Here, I present two studies of the effects of prenatal experience on later child development. First, Tung et al. (2023) published “Prenatal Stress and Externalizing Behaviors in Childhood and Adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis” in Psychological Bulletin. Here are the edited abstract and impact statement:

Today, I present two recent studies of the utility of the MMPI. First, Ambrose, Giarratano, McCue, Brand & Dalenberg (2023) published “Utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 in Differentiating Genuine from Feigned Dissociative Identity Disorder.” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements:

Today, I look at three studies of the beginning of therapy. First, Mitchell, Mitchell, Shannon, Dorahy & Hanna (2023) published “Effects of Baseline Psychological Symptom Severity on Dropout from Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A meta-analysis” in Traumatology. Here is the edited abstract:

Today, I am examining three studies of adults, each examining trajectories. First, Kim, McInnis & Sperry (2024) published “Longitudinal Dynamics between Anxiety and Depression in Bipolar Spectrum Disorders” in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements:

Anxiety and depression are common among individuals with bipolar spectrum disorders (BSDs), with anxiety being a risk factor for depression and vice versa.

Sometimes, I present studies that I find disturbing and this one may be a nice follow up to the last one on growth mindset. Matthes, Schneider & Preckel (2023) published “The Relation Between Prior Knowledge and Learning in Regular and Gifted Classes: A multigroup latent growth curve analysis” in Journal of Educational Psychology. Here are the abstract and impact statements

The relation between prior knowledge and learning has been investigated in many studies.

I’ve written before about growth mindset. Jiang, Fang & Mueller (2023) published “Growth Mindset: An umbrella for protecting socially stressed adolescents’ life satisfaction” in School Psychology. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements:

Research suggests that growth mindset shows positive effects on adolescents’ academic achievement, especially in overcoming academic-related setbacks. It remains unclear, however, how growth mindset functions in the presence of social stress, a risk factor for adolescent mental health.

Today, I am presenting summary information from a longer article than usual because I think the topic is extremely important. Yoon et al. (2023) published “Can Resilience Change Over Time? Patterns and transitions in resilience among young children involved with the child welfare system” in Child Development. This is a highly edited summary:

This study examined transitions in resilience profiles and the role of caregiver risk and protective factors in resilience transition probabilities over 18 months among children involved with the child welfare system, using latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis. The sample included 486 children (48% female, baseline Mage = 3.49). There were three resilience profiles at Time 1 (19.9% low emotional behavioral, 26.1% low cognitive, 54.0% multidomain) and two profiles at Time 2 (18.9% low emotional behavioral, 81.1% multidomain).

The studies I address today all illustrate specific approaches to therapy. First, Palmer et al. (2023) published “Words Count in Psychotherapy: Differentiating language characteristics of cognitive behavioral therapy and focal psychodynamic therapy for anorexia nervosa” in Psychotherapy. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements

It is generally assumed that psychodynamic therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) differ in terms of applied techniques and processes. To date, however, little is known about whether and how such differences can actually be observed at a basic linguistic level and in what the two treatment approaches differ most strongly (i.e., how psychodynamic and CBT therapists differ in what they actually say word-by-word in therapy sessions).

I’m presenting two studies today that I found very troubling. First, Wray-Lake, Alvis, Plummer, Shubert & Syvertsen (2022) published “Adolescents’ Developing Awareness of Inequality: Racial and ethnic differences in trajectories” in Child Development. Here’s the abstract:

To advance knowledge of critical consciousness development, this study examined age-related change in awareness of inequality by race and ethnicity, gender, parent education, generation status, and their interactions.

Today, I present three studies of attachment relationships, each making a valuable contribution to our understanding of the impacts of attachment. The first is the simplest to accept. Dagan et al. (2023) published, “Configurations of Mother-Child and Father-Child Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Child Language Competence: An individual participant data meta-analysis” in Child Development. Here’s the abstract:

Today, I present three studies of attachment relationships, each making a valuable contribution to our understanding of the impacts of attachment. The first is the simplest to accept. Dagan et al. (2023) published, “Configurations of Mother-Child and Father-Child Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Child Language Competence: An individual participant data meta-analysis” in Child Development. Here’s the abstract:

An individual participant data meta-analysis was conducted to test pre-registered hypotheses about how the configuration of attachment relationships to mothers

Today, I look at three articles, the first on math, then two on reading. I have used work by Gaye before on central executive training for children with ADHD. This time, Gaye et al. (2023) published “Working Memory and Math skills in children with and without ADHD” in Neuropsychology. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements:

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently demonstrate deficits in working memory and in multiple domains of math skills, including underdeveloped problem-solving and computation skills

Today, each of the studies relates to trauma. First, Gusler et al. (2023) published “Untangling Secondary Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Traumatization: One construct or two?” in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Here’s the edited abstract and impact statements:

This study examined whether secondary traumatic stress (STS), defined by the expanded DMS-5-TR’s

Today, I address three studies examining well-being. First, Courtney et al. (2023) published “Social Microclimates and Well-being” in Emotion. Here’s the edited abstract:

Emotional well-being has a known relationship with a person’s direct social ties, including friendships; but do ambient social and emotional features of the local community also play a role?

Raugh & Strauss (2023) published “Integrating Mindfulness into the Extended Process Model of Emotion Regulation: The dual-mode model of mindful emotion regulation” in Emotion. Here’s the edited abstract:

Extensive research has been conducted regarding how people manage their emotions. Within this research, there has been growing attention toward the role of mindfulness in emotion regulation. While prior reviews have discussed mindfulness in the context of emotion regulation, they have not provided a thorough integration using the prevailing models of emotion regulation or mindfulness.

Today I summarize an article that I found helpful. Sheeber et al. (2023) published “Maternal Aggressive Behavior in Interactions with Adolescent Offspring: Proximal social–cognitive predictors in depressed and nondepressed mothers” in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. Here’s the highly edited article:

Today, I discuss three very different but related articles, all related to self-harm, though this first one also examines violence directed at others. Sheehan, Bounoua, Stumps, Miglin, Huerta & Sadeh (2023) published “Neurobiological Metric of Cortical Delay Discounting Differentiates Risk for Self- and Other-Directed Violence among Trauma-Exposed Individuals” in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements:

I previously did a post on impaired metacognition after TBI that included Dockree (Fitzgerald et al. 2022). In addition, two more recent posts (Adamowitcz et al. , 2022, and Ditzer et al., 2023) examined child maltreatment and alexithymia. Here, Dockree et al. look at alexithymia after TBI. Dockree, Ffrench, O'Hara, Carroll, Dockree & McGuire (2023) published “Dissociating the Impact of Alexithymia and Impaired Self-Awareness on Emotional Distress and Aggression after Traumatic Brain Injury” in Neuropsychology. Here are the edited abstract and impact statements:

The three studies I discuss today all relate to parenting. First, Shalev, Sharon, Uzefovsky & Atzaba-Poria (2023) published “Parental Guilt and Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior: The moderating role of parental reflective functioning” in Journal of Family Psychology. Here is the edited abstract:

The three studies I address today deal with discrimination. First, Liautaud, Rendina & Berke (2023) published “Examining the Impact of Daily Discrimination on Alcohol Use Among Racially Diverse, Trauma-Exposed Sexually Minoritized Adults: A pilot study” in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Here are the edited abstract and impact statement: