The Heritability of Psychopathology Symptoms in Early Adolescence: Moderation by Family Cultural Values in the ABCD Study.

Family cultural values that emphasize support, loyalty, and obligation to the family are associated with lower psychopathology in Hispanic/Latino/a youth, but there is a need to understand the implications of family cultural values for youth development in racially/ethnically heterogeneous samples. This study examined phenotypic associations between parent- and youth-reported family cultural values in late childhood on youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms in early adolescence, and whether family cultural values moderated genetic and environmental influences on psychopathology symptoms. The sample comprised 10,335 children (Mage=12.89 years; 47.9% female; 20.3% Hispanic/Latino/a, 15.0% Black, 2.1% Asian, 10.5% other) and their parents from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, and biometric models were conducted in the twin subsample (n = 1,042 twin pairs; 43.3% monozygotic). Parents and youth reported on their family cultural values using the Mexican American Cultural Values Scale at youth age 11-12, and parents reported on youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist at youth ages 11-12 and 12-13. Greater parent- and youth-reported family cultural values predicted fewer youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Biometric models indicated that higher parent-reported family cultural values increased the nonshared environmental influences on externalizing symptoms whereas youth-reported family cultural values decreased the nonshared environmental influences on internalizing symptoms. This study highlights the need for behavior genetic research to consider a diverse range of cultural contexts to better understand the etiology of youth psychopathology.

Evaluating longitudinal relationships between parental monitoring and substance use in a multi-year, intensive longitudinal study of 670 adolescent twins.

Introduction: Parental monitoring is a key intervention target for adolescent substance use, however this practice is largely supported by causally uninformative cross-sectional or sparse-longitudinal observational research designs. Methods: We therefore evaluated relationships between adolescent substance use (assessed weekly) and parental monitoring (assessed every two months) in 670 adolescent twins for two years. This allowed us to assess how individual-level parental monitoring and substance use trajectories were related and, via the twin design, to quantify genetic and environmental contributions to these relationships. Furthermore, we attempted to devise additional measures of parental monitoring by collecting quasi-continuous GPS locations and calculating a) time spent at home between midnight and 5am and b) time spent at school between 8am-3pm. Results: ACE-decomposed latent growth models found alcohol and cannabis use increased with age while parental monitoring, time at home, and time at school decreased. Baseline alcohol and cannabis use were correlated (r = .65) and associated with baseline parental monitoring (r = -.24 to -.29) but not with baseline GPS measures (r = -.06 to -.16). Longitudinally, changes in substance use and parental monitoring were not significantly correlated. Geospatial measures were largely unrelated to parental monitoring, though changes in cannabis use and time at home were highly correlated (r = -.53 to -.90), with genetic correlations suggesting their relationship was substantially genetically mediated. Due to power constraints, ACE estimates and biometric correlations were imprecisely estimated. Most of the substance use and parental monitoring phenotypes were substantially heritable, but genetic correlations between them were not significantly different from 0. Discussion: Overall, we found developmental changes in each phenotype, baseline correlations between substance use and parental monitoring, co-occurring changes and mutual genetic influences for time at home and cannabis use, and substantial genetic influences on many substance use and parental monitoring phenotypes. However, our geospatial variables were mostly unrelated to parental monitoring, suggesting they poorly measured this construct. Furthermore, though we did not detect evidence of genetic confounding, changes in parental monitoring and substance use were not significantly correlated, suggesting that, at least in community samples of mid-to-late adolescents, the two may not be causally related.

Novel measures of family orientation and childhood self-regulation: A genetically informed twin study.

