Perceived social support attenuates increased hostile reactions to traumatic threat.

OBJECTIVE: Extant literature has seldom examined the naturalistic role of reaction to threat on downstream emotional distress while also considering buffers, such as perceived social support, to acute negative mental health outcomes. The present study examined how trauma symptoms, in reaction to a global stressor, predicted increased psychological distress via elevated emotional hostility and whether perceived social support modified such effects. We predicted a priori that increased exposure to trauma would be associated with increased hostility and global psychological distress, but that this path would be attenuated by greater levels of perceived social support, as individuals who report greater support exhibit greater emotional coping. METHODS: We recruited 408 adults from a large university in the Midwestern United States to participate in a survey assessing past-week trauma, hostility, distress, and perceived social support following the initial COVID-19 lockdown. The survey was conducted in March 2020, directly after strict shelter-in-place orders were locally mandated. To test our hypotheses, we employed a moderated mediation analysis approach. RESULTS: Results demonstrate that higher trauma predicted increased hostility, which in turn predicted increased distress, and trauma predicted distress via hostility (an indirect effect). As hypothesized, higher perceived social support attenuated the association between trauma and hostility. CONCLUSION: Results support a hostile emotional pathway that may increase distress in the context of increased traumatic impact; however, social support likely buffers these effects, particularly in the face of new or novel threats and stressors. Findings suggest broad application for understanding the relation between the introduction of stressors, psychological distress, and social support.

Dyadic interactions in children exhibiting the broader autism phenotype: Is the broader autism phenotype distinguishable from typical development?

In families raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), infant siblings are at elevated risk for ASD and other developmental concerns, including elements of the broader autism phenotype (BAP). Typically, the BAP is indexed using standardized developmental assessments; however, these measures do not capture a number of social difficulties commonly associated with the BAP. The present study aims to expand our developmental understanding of the BAP by comparing children exhibiting the BAP to their typically developing peers on, (a) standardized measures of development, and (b) social behaviors exhibited during dyadic play interactions. As part of a prospective study, dyads were recruited from families with at least one older child with ASD (high-risk, n = 36), and families with no history of ASD (low-risk, n = 38). During laboratory visits at 12, 15, 18, and 24 months of age, infants completed a series of standardized assessments and a mother-child play interaction. Dyadic play interactions were micro-analytically coded for gaze, positive affect, and vocalizations to create theory-driven composites to index dyadic synchrony and responsiveness. Videos were also coded with an existing rating scheme for joint engagement and child responsiveness. Multilevel models revealed significant group differences on select constructs within the first 2 years. Language and cognitive differences emerged by 24 months of age, whereas dyadic differences were evident as early as 15 months. Recognizing the increasing demand for elevated-risk interventions, these findings highlight several social constructs through which interventions may identify risk and promote optimal development. Autism Res 2019, 12: 469-481 © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In families raising children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), younger siblings are at an increased risk for social and developmental difficulties that characterize a "broader autism phenotype." The present study explored the emergence of social, language, and cognitive differences in the first 2 years of life. Social differences were evident as early as 15 months of age for several play-based measures, and language and cognitive differences emerged by 24 months of age. For infant siblings of children with ASD, some of the earliest behavioral marks for subclinical features of ASD are evident within the first 2 years of life.

Meta-analysis of DSM alcohol use disorder criteria severities: structural consistency is only 'skin deep'.

BACKGROUND: Item response theory (IRT) analyses of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and other psychological disorders are a predominant method for assessing overall and individual criterion severity for psychiatric diagnosis. However, no investigation has established the consistency of the relative criteria severities across different samples. METHOD: PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science and ProQuest databases were queried for entries relating to alcohol use and IRT. Study data were extracted using a standardized data entry sheet. Consistency of reported criteria severities across studies was analysed using generalizability theory to estimate generalized intraclass correlations (ICCs). RESULTS: A total of 451 citations were screened and 34 papers (30 unique samples) included in the research synthesis. The AUD criteria set exhibited low consistency in the ordering of criteria using both traditional [ICC = 0.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06-0.56] and generalized (ICC = 0.18, 95% CI 0.15-0.21) approaches. These results were partially accounted for by previously studied factors such as age and type of sample (e.g. clinical v. community), but the largest source of unreliability was the diagnostic instrument employed. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the robust finding of unidimensional structure of AUDs, inconsistency in the relative severities across studies suggests low replicability, challenging the generalizability of findings from any given study. Explicit modeling of well-studied factors like age and sample type is essential and increases the generalizability of findings. Moreover, while the development of structured diagnostic interviews is considered a landmark contribution toward improving psychiatric research, variability across instruments has not been fully appreciated and is substantial.