Development of internalizing symptoms during adolescence in three countries: the role of temperament and parenting behaviors

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the unique and joint effects of early adolescent temperament and parenting in predicting the development of adolescent internalizing symptoms in a cross-cultural sample. Participants were 544 early adolescents (T1: Mage = 12.58; 49.5% female) and their mothers (n = 530) from Medellín, Colombia (n = 88), Naples, Italy (n = 90), Rome, Italy (n = 100) and Durham, North Carolina, United States (African Americans n = 92, European Americans n = 97, and Latinx n = 77). Early adolescent negative emotionality (i.e., anger and sadness experience), self-regulation (i.e., effortful control), and parent monitoring and psychological control were measured at T1. Adolescent internalizing symptoms were measured at three time points. Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) without covariates or predictors indicated a slight linear increase in internalizing symptoms from ages 13–16 years across nearly all cultural groups. Multi-group LGCMs demonstrated several paths were consistently invariant across groups when examining how well temperament and parenting predicted intercept and slope factors. Higher initial levels of internalizing symptoms were significantly predicted by higher adolescent negative emotionality and parental psychological control as well as lower adolescent effortful control and parental monitoring measured one year earlier. Overall, adolescent effortful control appeared to protect against the emergence of internalizing symptoms in all cultures, but this effect faded over time. This study advances knowledge of the normative development of internalizing symptoms during adolescence across cultures while highlighting the predictive value of early adolescent temperament and parenting.

Prevalence of engagement and frequency of non-suicidal self-injury behaviors in adolescence: an investigation of the longitudinal course and the role of temperamental effortful control

“…Sample items were "I pay close attention when someone tells me how to do something" and "When someone tells me to stop doing something, it is easy for me to stop." Previous studies have supported the psychometric soundness and validity of this measure in Italian samples [49,50]. In the current study, Cronbach's alphas and McDonald's Omega coefficients ranged from 0.80 to 0.86 and from 0.81 to 0.86 across all assessments, thus indicating a good level of reliability.…”

Risk Factors in Depression and Anxiety Disorders from the Framework of Developmental Psychopathology

“…These traits are called effortful control and defined as the ability to control or regulate emotions, impulses, and behaviors. As a matter of fact, previous studies proved that internalizing problems increase as negative affect increases and effortful control decreases (Murris and Ollendick 2005, Lunetti et al 2022.…”

Double jeopardy: implications of neurodevelopmental conditions and adverse childhood experiences for child health

“…Addressing the health needs of people suffering from multiple health conditions, including those with complex psychiatric presentations, is an increasing global challenge [ 1 ]. Complex presentations are associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or trauma, but the focus on trauma and ACEs risks a loss of focus on heritable or temperamental factors that can shape the environment the child grows up in [ 2 ]. One such factor, often overlooked, is the presence of neurodevelopment conditions.…”