Search Results (6)

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in early childhood may increase the risk of emotional behavioral problems (EBPs); however, few studies have explored the longitudinal effect of ACEs in early childhood on later EBPs and their underlying mechanisms. This study examined the serial mediating role of psychological resilience (PR) and problematic media use (PMU) in the relationship between ACEs in early childhood and EBPs. Participants included 534 three-year-old children (mean age of 33.29 years, SD = 3.97) and their parents from Wuhu, China. The parents completed online questionnaires measuring children’s ACEs, PR, and demographic information in September 2022 (Time 1), children’s PMU in September 2023 (Time 2), and EBPs in September 2024 (Time 3). Macro Process 6 was used to test the serial mediating effects of PR and PMU. A total of 5000 bootstrap samples were used to estimate the 95% confidence intervals. The results revealed that ACEs in early childhood did not directly predict EPBs. PR (b = 0.132 (95% CI [0.051, 0.221])) mediated the relationship between ACEs and children’s EBPs. PR and PMU also played a serial mediating role in the association of ACEs and children’s EBPs (b = 0.026, 95% CI [0.008, 0.054]). Our findings highlight the importance of improving PR and addressing PMU when designing interventions targeting Chinese preschoolers exposed to ACEs. Full article

Preschool mental disorders are often associated with significant interpersonal problems, related to impaired affect recognition, theory of mind (ToM), and empathy. To date, these skills have not been studied together in preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBPs). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether and to what extent preschool children with EBPs show impairments in affect recognition, ToM, and empathy. Preschoolers with EBPs, defined by current psychiatric treatment and T-scores ≥ 60 on the externalizing problem scale of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1½-5 or 6-18R) were compared to non-clinical controls (HCs), defined by no past and no current psychiatric treatment and T-scores < 60 on all CBCL broad-band scales. Groups were compared on affect recognition (NEuroPSYchological Assessment-II), affective ToM (Test of Emotion Comprehension), cognitive ToM (Extended Theory-of-Mind Scale), parent-reported emotional contagion, attention to others’ feelings, and prosocial action (Empathy Questionnaire), IQ and language (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III Matrices, Active and Passive Vocabulary test), controlling for age, sex, and language abilities. Compared to 28 HCs, 22 preschoolers with EBPs (total sample mean_age = 5.5 years +/− 0.8 years, range= 4.2–6.9 years, males 66%) had significantly greater impairments in cognitive ToM (p = 0.0012, η² = 0.266), attention to others’ feelings (p = 0.0049, η² = 0.222), and prosocial action (p = 0.0070, η² = 0.210), each representing strong effect sizes. EBPs were significantly related to cognitive domains, like prosocial action (r = −0.501), cognitive ToM (r = −0.425), and attention to others’ feelings (r = −0.332), but not to affective domains of social cognition. Social cognitive development may be impaired as early as preschool age and should be promoted before the child starts school. Full article

Background: Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and abnormal pre-pregnancy BMI have been scarcely reported to play interactive effects on child health. In this prospective cohort, we aimed to examine the interactive effects of maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and pre-pregnancy BMI as well as gestational weight gain (GWG) on offspring emotional and behavioral problems (EPBs). Methods: The study samples comprised 1216 mother–child pairs from Shanghai Maternal–Child Pairs Cohort recruited from 2016 to 2018. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG were obtained from medical records, and maternal depressive symptoms were assessed via the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at 32–36 gestational weeks. The child completed the behavioral measurement via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at 24 months postpartum. Results: There were 12.01% and 38.65% women with prenatal depressive symptoms and sub-threshold depressive symptoms during late pregnancy. Both maternal depressive symptoms and prenatal sub-threshold depressive symptoms were associated with higher internalizing (OR = 1.69, 95% CI, 1.05–2.72; OR = 1.48, 95% CI, 1.06–2.07) and externalizing (OR = 2.06, 95% CI, 1.30–3.25; OR = 1.42, 95% CI, 1.02–1.99) problems in children. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG modified the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and child externalizing or total difficulties problems (p < 0.10 for interaction). Among the overweight/obese pregnant women, maternal prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with a higher risk of externalizing problems (OR = 2.75, 95% CI, 1.06–7.11) in children. Among the women who gained inadequate GWG, maternal prenatal sub-threshold depressive symptoms were associated with 2.85-fold (95% CI 1.48–5.48) risks for child externalizing problems, and maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher externalizing and total difficulties problems (OR = 4.87, 95% CI, 2.03–11.70 and OR = 2.94, 95% CI, 1.28–6.74, respectively), but these associations were not significant in the appropriate or excessive GWG group. Conclusions: Both maternal prenatal sub-threshold depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms increased the risks of child internalizing and externalizing problems at 24 months of age, while the effects on child externalizing problems were stronger among overweight/obese or inadequate GWG pregnant women. Our study highlights the importance of simultaneously controlling the weight of pregnant women before and throughout pregnancy and prompting mental health in pregnant women, which might benefit their offspring’s EBPs. Full article

