Search

Key symptoms of anxiety include experiencing unpleasant emotions and hyperarousal. Growing evidence suggests the role of delayed affective recovery from stress (DAR) in their maintenance and development on a day-to-day basis. We aimed to investigate whether DAR is linked to current and future anxiety symptoms, independently of depressive symptoms. Self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed twice: at Wave 1 (N=1031) and approximately 2.5 years later at Wave 2 (N=171) in a community sample of adolescents. Additionally, at Wave 1, Experience Sampling Method (ESM) was used. Participants reported their momentary affect and stressful occurrences 10 times a day, for six days. Using ESM data and a subtraction method, we construed two variables, i.e., affective valence and arousal reflecting the (un)pleasantness and (hyper)arousal associated with emotions. The time interval for affective recovery was estimated using parametric survival analysis. Prospective associations were tested with multiple regression. Slower valence recovery was associated with higher concurrent anxiety symptoms (p

Introduction: Childhood adversity may result in a negative expectation of future interactions with others, also referred to as ‘threat anticipation’. It may also negatively impact on identity development, which subsequently may influence how individuals deal with their environment. Here, we examine the hypotheses that 1) identity development is associated with threat anticipation, and 2) that identity confusion, in the presence of childhood adversity, has a synergistic effect on the development of threat anticipation. Methods: 1913 adolescents from the general population (mean age = 13.8 years, SD = 1.86, range = 11-20) completed self-report questionnaires assessing exposure to childhood adversity, identity development and threat anticipation. Results: Identity development was significantly associated with threat anticipation in the expected direction: identity synthesis was associated with reduced anticipation of threat (β = -.0013, p < .001), whereas identity confusion was association with increased threat anticipation (β = .0017, p < .001). Furthermore, childhood adversity was positively associated with threat anticipation (β = .0018, p < .001). However, no evidence for an interaction effect of identity on the association between childhood adversity and threat anticipation was found.Conclusion: The current study illustrates the importance of exposure to childhood adversity and identity development for the anticipation of threat. Identity development however did not moderate the association between childhood adversity and threat anticipation, suggesting childhood adversity and identity development have an additive rather than synergistic effect on threat anticipation. Further research is needed to clarify how both factors influence each other within a developmental framework.

Exercise has a beneficial effect on mental health and cognitive functioning, but the exact underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this review, we focus on the effect of exercise on hippocampal pattern separation, which is a key component of episodic memory. Research has associated exercise with improvements in pattern separation. We propose an integrated framework mechanistically explaining this relationship. The framework is divided into three pathways, describing the pro-neuroplastic, anti-inflammatory and hormonal effects of exercise. The pathways are heavily intertwined and may result in functional and structural changes in the hippocampus. These changes can ultimately affect pattern separation through direct and indirect connections. The proposed framework might guide future research on the effect of exercise on pattern separation in the hippocampus. ispartof: REVIEWS IN THE NEUROSCIENCES vol:33 issue:5 pages:555-582 ispartof: location:Germany status: published

Social withdrawal is often presented as overall negative, with a focus on loneliness and peer exclusion. However, social withdrawal is also a part of normative adolescent development, which indicates that groups of adolescents potentially experience social withdrawal differently from one another. This study investigated whether different groups of adolescents experienced social withdrawal in daily life as positive versus negative, using experience sampling data from a large-scale study on mental health in general population adolescents aged 11 to 20 (n = 1913, MAge = 13.8, SDAge = 1.9, 63% female) from the Flemish region in Belgium. Two social withdrawal clusters were identified using model-based cluster analysis: one cluster characterized by high levels of positive affect and one cluster characterized by high levels of negative affect, loneliness and exclusion. Logistic regression showed that boys had 66% decreased odds of belonging to the negative cluster. These results show that daily-life social withdrawal experiences are heterogeneous in adolescence, which strengthens the view that, both in research and clinical practice, social withdrawal should not be seen as necessarily maladaptive. ispartof: JOURNAL OF YOUTH AND ADOLESCENCE vol:51 issue:5 pages:915-926 ispartof: location:United States status: published