There is a dearth of research examining the relation between culture and childhood self-regulation in family psychology. Family orientation refers to the emphasis on providing support, respect, and obligation to the family system, and it is important for children's functioning, yet existing literature on related constructs often relies on parent-reported measures. Additionally, twin research has neglected the role of culture in the genetic and environmental contributions to children's self-regulation. Using observational and self-reported data from children, parents, and teachers, this study (a) proposed novel coding schemes and factor analytic approaches to capture family orientation, (b) examined associations between family orientation and self-regulation, and (c) tested whether family orientation moderated the heritability of self-regulation in middle childhood. Twin children (N = 710; Mage = 8.38 years, SD = 0.66; 49.1% female; 28.3% Hispanic/Latino/x, 58.5% White) were drawn from the Arizona Twin Project, which recruited children from birth records at 12 months of age. Family orientation values were indexed by parent-reported familism, and family orientation behaviors comprised coded measures of children's family orientation and experimenter ratings of caregiver and child behavior. Self-regulation was assessed using multiple task-based assessments of executive function and parent- and teacher-reported effortful control. Net of covariates, higher family orientation behaviors positively predicted nearly all measures of children's self-regulation, and associations were consistent across sex, family socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. There was no evidence that family orientation values nor behaviors moderated the heritability of children's self-regulation. This study highlights the complex nature of cultural variation within the family and its importance for children's self-regulatory abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The importance of research about research on culture: A call for meta-research on culture.

OBJECTIVES: It is crucial to examine how research on culture is fueled by assumptions, policies, and practices. The goal of this article is to promote meta-research on culture, the critical study of how investigations on culture are performed and interpreted, how scientific knowledge about culture is produced and transmitted, and the importance of scrutinizing assumptions, policies, and practices in a way that challenge views of minoritized groups as deviant and pathological. METHOD: We define key concepts, such as meta-research, culture, and meta-research on culture. RESULTS: We approach cultural research as a system of people (researchers, participants), places (academic institutions, journals), practices (sampling, comparing groups), and power (legitimizing some groups as normative and others as deviant). We discuss assumptions, policies, and practices, and review landmark studies and methods. CONCLUSIONS: Meta-research on culture is an emerging field that can improve scientific understanding of human culture, guide efforts to elevate the perspectives of people who have historically experienced marginalization, inform institutional support and the creation of nurturing academic spaces, and guide the implementation of better research and training practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Shifting the discourse on disability: Moving to an inclusive, intersectional focus.

Individuals with disabilities comprise one of the largest marginalized groups in the United States and experience systemic barriers in health care. In Westernized communities, disability has historically been conceptualized via the medical model, which considers disability an individual-level deficit in need of correction. Although other models of disability (e.g., social model) have been developed to address the medical model's ableist shortcomings, these fail to consistently acknowledge intersectionality. Specifically, these models fail to consider that (a) a disabled individual may hold other marginalized or oppressed identities and (b) these intersecting oppressions may exacerbate health inequities. Intersectionality, which originates from Black feminist literature, describes the ways that systems of power and oppression (e.g., racism, sexism) interact to form an individual's unique experience. To date, the intersection of disability and other marginalized identities has been neglected in psychology and related fields, leaving little guidance for how scholars, clinicians, and other stakeholders can address disability via an intersectional lens. The present article discusses how a disability-affirmative, intersectional approach can serve as a strategy for challenging and reforming oppressive systems across the field of psychology. We assert that, ultimately, this approach has the potential to optimize and expand access to equitable, inclusive mental health care, and we propose actionable steps psychologists can take in research, practice, training, and policy in pursuit of this aim. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Genetic and environmental links between executive functioning and effortful control in middle childhood.

There is a need to understand the components of self-regulation, given its link to nearly every domain of functioning across the life span. This study examined the etiological underpinnings of covariance between measures of executive functioning (EF) and effortful control (EC) in middle childhood. The extent that genetic and environmental factors explain the association between EF and EC is unknown. Families were drawn from a longitudinal twin study (N = 894 twins; Mage = 8.87 years, SD = 1.10; 51.4% female; 46.8% non-Hispanic White, 28% Latino/a/x) and twins completed EF tasks during a home visit (Flanker Task, Continuous Performance Task, and Digit Span Backward) and primary caregivers (93.8% mothers) reported on their twins' EC (Attentional Focusing and Inhibitory Control). Univariate twin models showed additive genetic and nonshared environmental influences on the Flanker Task, Continuous Performance Task, Digit Span Backward, and parent-reported Inhibitory Control, and dominant genetic influences were implicated in parent-reported Attentional Focusing. Bivariate twin models revealed that additive genetic influences explained the small covariance between EF and EC. Executive attention could explain the genetic covariance between measures of EF and EC. This study suggests that EF and EC tap into the same underlying self-regulation construct, with weak correlations between constructs being attributed to measurement, rather than conceptual, differences. Elucidating the overlap between EF and EC can bring researchers closer to understanding how best to foster adaptive self-regulation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Early Life Socioeconomic Differences in Associations between Childhood Sleep and Academic Performance.

