An Expanded Conceptual Framework for Understanding Irritability in Childhood: The Role of Cognitive Control Processes.

Children prone to irritability experience significant functional impairments and internalising and externalising problems. Contemporary models have sought to elucidate the underlying mechanisms in irritability, such as aberrant threat and reward biases to improve interventions. However, the cognitive control processes that underlie threat (e.g., attention towards threats) and reward (e.g., attention towards reward-related cues) biases and the factors which influence the differential activation of positive and negative valence systems and thus leading to maladaptive activation of cognitive control processes (i.e., proactive and reactive control) are unclear. Thus, we aim to integrate extant theoretical and empirical research to elucidate the cognitive control processes underlying threat and reward processing that contribute to irritability in middle childhood and provide a guiding framework for future research and treatment. We propose an expanded conceptual framework of irritability that includes broad intraindividual and environmental vulnerability factors and propose proximal 'setting' factors that activate the negative valence and positive valence systems and proactive and reactive cognitive control processes which underpin the expression and progression of irritability. We consider the implications of this expanded conceptualisation of irritability and provide suggestions for future research.

Reaching Young People in Urban and Rural Communities with Mental Health and Wellbeing Support Within a Youth Sports Development Program: Integrating In-Person and Remote Modes of Service Delivery.

Embedding mental health and wellbeing programs within youth sports development programs can help provide more young people with mental health support. However, delivering such programs in multiple locations across metropolitan, regional, and rural areas requires novel solutions to overcome geographic and logistical barriers. We examined the delivery of an integrated system delivered within an Australian junior rugby league program. The program included online assessment and feedback about youth mental health, as well as connection with evidence-informed resources and referral sources via parent telephone and email support. There were four methods of delivering player workshops during training sessions: (a) In-person Delivery Only, (b) In-person + Remote Real-time (video-conferenced), (c) In-person + Remote Prerecorded (video-recorded), and (d) Remote Delivery Only (video-conferenced and/or video-recorded). In-person delivered player workshops were facilitated by local rugby league personnel. Remote delivered workshops were facilitated by psychologists from the mental health research team. Participants were 671 boys (12-15 years; M age = 13.35; SD = 0.35) in 21 metropolitan, regional and rural locations. Regardless of delivery condition, players with elevated anxiety, depression and behavioural problems reported significant declines in symptoms from pre- to post-program, and those within healthy ranges did not change from pre- to post-program. Player workshop enjoyment ratings were higher in the In-person + Remote Real-time condition and the Remote Delivery Only condition than the In-person Delivery Only condition. However, non-completion of the post-program assessment across all conditions was higher than in prior studies and a comparison group of players who did not complete the program was not included. Mental health benefits may be observed across in-person and remote modes of delivering mental health workshops within youth sports programs. However, the involvement of mental health personnel, whether in-person or remotely, and mixed delivery modes, may be important for young people's retention and satisfaction.

Daily use of digital technologies to feel better: Adolescents' digital emotion regulation, emotions, loneliness, and recovery, considering prior emotional problems.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents report using digital technologies for emotion regulation (digital ER), with the aim of feeling better (i.e., improving emotions and reducing loneliness). In this 7-day diary study, we investigated associations of digital ER, emotions, and loneliness, and tested whether prior emotional problems moderated these associations. METHOD: Participants were 312 Australian adolescents (Mage = 13.91, SD = 1.52; 44% boys). Daily surveys measured digital ER; end-of-day happiness, sadness, worry, anger, and loneliness; and peak sadness, worry, and anger. End-of day emotions were subtracted from peak emotions to calculate emotion recovery for sadness, worry, and anger. Participants were randomly selected from two symptom strata (high/low) defined by depression and social anxiety measures collected before the diary. Data were analyzed using multilevel path modeling. Cross-level interactions tested whether symptom strata moderated associations. RESULTS: Digital ER was associated with more recovery from peak to end-of-day sadness and worry, but also with increased sadness, worry, anger, and loneliness by the next end-of-day. Higher end-of-day loneliness was associated with increased next-day digital ER. Prior emotional symptoms were not a significant moderator of daily digital ER and emotion associations. CONCLUSION: Adolescents who report more digital ER in a day show more recovery from the peak of negative emotion that day, but this recovery dissipates, with digital ER also associated with increased negative emotion and loneliness by the next day for all adolescents, regardless of prior symptom status. Lonelier adolescents use more digital ER by the next day, suggesting they need support to make social connections-online or offline.