COVID-19 lockdown measures have profoundly impacted adolescent' daily life, with research suggesting an increase in irritability, stress, loneliness, and family conflict. A potential protective factor is parent-child relationship quality; however, no studies have investigated this. We used data from SIGMA, a longitudinal, experience sampling cohort study, in which N = 173 adolescents aged 11 to 20 were tested before and during COVID-19. Multilevel analyses showed decreased daily-life irritability and increased loneliness from pre- to mid-pandemic. Daily-life stress levels were unchanged. Relationship quality was negatively associated with irritability and loneliness and buffered against the increase in loneliness. Effect sizes were small and do not support a strong effect of the first lockdown on irritability, stress, loneliness, and family conflict in adolescents. ispartof: Journal Of Research On Adolescence vol:31 issue:3 pages:623-644 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Adolescent social withdrawal was drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As social withdrawal is crucial for adolescent development through its association with both positive and negative developmental outcomes, it is critical to understand how adolescents’ daily-life social withdrawal experiences changed as a result of the pandemic. Using three waves of data from a large longitudinal study, we found that adolescents with lower levels of pre-pandemic social support and social skills reported wanting to be alone less and feeling like an outsider more, both in the early (nT1 = 100) and mid-pandemic (nT2 = 204) waves. In the mid-pandemic wave, adolescents with higher levels of pre-pandemic social support and social skills reported decreases in positive affect compared to the pre-pandemic wave. This indicates that all adolescents experienced a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to some degree, especially with the increased duration of the pandemic.

The Perceptual Crossing Experiment (PCE) captures social capacity using real-time social interaction dynamics but has not been externally validated. We tested ecological and convergent validity of the PCE, in a sample of 208 adolescents from the general population, aged 11 to 19. We expected associations between PCE social capacity and 1) quantity and quality of social interaction in daily life, using Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) (ecological validity), and 2) self-reported social skills using a questionnaire (convergent validity). We also expected PCE social capacity to better explain variance in ESM social measures than self-reported social skills. Multilevel analyses showed that only self-reported social skills were significantly positively associated with social experience of company in daily life. These initial results do not support the ecological and convergent validity of the PCE. However, fueled by novel insights regarding the complexity of capturing social dynamics, we identified promising methodological advances for future validation efforts.

Childhood adversity is associated with psychopathology. First evidence in adults suggests that threat anticipation, i.e., an enhanced anticipation of unpleasant events creating an enduring sense of threat, may be a putative mechanism linking childhood adversity to psychopathology. This study aimed to test the indirect effect of childhood adversity on psychopathology via threat anticipation in a large community sample of adolescents. We measured childhood trauma and bullying victimization (as indicators of childhood adversity), threat anticipation, general psychopathology and prodromal psychotic symptoms in adolescents aged 12–16 years (full sample size N = 1682; minimum sample size in the complete case sample N = 449) in wave I of the SIGMA study. We found strong evidence that childhood adversity (e.g. childhood trauma, adj. β (aβ) = 0.54, p p indirect effect = 0.13, p

The Perceptual Crossing Experiment (PCE) captures the capacity for social contingency detection using real-time social interaction dynamics but has not been externally validated. We tested ecological and convergent validity of the PCE in a sample of 208 adolescents from the general population, aged 11 to 19 years. We expected associations between PCE performance and (a) quantity and quality of social interaction in daily life, using Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM; ecological validity) and (b) self-reported social skills using a questionnaire (convergent validity). We also expected PCE performance to better explain variance in ESM social measures than self-reported social skills. Multilevel analyses showed that only self-reported social skills were positively associated with social experience of company in daily life. These initial results do not support ecological and convergent validity of the PCE. However, fueled by novel insights regarding the complexity of capturing social dynamics, we identified promising methodological advances for future validation efforts.

