Previously institutionalized toddlers' social and emotional competence and kindergarten adjustment: Indirect effects through executive function.

Longitudinal multimethod data across three time points were examined to explore the associations between previously institutionalized toddlers' (N = 71; 59% female) socioemotional skills (Time Point 1: 18 months to 3-years-old), executive functioning (i.e., attention, working memory, inhibitory control) in the preschool years (Time Point 2: 2-4-years-old), and adjustment in kindergarten (5-6-years-old). Children were from multiple regions (35% Eastern European, 31% Southeast Asian, 25% African, and 9% Latin American), and 90% of adoptive parents were White from the Midwestern United States. Socioemotional competency at Time Point 1 was associated with fewer attention problems and greater inhibitory control at Time Point 2, which were subsequently associated with more observed social competence, greater observed classroom competence, and less teacher-reported teacher-child conflict in kindergarten. Indirect effects from socioemotional competencies in toddlerhood to kindergarten adjustment via executive functioning during the preschool period emerged. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Linking specific biological signatures to different childhood adversities: findings from the HERO project.

BACKGROUND: Although investigations have begun to differentiate biological and neurobiological responses to a variety of adversities, studies considering both endocrine and immune function in the same datasets are limited. METHODS: Associations between proximal (family functioning, caregiver depression, and anxiety) and distal (SES-D; socioeconomic disadvantage) early-life adversities with salivary inflammatory biomarkers (IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) and hair HPA markers (cortisol, cortisone, and dehydroepiandrosterone) were examined in two samples of young U.S. children (N = 142; N = 145). RESULTS: Children exposed to higher SES-D had higher levels of TNF-α (B = 0.13, p = 0.011), IL-1ß (B = 0.10, p = 0.033), and DHEA (B = 0.16, p = 0.011). Higher family dysfunction was associated with higher cortisol (B = 0.08, p = 0.033) and cortisone (B = 0.05, p = 0.003). An interaction between SES-D and family dysfunction was observed for cortisol levels (p = 0.020) whereby children exposed to lower/average levels of SES-D exhibited a positive association between family dysfunction and cortisol levels, whereas children exposed to high levels of SES-D did not. These findings were partially replicated in the second sample. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that these biological response systems may react differently to different forms of early-life adversity. IMPACT: Different forms of early-life adversity have varied stress signatures, and investigations of early-life adversities with inflammation and HPA markers are lacking. Children with higher socioeconomic disadvantage had higher TNF-α, IL-1ß, and DHEA. Higher family dysfunction was associated with higher hair cortisol and cortisone levels, and the association between family dysfunction and cortisol was moderated by socioeconomic disadvantage. Biological response systems (immune and endocrine) were differentially associated with distinct forms of early-life adversities.

Using machine learning to understand age and gender classification based on infant temperament.

Age and gender differences are prominent in the temperament literature, with the former particularly salient in infancy and the latter noted as early as the first year of life. This study represents a meta-analysis utilizing Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R) data collected across multiple laboratories (N = 4438) to overcome limitations of smaller samples in elucidating links among temperament, age, and gender in early childhood. Algorithmic modeling techniques were leveraged to discern the extent to which the 14 IBQ-R subscale scores accurately classified participating children as boys (n = 2,298) and girls (n = 2,093), and into three age groups: youngest (< 24 weeks; n = 1,102), mid-range (24 to 48 weeks; n = 2,557), and oldest (> 48 weeks; n = 779). Additionally, simultaneous classification into age and gender categories was performed, providing an opportunity to consider the extent to which gender differences in temperament are informed by infant age. Results indicated that overall age group classification was more accurate than child gender models, suggesting that age-related changes are more salient than gender differences in early childhood with respect to temperament attributes. However, gender-based classification was superior in the oldest age group, suggesting temperament differences between boys and girls are accentuated with development. Fear emerged as the subscale contributing to accurate classifications most notably overall. This study leads infancy research and meta-analytic investigations more broadly in a new direction as a methodological demonstration, and also provides most optimal comparative data for the IBQ-R based on the largest and most representative dataset to date.

Infants' abilities to respond to cues for joint attention vary by family socioeconomic status.

The influence of socioeconomic variability on language and cognitive development is present from toddlerhood to adolescence and calls for investigating its earliest manifestation. Response to joint attention (RJA) abilities constitute a foundational developmental milestone that are associated with future language, cognitive, and social skills. How aspects of the family home environment shape RJA skills is relatively unknown. We investigated associations between family socioeconomic status (SES) -both parent education and family percentage of the federal poverty level (FPL)- parent depressive and anxiety symptoms and infant RJA performance in a cross-sectional sample of 173 infants aged 8-18 months and their parents from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Results suggest that, correcting for age and receptive language, infants in families with greater economic resources respond to relatively less redundant, more sophisticated cues for joint attention. Although parent depressive and anxiety symptoms are negatively correlated with SES, parent depressive and anxiety symptoms were not associated with infant RJA. These findings provide evidence of SES-related differences in social cognitive development as early as infancy, calling on policymakers to address the inequities in the current socioeconomic landscape of the United States.

