symptoms, predicted ERN in peer presence. Conclusions These data are the first demonstration that the ERN relates to a specific domain of social anxiety in adolescents, as well as the first evidence of such relations within a non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) sample. Results have important implications for theory and research into adolescent social anxiety.

Early behaviors that differentiate later biomarkers for psychopathology can guide preventive efforts while also facilitating pathophysiological research. We test whether the error-related negativity (ERN) moderates the link between early behavior and later psychopathology in two early childhood phenotypes: behavioral inhibition and irritability. From ages 2 to 7 years, children (n=291) were assessed longitudinally for behavioral inhibition (BI) and irritability. BI was assessed via maternal report and behavioral responses to novelty. Childhood irritability was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist. At age 12, electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while children performed a flanker task to measure the ERN, a neural indicator of error monitoring. Clinical assessments of anxiety and irritability were conducted using questionnaires (i.e., Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders and Affective Reactivity Index) and clinical interviews. Error monitoring interacted with early BI and early irritability, to predict later psychopathology. Among children with high BI, an enhanced ERN predicted greater social anxiety at age 12. In contrast, children with high childhood irritability and a blunted ERN predicted greater irritability at age 12. This converges with previous work and provides novel insight into the specificity of pathways associated with psychopathology.

Recent models of psychopathology suggest the presence of a general factor capturing the shared variance among all symptoms along with specific psychopathology factors (e.g., internalizing and externalizing). However, few studies have examined predictors that may serve as transdiagnostic risk factors for general psychopathology from early development. In the current study we examine, for the first time, whether observed and parent-reported infant temperament dimensions prospectively predict general psychopathology as well as specific psychopathology dimensions (e.g., internalizing and externalizing) across childhood. In a longitudinal cohort (N = 291), temperament dimensions were assessed at 4 months of age. Psychopathology symptoms were assessed at 7, 9, and 12 years of age. A bifactor model was used to estimate general, internalizing, and externalizing psychopathology factors. Across behavioral observations and parent-reports, higher motor activity in infancy significantly predicted greater general psychopathology in mid to late childhood. Moreover, low positive affect was predictive of the internalizing-specific factor. Other temperament dimensions were not related with any of the psychopathology factors after accounting for the general psychopathology factor. The results of this study suggest that infant motor activity may act as an early indicator of transdiagnostic risk. Our findings inform the etiology of general psychopathology and have implications for the early identification for children at risk for psychopathology.