2022

Adolescents’ self-control develops in the context of mental health and family functioning, but it is unclear how the interplay of self-control, mental health, and family functioning unfolds across time within individuals. Separating within-person from between-person effects, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were applied to adolescents (from ages 11 to 26) from a Dutch cohort (n = 2228, 51% female). Adolescents with low self-control were likely to have mental health problems and poorly functioning families. Although within-person changes in the study variables were not meaningfully associated in a reciprocal manner, changes in self-control and mental health were concurrently associated. This suggests that besides stable connections between self-control, mental health, and family functioning in adolescence and young adulthood, changes in self-control and mental health are developmentally linked as well.

Background. As complex dynamic systems approach a transition, their dynamics change. This process, called critical slowing down (CSD), may precede transitions in psychopathology as well. This study investigated whether CSD may also indicate the direction of future symptom transitions, i.e., whether they involve an increase or decrease in symptoms. Methods. In study 1, a patient with a history of major depression monitored their mental states ten times a day for almost eight months. Study 2 used data from the TRAILS TRANS-ID study, where 122 young adults at increased risk of psychopathology (mean age 23.64±0.67 years, 56.6% males) monitored their mental states daily for six consecutive months. Symptom transitions were inferred from semi-structured diagnostic interviews. In both studies, CSD direction was estimated using moving-window principal component analyses. Results. In study 1, CSD was directed towards an increase in negative mental states. In study 2, the CSD direction matched the direction of symptom shifts in 34 individuals. The accuracy of the indicator was higher in subsets of individuals with larger absolute symptom transitions. The indicator’s accuracy exceeded chance levels in sensitivity analyses (accuracy 22.92% vs. 11.76%, z=-2.04, P=.02) but not in main analyses (accuracy 27.87% vs. 20.63%, z=-1.32, P=.09). Conclusions. The CSD direction may predict whether upcoming symptom transitions involve remission or worsening. However, this may only hold for specific individuals, namely those with large symptom transitions. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and to delineate for whom CSD reliably forecasts the direction of impending symptom transitions.

Altered stress-reactivity may represent a general risk factor for psychopathology. In a broad at-risk sample, we examined (a) how stress and mild, daily expressions of psychopathology were interrelated over time, (b) whether we could detect subgroups with similar dynamics between stress and daily expressions of psychopathology (i.e., stress-reactivity), and (c) whether stress-reactivity was associated with psychopathology and social functioning. One hundred twenty-two young adults (43.4% women, mean age 23.6) at risk for developing a wide range of psychopathology completed a 6-month daily diary study. We used group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) to identify temporal associations between event stress and 11 mild expressions of psychopathology (e.g., feeling down, restlessness) at group, subgroup, and individual levels. Stress was associated with feeling irritated during the same day for >70% of individuals, and with feeling down and worrying during the same day for >50% of individuals. No stable subgroups characterized by similar daily stress-reactivity were identified. Instead, we observed 71 different stress-reactivity patterns in 122 individuals. Average daily event stress, but not overall stress-reactivity (weighted stress-response), was associated with psychopathology severity and social dysfunction. This study showed important similarities, as well as many differences between individuals, in terms of the impact of stress on mild expressions of psychopathology in daily life. Clustering based on similar stress-reactivity did not lead to stable subgroups. Finally, average daily stress levels, but not daily stress-reactivity, were associated with psychopathologic severity and social dysfunction. Findings highlight the importance of considering heterogeneity in stress-reactivity, but also challenges for identifying generalizable processes in doing so. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective. This study tested two opposing hypotheses on the continuity of psychopathology throughout adolescence and young adulthood; differentiation versus dynamic mutualism. Differentiation predicts that co-occurrence decreases, while dynamic mutualism predicts that co-occurrence increases due to causal interactions amongst mental health problems. Method. Using data from the Dutch TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (n = 2228, 51% female), we studied the development of self-reported internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems at ages 11 to 26 across six waves. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling was employed to distinguish within-person development from stable between-person processes. Results. Large stable between-person associations indicated that adolescents with internalizing problems tended to have both externalizing and attention problems as well. On a within-person level, mental health problems showed partial stability and strong cross-sectional co-occurrence. Within-wave associations of internalizing with externalizing or attention problems decreased between age 11 and 16 years, after which they increased again. Little heterotypic continuity was found: age 11 externalizing predicted age 13 attention, which in turn predicted age 16 externalizing problems, and internalizing predicted externalizing problems across ages 22 to 26. Findings were similar for males and females. Conclusions. Our findings suggest co-occurrence decreases during early and middle adolescence, supporting differentiation. While co-occurrence increased again into young adulthood, this could not be labeled as dynamic mutualism because little evidence for heterotypic continuity was found in this phase of life. The strong stable links between internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems stress the importance of targeting these mental health problems and their shared risk factors together.

