Yuliya Kotelnikova

Longitudinal Associations Between Reactive and Regulatory Temperament Traits and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood

Although a large literature has examined the role of temperament in adult and adolescent depression, few studies have investigated interactions between reactive and regulatory temperament traits in shaping depressive symptoms in children over time. Child temperament measures (laboratory observations and maternal reports) and depressive symptoms were collected from 205 seven-year-olds (46% boys), who were followed up 1 (N = 181) and 2 (N = 171) years later. Child participants were Caucasian (87.80%), Asian (1.95%), or other ethnicity (7.80%); 2.45% of the sample was missing ethnicity data. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate within- and between-person variance in intercepts and slopes of child depressive symptoms. A steeper increase in depressive symptoms was found for children lower in laboratory-assessed effortful control (EC). Lower mother-reported surgency and higher mother-reported NE predicted increases in child depressive symptoms in the context of lower mother-reported EC. Our findings implicate EC as having main and moderating effects related to depressive symptoms in middle childhood. We emphasize the importance of developing prevention programs that enhance EC-like abilities.

Structure of observed temperament in middle childhood

Although much is known about the structure of adult temperament and personality, significantly less is known about the structure of child temperament. We examined the structure of child temperament in 205 seven-year-olds using observational measures. Exploratory factor analysis identified factors representing positive emotionality/sociability, disinhibition/anger, fear/behavioral inhibition, and sadness. The predictive validity of these dimensions was evaluated by examining their associations with childrens internalizing and externalizing symptoms: positive emotionality/sociability showed positive associations with ADHD symptoms, disinhibition/anger showed positive associations with externalizing symptoms, fear/behavioral inhibition showed negative associations with ADHD and CD symptoms, and sadness showed positive associations with both internalizing and externalizing problems. These associations were consistent with extant literature on temperament and psychopathology, supporting the validity of the structure obtained.

Higher- and lower-order factor analyses of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire in early and middle childhood.

The Childrens Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart, Ahadi, & Hershey, 1994), a 195-item parent-report questionnaire, is one of the most widely used measures of child temperament, with previous analyses of its scales suggesting that 3 broad factors account for the overarching structure of child temperament (Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001). However, there are no published item-level factor analyses of the CBQ, meaning that it is currently unclear whether items clearly load onto CBQ scales as proposed by its developers. Additionally, although the CBQ is intended to cover a broad window of development (i.e., ages 3-7), little is known about whether the structure of the CBQ differs depending on child age. The present study used a bottom-up approach to examine the lower- and higher-order structure of the CBQ in a large community sample of children at ages 3 (N = 944) and 5/6 (N = 853). Item-level exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) identified 88 items at age 3 and 87 items at age 5/6 suitable (i.e., with loadings ≥.40) for constructing lower-order factors. Of the lower-order factors derived at ages 3 and 5/6, fewer than half resembled original CBQ scales (Rothbart et al., 1994, 2001). Higher-order EFAs of the lower-order factors suggested that a 4-factor structure was the best fit at both ages 3 and 5/6. Thus, results indicate that a substantial number of CBQ items do not load well on a lower-order factor and that more than 3 factors are needed to account for its higher-order structure.

Catechol-O-Methyltransferase gene (val158met) polymorphisms and anxious symptoms in early childhood: The roles of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity and life stress

Individual differences in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress (measured via salivary cortisol) have been widely implicated in the etiology of internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety. Literature suggests that stress during early childhood is an important source of contextual risk although its effects may be moderated by polymorphisms of neurotransmitter genes. The COMT val158met is one such polymorphism, and literature documents its link to internalizing problems. To extend these findings, and to better understand the role of this polymorphism in developmental risk, we investigated links between the val158met polymorphism and early-age cortisol response. Additionally, we investigated whether cortisol reactivity mediated the link between COMT and emerging internalizing symptoms. The study was conducted in a community sample of 409 preschoolers. Saliva samples were collected pre-stress task (baseline) and every 10min post-stress task for one-hour to asses cortisol response. Child anxious and depressive symptoms were tabulated based on parent-reports. Markers of early childhood stress included marital discord, socio-economic status and the UCLA Life Stress Interview. Findings indicated that the val158met polymorphism is associated with childhood cortisol response (p<0.05). A gene-environment interaction between val158met and life stress also predicted child anxiety symptoms (p<0.01). Finally, cortisol response mediated the main-effect of val158met on child anxiety symptoms (pathway ps<0.05). Analyses suggest that COMT val158met moderates the influence of early life stress on preschool-age symptoms of anxiety. Additionally, cortisol reactivity acts as a mechanistic mediator of the main-effect of COMT genotype on child anxious symptoms.

Higher and Lower Order Factor Analyses of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire

The Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ) is a widely used parent-report measure of temperament. However, neither its lower nor higher order structures has been tested via a bottom-up, empirically based approach. We conducted higher and lower order exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) of the TMCQ in a large (N = 654) sample of 9-year-olds. Item-level EFAs identified 92 items as suitable (i.e., with loadings ≥.40) for constructing lower order factors, only half of which resembled a TMCQ scale posited by the measure’s authors. Higher order EFAs of the lower order factors showed that a three-factor structure (Impulsivity/Negative Affectivity, Negative Affectivity, and Openness/Assertiveness) was the only admissible solution. Overall, many TMCQ items did not load well onto a lower order factor. In addition, only three factors, which did not show a clear resemblance to Rothbart’s four-factor model of temperament in middle childhood, were needed to account for the higher order structure of the TMCQ.

Development and validation of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality Brief Self-Description Rating Form (SNAP-BSRF).

The Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality full-length (SNAP) and short versions (SNAP-SRF and SNAP-ORF) were developed as measures of normal-range and more pathological personality traits. This study investigated the validity of the SNAP Brief Self-Description Rating Form (SNAP-BSRF), an alternative version of the SNAP Self-Description Rating Form (SNAP-SRF) revised for further brevity. The scales of the SNAP-BSRF showed good convergence with the SNAP-SRF and the SNAP Other-Description Rating Form (SNAP-ORF) scales. A three-factor structure consistent with extant literature was found for the SNAP-BSRF using an exploratory structural equation modeling approach. Scales from the SNAP-BSRF showed meaningful associations with self-reported internalizing symptoms. Results suggest that this new version is a reasonable substitute for the SNAP-SRF and will be useful when a very brief measure of adaptive and maladaptive personality is needed.