The interactive role of physiological reactivity and victimization responses on internalizing symptoms in early childhood.

Early trauma exposure moderates associations between cortisol reactivity and youth anxiety and externalizing symptoms.

Early (before age 6) potentially traumatic events (PTEs) may interact with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning to shape outcomes involving externalizing problems and anxiety. However, directions of effects remain unclear. This study examined associations between aspects of HPA axis reactivity, anxiety, and externalizing problems over two years by early PTE exposure history, while statistically capturing the co-occurrence of symptom domains. Youth (N = 189; Mage = 10.96 years, SD = 2.51, Range = 8-15; 52.4% female, 47.1% male; 50.3% White, 35.4% Black/African American, 6.4% Other; 7.4% Hispanic/Latine) were included if they had early PTE exposure (n = 107) or had never experienced a PTE (n = 82). HPA axis reactivity to social stress was calculated using area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg) and increase (AUCi). For youth with early PTE exposure, higher AUCg was concurrently associated with more externalizing symptoms and greater predominance of externalizing over anxiety. Blunted AUCi predicted increasing predominance of externalizing for the early PTE group, but elevated AUCi predicted increases in anxiety for the no PTE group. Findings highlight distinct roles of overall and reactive HPA axis functioning in shaping outcomes following early trauma.

Exploring Longitudinal Associations Among Error-Related Negativity, Perception of Interpersonal Events, and Internalizing Symptoms in Female Adolescents

Heightened error-related negativity (ERN), a neural marker of error sensitivity and trait defensive reactivity, and maladaptive appraisals of interpersonal events have each been linked to adolescent internalizing symptoms. Few studies have evaluated a developmental mechanistic model to test whether enhanced ERN might prospectively predict more negative perceptions of peer and family events, and if through this pathway, internalizing symptoms increase. The present study tested this hypothesis in a sample of 79 female adolescents (ages 11–16 years old), of whom 36 adolescents had mothers with histories of internalizing disorders. At baseline, the participants’ ERN was measured through electroencephalogram recordings while completing a computerized flanker task. At baseline and 6-month follow-up, participants completed self-report measures of adolescent perceptions of family and peer events and internalizing symptoms. Analyses were conducted within a structural equation modeling framework to capitalize on the full dataset. Three competing models (correlated outcomes, negative perceptions of interpersonal events mediation, reverse internalizing symptoms mediation) were tested and relative model fit comparisons were made to determine which model fit the data better. We found partial support for our hypotheses. For the family events models, there was stronger evidence that baseline ERN predicted increases in internalizing symptoms via increases in negative perceptions of family events. However, for the peer events models, there was stronger evidence that internalizing symptoms mediated the prospective associations between baseline ERN and increases in negative perceptions of peer events. Future research should consider reciprocal effects among these pathways and how these processes could be targeted by preventive interventions.

The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility and Suppression in the Relationship Between Ostracism and Psychological Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Ostracism is a significant psychosocial stressor that undermines core psychological needs, including the sense of belonging and perceived social worth. Such experiences may exert particularly pronounced effects during adolescence, a developmental stage characterized by heightened sensitivity to peer evaluation and social acceptance. However, longitudinal evidence on the enduring consequences of ostracism in adolescence is limited. Thus, the present study, conducted with high school-aged adolescents in Türkiye, investigated the longitudinal association between ostracism and psychological well-being, with particular attention to the mediating roles of cognitive flexibility and suppression. Participants were 302 adolescents aged 13-19 years (74.5% female; M = 15.63, SD = 1.31), assessed at two time points spaced approximately six months apart. Results indicated that higher levels of perceived ostracism at Time 1 prospectively predicted lower levels of cognitive flexibility and greater reliance on suppression strategies at Time 2. Furthermore, cognitive flexibility demonstrated a positive association with psychological well-being, whereas suppression exhibited a negative association. Lagged mediation analyses revealed that the impact of ostracism on psychological well-being operated indirectly via these two concurrent mechanisms. These findings contribute to the Need-Threat Model by providing empirical support for the proposition that ostracism undermines well-being through the frustration of fundamental psychological needs. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the role of cognitive flexibility and adaptive emotion regulation in promoting adolescents' psychological well-being, underscoring the value of interventions that strengthen these cognitive and emotional capacities.

The mediating role of coping styles in the relationship between temperament and stress-related variables

Both temperament and coping are established predictors of stress-related outcomes. While these associations are well documented in classical frameworks, such as the Regulatory Theory of Temperament (RTT), research providing a comprehensive perspective on these relationships through modern integrative models remains limited. Using recently developed integrative models, this study examined the predictive power of temperament and coping for well-being, per-ceived stress, and PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, it evaluated the mediating role of coping in the relationship between temperament and these variables. To ensure the robustness of the results, two studies were conducted: one with a Polish sample during the COVID-19 pan-demic (N = 336, age range 17-65) and another with a sample of Ukrainian refugees affected by the war in Ukraine (N = 329, age range 17-76). Temperament was assessed using the Temperament Metadimensions Questionnaire (TMQ), coping with the Coping Circumplex Inventory (CCI), stress with the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), PTSD symptoms with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and well-being with the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF). We found that (1) both coping and temperament explain stress-related variables, but coping dimensions have greater pre-dictive power than temperament; (2) Reactivity rather than Activity was the dimension of temperament that explained these outcomes; (3) Emotional coping and Optimistic acting mediated the relationship between Reactivity and stress-related variables. Stress and well-being appear to depend more on coping styles, which are characterized by greater plasticity and can be actively modified throughout the lifespan, than on temperament, which is relatively stable and partly innate. Moreover, coping partially mediates the relationship between temperament and stress-related variables.

Associations between childhood trauma and heart rate variability: Serial mediation by alexithymia and anxiety symptoms.

PURPOSE Childhood trauma has been associated with long-term alterations in psychological functioning and autonomic regulation. However, the psychological processes linking early adverse experiences with individual differences in autonomic function remain insufficiently understood. The present study examined the associations between childhood trauma and heart rate variability (HRV), with particular attention to the potential mediating roles of alexithymia and anxiety symptoms. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS A total of 152 university students (mean age = 22.19 years, SD = 1.63) participated in this cross-sectional study. Childhood trauma was assessed using the Revised Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire, alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and anxiety symptoms were evaluated using the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Heart rate variability was indexed by the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) derived from electrocardiogram recordings. Serial mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro (Model 6) with bootstrap resampling to examine the indirect associations among the study variables. RESULTS Childhood trauma was positively associated with alexithymia and anxiety symptoms and negatively associated with HRV. Alexithymia and anxiety symptoms were both negatively correlated with HRV and positively correlated with each other. Serial mediation analysis indicated that alexithymia and anxiety symptoms were statistically associated with the relationship between childhood trauma and HRV through both independent and sequential indirect pathways. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that higher levels of childhood trauma are associated with lower heart rate variability primarily in conjunction with elevated alexithymia and anxiety symptoms. Within a cross-sectional associational framework, alexithymia and anxiety may represent psychological characteristics linked to both early adverse experiences and variations in autonomic regulation. These results highlight the interconnected nature of emotional awareness, affective distress, and physiological regulation, and underscore the importance of considering emotional processing traits when examining psychophysiological correlates of childhood trauma.

Children’s Self-Efficacy as a Buffer of Temperamental Inhibition and Impulsivity in the Prediction of Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors