Background The family environment plays an important role in the intergenerational transmission of MDD, but less is known about how day-to-day mother-child interactions may be disrupted in families with a history of MDD. Disruptions in mother-child synchrony, the dynamic and convergent exchange of physiological and behavioral cues during interactions, may be one important risk factor. Although maternal MDD is associated with a lack of mother-child synchrony at the behavioral level, no studies have examined the impact of maternal MDD on physiological synchrony. Therefore, the current study examined whether maternal history of MDD moderates mother-child physiological synchrony (measured via RSA) during positive and negative discussions. Method Children ages 7–11 and mothers with either a history of MDD during the child’s lifetime (n=44) or no lifetime diagnosis of any mood disorder (n=50) completed positive and negative discussion tasks while RSA was continuously recorded for both child and mother. Results Results indicated significant between-dyad and within-dyad group differences in physiological synchrony during positive and negative discussions. Between-dyad analyses revealed evidence of synchrony only among never depressed dyads, among whom higher average mother RSA during both discussions was associated with higher average child RSA. Within-dyad analyses revealed that never depressed dyads displayed positive synchrony (RSA concordance) whereas dyads with a history of maternal MDD displayed negative synchrony (RSA discordance) during the negative discussion and that the degree of negative synchrony exhibited during the negative discussion was associated with mothers’ and children’s levels of sadness. Conclusions These results provide preliminary evidence that physiological synchrony is disrupted in families with a history of maternal MDD and may be a potential risk factor for the intergenerational transmission of depression.

The impostor phenomenon (IP), or feelings of intellectual incompetence, reflects a maladaptive set of cognitions, which pose a significant psychological risk for African American emerging adults. In light of recent evidence suggesting that personal and sociocultural factors may influence the association between IP and psychological adjustment, this study used 2 waves of data to examine the extent to which gender and racial discrimination moderated the association between IP and indices of mental health among 157 African American college students (69% women; mean age = 18.30) attending a predominantly White institution. Analyses revealed that young African American women reporting higher frequencies of racial discrimination and women reporting lower levels of distress resulting from racial discrimination were most vulnerable to negative mental health outcomes, particularly at higher levels of IP. These findings suggest that IP may interact with gender and racial discrimination experiences to influence mental health outcomes. We discuss how these findings can be utilized to inform treatment of African American emerging adults experiencing IP and the importance of considering how gender and discrimination may intersect to exacerbate feelings of intellectual incompetence. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objectives: This study used 2 waves of data to longitudinally examine whether internalized racism moderated the association between racial discrimination and anxiety symptom distress. Method: Participants were 157 Black college students attending a predominantly White institution who completed measures of racial discrimination, internalized racism, and psychological distress. Results: Using hierarchical linear regression, results indicated a positive association between racial discrimination and subsequent anxiety symptom distress for individuals with moderate and high levels of internalization of negative stereotypes and hair change. Conclusions: Findings suggest that experiences of anxiety symptom distress, in the context of racial discrimination, may differ as a function of one’s acceptance and internalization of dominant White culture’s actions and beliefs toward Black people.

Nolen-Hoeksema proposed that rumination increases stressful events and circumstances; however, few studies have examined this question. Thus, we explored whether (a) rumination predicted increases in the generation of chronic and acute stress, (b) excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) mediated links between rumination and stress generation, (c) rumination increased exposure to acute independent (uncontrollable) stress, and (d) rumination predicted chronic stress generation in certain domains, but not others. These questions were examined in a 1-year study of 126 early adolescent girls ( age = 12.39 years) using contextual objective stress interviews. Findings indicated that rumination predicted increases in acute dependent interpersonal stress and chronic interpersonal stress, and ERS mediated these associations. Moreover, rumination was not associated with acute independent stress. Finally, the effect of rumination on chronic stress generation was most salient in adolescents' romantic lives and in parent-adolescent relationships. These findings suggest that ruminators create stressful interpersonal environments.