Gender differences in psychological factors shaping smoking decisions of Chilean adolescents

This study examined gender differences in how internalizing and externalizing symptoms affect adolescents’ decisions about smoking in Chile, where girls smoke at some of the highest rates in the world. In multivariate logistic regression analyses with 607 adolescents, internalizing symptoms, such as depressed mood and anxiety, predicted smoking among girls more than boys, with girls who were low in internalizing symptoms being more likely to smoke than those who were high in internalizing symptoms. In Chile’s high-risk context, internalizing symptoms may be indirectly protective for girls by decreasing their exposure to peer pressure and related influences that encourage cigarette use.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant R01-DA-022720). (R01-DA-022720 - U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse)http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC5014729&blobtype=pdfhttp://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC5014729&blobtype=pdfAccepted manuscrip

Sex Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study used a retrospective practice-based research method to compare levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors of a clinically-ascertained sample of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n=90). As measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), internalizing and externalizing behaviors were compared to normative behavior, and between boys and girls with ASD. Findings suggest that in a clinical sample, children with ASD are more likely than typically developing children to have internalizing and/or externalizing problems. No significant sex differences were found for Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems, or Total Problems scores on either the parent or teacher versions of the CBCL. These findings may help clinicians better understand how children with ASD are affected by co-morbid psychiatric disorders, and could help to inform diagnosis and intervention

Peer victimization in childhood and internalizing problems in adolescence : a prospective longitudinal study

Traumatic childhood experiences have been found to predict later internalizing problems. This prospective longitudinal study investigated whether repeated and intentional harm doing by peers (peer victimization) in childhood predicts internalizing symptoms in early adolescence. 3,692 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), as well as their mothers and teachers, reported on bullying in childhood (7–10 years) and internalizing problems in early adolescence (11–14 years). Controlling for prior psychopathology, family adversity, gender and IQ, being a victim of bullying was associated with higher overall scores, as well as increased odds of scoring in the severe range (>90th percentile) for emotional and depression symptoms. Victims were also more likely to show persistent depression symptoms over a 2-year period. These associations were found independent of whether mothers, teachers or the children reported on bullying. It is concluded that peer victimization in childhood is a precursor of both short-lived and persistent internalizing symptoms, underlining the importance of environmental factors such as peer relationships in the etiology of internalizing problems

Binge Eating Disorder Mediates Links between Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety and Caloric Intake in Obese Women

Despite considerable comorbidity between mood disorders, binge eating disorder (BED), and obesity, the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine models by which internalizing behaviors of depression and anxiety influence food intake in overweight/obese women. Thirty-two women (15 BED, 17 controls) participated in a laboratory eating-episode and completed questionnaires assessing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Path analysis was used to test mediation and moderation models to determine the mechanisms by which internalizing symptoms influenced kilocalorie (kcal) intake. The BED group endorsed significantly more symptoms of depression (10.1 versus 4.8, P=0.005 ) and anxiety (8.5 versus 2.7, P=0.003). Linear regression indicated that BED diagnosis and internalizing symptoms accounted for 30% of the variance in kcal intake. Results from path analysis suggested that BED mediates the influence of internalizing symptoms on total kcal intake. The associations between internalizing symptoms and food intake are best described as operating indirectly through a BED diagnosis. This suggests that symptoms of depression and anxiety influence whether one engages in binge eating, which influences kcal intake. Greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying the associations between mood, binge eating, and food intake will facilitate the development of more effective prevention and treatment strategies for both BED and obesity

Sensory Processing Patterns and Internalizing Behaviors in the Pediatric and Young Adult General Population: A Scoping Review

Background: While research has largely focused on the relationship between sensory processing patterns and internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, depression) in children with autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, this relationship is not fully understood among the general population or across development. Method: This scoping review addressed the following research question: How are sensory processing patterns associated with internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, depression) among children with various conditions as well as typically developing children from birth to 22 years of age? Results: Since 2005, n = 97 peer-reviewed articles have addressed this topic and were included in the current review. Overall, findings show a complex interplay between sensory processing patterns, internalizing behaviors, cognitive factors (intolerance of uncertainty, ritualism, cognitive rigidity), and personality characteristics. Discussion: The results of this review showed that research primarily focused on individuals with ASD, and many articles used mediation models to examine complex relationships. Implications for future research are discussed

Internalizing Symptoms as Predictors of School Absenteeism Severity at Multiple Levels: Ensemble and Classification and Regression Tree Analysis