Peer Problems Among Postinstitutionalized, Internationally Adopted Children: Relations to Hypocortisolism, Parenting Quality, and ADHD Symptoms.

Seventy-eight postinstitutionalized (PI) children adopted at ages 17-36 months were assessed 2, 8, 16, and 24 months postadoption on measures of cortisol and parenting quality, and compared to same-aged children adopted from foster care (FC, n = 45) and nonadopted children (NA, n = 45). In kindergarten (Mage  = 6.0 years), teachers, parents, and trained observers completed measures of peer relationships and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. PI children had more peer problems and ADHD symptoms according to teachers and observers than NA children with FC children in between, whereas both PI and FC children were at significantly greater risk of hypocortisolism (i.e., blunted cortisol diurnal rhythm and reactivity). Hypocortisolism and ADHD symptoms mediated the association between preadoption adversity and peer difficulties. Higher postadoption parenting quality was protective.

Attachment security buffers the HPA axis of toddlers growing up in poverty or near poverty: Assessment during pediatric well-child exams with inoculations.

Poverty is associated with poor physical and emotional development. Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is argued to be one of the pathways through which poverty acts on these outcomes. While studies of school-aged children have found some evidence for this, there is little evidence for this hypothesis early in development. This may be, in part, because for very young children, the security of their attachment relationships with parents moderates the impact of poverty on HPA axis functioning. The current study investigated the relations between family income as a percentage of the federal poverty limit (FPL), salivary cortisol and attachment (Attachment Q-sort) during well-child checkups with inoculations in 177 toddlers between 12- and 22-months of age. Approximately half of the toddlers were in families living below 150% FPL, with 47% of these classified as securely attached, compared to 72% of toddlers in families living above 150% FPL. Cortisol levels increased in response to the inoculation and this did not differ by poverty or attachment security. Overall, however, beginning at clinic arrival toddlers in families living below 150% FPL who had an insecure attachment had significantly higher cortisol compared to toddlers living in poverty or near poverty with secure attachments. This finding held when we removed toddlers with high levels of negative life events in their families and primary caregivers who exceeded the screening cutoff for depressive symptoms. Thus, attachment was a significant moderator of the association between poverty and HPA axis activity, with significant implications for screening and referral of caregiving dyads at risk.

Early adversity, hypocortisolism, and behavior problems at school entry: A study of internationally adopted children.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is influenced by early life adversity; however, less is known about the potential for recovery following marked improvements in care. The present study examined longitudinal changes in children's cortisol reactivity in the laboratory (4 assessments over 2 years) after adoption. Post-institutionalized (N=65) and post-foster care children (N=49) demonstrated blunted reactivity relative to non-adopted peers (N=53). Furthermore, post-institutionalized children exhibited no evidence of expected adaptation to repeated sessions in the 2 years following adoption. As evidenced by blunted cortisol reactivity, flatter diurnal slope, and lower home morning cortisol, we found support for hypocortisolism among children experiencing adverse early care. Hypocortisolism served as a mediator between adversity and teacher-reported attention and externalizing problems during kindergarten. Early adversity appears to contribute to the down-regulation of the HPA axis under both basal and stress conditions.

Disinhibited social engagement in postinstitutionalized children: differentiating normal from atypical behavior.

The most commonly reported socially aberrant behavior in postinstitutionalized (PI) children is disinhibited social engagement (DSE; also known as indiscriminate friendliness). There is no gold standard for measurement of this phenomenon nor agreement on how to differentiate it from normative behavior. We adopted a developmental psychopathology approach (Cicchetti, 1984) to study this phenomenon by comparing it to normative social development and by studying its patterns over time in 50 newly adopted PI children (16-36 months at adoption) compared with 41 children adopted early from foster care overseas and 47 nonadopted (NA) controls. Using coded behavioral observations of the child's interaction with an unfamiliar adult, atypical behaviors were differentiated from normative behaviors. Principal components analysis identified two dimensions of social disinhibition. The nonphysical social dimension (e.g., initiations, proximity) showed wide variation in NA children and is therefore considered a typical form of sociability. Displays of physical contact and intimacy were rare in NA children, suggesting that they represent an atypical pattern of behavior. Both adopted groups demonstrated more physical DSE behavior than NA children. There were no group differences on the nonphysical factor, and it increased over time in all groups. Implications for understanding the etiology of DSE and future directions are discussed.

The emergence of attachment following early social deprivation.

This study examined the formation and quality of attachment of 65 postinstitutionalized (PI) toddlers with their parents at 1-3 and 7-9 months postadoption compared to 52 nonadopted (NA) children. The formation of attachment relationships of PI children with adoptive parents occurred relatively quickly. Children exposed to greater preadoption adversity took longer to form an attachment to their adoptive parents, although by 7-9 months postadoption, nearly all (90%) of the children achieved the highest level on an attachment formation rating scale. PI children did not differ from NA children in attachment security, based either on the Attachment Q-Sort or Strange Situation categorical scoring. However, the PI children were more likely to be disorganized in their attachment patterns. Preadoption adversity was related to lower Q-sort security scores especially at the initial assessment 1-3 months postadoption. The results indicated that attachment formation and attachment quality in PI children are differentiable constructs with different precursors.