Rebecca S. Laptook

The dopamine D2 receptor gene and depressive and anxious symptoms in childhood: associations and evidence for gene–environment correlation and gene–environment interaction

Objectives Research implicates the A1 allele of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) Taq1A polymorphism in the development of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, recent papers suggest that children with A1 allele of this gene may receive less positive parenting, and that the effects of this gene on child symptoms may be moderated by parenting. We sought to replicate and extend these findings using behavioral measures in a nonclinical sample of young children. Methods In a sample of 473 preschool-aged children and their mothers, structured clinical interview measures and maternal reports of child symptoms were collected, and standardized observations of parent–child interactions were conducted. Results An association was detected between the DRD2 A1 allele and symptoms of depression and anxiety indexed using interview and parent report methods. As found in previous reports, children with the DRD2 A1 allele received less supportive parenting and displayed higher levels of negative emotionality during parent–child interactions. Tests of mediation and moderation were conducted. Conclusion We found associations between the DRD2 A1 allele and early-emerging anxious and depressive symptoms in a community sample of preschool-aged children, and evidence of a gene–environment correlation and moderation of the main effect of child genotype on child symptoms by parenting.

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Reactivity in the Preschool-Age Offspring of Depressed Parents Moderation by Early Parenting

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of depression. In the study reported here, we tested the hypothesis that parenting behavior moderates the relation between parents’ lifetime history of depression and their offspring’s cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor. We exposed 160 preschool-age children to stress-inducing laboratory tasks, during which we obtained four salivary cortisol samples. Parents completed clinical interviews and an observational parent-child interaction task. The results confirmed our hypothesis: The offspring who evidenced high and increasing cortisol levels were those whose parents had a history of depression and demonstrated hostility toward their child. This moderating effect was specific to offspring who were exposed to maternal depression during the first few years of life. As do findings in animals, results of this study underscore the importance of the early rearing environment in the intergenerational transmission of stress sensitivity.

A multisite controlled study of risk factors in pediatric psychogenic nonepileptic seizures

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in youth are symptoms of a difficult to diagnose and treat conversion disorder. PNES is associated with high medical and psychiatric morbidity, but specific PNES risk factors in the pediatric population are not known. We examined if youth with PNES have a distinct biopsychosocial risk factor profile compared to their siblings and if the interrelationships between these risk factors differentiate the PNES probands from the sibling group.

Erratum to: Self-reported and observed punitive parenting prospectively predicts increased error-related brain activity in six-year-old children

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a negative deflection in the event-related potential (ERP) occurring approximately 50 ms after error commission at fronto-central electrode sites and is thought to reflect the activation of a generic error monitoring system. Several studies have reported an increased ERN in clinically anxious children, and suggest that anxious children are more sensitive to error commission—although the mechanisms underlying this association are not clear. We have previously found that punishing errors results in a larger ERN, an effect that persists after punishment ends. It is possible that learning-related experiences that impact sensitivity to errors may lead to an increased ERN. In particular, punitive parenting might sensitize children to errors and increase their ERN. We tested this possibility in the current study by prospectively examining the relationship between parenting style during early childhood and children’s ERN approximately 3 years later. Initially, 295 parents and children (approximately 3 years old) participated in a structured observational measure of parenting behavior, and parents completed a self-report measure of parenting style. At a follow-up assessment approximately 3 years later, the ERN was elicited during a Go/No-Go task, and diagnostic interviews were completed with parents to assess child psychopathology. Results suggested that both observational measures of hostile parenting and self-report measures of authoritarian parenting style uniquely predicted a larger ERN in children 3 years later. We previously reported that children in this sample with anxiety disorders were characterized by an increased ERN. A mediation analysis indicated that ERN magnitude mediated the relationship between harsh parenting and child anxiety disorder. Results suggest that parenting may shape children’s error processing through environmental conditioning and thereby risk for anxiety, although future work is needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Correlates of the CBCL-dysregulation profile in preschool-aged children

BACKGROUND A growing literature indicates that the Child Behavior Checklist-Dysregulation Profile (CBCL-DP) identifies youths with heightened risk for severe psychopathology, comorbidity, and impairment. However, this work has focused on school-age children and adolescents; no studies have examined whether preschool-aged children with the CBCL-DP exhibit a similar constellation of problems. METHOD Using a community sample of preschoolers, we compared children with (N = 61) and without (N = 488) the CBCL-DP on a broad range of variables assessed using multiple methods. RESULTS Univariate analyses revealed numerous differences between children with the CBCL-DP and their peers on psychiatric symptomatology, temperament, parenting behavior, and parental personality, psychopathology, and marital functioning. In multivariate analyses, children with the CBCL-DP exhibited greater temperamental negative affectivity and lower effortful control. They also had more depressive and oppositional defiant symptoms, as well as greater functional impairment. Parents of CBCL-DP children reported engaging in more punitive, controlling parenting behavior than parents of non-profile children. CONCLUSIONS In a non-clinical sample of preschoolers, the CBCL-DP is associated with extensive emotional and behavioral dysregulation and maladaptive parenting.