Childhood is an important period of individual psychological development, and parents’ company and parenting styles are highly significant to children’s personality cultivation and mental health. With the advancement of China’s modernization and urbanization, left-behind children without their parents’ company have become a growing concern. Compared with children raised by their parents, left-behind children are more likely to show social maladaptation and mental health problems. This study explored the mediating effects of left-behind children’s dual mode of self-control between caregivers’ parenting styles and emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs). In this study, 469 left-behind children in senior classes of primary schools were investigated by adopting the caregivers’ parenting styles questionnaire of left-behind children, the dual-mode of self-control scale and the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. This study found that (1) the protective and risk factors for caregivers’ parenting styles not only directly affected EBP, but also affected it through the mediating effect of the dual-mode of self-control, and (2) the mediating effect of the impulsive system was significantly greater than that of the control system. This study confirmed that caregivers’ parenting styles had an important impact on left-behind children’s psychological growth: positive parenting styles not only directly reduced the risk of EBP, but also indirectly improved left-behind children’s mental health by promoting their level of self-control; negative parenting styles directly increased the risk of EBP and indirectly affected left-behind children’s mental problems by enhancing their level of impulsiveness. These findings provide an important basis for reducing the risk of mental health problems and cultivating good personality qualities of left-behind children. Full article

Care for adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) is frequently unequally distributed. Parents may play a role in the access to this care. Therefore, the aim was to explore the association between parental characteristics and their adolescent’s enrollment in psychosocial care. We used data from the Care4Youth cohort study. Our sample consisted of 446 adolescents (mean age 13.22 years, 48% boys) and 382 parents (mean age 42.95 years, 14% males). EBP combined with enrollment created four groups: 1, no EBP/no care; 2, no EBP/care; 3, EBP/no care; 4, EBP/care. We assessed differences in parental characteristics among the groups. Group 2 had a significantly lower socioeconomic position (p < 0.01), more psychological distress (p < 0.001), poorer supervision (p < 0.001) and lower family social support (p < 0.05) than Group 1. Group 4 had a significantly lower socioeconomic position (p < 0.01) and poorer supervision (p < 0.001) than Group 1. Group 3 had significantly poorer supervision (p < 0.001) than Group 4. The poor supervision in Group 3 requires attention, as these adolescents receive no care. The quality of parental supervision should be addressed generally, e.g., by providing better parenting support and more parental training. Full article

This study aims to examine the association of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) with emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) among adolescents and the degree to which this association is stronger for more ACE. In addition, we assessed whether socioeconomic position (SEP) modifies the association of ACE with EBP. We obtained data from 341 adolescents aged 10–16 (mean age = 13.14 years; 44.0% boys), the baseline of a cohort study. We measured EBP with the strengths and difficulties questionnaire and socioeconomic position (SEP) with self-reported financial status. We used generalized linear models to analyze the association between ACE (0 vs. 1–2 vs. 3 and more) and EBP, and the modifying effect of SEP. Adolescents with 1–2 ACE (regression coefficient: 0.19; 95%-confidence interval (CI): 0.06–0.32) and with 3 ACE and over (0.35; 0.17–0.54) reported more overall problems compared with adolescents without ACE. Moreover, adolescents with 1–2 ACE (0.16; −0.01–0.32, and 0.16; 0.03–0.29) and with 3 and over ACE (0.33; 0.10–0.56, and 0.28; 0.09–0.47) reported more emotional problems and behavioral problems, respectively. The interactions of SEP with ACE were not significant. ACE are related to EBP among adolescents, with a clear dose-response association, and this association similarly holds for all SEP categories. Full article