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In order to clarify further the role of Beck’s vulnerability-stress model in the early development of depression, this longitudinal study tested a threshold model of dysfunctional attitudes in children and adolescents. An initially asymptomatic sample of 889 youths aged 9–18 years completed measures of dysfunctional attitudes and depressive symptoms. Twenty months later, participants reported stressful life events and current depressive symptoms. Results support a threshold view of cognitive vulnerability as only dysfunctional attitudes above a certain threshold significantly interacted with life events to predict depressive symptoms. Thus, findings suggest that dysfunctional attitudes must exceed a certain threshold to confer vulnerability to depressive symptomatology in youth. The term “dysfunctional” might therefore only apply to higher levels of the “dysfunctional attitudes” proposed by A. T. Beck. Results also indicate that studies using non-clinical samples may systematically underestimate the effect of dysfunctional attitudes when relying on conventional linear methods.
Early maternal care may counteract familial liability for psychopathology in the reward circuitry
(2018)
Reward processing is altered in various psychopathologies and has been shown to be susceptible to genetic and environmental influences. Here, we examined whether maternal care may buffer familial risk for psychiatric disorders in terms of reward processing. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during a monetary incentive delay task was acquired in participants of an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth (N = 172, 25 years). Early maternal stimulation was assessed during a standardized nursing/playing setting at the age of 3 months. Parental psychiatric disorders (familial risk) during childhood and the participants’ previous psychopathology were assessed by diagnostic interview. With high familial risk, higher maternal stimulation was related to increasing activation in the caudate head, the supplementary motor area, the cingulum and the middle frontal gyrus during reward anticipation, with the opposite pattern found in individuals with no familial risk. In contrast, higher maternal stimulation was associated with decreasing caudate head activity during reward delivery and reduced levels of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the high-risk group. Decreased caudate head activity during reward anticipation and increased activity during delivery were linked to ADHD. These findings provide evidence of a long-term association of early maternal stimulation on both adult neurobiological systems of reward underlying externalizing behavior and ADHD during development.
To provide further insight into stress generation patterns in boys and girls around puberty, this study investigated longitudinal reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, and stress generation, the process by which individuals contribute to the occurrence of stress in interpersonal contexts (e.g., problematic social interactions) or in noninterpersonal contexts (e.g., achievement problems). A community sample of N = 924 German children and early adolescents (51.8% male) completed depressive symptoms and dysfunctional attitudes measures at T1 and again 20 months later (T2). Stressful life events were reported at T2. Dysfunctional attitudes were unrelated to stress generation. Interpersonal, but not noninterpersonal, dependent stress partially mediated the relationship between initial and later depressive symptoms, with girls being more likely to generate interpersonal stress in response to depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the role of interpersonal stress generation in the early development of depressive symptomatology, and in the gender difference in depression prevalence emerging around puberty.
This longitudinal study investigated patterns of developmental problems across depression, aggression, and academic achievement during adolescence, using two measurement points two years apart (N = 1665; age T1: M = 13.14; female = 49.6%). Latent Profile Analyses and Latent Transition Analyses yielded four main findings: A three-type solution provided the best fit to the data: an asymptomatic type (i.e., low problem scores in all three domains), a depressed type (i.e., high scores in depression), an aggressive type (i.e., high scores in aggression). Profile types were invariant over the two data waves but differed between girls and boys, revealing gender specific patterns of comorbidity. Stabilities over time were high for the asymptomatic type and for types that represented problems in one domain, but moderate for comorbid types. Differences in demographic variables (i.e., age, socio-economic status) and individual characteristics (i.e., self-esteem, dysfunctional cognitions, cognitive capabilities) predicted profile type memberships and longitudinal transitions between types.
Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (= negative math priming effect). We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task.
This study presents the evaluation of a computer-based learning program for children with developmental dyscalculia and focuses on factors affecting individual responsiveness. The adaptive training program Calcularis 2.0 has been developed according to current neuro-cognitive theory of numerical cognition. It aims to automatize number representations, supports the formation and access to the mental number line and trains arithmetic operations as well as arithmetic fact knowledge in expanding number ranges. Sixty-seven children with developmental dyscalculia from second to fifth grade (mean age 8.96 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups (Calcularis group, waiting control group). Training duration comprised a minimum of 42 training sessions à 20 min within a maximum period of 13 weeks. Compared to the waiting control group, children of the Calcularis group demonstrated a higher benefit in arithmetic operations and number line estimation. These improvements were shown to be stable after a 3-months post training interval. In addition, this study examines which predictors accounted for training improvements. Results indicate that this self-directed training was especially beneficial for children with low math anxiety scores and without an additional reading and/or spelling disorder. In conclusion, Calcularis 2.0 supports children with developmental dyscalculia to improve their arithmetical abilities and their mental number line representation. However, it is relevant to further adapt the setting to the individual circumstances.