Child dopamine active transporter 1 genotype and parenting: evidence for evocative gene-environment correlations.

The dopamine active transporter 1 (DAT1) gene is implicated in psychopathology risk. Although the processes by which this gene exerts its effects on risk are poorly understood, a small body of research suggests that the DAT1 gene influences early emerging negative emotionality, a marker of childrens psychopathology risk. As child negative emotionality evokes negative parenting practices, the DAT1 gene may also play a role in gene-environment correlations. To test this model, children (N = 365) were genotyped for the DAT1 gene and participated in standardized parent-child interaction tasks with their primary caregiver. The DAT1 gene 9-repeat variant was associated with child negative affect expressed toward the parent during parent-child interactions, and parents of children with a 9-repeat allele exhibited more hostility and lower guidance/engagement than parents of children without a 9-repeat allele. These gene-environment associations were partially mediated by child negative affect toward the parent. The findings implicate a specific polymorphism in eliciting negative parenting, suggesting that evocative associations play a role in elevating childrens risk for emotional trajectories toward psychopathology risk.

Parenting and Child DRD4 Genotype Interact to Predict Children’s Early Emerging Effortful Control

Effortful control (EC), or the trait-like capacity to regulate dominant responses, has important implications for childrens development. Although genetic factors and parenting likely influence EC, few studies have examined whether they interact to predict its development. This study examined whether the DRD4 exon III variable number tandem repeat polymorphism moderated the relation between parenting and childrens EC. Three hundred and eighty-two 3-year-olds and primary caregivers completed behavioral tasks assessing childrens EC and parenting. Childrens DRD4 genotypes moderated the relation between parenting and EC: Children with at least one 7-repeat allele displayed lower EC in the context of negative parenting than children without this allele. These findings suggest opportunities for modifying early risk for low EC.

Early Parenting Moderates the Association between Parental Depression and Neural Reactivity to Rewards and Losses in Offspring.

Children of parents with depression exhibit neural abnormalities in reward processing. Examining contributions of parenting could provide insight into the development of these abnormalities and the etiology of depression. We evaluated whether early parenting moderates the effects of parental depression on a neural measure of reward and loss processing in mid- to late childhood. Parenting was assessed when children were preschoolers. At age 9, children completed an event-related potential assessment, and the feedback negativity (FN) was measured following rewards and losses (N = 344). Maternal authoritative parenting moderated the effect of maternal depression; among offspring of mothers with histories of depression, low authoritative parenting predicted a blunted FN. Observed maternal positive parenting interacted with paternal depression in a comparable manner, indicating that maternal parenting may buffer the effects of paternal depression. Early parenting may be important in shaping the neural systems involved in reward processing among children at high risk for depression.

Emotion recognition in preschool children: Associations with maternal depression and early parenting

Emotion knowledge in childhood has been shown to predict social functioning and psychological well-being, but relatively little is known about parental factors that influence its development in early childhood. There is some evidence that both parenting behavior and maternal depression are associated with emotion recognition, but previous research has only examined these factors independently. The current study assessed auditory and visual emotion recognition ability among a large sample of preschool children to examine typical emotion recognition skills in children of this age, as well as the independent and interactive effects of maternal and paternal depression and negative parenting (i.e., hostility and intrusiveness). Results indicated that children were most accurate at identifying happy emotional expressions. The lowest accuracy was observed for neutral expressions. A significant interaction was found between maternal depression and negative parenting behavior: children with a maternal history of depression were particularly sensitive to the negative effects of maladaptive parenting behavior on emotion recognition ability. No significant effects were found for paternal depression. These results highlight the importance of examining the effects of multiple interacting factors on childrens emotional development and provide suggestions for identifying children for targeted preventive interventions.

Risk factors for learning problems in youth with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

OBJECTIVES This study examined the risk factors for learning problems (LP) in pediatric psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) and their specificity by comparing psychopathology, medical, cognitive/linguistic/achievement, bullying history, and parent education variables between subjects with PNES with and without LP and between subjects with PNES and siblings with LP. METHODS 55 subjects with PNES and 35 siblings, aged 8-18years, underwent cognitive, linguistic, and achievement testing, and completed somatization and anxiety sensitivity questionnaires. A semi-structured psychiatric interview about the child was administered to each subject and parent. Child self-report and/or parent report provided information on the presence/absence of LP. Parents also provided each subjects medical, psychiatric, family, and bullying history information. RESULTS Sixty percent (33/55) of the PNES and 49% (17/35) of the sibling subjects had LP. A multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that bullying and impaired formulation of a sentence using a stimulus picture and stimulus word were significantly associated with increased likelihood of LP in the PNES youth. In terms of the specificity of the LP risk factors, a similar analysis comparing LP in the youth with PNES and sibling groups identified anxiety disorder diagnoses and bullying as the significant risk factors associated with LP in the PNES youth. CONCLUSIONS These findings emphasize the need to assess youth with PNES for LP, particularly if they have experienced bullying, have linguistic deficits, and meet criteria for anxiety disorder diagnoses.