Using Nightly Sleep Guidelines to Address Links Between Adolescents' Self-Reported Weekly Sleep Patterns and Anxiety and Depression Symptoms.

Short and long nightly sleep durations are associated with anxiety and depression symptoms among adolescents. However, studies have not used recommended hours of nightly sleep or focused on sleep patterns across weekdays and weekends in examining links with anxiety and depression symptoms. The present study included 709 adolescents in Grade 11 (402 females; 307 males) who self-reported hours of sleep on weeknights and weekends and anxiety and depression symptoms. Using the recommended 8-10 h to define average nightly sleep for adolescents, sleep patterns across weekdays and weekends were categorised into seven classes: short stable, short increasing, average decreasing, average stable, average increasing, long decreasing, and long stable. Relative to average stable sleepers, short stable, short increasing, and long stable sleepers had significantly higher anxiety and depression. Adolescents require 8-10 h of sleep on weeknights, regardless of weekends, for optimal emotional wellbeing.

A pattern-centered analysis of adolescents' concerns and hopes about future crises: Differences in ways of coping and personal adjustment.

INTRODUCTION: Many adolescents are concerned about global and future crises, such as the health of the planet or terrorism/safety. Yet, adolescents can also express hope about the future. Thus, asking adolescents about their concern and hope could yield subgroups with different ways of coping and personal adjustment. METHOD: Australian adolescents (N = 863; age 10-16) completed surveys to report their concern (worry and anger) and hope about the planet, safety, jobs, income, housing, and technology, as well as their active and avoidant coping, depression, and life satisfaction. RESULTS: Four distinct subgroups were identified using cluster analysis: Hopeful (low on concern and high on hope across all issues, 32%), Uninvolved (low in concern and hope; 26%), Concerned about the Planet (CP, 27%), and Concerned about Future Life (CFL, 15%). When compared (adjusting for age, sex, and COVID timing), the CP subgroup was highest in active coping (e.g., taking action) but moderate in personal adjustment. Hopeful had the most positive adjustment, whereas CFL had the poorest adjustment. Uninvolved were lowest in coping but moderate in adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest ways of coping and adjustment may not always align, in that CP is connected with more active coping but also some cost to personal adjustment, whereas Hopeful is associated with optimal adjustment but perhaps at the cost of active coping. In addition, although CFL adolescents emerged as the at-risk group, the low levels of hope and coping in Uninvolved adolescents raise the possibility that they are at risk of future problems.

Reciprocal relations between past behavior, implicit beliefs, and habits: A cross-lagged panel design.

The current study assessed cross-lagged relationships between binge drinking, implicit beliefs, and habit in undergraduate university students (N = 105). Students completed self-report survey and implicit measures in lab visits 3 months apart. A structural equation model revealed cross-lagged relations between habit and behavior, and some evidence for a reciprocal relationship between implicit beliefs and habit. Implicit beliefs were related to alcohol behavior across time, but no cross-lagged relationship was observed. Findings provide preliminary support for recent advances in habit theory, suggesting that implicit beliefs and habit may develop in tandem or even share common knowledge structures and schemas.

Does irritability predict attention biases toward threat among clinically anxious youth?

Aberrant threat processing is a known cognitive characteristic of anxiety disorders and irritability. Youth with more severe symptomatology show greater allocation of attention towards threat relative to neutral stimuli. Although irritability contributes to poorer outcomes among anxious youths, irritability has not been considered as a contributing factor to threat processing in anxiety disorders. Thus, the current study examined the role of irritability in predicting attention biases for threat among clinically anxious youth. Our study included 84 clinically anxious youth (M = 9.31 years old, SD = 2.44) who completed a dot-probe task to determine attention biases. Anxiety disorders were assessed using semi-structured diagnostic interviews. Well validated measures were used to assess the severity of anxiety and irritability symptoms via child- and parent-report, respectively. Findings indicated that more severe irritability predicted greater attention biases toward threat among clinically anxious youth, covarying for age, anxiety severity, and the number of comorbid diagnoses. At a trend-level, anxiety severity also predicted attention bias for threat. Among clinically anxious youth, irritability severity was the strongest predictor of attention bias toward threat. Findings point to the salience of irritability, and to some extent anxiety severity, in relation to threat processing among youth with clinical anxiety disorders.

