New Research From Clinical Psychological Science

Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science:

Genetic and Environmental Associations Between Procrastination and Internalizing/Externalizing Psychopathology

Daniel E. Gustavson, Alta du Pont, Alexander S. Hatoum, Soo Hyun Rhee, William S. Kremen, John K. Hewitt, and Naomi P. Friedman

Procrastination has been linked to personality factors that are predictive of psychopathology. Despite this, the association between procrastination and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology is not well understood. Same-sex twin pairs who were part of the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study completed assessments of neuroticism at ages 12 and 17, and assessments of procrastination, fear of failure, impulsivity, and internalizing and externalizing disorders at age 23. Procrastination was found to be associated with internalizing and externalizing factors. Fear of failure and neuroticism accounted for the relationship between procrastination and internalizing psychopathology, whereas impulsiveness accounted for the relationship between procrastination and externalizing psychopathology. These associations were due primarily to genetic influences.

Heterogeneity in Trajectories of Depression in Response to Divorce Is Associated With Differential Risk for Mortality

Matteo Malgaroli, Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy, and George A. Bonanno

Although divorce is thought to be a highly distressing event, there are differences in the trajectories of people whose marriages dissolve. To better understand these diverse trajectories, the researchers analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study, a U.S.-based study that has been collecting data every 2 years since 1992. The researchers identified participants who had reported a divorce between waves of data collection. Information on depression, chronic health conditions, and mortality were assessed from the two data collection points, before and after the divorce. The researchers identified four trajectories: resilient (67% maintained relatively stable health after the stressor), chronic depression (12% reported consistently elevated depressive symptoms), decreasing depression (11% reported an improvement in depressive symptoms after divorce), and emergent depression (10% became more depressed after the divorce). The risk of mortality was found to be greater for those in the emergent-depression trajectory.

The Co-development of Relational Aggression and Disruptive Behavior Symptoms From Late Childhood Through Adolescence

Alazne Aizpitarte, Olivia E. Atherton, and Richard W. Robins

There is some debate as to whether relational aggression is developmentally normative or an indication of mental-health problems. To examine this, the researchers analyzed data from 674 youth of Mexican origin and their parents who were part of the California Families Project. Participants were assessed at ages 10, 12, 14, and 16 for externalizing symptoms and for relational aggression that had occurred in the previous 3 months. The generational status of each adolescent was also recorded. The researchers found bidirectional pathways between psychiatric disorders (oppositional-defiant disorder and conduct disorder) and relational aggression. These associations were found for both boys and girls and for both those born in Mexico and those born in the United States. The data indicated that there were individual differences in who was at risk, which suggest that relational aggression is developmentally normative for some but is a precursor to later mental-health problems for others.