Behavioral inhibition is reported to be one of the most stable temperamental characteristics in childhood. However, there is also evidence for discontinuity of this trait, with infants and toddlers who were extremely inhibited displaying less withdrawn social behavior as school-age children or adolescents. There are many possible explanations for the discontinuity in this temperament over time. They include the development of adaptive attention and regulatory skills, the influence of particular styles of parenting or caregiving contexts, and individual characteristics of the child such as their level of approach–withdrawal motivation or their gender. These discontinuous trajectories of behaviorally inhibited children and the factors that form them are discussed as examples of the resilience process.

The purpose of this study was to examine adrenocortical activity (basal, diurnal variation, and responses to social stressors) in adolescents at risk for psychopathology. Salivary cortisol levels were examined in normally developing and at-risk youth with internalizing and externalizing symptoms ranging from subclinical to clinical levels. Adolescents showed expected patterns of diurnal variation, with high early morning cortisol levels and a pattern of decline throughout the day. Females showed higher midday and late afternoon levels than males, and these patterns interacted with risk status. Internalizing problems sometimes were associated with gradual rather than steep declines in basal cortisol production. Both immediate and delayed cortisol reactivity to a social performance stressor were associated with internalizing symptoms. There was no evidence of relations between externalizing problems and underarousal of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) system. These and other results suggest that gender is an important moderating factor linking psychopathology, development, and context with HPA axis functioning in adolescence.

Autism is a development disorder that is characterized by a significant disturbance of social development. Research strongly suggests that this disorder results from neurological anomalies or deficits. However, both the specific neural systems involved in autism, and the most pertinent behavioral functions of those systems remains unclear. One current topic of debate concerns the degree to which the social disturbance of autism may result from developmental anomalies in neurological systems that subserve cognitive, or affective processes. In this paper a model of the neurological, cognitive, and affective processes involved in the pathogenesis of autism will be described in the context of an attempt to understand dissociations in the early social-skill development of these children. Young children with autism are better able to use social-communication gestures to request objects or events than they are able to use similar gesture simply to initiate joint or socially shared attention relative to an object or event. An integration of recent research suggests that joint attention skill development differs from requesting skill development with regard to affective and cognitive processes that may be associated with frontal and midbrain neurological systems. In particular, this integration of the literature suggests the following: (a) there is a specific neurological subsystem that regulates and promotes what are called social-emotional approach behaviors; (b) the tendency to initiate joint attention bids is prototypical of a social-emotional approach behavior; and (c) attenuation of social-approach behaviors in children with autism leads to a specific impoverishment of social information processing opportunities. This impoverishment has a lifelong negative effect on the social cognitive development of these children.

Literature is reviewed demonstrating the impact of maternal depression on early infant interactions and development. Infants of depressed mothers (a) develop a depressed mood style as early as 3 months; (b) this mood generalizes to interactions with nondepressed women; (c) it persists over the first year if the mother's depression persists; and (d) it affects growth and Bayley developmental scores by the end of the first year. Other data are reviewed on individual differences including maternal depression styles of withdrawal and intrusion, negative behavior matching, and distorted perceptions of behavior. Finally, genetic, intrauterine, and extrauterine environment effects are discussed and interventions are suggested for altering the mother's depressed behavior and distorted perceptions. The review concludes that a developmental psychopathology perspective is needed to better understand the development of early depression.

Most studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have focused on the combined type and emphasized a core problem in response inhibition. It is proposed here that the core problem in the truly inattentive type of ADHD (not simply the subthreshold combined type) is in working memory. It is further proposed that laboratory measures, such as complex-span and dual-task dichotic listening tasks, can detect this. Children with the truly inattentive type of ADHD, rather than being distractible, may instead be easily bored, their problem being more in motivation (underarousal) than in inhibitory control. Much converging evidence points to a primary disturbance in the striatum (a frontal–striatal loop) in the combined type of ADHD. It is proposed here that the primary disturbance in truly inattentive-type ADHD (ADD) is in the cortex (a frontal–parietal loop). Finally, it is posited that these are not two different types of ADHD, but two different disorders with different cognitive and behavioral profiles, different patterns of comorbidities, different responses to medication, and different underlying neurobiologies.Preparation of this manuscript was supported by grants from NIDA (R01 DA19685-16A2) and the McDonnell Foundation (JSMF Grant 21002016). The author gratefully thanks Russ Barkley, Dante Cicchetti, Michael Posner, and Margaret Weiss for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Of course, only the author bears responsibility for any errors in this paper.