Fear learning and extinction predicts anxiety in daily life: a study of Pavlovian conditioning and ecological momentary assessment.

BACKGROUND: The association between anxious mood and aberrant fear learning mechanisms has not been fully elucidated. Studying how fear conditioning and extinction constructs relate to anxiety symptoms and reactivity to stressful and benign moments in everyday life provides a powerful addition to experimental paradigms. METHOD: Fifty-one young adults completed laboratory-based differential conditioning and extinction tasks with (CS + ) and without (CS-) an aversive unconditional stimulus (US). Electrodermal skin conductance responses were measured during each phase, followed by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) tapping anxiety and stressors six times daily for seven days (2, 142 moments). RESULTS: Conditioned electrodermal reactivity to the CS + and overgeneralisation to the CS- were associated with greater change in anxiety (measured via EMA), across non-stressful situations, remaining the same across stressful situations. Likewise, during extinction when the CS + is now safe, more electrodermal reactivity to the CS + was associated with more anxiety change across non-stressful situations and remained the same across stressful situations. Also, during extinction when threat is absent, more electrodermal reactivity at the late stage of the CS- was associated with less momentary anxiety change in response to stressful situations; more electrodermal activity at the late stage of the CS + was associated with more anxiety change across non-stressful situations and remained the same across stressful situations. CONCLUSIONS: Sampling 'in vivo' emotion and stress experiences, study findings revealed links between conditioned electrodermal reactivity and overgeneralisation to safe stimuli and heightened anxious reactivity during non-stressful (i.e. safe) moments in daily life, coupled with less change in response to actual stressors.

Unravelling reciprocal effects among young adults' binge drinking, stress, and anticipated regret.

Problematic alcohol consumption represents a critical risk to young adults' mental and physical health (WHO, 2018). As a result, understanding negative consequences that stem from young adults' binge drinking and inter-related factors that may mitigate increases in binge drinking has much to offer scholars and practitioners. In the current study, a two-wave random intercept cross-lagged panel design was used to examine the reciprocal inter-relations among stress, anticipated regret, and binge drinking within a lab-based study of young adults (N = 109, Mage = 19.85). Within-person findings indicated that high life stress and low anticipated regret predicted subsequent increases in binge drinking three months later, accounting for between-person stability in these constructs. All told, findings point to life stress as a robust predictor of increased binge drinking, and anticipated regret as a protective factor associated with reductions in binge drinking among young adults. Given that anticipated regret signalled subsequent drinking reductions, future research should consider ways to foreground anticipation of regret as a protective factor mitigating binge drinking increases.

Kick-starting youth wellbeing and access to mental health care: Efficacy of an integrated model of care within a junior sports development program.

One productive avenue for building adolescents' personal strengths and reducing mental health problems is integrating assessment and intervention into organised sports programs. We investigated the efficacy of the RISE program, a rugby league development program for 12- to 15-year-old boys, which integrated a mental health and wellbeing system called Life-Fit-Learning. The Life-Fit System is designed to measure youth's strengths and mental health symptoms and sends mental health feedback to parents, provides group-based workshops, connects youth and parents to online psychoeducation resources, and provides individual telephone follow-up and referral with parents of youth at high-risk for mental health problems. In this study, mental health and wellbeing outcomes were compared in participants who did (RISE, N = 94) and did not (Comparison, N = 82) receive the RISE/Life-Fit-Learning program. RISE players reported their self-satisfaction, grit, gratitude, prosocial behaviour, anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems using the Life-Fit System pre- and post-program. Comparison participants completed measures twice, 6-months apart. Self-satisfaction did not change in RISE participants but declined among comparison participants. In both groups, 26% of players scored in the high-risk range on at least one mental health measure. On mental health measures, high-risk RISE players' depression and behavioural problems improved from pre-to post-program relative to no change among Comparison players. Among participants who were not high-risk, RISE players' anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems did not change whereas Comparison players' behavioural problems increased significantly. Results underscore the value of integrating strengths-based interventions and targeting youth mental health problems within the context of junior sports development programs.