Childhood adversity increases the risk of developing psychiatric symptoms later in life. However, the neuro-biological mechanisms underlying this association are unknown. This paper reviews the current literature regarding structural and functional alterations in the hippocampus and amygdala following childhood adversity, ultimately converging into a model that proposes impaired 'pattern separation' as an important underlying mechanism associated with risk or resilience for psychopathology through increased fear generalization. In the present model, decreased DG/CA3 activity and amygdala hyper-reactivity are considered to be a consequence of childhood adversity, which in turn may result in impaired pattern separation of emotional information. Impaired pattern separation is hypothesized to result in increased fear generalization, threat anticipation, and social threat interpretation, thus increasing risk for later affective, anxiety and psychotic symptoms. The proposed model provides testable hypotheses for future studies and stresses the need to stratify according to childhood adversity as an etiological factor.

The capacity for dynamically coordinating behaviour is assumed to have largely matured in infancy. In adolescence—another sensitive period for social development—the primary focus on individual social cognition as the main driver of interaction has prevented the study of actual social interaction as behavioural coordination within dyads. From a dynamic perspective, however, capturing real-time social dynamics is essential for the assessment of social interactive processes. In order to improve the understanding of social development during adolescence, we investigated the potential developmental course of social contingency detection in dynamic interactions. Pairs of 205 Belgian adolescents (83 male, 122 female), aged 11–19, engaged in real-time social interaction via the Perceptual Crossing Experiment (PCE). Comparing early, middle and late adolescents, we found a generally higher performance of late adolescents on behavioural and cognitive measures of social contingency detection, while the reported awareness of the implicitly established social interaction was lower in this group overall. Additionally, late adolescents demonstrated faster improvement of behavioural social coordination throughout the experiment, compared with the other groups. Our results indicate that social interactive processes continue to develop throughout adolescence, which manifests as faster social coordination at the behavioural level. This finding underscores dynamic social interaction within dyads as a new opportunity for identifying altered social development during adolescence.

While subjective measures have demonstrated an association between sleep duration, sleep quality, and symptoms of psychopathology in adolescents, findings from more reliable, objective measures remain limited. In this study, we investigate if objectively measured sleep duration and sleep quality are associated with symptoms of psychopathology in adolescents.Adolescents (N=558; 11-17 y) from the SIGMA cohort wore the Fitbit Charge 2 measuring sleep duration and sleep quality during 4-6 days. Participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory-53, assessing symptoms of general psychopathology, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism. Sleep duration was not associated with symptoms of general psychopathology, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism in general population adolescents. Further, sleep quality was not associated with symptom levels of anxiety, and psychoticism, but small to negligible positive associations were found between sleep quality and general psychopathology and depression symptoms.Our non-significant findings converge with those of an increasing body of objectively measured sleep literature that does no find significant associations between sleep duration, sleep quality and psychopathology symptoms. Overall, our results suggest that associations between sleep duration and psychopathology symptoms in previous studies may be a function of the subjective, self-report nature of the employed measures, and do not generalize to objectively collected sleep data.

Early findings on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents, suggest that – despite being at the lowest physical health risk – both their mental health and day-to-day social lives are strongly affected. In this longitudinal study, we assessed changes in adolescent psychopathology symptoms, the quality and quantity of daily-life social interactions, and the relationship between social interactions and psychopathology symptoms before and during the pandemic.A sample of n=173 Flemish adolescents (mean age=16.0 at latest measurement; 89% girls) from the SIGMA cohort was tested between January 2018 - June 2019; and between April 27th - May 10th 2020. Subclinical psychopathology was assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory-53; daily social interactions were assessed in six-day experience sampling periods with ten daily questionnaires.Multilevel linear and logistic regression analyses indicated lower general psychopathology and anxiety symptoms, beyond age effects; fewer face-to-face social interactions, more online social interactions; and higher-quality face-to-face interactions during the pandemic than before. Negative associations between psychopathology and the quality of face-to-face peer and family interactions were stronger during the pandemic than pre-pandemic.The observed decrease and stability in psychopathology symptoms is surprising and potentially reflects resilience. Although digital communication may buffer much of the quarantine-induced distress, the current results imply that high-quality face-to-face interactions with family and peers may have been more powerful in keeping adolescents resilient. As restrictions are lifted and adolescents’ daily lives and social worlds change, it is crucial to learn more about the longer-term effects of the experienced social deprivation.

