Negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability in the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms

Negative emotionality is a distinguishing feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, this person-level characteristic has not been examined as a marker of vulnerability in the development of this disorder. The current study utilized a multi-method approach to examine the interplay between negative emotional reactivity and cumulative exposure to family adversity on the development of BPD symptoms across three years (ages 16–18) in a diverse, at-risk sample of adolescent girls (N=113). A latent variable of negative emotional reactivity was created from multiple assessments at age 16: (1) self-report, (2) emotion ratings to stressors from ecological assessments across one week, and (3) observer-rated negative affectivity during a mother-daughter conflict discussion task. Exposure to family adversity was measured cumulatively between ages 5 and 16 from annual assessments of family poverty, single parent household, and difficult life circumstances. Results from latent growth curve models demonstrated a significant interaction between negative emotional reactivity and family adversity, such that exposure to adversity strengthened the association between negative emotional reactivity and BPD symptoms. Additionally, family adversity predicted increasing BPD symptoms during late adolescence. These findings highlight negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability that ultimately increases risk for the development of BPD symptoms

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo

Meeting Abstracts: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo Clearwater Beach, FL, USA. 9-11 June 201

Emotional reactivity and its impact on neural circuitry for attention–emotion interaction in childhood and adolescence

Attention modulation when confronted with emotional stimuli is considered a critical aspect of executive function, yet rarely studied during childhood and adolescence, a developmental period marked with changes in these processes. We employed a novel, and child-friendly fMRI task that used emotional faces to investigate the neural underpinnings of the attention–emotion interaction in a child and adolescent sample (n = 23, age M = 13.46, SD = 2.86, range = 8.05–16.93 years). Results implied modulation of activation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) due to emotional distractor valence, which marginally correlated with participant age. Additionally, parent-reported emotional reactivity predicted the trajectory of BOLD signal increase for fearful emotional face distractors such that participants low in emotional reactivity had a steeper latency to peak activation. Results imply that the use of the OFC to modulate attention in the face of social/emotional stimuli may mature with age and may be tightly coupled with adaptive emotional functioning. Findings are discussed in the context of risk for the development of psychiatric disorders, where increased emotional reactivity is particularly apparent

Developmental changes in adolescent girls' attachment security, social functioning, and psychopathology symptoms in a high-risk community sample

The first aim of this study was to examine developmental changes in the quality of girls' attachment to their primary caregiver during adolescence, and to examine baseline predictors of changes in attachment from sociodemographic, parenting, and parent psychopathology factors. The second aim of this study was to examine relations between changes in the quality of girls' attachment to their caregiver and concurrent changes in psychopathology symptoms and social dysfunction during adolescence. There was a significant linear decline in quality of girls' attachment to their primary caregiver from ages 11 to 16. Parenting practices predicted decreases in attachment security, even after controlling for sociodemographic risk factors and parental psychopathology. Lack of secure attachment to caregivers at age 11 and decreases in attachment security from ages 11 to 16 were related to increases in psychopathology symptoms and social dysfunction during the same time period

Emotional reactivity and its impact on neural circuitry for attention?emotion interaction in childhood and adolescence

Attention modulation when confronted with emotional stimuli is considered a critical aspect of executive function, yet rarely studied during childhood and adolescence, a developmental period marked with changes in these processes. We employed a novel, and child-friendly fMRI task that used emotional faces to investigate the neural underpinnings of the attention-emotion interaction in a child and adolescent sample (n=23, age M=13.46, SD=2.86, range=8.05-16.93 years). Results implied modulation of activation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) due to emotional distractor valence, which marginally correlated with participant age. Additionally, parent-reported emotional reactivity predicted the trajectory of BOLD signal increase for fearful emotional face distractors such that participants low in emotional reactivity had a steeper latency to peak activation. Results imply that the use of the OFC to modulate attention in the face of social/emotional stimuli may mature with age and may be tightly coupled with adaptive emotional functioning. Findings are discussed in the context of risk for the development of psychiatric disorders, where increased emotional reactivity is particularly apparent