What Is Digital Parenting? A Systematic Review of Past Measurement and Blueprint for the Future.

Concerns about parenting adolescents are not new, but the rapid diffusion of digital technologies has heightened anxieties over digital parenting. Findings are decidedly mixed regarding the impact of digital technologies on adolescent well-being, and parents are left to navigate their concerns without an empirically based road map. A missing link for understanding the state of the science is a clear characterization of how digital parenting is measured, including an evaluation of which areas demand an outsized share of scientific attention and which have been overlooked. To address this gap, we undertook two interdisciplinary systematic reviews of the digital-parenting literature and characterized measurement across (a) quantitative surveys (n = 145 studies) and (b) qualitative focus groups, interviews, codesign studies, and user studies (n = 49). We describe previously popular areas of survey measurement that are of decreasing relevance to parenting of digital spaces (e.g., co-use, hovering). We likewise highlight areas that have been overlooked, including consideration of positive uses of digital technologies, acknowledgment of bidirectional influence, and attention to heterogeneity among families and to extraparental social ecologies of support and monitoring. We provide recommendations for the future of digital-parenting research and propose a more comprehensive approach to measuring how modern adolescents are parented.

Examining the Process of Implementing a Three-Step Mental Health and Wellbeing System of Care for Children and Adolescents Across Multiple Community Settings.

Mental health problems affect large numbers of young people. Integrated systems are required that can be applied in diverse settings to reach youth 'where they are'. We evaluated the process of implementing a three-step youth mental health and wellbeing system in diverse community settings according to three implementation outcomes: feasibility, penetration and acceptability. The study describes 49 applications of the 'Life-Fit-Learning system' designed to assess the mental health and wellbeing of youth (Assess step), provide feedback on assessment results (Reflect step), and connect them to resources and services proportionate to their needs (Connect step). Within a participatory research approach, 3798 administrations were conducted with youth between 9 and 18 years and 90 administrations were conducted with adults. Implementation was based on the four phases of the Quality Implementation Framework and was staged to integrate stakeholder and consumer feedback and experience gained from focus groups and two pilot phases before full implementation. Feasibility ratings of successful implementation ranged from 86.7 to 96.4% across applications and settings. High penetration rates were achieved. The Life-Fit-Learning system successfully reached 91.9% to 96% of youth with the Assess and Reflect steps and low intensity Connect step resources. Of those, 14.7% to 23% were identified at-risk for mental health problems and 93% to 97% of those at-risk youth additionally received Connect step co-delivered group-based programs (moderate intensity care) and/or individual treatment (high intensity care). Youth and parents reported high satisfaction across all steps and delivery modes. With strong collaboration, an integrated model of care can be delivered feasibly, effectively and satisfactorily to reach large numbers of young people across settings.

Commentary response: Smartphone use and parenting: re-stratifying the multiverse for families of young children.

Concerns have been raised that smartphones may harm children and families. Arguably, risk-driven discourses are not always evidence-based. This is a problem, because blanket assumptions of risk drowns out nuanced empirical questions of what constitutes "good" parenting when it comes to smartphone use, and for whom. Here we outline three logical missteps which have contributed to the deficit zeitgeist-ignoring context, misinterpreting effect, and conflation. Further, we speak to questions about parents of young children, by refocusing our multiverse analysis on 800+ parents. We ask- where are the links between parental phone use and parenting? Are these robust versus frail or positive versus negative? After re-examining our 84 analytic choices (adopting existing measures), patterns revealed fragility in this case. The few findings that did emerge implicated technoference, not smartphone use, in relation to negative parenting. We encourage continued rigorous and scientific dialogue, to accrue good evidence for families and children.

Tackling Mental Health in Youth Sporting Programs: A Pilot Study of a Holistic Program.