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for psychopathology development, and certain parenting styles are consistent and robust predictors of a broad range of mental health outcomes. The mechanisms through which maladaptive parenting styles affect the development of psychopathology are assumed to be largely social in nature. Yet, the social mechanisms linking parenting to psychopathology are unexplored at arguably the most important level of functioning: daily life. This study aims to identify the associations between three parenting styles, and the experience of daily-life social interactions. Furthermore, we aim to explore the extent to which these parenting styles and altered daily-life social experiences are associated with psychopathology. In this study, we recruited a sample of N = 1913 adolescents (63.3% girls; mean age = 13.7, age range = 11 to 20) as part of the first wave of the longitudinal cohort study ‘SIGMA’. Parenting styles (psychological control, responsiveness, and autonomy support) and psychopathology symptoms were assessed using a retrospective questionnaire battery. The experienced quality of social interactions in different types of company was assessed using the experience sampling method, ten times per day for six days.Direct associations between parenting styles and general quality of daily-life social experiences were tested using a three-level linear model, revealing significant associations between social experiences and different parenting styles. When interaction effects were added to this model, we found that maternal responsiveness and paternal psychological control mainly related to altered qualities of social interactions with parents, while paternal autonomy support was associated with better experiences of non-family social interactions. Finally, an exploratory path analysis highlighted how both paternal autonomy support and altered quality of non-family interactions are uniquely associated with psychopathology levels.These findings demonstrate the general and pervasive effects of maladaptive parenting styles, as parenting seems to broadly affect adolescents’ interactions with different types of social partners in everyday life. Moreover, they illustrate a potential mediated relationship in which altered daily-life social interactions could drive the development of psychopathology. A stronger focus may be required on the role of altered day-to-day social experiences in the prevention and potentially, the treatment, of adolescent psychopathology.

Background: Over half of all mental health conditions have their onset in adolescence. Large-scale epidemiological studies have identified relevant environmental risk factors for mental health problems. Yet, few have focused on potential mediating inter- and intrapersonal processes in daily life, hampering intervention development. Objectives: To investigate 1) the impact of environmental risk factors on changes in inter- and intrapersonal processes; 2) the impact of altered inter- and intrapersonal processes on the development of (sub)clinical mental health symptoms in adolescents and; 3) the extent to which changes in inter- and intrapersonal processes mediate the association between environmental risk factors and the mental health outcomes in adolescents.Methods: ‘SIGMA’ is an accelerated longitudinal study of adolescents aged 12 to 18 from across Flanders, Belgium. Using self-report questionnaires, experience sampling, an experimental task, and wearables, we are investigating the relationship between environmental risk factors (e.g. trauma, parenting), inter- and intrapersonal processes (e.g. real-life social interaction and interpersonal functioning) and mental health outcomes (e.g. psychopathology, self-harm) over time. Results: N= 1913 adolescents (63% female) aged 11 – 20, from 22 schools, participated. The range of educational trajectories within the sample was broadly representative of the Flemish general adolescent population.Conclusions: Our findings will enable us to answer fundamental questions about inter- and intrapersonal processes involved in the development and maintenance of poor mental health in adolescence. This includes insights regarding the role of daily-life social and cognitive-affective processes, gained by using experience sampling. The accelerated longitudinal design enables rapid insights into developmental and cohort effects.

Background: Less physical activity (PA) has been associated with the development of psychopathology in adolescence. Few studies, however, have focused on understanding the nature of the PA – psychopathology relationship and existing research relies mostly on self-report PA measures, which are less reliable. In this study, we investigated the nature and potential dose-response relationship between objectively measured light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and psychopathology symptoms in adolescents. Methods: 1130 adolescents (67% female) aged 11-19 years from the SIGMA cohort wore the Fitbit Charge 2 measuring LPA and MVPA during at least three days. Participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory-53, assessing general symptoms of psychopathology, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism. Model selection was conducted in a subset of the dataset (n = 566) to determine the best fit. The optimal model was then fitted to the remainder of the dataset (n= 564).Results: Results indicated that, compared to non-linear alternatives, a linear relationship between LPA/MVPA and psychopathology fits best. None of these linear associations were significant, however.Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that LPA and MVPA are not significantly related to symptoms of general psychopathology, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism. Therefore, this study does not provide evidence that higher durations of LPA and MVPA alone relate to reduced symptoms of psychopathology in the general adolescent population. A more integrative approach considering the interdependency of multiple lifestyle factors, as well as the domain, context, and individual experience of PA may add value to the understanding of the PA- psychopathology relationship.

