Katie A. McLaughlin

Children’s early language experiences are linked to their language and executive functioning (EF) development, and vary by socioeconomic status (SES). However, unique features may support different cognitive domains because input is multifaceted. The present study characterizes the dimensional structure of maternal language input and examines how these dimensions vary by SES and predict language and EF development across the preschool years. Thirteen metrics of maternal speech were extracted and/or manually coded from semi-structured play with 275 mother-child dyads when children were 3 years (137 male, 138 female; 65% White, 4% Black, 2% Latino, 2% Asian, 28% multiracial). Children’s language and EF were assessed four times between ages 3 and 5 years (data collected 2008–2012). Exploratory factor analysis revealed four input dimensions: linguistic quantity, linguistic complexity, interactiveness, and conceptual input. These differentially predicted children’s baseline language and EF performance, but not growth. Specifically, interactive and conceptual input predicted language skills, while complexity predicted EF skills. The four dimensions jointly mediated the relationship between SES and baseline language (β=0.053), and a serial pathway linked SES through input and language to EF (β=0.052). These findings reveal distinct pathways through which specific features of early input support children’s language and EF.

Early life adversity (ELA), characterized by threat (experiences involving threat of harm), and not deprivation (absence of expected environmental inputs), has been associated with accelerated biological aging in youth. Although understanding of underlying processes is limited, heightened fear responding is a candidate. In 168 youth, we tested whether threat- and deprivation-related ELA were associated with fear responses across multiple levels of analysis and whether fear responses explained links of threat with accelerated biological aging (advanced pubertal stage and epigenetic age). Youth and caregivers reported on youths’ lifetime ELA experiences to compute threat and deprivation composites. Youth reported their pubertal maturation and provided saliva samples for epigenetic age estimation. Fear responses (indexed by skin conductance response [SCR], self-reported fear, and amygdala activation) were collected during a fear conditioning and extinction task (SCR, self-reported fear) and emotional stimulus viewing task (amygdala activation). Multilevel models revealed that greater threat was associated with impaired discrimination between danger and safety cues during conditioning based on self-report and during early extinction based on SCR. Greater deprivation related to enhanced danger-safety discrimination during late conditioning based on SCR. Additionally, only threat was associated with greater left amygdala activation to negative (vs. neutral) stimuli. No evidence of indirect effects was found linking threat with accelerated biological aging. Results suggest that threat-related ELA may correspond to heightened neural sensitivity to danger and reduced danger-safety discrimination, whereas deprivation-related ELA may enhance learning of danger vs. safety cues. Findings indicate potential differential associations between threat- and deprivation-related ELA and fear-related processes.

In this study, we tested a model of early childhood adversity, temperament, and their interaction predicting appraisal (threat) and coping (active, avoidant) styles that increase risk for psychopathology ( N = 306). Temperament was assessed at 3 to 5.5 years, appraisal and coping styles were assessed at 11 to 12 years, and internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed at 11 to 12 years and 15 to 16 years. Threat was predicted by higher fear and Cumulative Risk × Frustration interaction, which also predicted avoidance. High-frustration children demonstrated more threat and avoidance at lower levels of cumulative risk than children experiencing greater risk and children low in frustration. An Effortful Control × Cumulative Risk interaction predicted coping. Higher cumulative risk was related to more active and avoidant coping for low-effortful control children. Threat and coping were concurrently associated with preadolescent psychopathology, which predicted higher adolescent psychopathology. Such longitudinal models are critical to articulate the processes of risk for psychopathology in temperamentally vulnerable children exposed to adversity.

Youth mental health problems have increased dramatically in the past decade, whereas the availability of mental health providers has not. This workforce shortage reflects complex dynamics that make it difficult to increase the supply of providers through existing graduate-training pipelines. Task shifting involves transferring the delivery of healthcare services to providers with less specialized training and is one strategy with potential for growing the behavioral health workforce. Here we review evidence that nonspecialist providers can effectively deliver behavioral health services and argue that a bachelor’s-level mental health profession with standardized training in evidence-based practices may be a solution to growing workforce shortages. We describe the undergraduate program at the Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health as a model for how to grow the youth behavioral health workforce through the creation of a bachelor’s-level profession with a scope of practice emphasizing the early identification and prevention of mental health problems. The replication of this program at other universities is underway alongside program evaluation and policy work to create the credentialing and billing mechanisms needed to support sustainable employment pathways for a new profession. We invite partnership with universities interested in joining the movement to create a coordinated workforce development solution to the youth mental health crisis.

Early life adversity (ELA) has been associated with increased cardiometabolic disease risk in adulthood. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated whether cardiometabolic health outcomes differ based on adversity type (threat, deprivation, or cumulative exposure) and assessed the moderating role of sex and race. A comprehensive search of PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science identified 90 studies (82 independent samples) reporting associations between ELA and cardiometabolic outcomes in adults. Inclusion criteria required peer-reviewed, empirical studies linking ELA to disease biomarkers (e.g., cholesterol, hypertension, and atherosclerosis) and health events (e.g., cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes). Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 4. Publication bias and study heterogeneity were evaluated using Egger's tests and trim-and-fill procedures. Results indicated that greater exposure to ELA, aggregated across all forms, was associated with increased total cardiometabolic health problems (d = .14), health events (d = .16), health biomarkers (d = .08), and five specific health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease (d = .18), diabetes (d = .12), cholesterol (d = .08), atherosclerosis (d = .06), and hypertension (d = .09). Metaregressions revealed that two categories, total cardiometabolic health problems and health events, were significantly moderated by ELA type, with cumulative adversity emerging as the strongest risk factor. Findings underscore the importance of cumulative ELA as a correlate of adult cardiometabolic health, while also highlighting emerging evidence for differential effects of cumulative adversity compared with threat and deprivation. Results highlight the potential value of comprehensive adversity assessment for identifying at-risk populations and for guiding mechanistic and preventive research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