This study presents the evaluation of a computer-based learning program for children with developmental dyscalculia and focuses on factors affecting individual responsiveness. The adaptive training program Calcularis 2.0 has been developed according to current neuro-cognitive theory of numerical cognition. It aims to automatize number representations, supports the formation and access to the mental number line and trains arithmetic operations as well as arithmetic fact knowledge in expanding number ranges. Sixty-seven children with developmental dyscalculia from second to fifth grade (mean age 8.96 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups (Calcularis group, waiting control group). Training duration comprised a minimum of 42 training sessions à 20 min within a maximum period of 13 weeks. Compared to the waiting control group, children of the Calcularis group demonstrated a higher benefit in arithmetic operations and number line estimation. These improvements were shown to be stable after a 3-months post training interval. In addition, this study examines which predictors accounted for training improvements. Results indicate that this self-directed training was especially beneficial for children with low math anxiety scores and without an additional reading and/or spelling disorder. In conclusion, Calcularis 2.0 supports children with developmental dyscalculia to improve their arithmetical abilities and their mental number line representation. However, it is relevant to further adapt the setting to the individual circumstances.
Association between pubertal stage at first drink and neural reward processing in early adulthood
(2017)
Puberty is a critical time period during human development. It is characterized by high levels of risk-taking behavior, such as increased alcohol consumption, and is accompanied by various neurobiological changes. Recent studies in animals and humans have revealed that the pubertal stage at first drink (PSFD) significantly impacts drinking behavior in adulthood. Moreover, neuronal alterations of the dopaminergic reward system have been associated with alcohol abuse or addiction. This study aimed to clarify the impact of PSFD on neuronal characteristics of reward processing linked to alcohol-related problems. One hundred sixty-eight healthy young adults from a prospective study covering 25 years participated in a monetary incentive delay task measured with simultaneous EEG-fMRI. PSFD was determined according to the age at menarche or Tanner stage of pubertal development, respectively. Alcohol-related problems in early adulthood were assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). During reward anticipation, decreased fMRI activation of the frontal cortex and increased preparatory EEG activity (contingent negative variation) occurred with pubertal compared to postpubertal first alcohol intake. Moreover, alcohol-related problems during early adulthood were increased in pubertal compared to postpubertal beginners, which was mediated by neuronal activation of the right medial frontal gyrus. At reward delivery, increased fMRI activation of the left caudate and higher feedback-related EEG negativity were detected in pubertal compared to postpubertal beginners. Together with animal findings, these results implicate PSFD as a potential modulator of psychopathology, involving altered reward anticipation. Both PSFD timing and reward processing might thus be potential targets for early prevention and intervention.
Depressive symptoms have been related to anxious rejection sensitivity, but little is known about relations with angry rejection sensitivity and justice sensitivity. We measured rejection sensitivity, justice sensitivity, and depressive symptoms in 1,665 9-to-21-year olds at two points of measurement. Participants with high T1 levels of depressive symptoms reported higher anxious and angry rejection sensitivity and higher justice sensitivity than controls at T1 and T2. T1 rejection, but not justice sensitivity predicted T2 depressive symptoms; high victim justice sensitivity, however, added to the stabilization of depressive symptoms. T1 depressive symptoms positively predicted T2 anxious and angry rejection and victim justice sensitivity. Hence, sensitivity toward negative social cues may be cause and consequence of depressive symptoms and requires consideration in cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression.
Converging evidence emphasizes the role of an interaction between monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype, environmental adversity, and sex in the pathophysiology of aggression. The present study aimed to clarify the impact of this interaction on neural activity in aggression-related brain systems. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 125 healthy adults from a high-risk community sample followed since birth. DNA was genotyped for the MAOA-VNTR (variable number of tandem repeats). Exposure to childhood life stress (CLS) between the ages of 4 and 11 years was assessed using a standardized parent interview, aggression by the Youth/Young Adult Self-Report between the ages of 15 and 25 years, and the VIRA-R (Vragenlijst Instrumentele En Reactieve Agressie) at the age of 15 years. Significant interactions were obtained between MAOA genotype, CLS, and sex relating to amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) response, respectively. Activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during emotional face-matching increased with the level of CLS in male MAOA-L, while decreasing in male MAOA-H, with the reverse pattern present in females. Findings in the opposite direction in the ACC during a flanker NoGo task suggested that increased emotional activity coincided with decreased inhibitory control. Moreover, increasing amygdala activity was associated with higher Y(A)SR aggression in male MAOA-L and female MAOA-H carriers. Likewise, a significant association between amygdala activity and reactive aggression was detected in female MAOA-H carriers. The results point to a moderating role of sex in the MAOAx CLS interaction for intermediate phenotypes of emotional and inhibitory processing, suggesting a possible mechanism in conferring susceptibility to violence-related disorders.