Emotional symptoms are common in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and are often associated with long-term adverse outcomes. However, little is known about how emotional symptoms develop from middle childhood to early adolescence in individuals with ADHD, including how they differ between boys and girls. This study investigated the trajectories of emotional symptoms in children with ADHD during this transition period and compared to neurotypical peers, using longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, while also examining potential sex differences. Latent growth curve modeling was employed to model emotional symptoms at ages 7, 11, and 14. Children with ADHD had significantly higher levels of emotional symptoms than neurotypical peers across all three waves, with levels remaining stable over time. Boys and girls with ADHD did not differ in their emotional symptoms levels at any wave. Girls with ADHD however did show a significant increase in emotional symptoms over time, whilst boys’ levels remained relatively stable over the same period. These findings highlight the importance of early screening for emotional symptoms in children with early-diagnosed ADHD, with particular attention to the increasing levels of emotional symptoms in girls as they transition into adolescence.

Hostile attribution bias (HAB) is a well-established predictor of aggression and related psychopathologies. Yet the early factors shaping its development are not yet fully understood. In particular, it remains unclear (1) how early conflictual relationships with significant adults and children’s cognitive capacities contribute to later HAB, and (2) whether these pathways differ by gender. The present study addressed these gaps in a longitudinal sample of 279 Arab and Jewish children (138 girls; 106 Arabs; 173 Jews), assessed in early (Mage = 5.7, SD = 0.53; range: 4.3–7.0) and late (Mage = 10.6, SD = 0.86, range: 9.0–12.75 years) childhood. Mother- and teacher–child conflict, executive functions (EFs), and early HAB were assessed in early childhood and HAB was assessed in late childhood. Multi-group analyses revealed gender-differentiated pathways: among boys, one EF (cognitive flexibility) predicted lower HAB (β = −0.24); among girls, higher teacher–child conflict predicted higher HAB (β = 0.36). These findings refine social information processing theory by showing that relational inputs to children’s social database are ecologically specific and that the balance between relational and cognitive pathways to HAB is gender-differentiated.

Research shows that parenting plays an important role in the development of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children. Yet, the specific aspects of positive parenting that may offer the strongest protection against the development of CU traits, as well as the potential role of child attachment to parent in this protection, remain poorly understood. This longitudinal multi-informant study aimed to investigate the mediating role of early mother–child attachment security in the prospective associations between three aspects of maternal sensitivity (positivity, attunement, availability) and subsequent CU traits in children. Maternal sensitivity and mother–child attachment security were observed in the home when children were 12 and 15 months old respectively. Child CU traits were reported by mothers, fathers, and teachers at age 4 years. Analyses revealed that maternal attunement was linked to lower levels of CU traits indirectly through the mediating role of attachment security. There was also a direct, non-mediated negative association between maternal availability and CU traits. Consistent with the notion of equifinality, these findings suggest that different aspects of parenting may be linked to child CU traits via distinct mechanisms, with some but not all of those mechanisms involving parent–child attachment.

Adolescence involves social reorientation toward peers, increasing exposure to interpersonal stressors and vulnerability to psychopathology. The current study investigated the potential buffering effects of high-quality parent–child relationships (PCRs) on the associations between peer stress exposure and multiple measures of positive valence systems (PVS) functioning. The study included 165 adolescents, ages 9–16 (81 girls, Mage = 11.93, 78.18% White). Interviews were conducted to gather data on PCR quality and peer stress exposure. Adolescents self-reported their reward sensitivity, and behavioral reward sensitivity was derived from a reward learning paradigm. The reward positivity (RewP) was recorded during three tasks using monetary, social, and food reward stimuli. Contrary to our predictions, adolescents who had higher-quality PCR showed a blunted monetary RewP (β = 0.17, p = .020) and reduced behavioral reward sensitivity (β = 0.15, p = .040), when also reporting high levels of peer stress exposure. No significant interaction was found with other measures as the outcomes. The results suggest that high-quality PCR may not uniformly buffer against the effects of peer stress exposure and highlight differential effects for different PVS measures. Future research across multiple units of analysis is needed to elucidate the complex pathway to PVS-related psychopathology during this critical developmental stage.