During the past 10 years researchers studying children adopted from Romanian orphanages have had the opportunity to revisit developmental questions regarding the impact of early deprivation on child development. In the present paper the effects of deprivation are examined by reviewing both the early and more recent literature on studies of children who spent the first few years of life in institutions. Special attention is given to the Canadian study of Romanian adoptees in which the author has been involved. Findings across time and studies are consistent in showing the negative impact of institutionalization on all aspects of children's development (intellectual, physical, behavioral, and social–emotional). Results of studies show, however, that institutionalization, although a risk factor for less optimal development, does not doom a child to psychopathology. However, the impact of institutionalization is greater when coupled with risk factors in the postinstitutional environment. Methodological and conceptual difficulties in research with institutionalized samples of children are discussed and future directions for research are considered.

In 1990 we advanced the hypothesis that frightened and frightening (FR) parental behavior would prove to be linked to both unresolved (U) adult attachment status as identified in the Adult Attachment Interview and to infant disorganized/disoriented (D) attachment as assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Here, we present a coding system for identifying and scoring the intensity of the three primary forms of FR behavior (frightened, threatening, and dissociative) as well as three subsidiary forms. We review why each primary form may induce fear of the parent (the infant's primary “haven of safety”), placing the infant in a disorganizing approach-flight paradox. We suggest that, being linked to the parent's own unintegrated traumatic experiences (often loss or maltreatment), FR behaviors themselves are often guided by parental fright, and parallel the three “classic” mammalian responses to fright: flight, attack, and freezing behavior. Recent studies of U to FR, as well as FR to D relations are presented, including findings regarding AMBIANCE/FR+. Links between dissociation, FR, U, and D are explored. Parallel processing and working memory are discussed as they relate to these phenomena.The work described in this paper was supported by a Guggenheim fellowship to the second author and by grants from the William B. Harris Foundation and the Amini Foundation for the Study of Affects. We are grateful to Alberto Amengual, Giovanni Liotti, and John Watson for directing us to varying portions of the literature discussed. Alvin Nye Main first pointed to the relevance of the quotation from Darwin.

The efficacy of a short-term attachment-based intervention for changing risk outcomes for children of maltreating families was examined using a randomized control trial. Sixty-seven primary caregivers reported for maltreatment and their children (1–5 years) were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group received 8 weekly home visits directed at the caregiver–child dyad and focused on improving caregiver sensitivity. Intervention sessions included brief discussions of attachment–emotion regulation-related themes and video feedback of parent–child interaction. Comparison of pre- and posttest scores revealed significant improvements for the intervention group in parental sensitivity and child attachment security, and a reduction in child disorganization. Older children in the intervention group also showed lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems following intervention. This is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of short-term attachment-based intervention in enhancing parental sensitivity, improving child security, and reducing disorganization for children in the early childhood period.

This study examined the effects of being victimized by peers on children's behavioral, social, emotional, and academic functioning. We assessed an ethnically diverse sample of 2,064 first, second, and fourth graders and followed them over 2 years, locating 1,469 of the participants at the follow-up. Correlation and partial correlation analyses revealed that prior victimization predicted externalizing, internalizing, and social problems 2 years later for the sample as a whole. However, not all victimized children experienced the same types of outcomes; instead, there was heterogeneity in children's responses to victimization. Using cluster analysis, we identified eight outcome patterns that represented different patterns of functioning. These were labeled as externalizing, internalizing, symptomatic, popular, disliked, absent, low achieving, and high achieving. Discriminant function analyses revealed that the symptomatic, externalizing, and disliked patterns were systematically related to victimization. Moreover, significant gender and age differences in the severity of effects were obtained. The discussion highlights the complexity of victimization effects.

A developmental approach to the classification of antisocial behavior is necessary for two reasons. First, although the continuity of antisocial behavior is strong for many individuals, the topography of antisocial behavior changes during the course of development. Second, antisocial behavior apparently develops in at least two separate pathways — child-onset versus adolescent-onset — that differ markedly regarding types of antisocial behavior displayed, persistence, and perhaps etiology. The development of antisocial behavior must also be understood within the context of co-occurring disorders and conditions. Comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder appears to be associated with greater aggression and a worse prognosis, and comorbid academic underachievement is also associated with a negative course. Emerging evidence also suggests that comorbid anxiety disorder is associated with level of aggression, but the direction of the correlation appears to differ at different ages. In all, full understanding of conduct disorder requires developmentally sensitive classification as well as consideration of comorbid conditions.

