Health Outcomes Associated With Internalizing Problems in Early Childhood and Adolescence

Abstract

Physical and mental health problems are becoming more common among the general population. Studies examining mental and physical health often indicate that mental illness early in life is associated with more detrimental health outcomes later. However, additional work is needed to better identity which psychological problems may contribute to poorer health outcomes. Given recent increases in childhood anxiety and depression specifically, it is beneficial to further investigate the relationship between internalizing problems, both early and later in life, and related health problems. Furthermore, little work has focused on studying internalizing problems in children as young as preschool-aged. Therefore, the current project used a longitudinal design to assess the effects of preschool and adolescent internalizing problems on health-related problems in adolescence. We analyzed data from 70 youth (47% male) who had been tested in our lab when they were 5 years old and then were administered questionnaires over a telephone interview when they were adolescents, between the ages of 12 and 20 years old. We used multi-informant measures, including parent-report at age 5 and youth-report at follow-up, 7 to 15 years later. Parents reported on children’s internalizing behavior problems and negative emotionality (NE). Youth reported on their own internalizing behavior problems as well as health problems, physical activity, and overeating behaviors. Path modeling was used to examine predictions of internalizing and health behaviors. At age 5, parent-reported NE and internalizing problems were related, in addition to 5-year-old internalizing predicting health problems and overeating at follow-up. At follow-up, youth-reported internalizing was positively related to health problems and negatively related to physical activity, suggesting some similarities and differences between parent and youth responses. Additionally, girls reported significantly higher rates of internalizing and health problems at follow-up. These results indicate a significant relationship between preschool-aged and adolescent internalizing problems and related health outcomes experienced in adolescence.

Internalizing behavior problems among hui nationality left-behind children in rural China: A cross-sectional study

“…In terms of the prevalence of IBP, the prevalence of hui nationality LBC was 21.7%, which was signi cantly higher than 6.3% of school-age children in rural areas of Harbin reported by Wu Lijie et al [34] and higher than 15.19% of the prevalence of IBP in LBC reported by Hu H et al [35]. Our results also showed that there was no signi cant difference in the prevalence of IBP between boys and girls of hui LBC, which was inconsistent with previous research results that suggested that girls were higher than boys [6,36]. We analyzed that it could be related to differences in ethnic cultural and social development.…”

Higher Executive Control Network Coherence Buffers Against Puberty-Related Increases in Internalizing Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Our analyses focused on the emotions and worries domain of the CRISIS questionnaire. Specifically, participants indicated on a 5-point scale (1= “Not at all”; 5= “Extremely”) their levels of ( 1 ) worry, ( 2 ) happiness vs. sadness (reverse-scored), ( 3 ) enjoyment in usual activities (reverse-scored), ( 4 ) feeling relaxed vs. anxious, ( 5 ) feeling fidgety or restless, ( 6 ) feeling fatigued or tired, ( 7 ) concentration, ( 8 ) irritability or anger, ( 9 ) loneliness, and ( 10 ) experiences of negative thoughts. Participants retrospectively rated their levels of emotions and worries in the 3 months prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in the participants’ local area (i.e., “pre-COVID-19 symptoms”), as well as in the past 2 weeks (i.e., “peri-COVID-19 symptoms”) (10 questions per time interval; Cronbach’s α=0.81 and α=0.87 for the past 3 months and past 2 weeks, respectively).…”

“…The incidence of internalizing disorders, such as depression and anxiety, rises sharply throughout adolescence ( 1 ). Even at subclinical levels, these often co-occurring emotional difficulties in adolescence ( 2 ) predict persistent symptoms ( 3 ), poorer physical health ( 4 ), and increased risk for suicidal behaviors ( 5 ) in adulthood. Importantly, adolescents often report an increase in internalizing symptoms during stressful experiences, particularly those involving health and family discord ( 6 ).…”

The Southern Illinois Twins/Triplets and Siblings Study (SITSS): A Longitudinal Study of Early Child Development

“…Using latent growth curve models, we found that low parent sensitivity was predictive of child unresponsiveness only in DRD4-7r children, thus demonstrating G×E as well as the importance of understanding minute-by-minute changes in parent and child interactional behaviors. Finally, we showed that age 5 parent-reported internalizing problems predicted youth-reported physical health problems as well as BMI when youth were between the ages of 12 and 20 years, thus demonstrating the importance of including preschool temperament and internalizing problems when predicting adolescent health behaviors (Jamnik & DiLalla, 2019).…”