Background. Genetic and environmental influences on externalizing problems are often studied separately. Here, we extended prior work by investigating the implications of gene–environment interplay in childhood for early adult externalizing behavior. Genetic nurture would be indicated if parents' genetic predisposition for externalizing behavior operates through the family environment in predicting offspring early adult externalizing behavior. Evocative gene–environment correlation would be indicated if offspring genetic predisposition for externalizing behavior operates through child externalizing behavior in affecting the family environment and later early adult externalizing behavior. Method. Longitudinal data from seven waves of the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey, a prospective cohort study of Dutch adolescents followed from age 11 to age 29 (n at baseline = 2,734) were used. Child externalizing behavior was assessed using self and parent reports. Family dysfunction was assessed by parents. Early adult externalizing behavior was assessed using self-reports. Genome-wide polygenic scores for externalizing problems were constructed for mothers, fathers, and offspring. Results. Offspring polygenic score and child behavior each predicted early adult externalizing problems, as did family dysfunction to a small extent. Parents' polygenic scores were not associated with offspring's early adult externalizing behavior. Indirect effect tests indicated that offspring polygenic score was associated with greater family dysfunction via child externalizing behavior (evocative gene–environment correlation) but the effect was just significant and the effect size was very small. Parents' polygenic scores did not predict family dysfunction, thus the data do not provide support for genetic nurture. Conclusions. A very small evocative gene–environment correlation was detected but effect sizes were much more pronounced for stability in externalizing behavior from childhood through early adulthood, which highlights the necessity to intervene early to prevent later problems.

Highlights

• A life-course study based on a large cohort of 2,229 adolescents
• Adolescents with similar MHRB patterns can reach adulthood with different levels of changes in mental health problems
• Mental health problems at age 11 were a predictor of mental health at age 23, with MHRBs explaining only a small part
• A continuity of obesity-related MHRBs throughout adolescence was associated with changes in mental health.

What was already known about this topic?

Several studies have examined work-family trajectories in different populations. However, little is known about work-family trajectories of the current generation of young adults, i.e. people who were born in the 1990s. Additionally, the link between early life mental health experiences and subsequent work-family trajectories has not been well examined.

What does this study add?

Six work-family trajectories at ages 18–28 were identified in people born in 1990s with main difference between trajectories of women and men being the timing of parenthood. Mental health in adolescence was associated with later work-family trajectories: In women, behavioural problems were associated with a parenthood trajectory and in men, emotional problems were associated with a long education trajectory.

Purpose. We assessed the association between trajectories of stressful life events (SLEs) throughout adolescence and changes in mental health from childhood to young adulthood. Further, we assessed whether family functioning moderated this association. Methods. Data of the first six waves of the TRAILS study (2001-2016; n = 2229) were used, a cohort followed from approximately age 11 to 23. We measured SLEs (death of a family member or other beloved one, delinquency, moving, victim of violence, parental divorce, and sexual harassment) at ages 14, 16 and 19. Family functioning was measured at all six time points using the Family Assessment Device (FAD), and mental health was measured through the Youth/Adult Self-Report at ages 11 and 23. Latent class growth analyses (LCGA) were used to examine longitudinal trajectories and associations. Results. We identified three SLE trajectories (low, middle, high) throughout adolescence, and found no significant associations between these trajectories and changes in mental health from childhood to young adulthood. Family functioning and SLE trajectories were significantly associated, however, the association of SLE trajectories and changes in mental health was not modified by family functioning. Mental health problems at age 11 increased the likelihood of high SLE trajectories during adolescence, and of experiencing negative family functioning. Conclusion. Experiencing SLEs throughout adolescence does not have a direct impact on changes in mental health from childhood to young adulthood, but early adolescence mental health problems increase the likelihood of experiencing SLEs.