The hypotheses that externalizing disorders would be co-morbid with other externalizing disorders and that internalizing disorders would be co-morbid with other internalizing disorders was partially supported. Co-morbidities between subthreshold disorders and between subthreshold disorders and full syndrome should impact future research and clinical practice. The assessment of subthreshold disorders needs to include the assessment of other subthreshold and full-syndrome conditions.

Findings suggest that child clinicians should be sensitive to the quality of mother-child interactions during feeding.

The aims of this study were to examine associations between smoking initiation (five cigarettes lifetime) and lifetime psychopathology, regular smoking by family members, and psychopathology in family members; to describe the degree to which the onset of the disorder precedes or follows smoking initiation; and to examine whether smoking initiators differ as a function of age of smoking onset. Nine hundred and forty-one participants were interviewed at three time points, beginning in high school and most recently at age 24. Lifetime psychiatric diagnoses were obtained at each assessment, as were data regarding smoking initiation. Biological parents and full siblings were interviewed for lifetime psychopathology and regular smoking. Most measures of lifetime psychopathology were associated with smoking initiation. Rates of initiation were especially elevated in participants with multiple disorders. Regular smoking by mother and a sibling (but not father) was associated significantly with smoking initiation, as were two of four measures of psychopathology in relatives. When all significant univariate variables were examined in a single model, drug use disorders, regular smoking by mother, and regular smoking by a sibling remained significantly associated with smoking initiation. Smoking initiation preceded approximately half of the examined diagnostic categories. Eleven variables differentiated early vs. late smoking initiators. Several interactions with gender were found. In every instance, smoking initiation was more strongly associated with the risk factor for young women than for young men. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the relations of psychopathology and familial factors with smoking initiation have been examined simultaneously or in this much detail. Results underscore the potential importance of assessing and treating psychiatric disorders in smoking prevention and cessation efforts.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incremental value of conducting an interview to assess stressful life events over the self-report questionnaire approach, first by examining the degree to which life events reported on a questionnaire met inclusion criteria in a detailed stress interview, and second, by comparing the magnitude of prospective associations with depression symptoms for the two different assessment procedures. Data from the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project were examined, in which 191 community-residing young adults (55% female; M age=23.6, SD=0.6) completed a mailed questionnaire assessing the frequency with which 33 life events had occurred to them or to other important people in their lives prior to the diagnostic and stress interviews. An average of 67.5% of events occurring to self met criteria for classification as a life event on the stress interview, as did 19.7% of the events occurring to others. Events having a large effect on the participant had a greater likelihood of meeting inclusion criteria on the stress interview. Contrary to expectation, stress scores from the interview assessment did not result in stronger associations with depression. Recommendations for assessment of stressful life events are offered.

Teachers’ psychological wellbeing is important for teachers and students, but is highly stressful, particularly in special education. We examined the role of experiential avoidance (EA) in the wellbeing of 529 middle and elementary school teachers. EA involves the tendency to avoid thoughts, feelings, and other internal experiences even when doing so causes long-range consequences. Using a teacher-specific measure, we investigated its relationship to stress associated with student misbehavior and limited social support. We assessed EA’s relationship to burnout and depression, finding EA significantly and moderately correlated with depression and all scales of Maslach’s Burnout Inventory. Mediation analyses showed EA mediated the relationship between stress associated with student behavior and measures of wellbeing. We found 26.8% of teachers mildly, 8.9% moderately, and 2.8% moderately severely or severely depressed. This evidence concurs with studies showing the value of mindfulness-based interventions and points to the utility of implementing interventions aimed at decreasing EA in teachers.