Jay Belsky

University of California, Davis | UCD · Department of Human Ecology

Extensive evidence documents negative consequences of adversity for children's development. Here, we extend such work by looking beyond average effects to consider variation in susceptibility to both threat and deprivation in terms of cognitive and social–emotional development, using an influence‐statistic methodology. Data come from the ongoing Av...

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and subclinical symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentiveness coincide with an increased risk of peer victimization. What remains unclear are the developmental dynamics of these associations. In a sample drawn from two Norwegian birth cohorts (n = 872; 49.94 % girls), assessed biennially f...

Two perspectives on the nature of nurture are reviewed, one Mendelian and the other Darwinian, in an effort to draw links between the two and, thereby, integrate them in a developmental modern synthesis, mirroring the one that took place in biology early in the last century. Thus, the heritability of environmental measures and gene-X-environment in...

The effects of academic achievement may extend beyond economic success to influence social functioning, including future parenting. To evaluate whether adolescent academic achievement forecasts future parenting (both positive and negative) and the family home environment of parents. We used prospectively gathered intergenerational data from a popul...

While genetic and environmental factors have been shown as predictors of children’s reading ability, the interaction effects of identified genetic risk susceptibility and specified environmental for reading ability have rarely been investigated. The current study assessed potential gene-environmental (G×E) interactions on reading ability in 1477 sc...

According to several theories, people differ in their sensitivity to environmental influences with some more susceptible than others to both supportive and adverse contextual conditions. Such differences in environmental sensitivity have a genetic basis but are also shaped by environmental factors. Herein we narratively build on our previous work p...

While genetic and environmental factors have been shown as predictors of children’s reading ability, the interaction effects of identified genetic risk susceptibility and specified environmental for reading ability have rarely been investigated. The current study assessed potential gene-environmental (G×E) interactions on reading ability in 1477 sc...

Background Given evidence that parenting can influence children’s development, parenting interventions are often the strategy of choice when it comes to treating children’s disruptive behavior problems—or preventing problems from developing in the first place. What remains under appreciated, however, is that some parents appear to be more responsiv...

The aim of this study was to use longitudinal population-based data to examine the associations between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and risk for adverse outcomes in multiple life domains across adulthood. In 937 individuals followed from birth to age 45y, we assessed associations between CSA (retrospectively reported at age 26y) and the experience...

Background One of the most well‐documented sequelae of early maltreatment and institutionalisation is attachment problems, including behaviours under the labels of reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED). Despite growing evidence of the neurobiological effects of institutionalisation, the neural correla...

One of the proposed mechanisms linking childhood stressor exposure to negative mental and physical health outcomes in later life is cellular aging. In this prospective, longitudinal, and pre‐registered study, we examined the association between a cumulative pattern of childhood risk exposure from age 6 to age 10 (i.e., poor maternal mental health,...

Current evidence suggests that conflicted student-teacher relationships may increase behavior problems in children and vice-versa, but this may be due to confounding. We therefore analyzed their relation applying a within-person approach that adjusts for all time-invariant confounding effects, involving samples from Norway (n = 964, 50.9% females)...

Evolutionary-developmental psychologists have posited that individuals who grow up in stressful rearing circumstances follow faster life history strategies, thereby increasing their chances of reproduction. This preregistered study tested this stress-acceleration hypothesis in a low-risk longitudinal sample of 193 Dutch mother-child dyads, by inves...

This study examined whether positive development (PD) in adolescence and young adulthood predicts offspring behavior in two Australasian intergenerational cohorts. The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study assessed PD at age 19–28 (years 2002–2010) and behavior in 1165 infants (12–18 months; 608 girls) of 694 Australian‐born parents (ag...

In molti contesti professionali, compreso quello del Tribunale per i minorenni, si fa riferimento alla teoria dell'attaccamento e alla relativa ricerca, con fraintendimenti ampiamente diffusi che spesso si traducono in applicazioni scorrette. La finalità di questa dichiarazione di consenso è, pertanto, quella di migliorarne la comprensione, contras...

Drawing on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort ( n = 10,700), we evaluate indirect effects − via parent negative psychology and harsh-inconsistent parenting − of income harshness, unpredictability, and their interaction on kindergarteners’ socioemotional development. Income harshness is operationalized as the typical level...

Two extant frameworks – the harshness-unpredictability model and the threat-deprivation model – attempt to explain which dimensions of adversity have distinct influences on development. These models address, respectively, why, based on a history of natural selection, development operates the way it does across a range of environmental contexts, and...

Recent dimensional models of adversity informed by a neurobiological deficit framework highlights threat and deprivation as core dimensions, whereas models informed by an evolutionary, adaptational and functional framework calls attention to harshness and unpredictability. This report seeks to evaluate an integrative model of threat, deprivation, a...