Poor sleep can negatively impact children's academic performance. However, it is unknown whether early-life socioeconomic status (SES) moderates later sleep and academics. We tested associations between actigraphy-based sleep duration and midpoint time, and parent-reported sleep problems with objective and subjective measures of academic performance. We also examined whether relations varied by early and concurrent SES. Children (n=707; 52% female; M age=8.44 years; 28.7% Hispanic/Latinx; 29.7% at/below poverty line) were assessed at 12 months for SES and eight years for SES, sleep, and academics. There were no main effects of sleep on academics. More sleep problems predicted lower Applied Problems performance for low SES children (b=-.73, p<.05) and better performance for high SES children (b=.69, p<.05). For high SES children, greater sleep problems (b=-.11, p<.05) and longer sleep duration (b=-.11, p<.05) predicted lower academic achievement. However, most associations were consistent across SES, illustrating the complex interplay between sleep, academic outcomes, and SES.

Educational attainment polygenic score predicts inhibitory control and academic skills in early and middle childhood.

Inhibitory control skills are important for academic outcomes across childhood, but it is unknown whether inhibitory control is implicated in the association between genetic variation and academic performance. This study examined the relationship between a GWAS-based (EduYears) polygenic score indexing educational attainment (EA PGS) and inhibitory control in early (Mage  = 3.80 years) and middle childhood (Mage  = 9.18 years), and whether inhibitory control in early childhood mediated the relation between EA PGS and academic skills. The sample comprised 731 low-income and racially/ethnically diverse children and their families from the longitudinal early steps multisite study. EA PGS predicted middle childhood inhibitory control (estimate = 0.09, SE = 0.05, p < 0.05) and academic skills (estimate = 0.18, SE = 0.05, p < 0.01) but did not predict early childhood inhibitory control (estimate = 0.08, SE = 0.05, p = 0.11); thus, mediation was not tested. Sensitivity analyses showed that effect sizes were similar across European and African American groups. This study suggests that inhibitory control could serve as a potential mechanism linking genetic differences to educational outcomes.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of racial/ethnic differences and similarities in executive function performance in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: The extent that executive function performance varies between racial/ethnic groups in the United States is unclear, limiting future studies on the problems underlying these differences. The aim of this meta-analysis was to test two competing hypotheses: The cultural differences hypothesis asserts large differences between Whites and racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S., and small differences between- (e.g., African Americans, Latinos) and within- (e.g., Latinos: Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans) minority groups. The cultural similarities hypothesis posits small differences between Whites and minorities, and these differences are equal or smaller in magnitude than differences between- and within-minorities on executive function performance. We also tested moderators of these differences. METHOD: We focused on overall executive functioning performance and its three core components: inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.. A systematic search on PsycINFO, Web of Science, ERIC, PubMed, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global identified 46 records (17% unpublished; 38 independent samples) with 56,067 total participants (Mage = 44.48 years; range = 3.05-80.45; 52% female; 39.5% racial/ethnic minority). RESULTS: Absolute differences between Whites and minorities (d = 0.85, 95% CI [0.65, 1.05]) were larger in magnitude compared to between-minorities (d = 0.44, 95% CI [0.28, 0.60]) and within-minorities (d = 0.09, 95% CI [0.03, 0.15]). White-minority differences were moderated by type of executive function measure and year of data collection. Post hoc analyses revealed large relative differences between some groups but not others. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the cultural differences hypothesis for executive function performance. This meta-analysis underscores the need to address social inequalities in the U.S. that drive performance differences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Validating Online Measures of Cognitive Ability in Genes for Good, a Genetic Study of Health and Behavior.