A discussion of gender and conduct disorder must first answer the basic questions of whether or not there are any differences in prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of conduct disorder by sex. Several epidemiologic studies have found no difference in the prevalence of conduct disorder in adolescence by sex. Correlates of conduct disorder in girls are similar to those in boys (including aggression and internalizing disorders), once base rates of the correlates are accounted for. A major problem in studying conduct disorder in girls is the lack of appropriate criteria; the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (3rd ed., rev.) criteria are not appropriate for girls. A case is made for sex-specific criteria for conduct disorder that take into account known differences in male and female childhood cultures and base-rate differences in aggression and criminality. Until basic issues of diagnosis and prevalence are resolved, other issues such as risk factors and developmental pathways cannot be successfully addressed.

The aim of the current investigation was to identify victimized children's responses to peers' aggression that may be associated with reduced versus persistent victimization. To address this aim, 199 5–6-year-old children (96 boys, 103 girls) were interviewed twice during kindergarten (fall and spring) about their own victimization experiences and peers' responses to aggression. Observational ratings of children's victimization experiences were used to examine the validity of the self-reported victimization scores. Relations between response strategies and subsequent victimization status were significant only for boys: “having a friend help” was associated with reduced victimization, whereas “fighting back” was related to stable victimization. Implications for future research on peer victimization and intervention with young victimized children are discussed.

Despite substantial interest in the therapeutic relationship by child clinicians, relationship processes in child therapy have been neglected by clinical researchers. In this paper, clinical and empirical perspectives on the therapeutic relationship in child treatment were reviewed. Initial findings indicated that the quality of the child's affective relationship with the therapist is associated with collaboration on therapy tasks. Given the recurrent finding of links between treatment collaboration and treatment outcome, research on factors that influence children's ability to form therapeutic relationships is recommended. To this end, a developmental social cognitive model of therapeutic alliance formation is proposed.

This article deals with alternative research strategies for developmental psychopathology. It argues that most applications of statistical methods in empirical research are variable centered, not person oriented. As a result, conclusions are often drawn that fail to do justice to the diverse nature of populations. It is recommended that we take seriously the importance of the implications of data aggregation. The difficulties of making inferences from a more aggregated level of analysis to a less aggregated level are explained and exemplified. We explain that a set of variables displays dimensional identity if the variable relationships remain unchanged across the levels or categories of other variables. Data examples of intelligence divergence and of Child Behavior Checklist subpopulation differences show that lack of dimensional identity can lead to incorrect conclusions. Schmitz' theorems on aggregation and the validity of results at the aggregate level for individuals are illustrated using data from a study on the development of alcoholism and discussed from a person-oriented perspective. Statistical methods suitable for person-oriented data analysis are reviewed.

A major focus in developmental psychopathology is on understanding developmental mechanisms and, armed with this information, intervening to improve children's outcomes. Translational research attempts to bridge the distance between understanding and intervention. In the collaborations that have formed the core of our research network on early experience, stress, and prevention science, we have focused on translating basic research on early experiences and stress neurobiology into preventive interventions for neglected and abused children. Our experiences in attempting to move from bench to bedside have led us to recognize the many challenges that face translational researchers. This review provides a brief synopsis of the animal model literature on early experience and stress neurobiology from which we glean several key bridging issues. We then review what is currently known about the impact of childhood neglect and abuse on stress neurobiology in human adults and children. Next, we describe how this work has informed the evaluation of our preventive interventions with maltreated children. Finally, we discuss several considerations that should facilitate a more complete integration of basic research on early experience and stress neurobiology into preventive intervention strategies.This paper reflects the work of the Early Experience, Stress and Prevention Science Network (R21 MH65046), whose members are Mary Dozier, Philip Fisher, Nathan Fox, Megan Gunnar, Seymour Levine, Charles Neal, Seth Pollak, Paul Plotsky, Mar Sanchez, and Delia Vazquez. Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a Senior Scientist Award (K05 MH66208) to Megan Gunnar, and by MH59780 and MH65046, NIMH, U.S. PHS; MH46690, NIMH and ORMH, U.S. PHS; and DA17592, NIDA, NIH, U.S. PHS to Philip Fisher.