The prospective research presented herein extends work on parent and peer effects on adolescent psychosocial adjustment by looking beyond average effects. Instead, it considers variation in susceptibility to each source of influence in order to assess the extent to which those individuals most and least susceptible to parent effects are similarly—o...

La théorie et les recherches sur l’attachement sont utilisées dans de nombreux cadres d’application, y compris dans les tribunaux compétents en matière familiale [1], mais les incompréhensions sont fréquentes et sources d’erreurs lorsqu’il s’agit de les mettre en pratique. L’objectif de cet article de consensus est donc d’accroître la compréhension...

Do adolescents vary in the timing of their susceptibility to family-related adversity? Does early exposure to family dysfunction affect later adolescent plasticity? To address these two questions an influence statistic, DFBETAS, was used to capture degree to which 605,344 Danish children (294,479 females, 5.21% immigrants; race/ethnicity informatio...

Objective: Relationship education programs have proven effective in promoting relationship quality and preventing divorce among married couples. However, according to theories of Environmental Sensitivity, people differ for genetic reasons in their sensitivity to environmental influences with some more affected by both negative and positive experi...

Background Youth are increasingly engaged in digital games; while physical activity rates are declining. This study examines whether the amount of time children spend on gaming is related to physical activity and athletic self-esteem. Method At ages 8, 10, 12, and 14, a community sample of children (n = 751, 379 girls) was interviewed about how of...

La teoría y la investigación sobre el apego se utilizan en muchos contextos aplicados, incluidos los juzgados de familia, pero hay malentendidos muy extendidos y que a veces dan lugar a aplicaciones erróneas. El objetivo de este documento de consenso es, por lo tanto, mejorar la comprensión, contrarrestar la desinformación y dirigir el uso de la te...

Developmental scholars, parents, and policymakers alike have long heralded the opening years of life as disproportionately influential. Recent work on adolescence has revealed, however, greater influence of these later years-but without considering how experience during these two periods interact. We address this issue by studying adverse experienc...

This study focused on generality versus specificity of susceptibility of effects of eight family and child-care exposures measured between 3 and 54 months of age (e.g., sensitive parenting, child-care quality) on five child development outcomes assessed at age 4.5 years (e.g. behavior problems, preacademic skill), using data from The National Insti...

Differential susceptibility theory stipulates that individuals vary in their susceptibility to environmental effects, often implying that the same individuals differ in the same way in their susceptibility to different environmental exposures. The latter point is addressed herein by evaluating the extent to which early-life harshness and unpredicta...

Modern evolutionary theory with its emphasis on inclusive fitness and reciprocal altruism challenges the universalistic view of virtues promulgated by Aristotle. And this is because that which is virtuous depends upon contexts of development. This critique also applies to several classical and contemporary theories and perspectives on human psychol...

There are many exciting points of contact between the questions pursued by attachment theory and those first raised by Aristotle’s ethics, and which continue to preoccupy moral philosophers today. For the first time this volume brings experts from ethics and from attachment theory together to explore them, in order to show philosophers working in m...

We review the three prevailing approaches—specificity, cumulative risk, and dimensional models—to conceptualizing the developmental consequences of early-life adversity and address fundamental problems with the characterization of these frameworks in a recent Perspectives on Psychological Science piece by Smith and Pollak. We respond to concerns ra...

Prior research indicates that unintended pregnancy is associated with poorer maternal well-being, decreased relationship stability, and compromised child health and development, whereas prenatal father engagement is linked to lower maternal stress and enhanced infant health. Here we extend such research, considering unintended pregnancy and prenata...

The negative effects of prenatal stress on child wellbeing have been extensively documented. Here we consider a radically different perspective—that prenatal stress promotes postnatal developmental plasticity (Pluess M, Belsky J, Develop Psychopathol 23:29–38, 2011). We begin by outlining the differential-susceptibility hypothesis. Next, we describ...

Differential susceptibility theory stipulates that some children are more susceptible than others to both supportive and adverse developmental experiences/exposures. What remains unclear is whether the same individuals are most affected by different exposures (i.e., domain general vs. specific). We address this issue empirically for the first time...

Here we evaluate whether infant difficult temperament (6 months) functions as a vulnerability or more general plasticity factor when investigating effects of early-childhood parenting (8–42 months) on both positive and negative early-adolescent socioemotional development (age 8–11 years). Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and C...

Attachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, e...

Background Given associations linking early life adversity, pubertal timing, and biological aging, we examined the direct and indirect effects of early life trauma on adult biological aging (via age of menarche). Methods Participants were premenopausal women (N = 183). Path models evaluated whether early life trauma predicted early pubertal timing...

