Latent Structure of Executive Functioning/Learning Tasks in the CogState Computerized Battery

This study tested whether executive functioning (EF)/learning tasks from the CogState computerized test battery show a unitary latent structure. This information is important for the construction of composite measures on these tasks for applied research purposes. Based on earlier factor analytic research, we identified five CogState tasks that have been labeled as EF/learning tasks and examined their intercorrelations in a new sample of Finnish birth cohort mothers (N = 233). Using confirmatory factor analyses, we compared two single-factor EF/learning models. The first model included the recommended summative scores for each task. The second model exchanged summative scores for first test round results for the three tasks providing these data, as initial task performance is expected to load more heavily on EF. A single-factor solution provided a good fit for the present five EF/learning tasks. The second model, which was hypothesized to tap more onto EF, had slightly better fit indices, chi(2)(5) = 1.37, p = .93, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = .02, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .00, 90% CI = [.00-.03], comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, and more even factor loadings (.30-.56) than the first model, chi(2)(5) = 4.56, p = .47, SRMR = .03, RMSEA = .00, 90% CI = [.00-.09], CFI = 1.00, factor loadings (.20-.74), which was hypothesized to tap more onto learning. We conclude that the present CogState sum scores can be used for studying EF/learning in healthy adult samples, but call for further research to validate these sum scores against other EF tests

Maternal Psychological Distress and Executive Functions Are Associated During Early Parenthood - A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Parental executive functioning (EF) and parenting behaviors can be affected by the multiple stressors that are often present during early parenthood. However, little is known about how commonly experienced psychological distress during early parenthood is associated with parental EF capacity. We explored the links between psychological distress and EFs in a general population sample of 150 Finnish birth cohort mothers with 2.5-year-old children. The symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and poor couple relationship adjustment were measured with the self-report questionnaires EPDS, SCL-90, AIS, and RDAS. EFs were assessed with five computerized Cogstate tasks. When the psychological distress measures were added to a hierarchical regression analysis as continuous variables, no significant single or additive associations with EFs were found. When the distress measures were dichotomized to compare symptoms below/above cutoffs indicating clinically elevated levels, single distress domains remained as non-significant predictors, but a cumulative risk index of the number of concurrent clinically elevated distress domains was significantly associated with EFs. Thus, mothers with a higher number of concurrent clinically elevated psychological distress domains (i.e., depression, anxiety, insomnia, and poor couple relationship adjustment) tended to have lower EFs. This association is possibly bi-directional - clinically elevated distress within several domains could have a cumulative, depleting effect on maternal EF capacity, but a lower EF capacity could also increase the vulnerability for experienced distress within several concurrent domains. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify potential causal links between stressors and EF.</p

Individual differences in pupil dilation to others’ emotional and neutral eyes with varying pupil sizes

Sensitivity to others’ emotional signals is an important factor for social interaction. While many studies of emotional reactivity focus on facial emotional expressions, signals such as pupil dilation which can indicate arousal, may also affect observers. For example, observers’ pupils dilate when viewing someone with dilated pupils, so-called pupillary contagion. Yet it is unclear how pupil size and emotional expression interact as signals. Further, examining individual differences in emotional reactivity to others can shed light on its mechanisms and potential outcomes. In the current study, adults’ (N = 453) pupil size was assessed while they viewed images of the eye region of individuals varying in emotional expression (neutral, happy, sad, fearful, angry) and pupil size (large, medium, small). Participants showed pupillary contagion regardless of the emotional expression. Individual differences in demographics (gender, age, socioeconomic status) and psychosocial factors (anxiety, depression, sleep problems) were also examined, yet the only factor related to pupillary contagion was socioeconomic status, with higher socioeconomic status predicting less pupillary contagion for emotionally-neutral stimuli. The results suggest that while pupillary contagion is a robust phenomenon, it can vary meaningfully across individuals.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Unpredictable maternal sensory signals in caregiving behavior are associated with child effortful control

Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to unpredictable patterns of maternal sensory signals during infancy is associated with child neurodevelopment, including poorer effortful control. However, longitudinal effects on child development and possible sex differences are understudied. The aims of the present study were to explore whether exposure to unpredictable maternal sensory signals during infancy is related to child effortful control at 5 years of age and whether child sex moderates these associations. In addition, we examined how exposure to very high vs. low/moderate unpredictability using categorical cut-offs is related to child effortful control. Participants (133 mother–child pairs, all Caucasian) were drawn from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study in Finland. Maternal sensory signals (auditory, visual, tactile) were coded from the 10-min free-play episode on a moment-on-moment basis using Observer XT 11 (Noldus), and the unpredictability of maternal sensory signals was characterized as the entropy rate when the infant was 8 months of age. Child effortful control was assessed via mother reports using the Child Behavior Questionnaire very short form (CBQ-VSF) when the child was 5 years old. Correlational analyses showed that higher unpredictability of maternal sensory signals had a modest association with children’s poorer effortful control at 5 years of age. Notably, the linear regression model showed that child sex moderated these associations, as higher exposure to unpredictable maternal sensory signals was related to poorer effortful control among males, but not among females. Moreover, the general linear model showed that exposure to very high unpredictability was associated with poorer child effortful control at 5 years of age and remained significant when adjusted for possible confounding factors. These results are in line with previous findings and suggest that the unpredictability of maternal sensory signals is potentially an important aspect of early caregiving behavior associated with the development of child effortful control.</p

Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Executive functioning (EF) is one of the building blocks in parental caregiving behavior, and contextual variables have been reported to moderate the link between EF and caregiving behavior. Although psychological distress due to various factors is prevalent during early parenthood and is negatively associated with adult EF, it is not known whether psychological distress influences the maternal EF/caregiving link. This study explored the association between maternal EF and caregiving behavior (more specifically, Emotional Availability/EA), and whether single and cumulative maternal psychological distress domains moderated the EF/EA association in a general population sample of 137 Finnish birth cohort mothers with 2.5-year-old children. EF was measured with a composite of five computerized Cogstate tasks, EA with the Emotional Availability Scales, and three psychological distress domains with self-report questionnaires (depression: EPDS, anxiety: SCL-90, insomnia: AIS). Better EF was significantly associated with more positive, sensitive caregiving, but this association was no longer significant when controlling for education level. Neither individual nor cumulative distress domains moderated the EF/EA association significantly, although the observed moderation effects were in the expected direction. These findings suggest that EF should be recognized alongside socioemotional factors as variables that are associated with parental caregiving behavior during toddlerhood. Furthermore, if the non-significant moderation results are replicated, they indicate that mothers in community samples are not at great risk for psychological distress that would compromise their capacity to utilize their EF while caring for their child. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings, as well as to examine these associations among fathers and in samples that have higher levels of chronic stressors. Studies with more diverse samples in terms of distress levels and EF performance would provide further insight into early childhood parenting and its risk factors.</p