The main focus on individual social cognition in adolescence has prevented the study of the fundamental capacity to detect and respond to social cues, as this requires capturing interaction dynamics within dyads. To improve our understanding of basic social capacity development across adolescence, we used the Perceptual Crossing Experiment (PCE), to assess real-time social interaction in pairs of 208 adolescents. In comparing early, mid, and late adolescence, we found an overall higher performance of late adolescents on behavioural and cognitive measures of basic social capacity, while the reported awareness of implicitly established social interaction was overall lower in this group. In addition, late adolescents demonstrated faster improvement of behaviour throughout the experiment, compared with the other groups. Our results indicate that basic social capacity continues to develop throughout adolescence, which is expressed by faster social coordination on a behavioural level. This finding underscores dynamic social interaction within dyads as a new opportunity for identifying altered social development during adolescence.

Background: Adolescence is a period of both great social change, and of vulnerability to psychiatric distress. However, little is known about the associations between early psychopathology and social interactions at the fundamental level of daily life. To better understand the social correlates of subclinical psychopathology in adolescence, we assessed associations between general psychopathology and the quantity and quality of daily-life social interactions.& nbsp;Methods: During a six-day experience sampling period, adolescent and young adult participants in Study 1 (n = 663) and Study 2 (n = 1027) reported the quantity and quality of their everyday social interactions. General psychopathology was assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90 and Brief Symptom Inventory-53. The rela-tionship between psychopathology and each outcome variable was tested in separate multilevel linear and lo-gistic regression models.& nbsp;Results: General psychopathology was associated with social interaction quality. Associations between psychopa-thology and the number of social interactions were less apparent: In Study 1, participants with more psychopa-thology were not more alone, whereas Study 2 participants with higher levels of psychopathology were alone more. Limitations: Limitations include no separate investigation of distinct types of psychopathology, and relatively low compliance to the experience sampling in Study 2.& nbsp;Conclusions: Consistent associations between subclinical psychopathology and the quality of social interactions support the fundamentally social nature of early psychopathology. Moreover, negative experiences of social interactions may be more valuable markers of early psychopathology than a reduced quantity of social behaviors. Conceptualizations of daily-life social functioning, and prevention/intervention efforts would benefit from a greater consideration of the quality of everyday social experiences.

Psychotic experiences are common in the general population and have been reported in children, adolescents, and adults. Childhood trauma, i.e. maltreatment with the intention to harm, has been proposed to play a causal role in the etiology of psychosis. There is some evidence that this association cannot, at least not solely, be attributed to genetic risk. In other words, childhood trauma increases the risk for later psychopathology independent of genetic risk. Additionally, childhood trauma might mediate the association between genes linked with mechanisms possibly underlying psychosis (such as neuroplasticity and stress regulation) and the onset of psychosis. Another mechanism through which childhood trauma might increase the risk for psychotic symptoms is through its impact on the developing brain. The hippocampus and amygdala are two limbic structures that are densely populated with receptors for stress hormones, which make them particularly sensitive to early life trauma (i.e., early life stress). Main findings include hippocampal volume reductions and increased amygdala reactivity to emotional stimuli. Furthermore, early traumatic experiences may cause heightened sensitivity of the stress response system. For example, studies found that those with a trauma history report more paranoid ideation and subjective stress, even in neutral (social) situations. There is some evidence suggesting a role for the immune system in the association between childhood trauma and psychosis; however, more research needs to be done to unravel “how.” Moreover, there are a number of psychological mechanisms that might explain the association between childhood trauma and psychosis, including feelings of social defeat, cognitive biases, attachment style, and dissociative tendencies. In this chapter, we will review the evidence linking childhood trauma to the onset of psychosis.