Introduction In extending work on early life antecedents of parenting, we investigate associations between childhood family history of disadvantage, adolescent socioemotional wellbeing, and age at first parenthood and subsequent parenting behaviour. Methods Parent‐child interactions were recorded when participants in the longitudinal Dunedin Multi...

We review the three prevailing approaches—specificity, cumulative risk, and dimensional models— to conceptualizing the developmental consequences of early-life adversity and address fundamental problems with the characterization of these frameworks in a recent Perspectives on Psychological Science piece by Smith and Pollak (2020). We respond to con...

Some Gene × Environment interaction (G×E) research has focused upon single candidate genes, whereas other related work has targeted multiple genes (e.g., polygenic scores). Each approach has informed efforts to identify individuals who are either especially vulnerable to the negative effects of contextual adversity (diathesis stress) or especially...

Background Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is highlighted as a condition for further study in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM‐5). Some studies indicate that IGD appears comorbid with other psychiatric disorders. We examine concurrent and prospective links between symptoms of IGD and symptoms of common psy...

The dysregulation of the inflammatory response, including pro‐inflammatory molecules, produces neuropsychiatric symptoms and depression‐like behavior, including withdrawal from the physical and social environment. Genetic variants that enhance immune reactivity may thus increase inflammatory and withdrawn reactions to stress. Here we investigated a...

The general factor of psychopathology (GP, or p factor) and the Dysregulation Profile (DP) are two conceptually similar, but independently developed approaches to understand psychopathology. GP and DP models and their stability, antecedents and outcomes are studied in a longitudinal sample of 1073 children (49.8% female). GP and DP models were esti...

Telomeres are the protective DNA-protein sequences appearing at the ends of chromosomes; they shorten with each cell division and are considered a biomarker of aging. Shorter telomere length and greater erosion have been associated with compromised physical and mental health and are hypothesized to be affected by early life stress. In the latter ca...

Evidence documenting associations between 5-HTTLPR and parenting behavior led to testing the hypothesis that this polymorphism moderates the effect of the quality of environmental context on maternal sensitivity. Participants were 210 Portuguese mothers and their preschool children, recruited from the community. An index reflecting the quality of t...

Emerging evidence suggests that prenatal stress does not solely undermine child functioning but increases developmental plasticity to both negative and positive postnatal experiences. Here we test this proposition using the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study while implementing an extreme-group (i.e., high vs. low prenatal stress) design (n = 2...

This study extends research on the effects of institutionalization-by examining the trajectories of cognitive, language and motor development of 64 Portuguese infants and toddlers across the first six months of institutionalization, while determining whether pre-institutional adversities and the stability and consistency of institutional care predi...

Although maternal postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) are associated with child behavior problems, the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood. Thus, the current study focused on 193 healthy mother-child dyads and investigated child cortisol and telomere length as potential mediating factors. At 3 and 6 months postpartum, mothers re...

Grounded on Belsky's process model and family systems theories and using an actor-partner interdependency modeling (APIM) approach (Belsky & Jaffee, 2006; Cox & Paley, 2003), the current study was the first to examine whether Big Five personality characteristics and depressive symptoms of parents and their partners are related to adolescent-perceiv...

Personality disorder (PD) symptomatology is characterized by interpersonal problems and emotional dysregulation, which may affect offspring of parents with PD symptoms. Notably though, studies are needed to discern (i) whether parental PDs forecast symptoms of psychiatric disorders in offspring during their childhood years and (ii) whether such pro...

Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investigate whether the quantity of time children spend on gaming is related to their social development, making this the first study to examine this relationship in children. We examine prospective relations between time spent gaming and social competence in a...

Most developmental work regards adverse developmental experiences as forces that undermine well-being. Here, I present an alternative—or complementary—view, summarizing recent evidence on puberty, endocrinology, cellular aging, and brain connectivity that collectively reveals developmental acceleration in response to contextual adversity. Findings...

Twin studies have documented that parenting behavior is partly heritable, but it is unclear how parents' genetics shape their caregiving. Using tools of molecular genetics, the present study investigated this process by testing hypotheses about associations between a genome-wide polygenic score for educational attainment and parental caregiving in...

According to prominent models of child development, parental factors may contribute to individual differences in children's executive functioning (EF). Here, we examine the relative importance of parents’ socio‐economic status, mental health, and parenting as predictors of EF development, drawing on a large (n = 1,070) community sample of Norwegian...

Individuals with the short variant of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region gene are more susceptible than individuals homozygous for the long allele to the effects of stressful life events on risk for internalizing and externalizing problems. We tested whether individual differences in coping style explained this increased risk for p...

Separate fields of inquiry indicate (a) that prenatal stress is associated with heightened behavioral and physiological reactivity and (b) that these postnatal phenotypes are themselves associated with increased susceptibility to both positive and negative environmental influences. Collectively, this work supports Pluess and Belsky's (Psychopatholo...

