BACKGROUND Current clinical knowledge suggests that children can have different types of depressive symptoms (irritability and aggression), but presents no theoretical basis for these differences. Using a developmental approach, the present study sought to test the relationship between developmental level (mental age) and expression of depressive symptoms. The primary hypothesis was that as chi...

BACKGROUND Literature has demonstrated the adaptive function of identity development and parenting toward manifestation of problem behaviors in adolescence. These dimensions act on both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. METHODS The objective is to investigate the relationship between identity status, parenting, and adolescent problems, which may manifest through internalized (phobias,...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we determined whether sexually abused adolescent boys or girls were more likely to have internalizing behavior scores in the clinical range. Second, after determining boys were more likely than girls to have an internalizing behavior problem, we tested whether this relationship would persist after several other variables were accounted for...

Poor marital quality is a reliable correlate of internalizing problems, but the etiology of this association has yet to be examined. Marital distress may exert its influence by acting as a stressor that enables the expression of latent genetic risk for internalizing psychopathology. The authors examined this question using 379 twin pairs, assessed for marital quality, symptoms of major depressi...

We used a longitudinal twin design to examine the causal association between sexual, emotional, and physical abuse in childhood (before age 18) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits at age 24 using a discordant twin design and biometric modeling. Additionally, we examined the mediating and moderating effects of symptoms of childhood externalizing and internalizing disorders on the li...

The current study examined relational aggression as a potential mechanism that explains the association between off-time pubertal development and internalizing problems in youth. Youth gender was also examined as a moderator for the association between these variables. It was hypothesized that early pubertal maturation would be associated with higher levels of relationally aggressive behavior w...