Linguistic alignment--the contingent reuse of our interlocutors' language at all levels of linguistic structure--pervades human dialogue. Here, we design unique measures to capture the degree of linguistic alignment between interlocutors' linguistic representations at three levels of structure: lexical, syntactic, and semantic. We track these…

Collecting the perfect data to answer a research question is optimal but not always feasible. Sometimes existing data can be leveraged to answer some questions, but this opportunity comes with important potential pitfalls. To test the effect of early life exposures such as being born preterm or living in a materially deprived neighborhood on early…

This study examined infants' early visual attention (at 1 month of age) and social engagement (4 months) as predictors of their later joint attention (12 and 18 months). The sample (n = 325), drawn from the Maternal Lifestyle Study, a longitudinal multicenter project conducted at 4 centers of the National Institute of Child Health and Human…

Background: Attention problems are among the most prevalent neurobehavioral morbidities affecting very preterm (VPT) born children. The first study aim was to document rates of persistent attention/hyperactivity problems from ages 4 to 9 years in a regional cohort of VPT born children. The second aim was to examine the extent to which persistent…

Background: Little is known about how children differ in the onset and evolution of separation anxiety (SA) symptoms during the preschool years, and how SA develops into separation anxiety disorder. In a large, representative population-based sample, we investigated the developmental trajectories of SA symptoms from infancy to school entry, their…

Summer slide, uneven growth of academic skills during the calendar year, captures the fact that the learning gains children make during the school year do not continue at the same pace over the summer, when children are typically not in school. We compared growth of reading skills during the school year and during the summer months in children…

Background: Elucidating risk pathways for under-achieving at school can inform strategies to reduce the number of adolescents leaving school without passing grades in core subjects. Maternal depression can compromise the quality of parental care and is associated with multiple negative child outcomes. However, only a few small studies have…

This study demonstrates the unique contributions of perinatal risk and genetic and environmental influences on child behavior using data from 561 domestic US adoption triads (birth mothers, adopted child, and adoptive parents). Findings show distinct patterns of associations among genetic (birth mother psychopathology), prenatal (six maternal…

Prenatal and perinatal risk factors, such as low birth weight, have been linked to higher levels of aggressive and destructive behaviours during childhood. Although low birth weight is associated with childhood externalizing behaviour, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain open to empirical investigation. The current study extends the…

Background: Early childhood malnutrition is associated with cognitive and behavioral impairment during childhood and adolescence, but studies in adulthood are limited. Methods: Using the NEO-PI-R personality inventory, we compared personality profiles at 37-43 years of age ("M" 40.3 years, "SD" 1.9) of Barbadian adults who had…

Background: Maternal depression is known to be associated with impairments in child cognitive development, although the effect of timing of exposure to maternal depression is unclear. Methods: Data collected for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a longitudinal study beginning in pregnancy, included self-report measures of…

Objective: No previous longitudinal study has examined the impact of comorbid maternal personality disorder (PD) and depression on child development. We set out to examine whether maternal PD and depression assessed at 2 months post partum would be independently associated with adverse developmental outcomes at 18 months of age. Method: Women were…

Objective: We aimed to improve the education of medical students involved in a longitudinal perinatal health improvement project in Gowa, Malawi. Design: We conducted qualitative interviews with students who participated in the project, reviewed their quantitative reports, and assessed the application of methodologies consonant with the learning…

The purpose of this study was to determine risk and protective factors for adult psychiatric disorders in very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight less than 1,501 g) survivors. 79 of 154 (51%) VLBW subjects recruited at birth were assessed in early adulthood (24-27 years). Participants were screened for a psychiatric disorder; those elevated were…

This study examined the developmental processes linking childhood bullying to criminal offending in adulthood, using data from a 30-year longitudinal study. The linkages between bullying in childhood and three criminal offending outcomes in adulthood were estimated both before and after control for a range of confounding factors. A series of…