Two separate lines of inquiry indicate (a) that prenatal stress is associated with heightened behavioral and physiological reactivity, and (b) that these postnatal phenotypes are associated with increased susceptibility to both positive and negative developmental experiences and environmental exposures. This research considered together raises the...

The oxytocinergic system is a primary biological system involved in regulating a child's needs for bonding and for protection from threats. It is responsive to social experiences in close relationships, though evidence across studies is not entirely consistent. Guided by previous literature, we investigated individual and environmental factors pred...

As traditional teaching methods may fail to serve children with special needs, special education (SE) services aim to compensate for the shortcomings of conventional schooling. However, despite of numerous studies on the effectiveness of SE services, the influence of potential selection bias remains a real challenge, and only a few studies have app...

This research investigates whether and how two fundamental environmental factors-harshness and unpredictability-interact in regulating child and adolescent development, informed by life-history theory and drawing on data from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364). Earl...

Objective Frequent co-occurrence and bidirectional longitudinal associations have led some researchers to question the boundaries between depression and anxiety. A longitudinal investigation of the interconnected symptom structure of these constructs may help determine the extent to which they are distinct, and whether this changes over development...

Background: The relationship between pubertal onset and tempo and pubertal growth is controversial. We hypothesized that the age at onset of girls' puberty predicts pubertal tempo and the rate of pubertal progression. Methods: We analysed the data of 380 girls from the prospective Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), who wer...

A recent article in this journal reported a number of gene × environment interactions involving a serotonin transporter–gene network polygenic score and a composite index of prenatal adversity predicting several problem behavior outcomes at 48 months (e.g., anxious/depressed, pervasive developmental problems) and at 60 months (e.g., withdrawal, int...

Two sets of evidence reviewed herein, one indicating that prenatal stress is associated with elevated behavioral and physiological dysregulation and the other that such phenotypic functioning is itself associated with heightened susceptibility to positive and negative environmental influences postnatally, raises the intriguing hypothesis first adva...

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is presumed to be a consequence of social neglect and deprivation of the kind particularly associated with institutional care. Despite its clinical relevance there is a lack of assessment tools for RAD based on the direct observation of child–caregiver interaction. Here we describe the development and validation o...

Background Insecure attachment in infancy is associated with a range of later socioemotional problems; therefore, it is important to identify at‐risk children so that support can be provided. However, there are currently no well‐validated brief measures of infant attachment. The aim of this study is to create a brief version of the Attachment Q‐Sor...

Currently, two main approaches exist to distinguish differential susceptibility from diathesis-stress and vantage sensitivity in genotype × environment interaction (G×E) research: Regions of significance (RoS) and competitive-confirmatory approaches. Each is limited by their single-gene/single-environment foci given that most phenotypes are the pro...

Table S1. Means (SD), construct reliability (H), and standardized factor scores at age 2. Table S2. Means (SD), construct reliability (H), and standardized factor scores at age 3. Table S3. Means (SD), construct reliability (H), and standardized factor scores at age 5. Table S4. Means (SD), construct reliability (H), and standardized factor scor...

Widely regarded as the state-of-the-science reference on attachment, this handbook interweaves theory and cutting-edge research with clinical applications.

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) was included in the Addendum to DSM-5 as a condition for further study. Studies of community samples using a diagnostic interview are lacking, and evaluations of the proposed symptoms, comorbidities, and predictors of IGD are scarce. To provide such information participants in a Norwegian prospective community study w...

Children’s eating behavior influences energy intake and thus weight through choices of type and amount of food. One type of eating behavior, food responsiveness, defined as eating in response to external cues such as the sight and smell of food, is particularly related to increased caloric intake and weight. Because little is known about the potent...

Students of child development and of psychopathology have long been interested in how person characteristics (e.g. genotype, temperament) might moderate the effect of environmental exposures (e.g. harsh parenting, negative life events) on development. Historically, most such research on person × environment interaction has been guided by diathesis-...

Developmental plasticity is a widespread property of living organisms, but different individuals in the same species can vary greatly in how susceptible they are to environmental influences. In humans, research has sought to link variation in plasticity to physiological traits such as stress reactivity, exposure to prenatal stress-related hormones...

Two separate lines of research indicate (a) that prenatal stress is associated with heightened behavioral and physiological reactivity and (b) that these postnatal phenotypes are associated with increased susceptibility to both positive and negative developmental experiences. Therefore, prenatal stress may increase sensitivity to the rearing enviro...

Currently, two main approaches exist to distinguish differential susceptibility from diathesis-stress and vantage sensitivity in genotype x environment interaction (GxE) research: Regions of significance (RoS) and competitive-confirmatory approaches. Each is limited by their single-gene/single-environment foci given that most phenotypes are the pro...