Background: Converging evidence supports childhood trauma as possible causal risk for psychosis and related psychopathology. However, studies have shown that baseline psychotic symptoms may actually increase risk for subsequent victimization, suggesting that exposure to CT is not random but may result from pre-existing vulnerability. Therefore, studies testing whether the association between CT and psychopathology persists when accounting for gene-environment correlation are much needed.Methods: A monozygotic (MZ) twin differences approach was used to examine whether differences in CT exposure among MZ twin pairs would be associated with MZ differences in symptoms. As MZ twins are genetically identical, within-pair correlations between CT exposure and psychopathology rule out the possibility that the association is solely attributable to gene-environment correlation. 266 monozygotic twins (133 pairs) from a larger general population study were available for analysis.Results: CT was associated with symptoms of psychosis (B = 0.62; SE = 0.08, p Conclusion: While it is not unlikely that pre-existing vulnerability may increase the risk for traumatic exposures, such gene-environment correlation does not explain away the association between CT and psychopathology. The present findings thus suggest that at least part of the association between CT and psychopathology may be causal. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background Multiple pathway models of ADHD suggest that multiple, separable biological pathways may lead to symptoms of the disorder. If this is the case, it should be possible to identify subgroups of children with ADHD based on distinct patterns of brain activity. Previous studies have used latent class analysis (LCA) to define subgroups at the behavioral and cognitive level and to then test whether they differ at the neurobiological level. In this proof of concept study, we took a reverse approach. We applied LCA to functional imaging data from two previously published studies to explore whether we could identify subgroups of children with ADHD symptoms at the neurobiological level with a meaningful relation to behavior or neuropsychology. Methods Fifty-six children with symptoms of ADHD (27 children with ADHD and 29 children with ASD and ADHD symptoms) and 31 typically developing children performed two neuropsychological tasks assessing reward sensitivity and temporal expectancy during functional magnetic resonance imaging. LCA was used to identify subgroups with similar patterns of brain activity separately for children with ADHD-symptoms and typically developing children. Behavioral and neuropsychological differences between subgroups were subsequently investigated. Results For typically developing children, a one-subgroup model gave the most parsimonious fit, whereas for children with ADHD-symptoms a two-subgroup model best fits the data. The first ADHD subgroup (n = 49) showed attenuated brain activity compared to the second subgroup (n = 7) and to typically developing children (n = 31). Notably, the ADHD subgroup with attenuated brain activity showed less behavioral problems in everyday life. Conclusions In this proof of concept study, we showed that we could identify distinct subgroups of children with ADHD-symptoms based on their brain activity profiles. Generalizability was limited due to the small sample size, but ultimately such neurobiological profiles could improve insight in individual prognosis and treatment options., Highlights • We identified distinct subgroups of children with ADHD-symptoms based on brain activity profiles. • These subgroups differed from each other on parent-rated attention problems and reward sensitivity. • The ADHD-subgroup with most difficulties in daily life, had less attenuated brain activity.

Childhood trauma exposure has been associated with a clinically relevant mixed phenotype of psychopathology composed of depressive, anxiety, and psychosis symptoms, across healthy and clinical samples. Altered stress reactivity after exposure to childhood trauma may be a plausible underlying mechanism explaining this association. In a general population sample of female twins (T0 = 564; T1 = 483), associations between childhood trauma exposure and symptom profile (no symptoms, isolated symptoms, or a mixed phenotype) on the one hand, and daily life stress reactivity on the other were investigated. Daily life stress reactivity was measured using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), and was defined as negative affect reactivity to minor daily life stressors. Individuals exposed to childhood trauma who reported a mixed phenotype of psychopathology showed a significant increase in emotional reactivity to daily life stress (activity and social stress), compared with trauma-exposed individuals without a mixed phenotype. In the trauma-exposed mixed phenotype group, increased emotional reactivity to event-stress predicted more severe symptoms at +/- 14 month follow-up. This study found evidence that may link heightened emotional reactivity to stress in individuals with a trauma history to the risk for later comorbid psychopathology.