The Interplay between Maternal Executive Functioning and Psychological Risk Factors in the Context of Early Caregiving Behavior : Findings from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Recent studies have indicated executive functioning (EF) to be one of the parental variables that shape caregiving behavior. Besides being directly associated with caregiving, EF has joint effects with other parenting determinants on caregiving behavior. As this novel research field is still emerging, further studies on the influence of parental EF on caregiving in varied populations are called for. This is especially relevant during early childhood, when psychosocial factors can have profound effects on child development over the long term. In the present thesis, the interrelationships between maternal EF, psychological risk factors (psychological distress, alexithymic traits) and caregiving behavior were explored in Finnish general population mothers of toddlers. As regards caregiving behavior, the present focus was at the degree of parental emotional availability (EA), a key aspect in child development and well-being. The thesis sub studies employed overlapping samples of participants from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort. The main data was collected at 2.5 years after delivery. Study I (N = 233) examined the latent structure of five Cogstate EF/learning tasks, and evaluated the suitability of a sum score based on these tasks to assess EF/learning among healthy adults. First-round results for tasks with multiple test rounds were interpreted to tap more onto EF, while summative scores were thought to tap more onto learning. An important outcome of this study was a new Cogstate EF/learning composite score including first-round results, that was then employed in Study II-IV. Study II (N = 150) explored whether psychological distress domains that are prevalent during early parenthood (depression, anxiety, insomnia, poor couple relationship adjustment) were associated with maternal EF. While subclinical symptoms and single clinically elevated distress domains were not significantly associated with EF, a higher number of simultaneously clinically elevated distress domains was associated with lower EF. Study III (N = 137) examined the association between maternal EF and the degree of emotional availability (EA) in maternal caregiving behavior, while accounting for maternal psychological distress levels. Higher EF had a weak but significant association with more emotionally available caregiving. Psychological distress levels did not significantly moderate the association. Study IV (N = 119) examined the association between maternal alexithymic traits and EA, while accounting for maternal EF. Higher levels of alexithymic traits were associated with poorer caregiving quality. This association was moderated by maternal EF, so that higher EF seemed to buffer against the effect of alexithymic traits on caregiving behavior. The thesis results have several implications for both parenting research and parenting interventions. As general population mothers’ EF capacity appears to both directly influence the ability to be emotionally available for toddlers, and to moderate how risk factors like alexithymic traits impact caregiving behavior, it is recommendable to consider the influence of maternal EF when assessing parental caregiving resources. Alongside socioemotional assessments, EF assessments could facilitate the formulation of optimally supportive parenting interventions. Furthermore, interventions supporting parental EF in the context of caregiving behavior could facilitate the capacity to be emotionally available in caregiving situations. As lower levels of maternal psychological distress were neither significantly associated with EF nor significantly moderated the EF/EA association, general population mothers of toddlers (amongst whom these lower levels are commonplace) do not seem to run any greater risk for EF-related problems during caregiving situations. However, as a higher number of concurrent clinically elevated distress domains were linked to lower EF even among general population mothers, and as the effect of EF on EA has previously been reported to be significantly stronger among mothers experiencing notably higher psychological distress levels than those in the present study group, the influence of maternal EF on EA could be especially relevant acknowledge among severely distressed mothers. If psychological distress depletes maternal EF capacity, then interventions that relieve these symptoms are also likely to allow for recovered EF, enabling mothers to make optimal use of their EF capacity in caregiving situations. Further parental EF research is called for to confirm and extend these findings, by e.g. exploring the role of parental EF during different child developmental phases, among fathers, and in varying populations.Under det senaste årtiondet har studier indikerat att exekutiva funktioner (EF) är en av de föräldraskapsvariabler som formar föräldrars omvårdnad av sina barn. Förutom att ha ett direkt samband med omvårdnadsbeteenden, formar EF även omvårdnadsförmågan genom interaktionseffekter med andra föräldraskapsvariabler. Då detta nya forskningsområde fortfarande håller på att ta form, behövs vidare studier som kartlägger hur föräldrars EF influerar omvårdnadsbeteenden inom olika populationer. Det här är speciellt viktigt att utreda under den tidiga barndomen, då psykosociala faktorer kan ha en omfattande, långsiktig inverkan på barns utveckling. I denna avhandling undersöktes bland småbarnsmödrar från den allmänna finländska befolkningen sambanden mellan mödrarnas EF, psykologiska riskfaktorer (psykologisk belastning, alexitymiska drag), och omvårdnadsbeteenden. Mer specifikt låg fokus på graden av emotionell tillgänglighet i mödrarnas omvårdnadsbeteenden, vilket centralt inverkar på barns utveckling och välmående. Avhandlingens delstudier inkluderade överlappande deltagarsampel från FinnBrain födelsekohorten. Det huvudsakliga datat samlades in 2,5 år efter barnens födelse. I studie I (N = 233) undersöktes fem Cogstate EF/inlärningsuppgifters latenta struktur. Vidare utvärderades hur väl en summavariabel baserad på de här fem uppgifterna lämpar sig för att mäta EF/inlärning bland friska vuxna. För uppgifter med flera testomgångar ansågs den första testrundan vara bäst lämpad för att mäta EF, medan summavariablerna ansågs bättre lämpade för att mäta inlärning. Ett centralt resultat i denna studie var en ny Cogstate EF/inlärningssumma, som därpå användes i studie II-IV. I studie II (N = 150) undersöktes om olika psykologiska belastningsdomäner som är prevalenta under tidigt föräldraskap (depression, ångest, sömnstörningar, låg parförhållandeharmoni) var relaterade med mödrars EF. Subkliniska symptomnivåer samt kliniskt förhöjda symptomnivåer inom enstaka belastningsdomäner var inte signifikant relaterade med EF, men ett högre antal samtidigt kliniskt förhöjda belastningsdomäner var relaterat till lägre EF. I studie III (N = 137) undersöktes sambandet mellan mödrars EF och graden av emotionell tillgänglighet i mödrarnas omvårdnadsbeteende, så att även mödrarnas psykologiska belastningsnivåer beaktades i analyserna. Högre EF hade ett svagt men signifikant samband med mer emotionellt tillgänglig omvårdnad. Psykologiska belastningsnivåer hade inte en signifikant modereringseffekt på det här sambandet. I studie IV (N = 119) undersöktes sambandet mellan mödrars alexitymiska drag och graden av emotionell tillgänglighet i omvårdnadsbeteendet, så att även mödrarnas EF beaktades i analyserna. Högre nivåer av alexitymiska drag var relaterade till mindre emotionellt tillgänglig omvårdnad. Mödrarnas EF modererade det här sambandet, så att högre EF verkade dämpa inverkan av alexitymiska drag på omvårdnadsbeteendet. Avhandlingens resultat omfattar flera aspekter som är värdefulla att uppmärksamma inom föräldraskapsforskning och föräldraskapsstödjande interventioner. Då mödrars EF verkar ha både en direkt effekt på förmågan till emotionellt tillgänglig omvårdnad av småbarn, samt moderera hur riskfaktorer som alexitymiska drag inverkar på omvårdnadsbeteendet, är det vid bedömningar av föräldraskapsresurser tillrådligt att observera inverkan av föräldrars EF. Vid sidan av socioemotionella bedömningar kunde bedömningar av EF främja utformningen av optimalt stödjande föräldraskapsinterventioner. Vidare kunde interventioner som stödjer föräldrars EF i omvårdnadssituationer befrämja föräldrars förmåga till emotionellt tillgänglig omvårdnad. Då lägre nivåer av psykologisk belastning varken var signifikant relaterade till EF, eller på en signifikant nivå modererade sambandet mellan EF och emotionellt tillgänglig omvårdnad, verkar småbarnsmödrar som upplever lägre nivåer av psykologisk belastning (vilket är vanligt förekommande bland den allmänna befolkningen) inte befinna sig i riskzonen för utmaningar relaterade till EF i omvårdnadssituationer. Eftersom ett högre antal kliniskt förhöjda belastningsdomäner var relaterat till lägre EF till och med bland mödrar från den allmänna befolkningen, och då EF tidigare har rapporterats ha en klart starkare effekt på förmågan till emotionellt tillgänglig omvårdnad bland mödrar som upplever betydligt högre psykologisk belastning än mödrarna i denna studie, verkar det vara speciellt angeläget att beakta effekten av föräldrars EF på emotionell tillgänglighet bland avsevärt belastade mödrar. Om psykologisk belastning försvagar EF, skulle stödåtgärder som lindrar denna belastning sannolikt också möjliggöra återhämtade EF, vilket skulle stödja optimal användning av EF vid småbarnsvård. Vidare forskning kring föräldrars EF behövs för att bekräfta och utveckla dessa resultat, genom att t.ex. undersöka vikten av föräldrars EF under olika faser av barns utveckling, bland fäder, och i olika populationer

