Cognitive Functioning and Parental Psychopathology in the Development of Adolescent Psychopathology

Objective:Cognitive functioning and parental psychopathology are established transdiagnostic predictors of child psychopathology. It remains largely unknown how these two factors are jointly associated with the development of adolescent psychopathology.Method:We analyzed data from 11,837 youth–caregiver dyads participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Child psychopathology was assessed annually across seven consecutive waves (baseline: Mage = 9.91 years). Cognitive functioning was measured at four timepoints, while parental psychopathology was assessed at three timepoints. Parallel latent growth curve models were constructed to investigate the relations among the intercepts and slopes of these variables.Results:Children with lower cognitive functioning at age 10 exhibited worse concurrent but a greater decrease in psychopathology over time. Growth in cognitive functioning was associated with a decrease in externalizing symptoms. At age 10, children of parents with worse psychopathology showed worse concurrent psychopathology themselves and increasing internalizing psychopathology over time. Parents whose psychopathology decreased over time tended to have children whose general psychopathology, including internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, decreased. Cognitive functioning accounted for a smaller proportion (0.7–6.2% for intercepts; 2.2–5.8% for slopes) than parental psychopathology (33.5–50.2% for intercepts; 38.7–56.0% for slopes) in explaining child psychopathology. Notably, at age 10, parental psychopathology accounted for the majority (~80%) of the relationship between cognitive functioning and concurrent child psychopathology.Conclusions:The findings revealed the salient roles of parental psychopathology and, to a lesser extent, cognitive functioning, in the development of psychopathology across adolescence.