School attendance problems are highly prevalent worldwide, leading researchers to investigate many different risk factors for this population. Of considerable controversy is how internalizing behavior problems might help to distinguish different types of youth with school attendance problems. In addition, efforts are ongoing to identify the point at which children and adolescents move from appropriate school attendance to problematic school absenteeism. The present study utilized ensemble and classification and regression tree analysis to identify potential internalizing behavior risk factors among youth at different levels of school absenteeism severity (i.e., 1+%, 3+%, 5+%, 10+%). Higher levels of absenteeism were also examined on an exploratory basis. Participants included 160 youth aged 6–19 years (M = 13.7; SD = 2.9) and their families from an outpatient therapy clinic (39.4%) and community (60.6%) setting, the latter from a family court and truancy diversion program cohort. One particular item relating to lack of enjoyment was most predictive of absenteeism severity at different levels, though not among the highest levels. Other internalizing items were also predictive of various levels of absenteeism severity, but only in a negatively endorsed fashion. Internalizing symptoms of worry and fatigue tended to be endorsed higher across less severe and more severe absenteeism severity levels. A general expectation that predictors would tend to be more homogeneous at higher than lower levels of absenteeism severity was not generally supported. The results help confirm the difficulty of conceptualizing this population based on forms of behavior but may support the need for early warning sign screening for youth at risk for school attendance problems

Direct, indirect and buffering effects of support for mothers on children's socio-emotional adjustment

Support for mothers may improve children’s socioemotional adjustment, yet few studies have consideredthe benefits of formal support (from health and social work professionals) in addition to social support(from family and friends) or explored the mechanisms. These issues were addressed using a birth cohort(n�2,649) to explore how mothers’ perceptions of social and formal support when children were ages10–22 months predicted trajectories of children’s externalizing and internalizing problems from 58 to122 months. We tested mediating pathways from support to child adjustment via 3 family stressorsmeasured at 46–58 months (maternal distress, economic strain, and dysfunctional parenting) andexamined whether support buffered effects of stressors on child adjustment. Social and formal supportwere simultaneously associated with lower child externalizing and internalizing problem trajectoryintercepts at 90 months but did not predict trajectory slopes. Social support effects were mediated mainlyvia lower maternal distress, which then reduced children’s problems via lower dysfunctional parenting,or more directly. Additional indirect effects involved lower economic strain. Formal support effects weremediated to a lesser extent by reduced dysfunctional parenting. Two buffering effects were found: socialsupport reduced effects of economic strain on internalizing problems, and formal support reduced effectsof dysfunctional parenting on internalizing problems. Findings suggest measures promoting families’social integration should benefit children’s socioemotional adjustment via improved parental psycho-logical and economic resources and by buffering impacts of economic strain. Enhancing access to healthand welfare services through greater awareness and trust should benefit children’s adjustment, viaimproved parenting and by buffering impacts of dysfunctional parenting

Examining Children’s Cognitions in Response to Interparental Conflict

Extensive research has found that interparental conflict is associated with children’s adjustment and cognitive appraisals. This study aims to address two questions. First, does exposure to interparental conflict predict children’s immediate and long-term cognitions regarding interparental conflict? Second, do children’s immediate and long-term cognitions predict internalizing problems, such as anxiety and depression? Children ages 9- to 11-years-old (n = 96; 59 females, 1 gender-neutral) were shown video presentations of conflict between two actors portraying a married couple. Children evaluated the actors’ behaviors as good or bad, and these evaluations were used as a measure of their immediate cognitions regarding interparental conflict stimuli. These immediate cognitions were compared to measures of children’s long-term cognitions regarding interparental conflict, exposure to interparental conflict, and internalizing problems using bivariate correlation and simple regression analyses. In contrast to the hypotheses, more exposure to interparental conflict did not predict immediate or long-term cognitions, nor did immediate or long-term cognitions predict children’s internalizing problems. Implications for future studies comparing immediate and long-term cognitions are discussed

Facilitation and Internalization Optimal Strategy in a Multilateral Trading Context

This paper studies four trading algorithms of a professional trader at a multilateral trading facility, observing a realistic two-sided limit order book whose dynamics are driven by the order book events. The identity of the trader can be either internalizing or regular, either a hedge fund or a brokery agency. The speed and cost of trading can be balanced by properly choosing active strategies on the displayed orders in the book and passive strategies on the hidden orders within the spread. We shall show that the price switching algorithms provide lower and upper bounds of the mixed trading algorithms. Especially, when the internalization premium is zero, an internalizing trader's optimal mixed trading strategy can be achieved among the set of price switching strategies. For both an internalizing trader and a regular trader, the optimal price switching strategy exists and is expressed in terms of the value function. A parallelizable algorithm to numerically compute the value function and optimal price switching strategy for the discretized state process is provided.Comment: 40 pages; 7 figures; 1 tabl