Genetic association studies routinely require many thousands of participants to achieve sufficient power, yet accumulation of large well-assessed samples is costly. We describe here an effort to efficiently measure cognitive ability and personality in an online genetic study, Genes for Good. We report on the first 21,550 participants with relevant phenotypic data, 7,458 of whom have been genotyped genome-wide. Measures of crystallized and fluid intelligence reflected a two-dimensional latent ability space, with items demonstrating adequate item-level characteristics. The Big Five Inventory questionnaire revealed the expected five-factor model of personality. Cognitive measures predicted educational attainment over and above personality characteristics, as expected. We found that a genome-wide polygenic score of educational attainment predicted educational level, accounting for 4%, 4%, and 2.7% of the variance in educational attainment, verbal reasoning, and spatial reasoning, respectively. In summary, the online cognitive measures in Genes for Good appear to perform adequately and demonstrate expected associations with personality, education, and an education-based polygenic score. Results indicate that online cognitive assessment is one avenue to accumulate large samples of individuals for genetic research of cognitive ability.

Arizona Twin Project: Specificity in Risk and Resilience for Developmental Psychopathology and Health.

The Arizona Twin Project is an ongoing longitudinal study designed to elucidate gene-environment interplay underlying the development of risk and resilience to common mental and physical health problems during infancy, childhood and adolescence. Specificity of risk is carefully examined across mental and physical health and how these influences vary across socioeconomic and sociocultural environments. Participants are a sample of approximately 700 twins (31% Latinx) recruited from birth records in the state of Arizona, USA. Twins are 32% monozygotic twins, 36% same-sex dizygotic (DZ), 32% opposite-sex DZ, currently 10-11 years of age. Primary caregivers were interviewed on twins' development and early physical and social environments when twins were 1, 2 and 5 years of age. In-depth objective measurement commenced in middle childhood, with in-person assessments at 8-11 years of age, with plans to continue to follow the sample across adolescence. Middle childhood measures focus on children's physical and mental health, including diurnal cortisol, actigraphy-based measures of sleep and activity, cold pressor task assessing acute pain, and reaction time tasks assessing executive functioning. Preliminary findings illustrate that objective assessments of children's health are highly heritable, but they do not always share genetic etiology with more commonly used subjective assessments. Exposure to early adversity moderates genetic influences on both executive functioning and health, with higher heritability typically seen under adverse conditions. Future directions include an examination of how pubertal stage affects genetic and environmental influences on diurnal cortisol, sleep, chronic pain, and mental health.

Toddler risk and protective characteristics: Common and unique genetic and environmental influences.

The goal of this study was to disentangle the common and unique genetic and environmental influences on social-emotional competence, problem behavior, physiological dysregulation, and negative emotionality (NE) in toddlers. The sample consisted of 243 twin pairs (mean age = 31.94 months) rated by primary caregivers (>95% mothers) on the Children's Behavior Questionnaire and the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment. A multivariate Cholesky Decomposition revealed three shared environmental factors, with one set of environmental influences common to competence, problem behavior, and physiological dysregulation, a second common to problem behavior and physiological dysregulation, and a third common to physiological dysregulation and NE. Also, there were two additive genetic factors, with one explaining variance in competence, NE, and a small amount of variance in problem behavior, and a second explaining variance in problem behavior and NE. Given the common shared environmental factors across outcomes, these results suggest that toddlerhood could be a particularly important time to intervene, as interventions could simultaneously improve competencies and reduce problem behaviors. This study also highlights the need for genetically informed research to examine the etiology of multiple outcomes and address overlap.

Genes for Good: Engaging the Public in Genetics Research via Social Media.

The Genes for Good study uses social media to engage a large, diverse participant pool in genetics research and education. Health history and daily tracking surveys are administered through a Facebook application, and participants who complete a minimum number of surveys are mailed a saliva sample kit ("spit kit") to collect DNA for genotyping. As of March 2019, we engaged >80,000 individuals, sent spit kits to >32,000 individuals who met minimum participation requirements, and collected >27,000 spit kits. Participants come from all 50 states and include a diversity of ancestral backgrounds. Rates of important chronic health indicators are consistent with those estimated for the general U.S. population using more traditional study designs. However, our sample is younger and contains a greater percentage of females than the general population. As one means of verifying data quality, we have replicated genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for exemplar traits, such as asthma, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), and pigmentation. The flexible framework of the web application makes it relatively simple to add new questionnaires and for other researchers to collaborate. We anticipate that the study sample will continue to grow and that future analyses may further capitalize on the strengths of the longitudinal data in combination with genetic information.