RESUMEN

If performance goals (i.e., motivation to prove ability) increase children's vulnerability to depression (Dykman, 1998), why are they overlooked in the psychopathology literature? Evidence has relied on self-report or observational methods and has yet to articulate how this vulnerability unfolds across levels of analysis implicated in stress-depression linkages; for example, hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis (HPA), sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Utilizing a multiple-levels-of-analysis approach (Cicchetti, 2010), this experimental study tested Dykman's goal orientation model of depression vulnerability in a community sample of preadolescents (N = 121, Mage = 10.60 years, Range = 9.08-12.00 years, 51.6% male). Self-reports of performance goals, attachment security, and subjective experience of internalizing difficulties were obtained in addition to objective behavioral (i.e., task persistence) and physiologic arousal (i.e., salivary cortisol, skin conductance level) responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and two randomly assigned coping conditions: avoidance, distraction. Children with performance goals reported greater internalizing difficulties and exhibited more dysregulated TSST physiologic responses (i.e., HPA hyperreactivity, SNS protracted recovery), yet unexpectedly displayed greater TSST task persistence and more efficient physiologic recovery during avoidance relative to distraction. These associations were stronger and nonsignificant in the context of insecure and secure attachment, respectively. Findings illustrate a complex matrix of in-the-moment, integrative psychobiological relationships linking performance goals to depression vulnerability.

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RESUMEN

Understanding co-activation patterns of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and sympathetic adrenal medullary (SAM) during early adolescence may illuminate risk for development of internalizing and externalizing problems. The present study advances empirical work on the topic by examining SAM-HPA co-activation during both the reactivity and recovery phases of the stress response following acute stress exposure. Fourth and fifth grade boys and girls (N = 149) provided cortisol and alpha-amylase via saliva at seven times throughout a 95-min assessment in which they were administered the modified Trier Social Stress Test. Parents reported on adolescents' life stress, pubertal development, medication use, and externalizing problems. Adolescents reported their own internalizing symptoms. Multiple linear regressions tested both direct and interactive effects of SAM and HPA reactivity and recovery on internalizing and externalizing problems. Results from these analyses showed that whereas SAM and HPA reactivity interacted to predict internalizing symptoms, it was their interaction during the recovery phase that predicted externalizing. Concurrent high SAM and HPA reactivity scores predicted high levels of internalizing and concurrently low SAM and HPA recovery scores predicted high levels of externalizing. Implications of the findings for further study and clinical application are discussed.

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Preschool parent interventions may produce downstream benefits if initial intervention gains are sustained and improve later socialization experiences. This study explored associations between initial effects of the REDI (Research-based Developmentally Informed) Parent program and later benefits. A randomized trial involving 200 Head Start children (55% European-American, 26% African American, 19% Latino, 56% male, Mage = 4.45 years) produced kindergarten gains in parenting and child skills. Four years later, sustained effects were evident in areas of academic performance and social-emotional competence at school and new benefits emerged at home. Initial gains in child academic and social-emotional domains mediated sustained gains within the same domains. In addition, initial gains in parent-child conversations, parent academic expectations, and child social-emotional skills mediated later reductions in parenting stress and child problems at home. Parent-focused preschool interventions may not only promote sustained improvements in child school adjustment but may also foster better family functioning over time.

RESUMEN

This study explored patterns of change in the REDI (Research-based Developmentally Informed) Parent program (REDI-P), designed to help parents support child learning at the transition into kindergarten. Participants were 200 prekindergarten children attending Head Start (55% European-American, 26% African American, 19% Latino, 56% male, Mage=4.45years, SD=0.29) and their primary caregivers, who were randomized to a 16-session home-visiting intervention (REDI-P) or a control group. Extending beyond a prior study documenting intervention effects on parenting behaviors and child kindergarten outcomes, this study assessed the impact of REDI-P on parent academic expectations, and then explored the degree to which intervention gains in three areas of parenting (parent-child interactive reading, parent-child conversations, parent academic expectations) predicted child outcomes in kindergarten (controlling for baseline values and a set of child and family characteristics). Results showed that REDI-P promoted significant gains in parent academic expectations, which in turn mediated intervention gains in child emergent literacy skills and self-directed learning. Results suggest a need to attend to the beliefs parents hold about their child's academic potential, as well as their behavioral support for child learning, when designing interventions to enhance the school success of children in low-income families.

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