BACKGROUND University students experience disproportionately high rates of anxiety and depression, which threatens their academic success. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) offer a scalable, cost-effective approach to universal prevention. StriveWeekly is a skills-based DMHI designed to prevent anxiety and depression among university students. A prior randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated its effectiveness and acceptability. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to test replication of StriveWeekly’s effectiveness in reducing or preventing anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms, when delivered in a next context: with a different student population (undergraduate students at midsized private college), during a global pandemic, and with new engagement strategies. Secondary aims included examining mediators of symptom change, and user engagement and acceptability. METHODS We conducted a cluster-randomized pragmatic RCT with 519 full-time undergraduates (7.2% of student body). Participants were randomized to the intervention (n = 244) or waitlist control (n = 275). StriveWeekly consisted of seven weekly modules teaching cognitive and behavioral skills. Surveys were administered online at baseline, posttest, 2-month follow-up, and 4-month follow-up. RESULTS Intervention effects replicated prior findings. The group × time interaction was significant (t = −2.62, p = .009, power = 81%) for Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) scores, favoring StriveWeekly with a small between-group effect over the waitlist (d = 0.24). Waitlist participants worsened (d = 0.19), while intervention participants remained stable (d = −0.04). Among asymptomatic students at baseline (n = 202), symptom onset was lower in the intervention group (15.7%) versus waitlist (28.7%; χ² = 4.26, p = .047). Effects were maintained at 2-month follow-up and converged for students who received delayed access to the intervention. Mediation analyses showed direct effects of higher module completion and specific modules (behavioral activation, cognitive reappraisal) on symptom improvement, but no indirect effects via self-reported habit change. Engagement was high: 93% of immediate intervention participants initiated StriveWeekly, and average completion was 41% of modules. Acceptability ratings indicated most participants found the program easy to use and satisfactory overall. CONCLUSIONS StriveWeekly demonstrated small but significant preventive effects on anxiety and depression symptoms, even during pandemic-related stressors. We successfully replicated prior trial results. Findings support the generalizability of StriveWeekly as a scalable, effective DMHI for campus-wide mental health promotion. We discuss considerations for guiding ethical and evidence-based implementation of DMHIs on campuses, especially given the dearth of commercially available DMHIs and the rise of student artificial intelligence (AI) tool use. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT049278450

Humans are generally biased to show implicit favoritism for in-group over out-group members, but developmental experiences may alter this process in important ways. Prior work has elucidated associations of family (i.e., in-group) violence exposure in childhood with risk for internalizing symptoms through weakened implicit favoritism for novel in-group members. The present study probes whether childhood violence exposure influences implicit bias and psychopathology differentially depending on the participant’s relationship with the perpetrator (i.e., in-group vs. out-group member) at the time of exposure. We administered a minimal group assignment paradigm and implicit association test to 455 young adults aged 18-25. Young adults who experienced out-group violence in childhood showed stronger implicit in-group favoritism compared to those who experienced in-group or no violence. Implicit out-group favoritism was associated with increased alcohol use. Early-life experiences may shape innate preferences for novel in-group vs. out-group members in ways that have lasting implications for mental health.

Research on the developmental consequences of early adversity has grown rapidly, yet measures of childhood adversity have not kept pace with evolving theoretical models. Existing measures often lack comprehensive assessment and psychometric evidence. This study addresses these gaps by developing the Deprivation and Threat—Adult Self-report (DT-AS) measure, a psychometrically sound scale assessing childhood threat and deprivation exposure, evaluated in young adults. Psychometric analysis was performed in waves on a total sample of N = 796 participants. Pilot data ( n ₁ = 210; n ₂ = 208) were analyzed using Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) to refine item selection and optimize response formats. The final sample ( n ₃ = 378) confirmed a correlated factor structure of threat and deprivation with excellent psychometric properties. DT-AS consists of 33 items measuring threat and 30 measuring deprivation, offering a robust tool to examine associations between childhood adversity and psychopathology outcomes in adulthood.

Pavlovian fear conditioning is a fundamental process in both health and disease. We investigate its neural correlates and sources of variability using harmonized functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 2199 individuals across nine countries, including 1888 healthy individuals and 311 with anxiety-related or depressive disorders. Using mega-analysis and normative modeling, we show that fear conditioning consistently engages brain regions within the “central autonomic–interoceptive” or “salience” network. Several task variables strongly modulate activity in these regions, contributing to variability in neural responses. Additionally, brain activation patterns differ between healthy individuals and those with anxiety-related or depressive disorders, with distinct profiles characterizing specific disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. While the neural correlates of fear conditioning are highly generalizable at the population level, variability arises from differences in task design and clinical status, highlighting the importance of methodological diversity in capturing fear learning mechanisms.