We provide a theoretical and empirical basis for the claim that individual differences exist in developmental plasticity and that phenotypic plasticity should be a subject of study in its own right. To advance this argument, we begin by highlighting challenges that evolutionary thinking poses for a science of development and psychopathology, including for the diathesis–stress framework that has (fruitfully) guided so much empirical inquiry on developmental risk, resilience, and dysregulation. With this foundation laid, we raise a series of issues that the differential-susceptibility hypothesis calls attention to, while highlighting findings that have emerged over just the past several years and are pertinent to some of the questions posed. Even though it is clear that this new perspective on Person × Environment interaction is stimulating research and influencing how hypotheses are framed and data interpreted, a great many topics remain that need empirical attention. Our intention is to encourage students of development and psychopathology to treat phenotypic plasticity as an individual-difference construct while exploring unknowns in the differential-susceptibility equation.

Empirical investigations of resilience over the past 30 years have examined a wide range of psychosocial correlates of, and contributors to, this phenomenon. Thus far, theoretical treatments of resilience have focused almost exclusively on psychosocial levels of analysis to derive explanatory models. However, there have been no formal discussions of either theory or research that have examined the biological contributors to, or correlates of, competent functioning despite the experience of adversity. This paper seeks to fill this gap and sets forth a preliminary theoretical framework and outline of empirical strategies for studying the biological underpinnings of resilience. The initial sections of the paper discuss the particular suitability of a transactional organizational theoretical perspective as a conceptual foundation for including a biological level of analysis within the extant theoretical framework of resilience. Subsequently, other important theoretical considerations for the inclusion of a biological perspective on resilience are discussed, including the avoidance of an approach that would reduce resilience to merely a biological process, the application of the constructs of multifinality and equifinality to a biological perspective on resilience, as well as a general discussion of the potential for utilization of brain imaging and other technologies in the study of resilience. The possible relation between the mechanisms of neural plasticity and resilience are examined in some detail, with specific suggestions concerning research questions needed to examine this association. Sections of the paper discuss the likely relation of several areas of brain and biological functioning with resilience, including emotion, cognition, neuroendocrine and immune functioning, and genetics. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of a biological perspective on resilience for preventive interventions.

The present study takes a developmental approach to subgrouping and examines the trajectories of substance use from early adolescence through young adulthood among a community sample of 481 individuals. The patterns of use were examined, subgroups were identified separately for men and women and for alcohol and marijuana, and psychosocial predictors and psychopathology outcomes that differentiated the groups were identified. The results revealed three substantially overlapping subgroups for both alcohol and marijuana: early onset, late onset, and nonuser. Although the general patterns of which dependent variables were related to group were similar for alcohol and marijuana, a closer examination revealed important subgroup differences. For alcohol use, the early-onset group was more dysfunctional in terms of predictors and outcomes whereas the late-onset and nonuser groups were better adjusted. In contrast, for marijuana, the early- and late-onset groups were both more dysfunctional than the nonuser group. In a final analysis, we examined the predictive utility of our developmental approach to subgrouping compared to a traditional, static approach.This research was supported by NIH National Research Service Award DA07304 from NIDA, Grant DA05312-10 from NIDA, NIH General Clinical Research Center Grant M01 RR026202, and a University of Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund Fellowship awarded to Kate Flory.

A trajectory defined by three time-ordered events was offered as a useful adjunct to building a development theory about antisocial behaviors. A sequence was defined with significant linkages between antisocial childhood behavior and early arrest and between early arrest and chronic offending. The majority of chronic offenders traveled through all three events in the sequence. Each event in the sequence shared a common process of disrupted family process plus frequent family transitions and marked social disadvantage. The findings support the hypothesis that the process that leads to antisocial behaviors at grade four may also maintain the entire sequence. The level of disrupted process at initiation and a time-based measure of involvement with deviant peers predicted which individuals moved forward in the sequence and which did not. The findings are consistent with the idea that the majority of chronic offending juveniles follow a trajectory that can be explained by a single theory.

It was proposed that the interaction between the constructs of emotion regulation and social interaction would predict social adaptation in preschoolers. Ninety-six 4-year-olds were observed in quartets of unfamiliar same-sex peers. Based on parent temperament ratings and observed free play behaviors, 68 children from the original sample were classified as: low social interaction, good emotion regulators; low social interaction, poor emotion regulators; high social interaction, good emotion regulators; high social interaction, poor emotion regulators; or average. The results indicated that the low social interaction children who were poor regulators displayed more wary and anxious behaviors during free play and other episodes, and were rated as having more internalizing problems than both the low social interaction children who were good regulators and the average group. The high social interaction children who were poor regulators were rated as having more externalizing problems than either the high social interaction children who were good regulators or the average group. Thus, it seems as if emotion dysregulation is associated with psychological maladaptation, but that this association is tempered by the degree to which children engage in social interaction.