Linking mental health services to organised sport offers an avenue to identify and improve mental health among adolescents. In this study, we investigated the efficacy, acceptability and feasibility of an integrated mental health system embedded within a junior sports development program. A three-step integrated mental health program for 12- to 15-year-old rugby league players (N = 74) was delivered in urban (n = 44) and rural (n = 33) areas. Specifically, this system (a) assessed participant mental health on primary outcome measures of anxiety, depression, and anger/conduct problems (and secondary outcome measures of personal attributes and relationships), (b) provided feedback to participants, parents and program coordinators, and (c) connected participants and parents to a multi-component intervention including online resources, a group-based workshop program (4 × 30-min sessions), and tailored individual-level follow-up and referral to further care for participants at high risk of mental health problems. From pre- to post-program, boys' anxiety symptoms declined significantly (with only a trend-level reduction in depression), and there were significant improvements in grit (for urban boys only), efficacy to manage negative emotions, and prosocial behaviour. In addition, when boys reported symptoms associated with high risk for mental health problems, providing parents with feedback enhanced boys' access to care and was associated with significant declines in anxiety symptoms. The program was generally acceptable and feasible, with very high retention in the youth sports development program. Overall, early findings support further deployment and evaluation of integrated mental health systems embedded within sporting contexts to address mental health problems among adolescent boys.

Joining the pieces in childhood irritability: Distinct typologies predict conduct, depressive, and anxiety symptoms.

This study utilised a person-centered approach to understand childhood irritability as a transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology. Latent profile analysis was employed within a community sample (n = 93) of 9-11 year olds to identify typologies of self-regulation capabilities, positive wellbeing characteristics of hope and flourishing, and social functioning that cluster with children's irritability to mitigate risk for psychopathology symptoms. Three distinct profiles of youth were derived, High Irritability/Low Self-Regulation of Negative Emotion (9%), Moderate Irritability/Low Behavioural Control (34%) and Low Irritability/High Positive Wellbeing Characteristics (57%). Profiles were empirically validated and differentially related to symptoms of anxiety, depression and conduct problems. Notably, High Irritability/Low Self-Regulation of Negative Emotion children were characterised by the highest levels of irritability and peer problems and the lowest self-regulation of negative emotion, prosocial behaviours, hope and flourishing relative to children within the other profiles, pointing to the potential utility of future targeted, transdiagnostic interventions. Within our community-based sample, a protective profile of Low Irritability/High Positive Wellbeing Characteristics children were also described by the lowest levels of irritability and peer problems and the highest positive and negative emotion self-regulation, behavioural control, prosocial behaviours, hope and flourishing. Findings demonstrate that different levels of irritability severity cluster with different self-regulation capabilities and wellbeing characteristics and predict risk for different types of psychopathology. Targeted interventions should seek to address children's irritability alongside self-regulation and positive wellbeing characteristics to further mitigate risks of psychopathology and associated problems.

Not Just Doing Time: Distinct Typologies of Attitudes and Emotions among Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth.

Adolescents' views of the legal system, just world beliefs, and moral emotions are interrelated and form an important frame of reference, particularly for young people involved in the juvenile justice system. Yet past scholarship has generally treated these as independent indices of youths' experience. This study took a person-centered, latent profile approach to attitudes and beliefs among 136 male youth incarcerated within secure US juvenile facilities. Three heterogeneous profiles were found (negative attitudes/low emotion, moderate attitudes/mixed emotions, and positive attitudes/positive emotion) which were differentially associated with antisocial behavior. Youth who belonged to historically marginalized populations had significantly lower odds of belonging to a protective profile characterized by positive legal attitudes, just world beliefs, and emotions (positive attitudes/positive emotion). Findings highlight our gaps in understanding young people's experiences with legal and judicial entities and illustrate significant heterogeneity in youth's frame of reference within the juvenile justice system.

Tuning into the real effect of smartphone use on parenting: a multiverse analysis.