Childhood maltreatment, trait resilience and prenatal distress among expecting mothers and fathers in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Background: In this study we examined the association between childhood maltreatment exposure (CME) and psychological distress, including symptoms of depression and anxiety, during pregnancy. Additionally, we explored the potential moderating effect of trait resilience on these associations. Methods: The study is part of the ongoing FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. The sample consisted of 3016 mothers and 1934 fathers. The data were collected using self-report questionnaires, including EPDS, SCL-90, CD-RISC-10 and TADS. We conducted ANOVAs and linear logistic regression analyses to examine the associations between depression, anxiety, resilience, and CMEs. Results: CMEs were associated with increased psychological distress, including depression symptoms and anxiety, and decreased trait resilience among both mothers and fathers. Additionally, trait resilience had a moderating effect on the association between fathers' CMEs and psychological distress, while no significant moderating effect was found among mothers. Furthermore, among both mothers and fathers, higher trait resilience was associated with decreased anxiety and depressive symptoms. Limitations: Due to cross-sectionality, it is not possible to establish a causal relationship between CMEs, resilience, and parental distress. Additionally, the study does not provide insights into the underlying factors or processes that contribute to the development of trait resilience. Conclusions: Trait resilience may have a positive impact on parents' mental health during pregnancy. This study is the first to investigate the significance of fathers' trait resilience during pregnancy. In clinical settings, it is essential to identify parents with low levels of resilience and provide them with appropriate support, recognizing them as a vulnerable group.Peer reviewe

Unpredictable maternal sensory signals in caregiving behavior are associated with child effortful control.

Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to unpredictable patterns of maternal sensory signals during infancy is associated with child neurodevelopment, including poorer effortful control. However, longitudinal effects on child development and possible sex differences are understudied. The aims of the present study were to explore whether exposure to unpredictable maternal sensory signals during infancy is related to child effortful control at 5 years of age and whether child sex moderates these associations. In addition, we examined how exposure to very high vs. low/moderate unpredictability using categorical cut-offs is related to child effortful control. Participants (133 mother-child pairs, all Caucasian) were drawn from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study in Finland. Maternal sensory signals (auditory, visual, tactile) were coded from the 10-min free-play episode on a moment-on-moment basis using Observer XT 11 (Noldus), and the unpredictability of maternal sensory signals was characterized as the entropy rate when the infant was 8 months of age. Child effortful control was assessed via mother reports using the Child Behavior Questionnaire very short form (CBQ-VSF) when the child was 5 years old. Correlational analyses showed that higher unpredictability of maternal sensory signals had a modest association with children's poorer effortful control at 5 years of age. Notably, the linear regression model showed that child sex moderated these associations, as higher exposure to unpredictable maternal sensory signals was related to poorer effortful control among males, but not among females. Moreover, the general linear model showed that exposure to very high unpredictability was associated with poorer child effortful control at 5 years of age and remained significant when adjusted for possible confounding factors. These results are in line with previous findings and suggest that the unpredictability of maternal sensory signals is potentially an important aspect of early caregiving behavior associated with the development of child effortful control