BACKGROUND: Concerns have been raised regarding the potential negative impacts of parents' smartphone use on the parent-child relationship. A scoping literature review indicated inconsistent effects, arguably attributable to different conceptualizations of parent phone use and conflation of phone use with technological interference. METHODS: Based on a sample of n = 3, 659 parents collected in partnership with a national public broadcaster, we conducted a multiverse analysis. We explored 84 different analytic choices to address whether associations were weak versus robust, and provide clearer direction for measurement, theory, and practice. Effects were assessed in relation to p values, effect sizes, and AIC; we further conducted a meta-analytic sensitivity check. RESULTS: Direct associations between smartphone use and parenting were relatively weak and mixed. Instead, the relation between use and parenting depended on level of technological interference. This pattern was particularly robust for family displacement. At low levels of displacing time with family using technology, more smartphone use was associated with better (not worse) parenting. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate fragility in findings of risks for parental smartphone use on parenting; there were few concerns in this regard. Rather, at low levels of technological interference, more phone use was associated with higher parenting quality. Scholars should avoid generalized narratives of family risk and seek to uncover real effects of smartphone use on family outcomes across diverse households and contexts.

A longitudinal model of rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms: Testing emotion regulation deficits as a mechanism and outcome of symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals who experience heightened rejection sensitivity (RS) are at greater risk of increased internalizing symptoms over time. This is especially so for adolescents and young adults, as this is a time of many social transitions and an average increase in such symptoms. Yet, little longitudinal research has explored specific mechanisms that may help explain how RS lends itself to increased symptomology during adolescence and young adulthood. In this study, we tested the summative effect of emotion dysregulation, expressive suppression, and social avoidance (i.e., ER-deficits) as mechanisms. Moreover, we estimated bidirectional temporal associations between ER-deficits and symptoms. METHOD: Participants included 402 adolescents and young adults aged 17 to 27 years (M = 19.9 years, 66% female) who completed two assessments over a 1-year period. RESULTS: In a path model, participants who reported more RS increased in anxious symptoms, and RS was indirectly associated with increased anxious and depressive symptoms via the three ER-deficits. Additionally, cross-lagged panel analyses showed that dysregulation and suppression predicted increased symptoms over time, while anxious symptoms predicted increased social avoidance over time. CONCLUSION: These findings expand understanding of the role of RS in young people's increasing internalizing symptoms, implicating ER-deficits in these processes.

Exposure to violence and neglect images differentially influences fear learning and extinction.

The mechanisms by which exposure to adversity contributes to psychopathology development are poorly understood. Recent models link experiences of threat of harm and deprivation to psychopathology via disruptions in learning mechanisms underlying fear acquisition and extinction. We empirically tested dimensional elements of this model, by examining whether exposure to images of community violence or neglect differentially influenced fear learning and extinction relative to exposure to neutral images. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three exposure conditions: viewing images depicting neglect (n = 25), violence (n = 25) or control images (n = 24). All participants then completed a fear conditioning and extinction task in which the CS+ was paired with an aversive tone, and the CS- was presented alone during conditioning. Both CSs were presented alone during extinction and extinction retest. Skin conductance responses (SCR) and subjective ratings were assessed. Relative to control images, viewing scenes of neglect attenuated SCRs to the CSs during conditioning, extinction and extinction retest. Exposure to images of community violence accentuated SCRs during US anticipation on CS+ trials and impaired the retention of safety learning (larger SCRs to the CS+ compared to the CS- at retest and the CS+ at the end of extinction). No significant group differences emerged in subjective ratings. Findings lend preliminary support for suggestions that adverse experiences may be linked to impairments in fear and safety learning and provide key evidence suggesting that the expression of these impairments may differ as a function of the type of adversity.

The Practicalities and Perils of Ambulatory Assessment's Promise: Introduction to a Special Section.

Ambulatory assessment (AA) offers one of the most exciting approaches for opening the dynamic "black box" of adolescents' daily lives. In this introduction, we spotlight AA's surprisingly restricted market share within adolescent scholarship. We describe thorny challenges these intense methods can pose when conducting adolescent research "in situ" and underscore that capturing quality AA data means placing adolescents' developmental stage at the forefront. The novel research reported in this special section speaks to these challenges and underscores the promise of AA for conducting developmentally salient science. The nine articles included in the section span multiple disciplines (Sociology, Psychology, Public Health) and reflect diverse viewpoints, approaches, and theories. All provide multiple novel best-practice strategies for conducting AA scholarship with adolescents.