(PS4-D82) Contextual Specificity of Psychopathology and Behavior: Evaluating the Moderating Effects of Puberty and Neighborhood Resources on the Relationship Between Anxiety Symptoms and Cognitive Control

Anxiety risk in childhood fluctuates as normative developmental processes occur. Puberty – a period that involves physical and psychosocial changes – marks a point at which anxiety symptoms increase as individuals approach adolescence. The association between puberty and anxiety changes with pubertal timing (the onset of puberty relative to age). Also, research supports a relationship between cognitive control (CogC) and anxiety symptoms, as well as one between CogC and pubertal timing. Socioeconomic status modifies the latter relationship, emphasizing the need to understand how behavioral phenotypes are influenced by individual characteristics and environmental context. The aim of this preliminary study was to assess the moderating effects of pubertal timing and neighborhood resource level on the relationship between anxiety symptoms and CogC. We extend previous studies by including anxiety symptoms in our models and using a cross-sectional sample to capture a larger age range.

Data from 93 youth, ages 8 to 17, were examined. The sample included clinically anxious participants and healthy volunteers, and it was 60.2% White, 82.8% non-Hispanic/Latinx, and 60.2% female. We measured pubertal status using the Tanner scale, which assesses maturational stage on a 5-point scale. Pubertal timing was operationalized as the residuals from a linear model predicting mean Tanner scores from age. Anxiety symptoms were measured using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED). The arrow Flanker task was used as a behavioral measure of CogC. CogC was operationalized in two ways: error detection (ED; the difference in mean reaction time on incorrect vs. correct responses) and conflict score (CS; the difference in accuracy rate for incongruent vs. congruent trials). The national average Child Opportunity Index (COI) score was used to estimate neighborhood resource level. Four moderation analyses were conducted using (1) CS and (2) ED as the CogC outcome measures. The models evaluated COI and pubertal timing separately as moderators of the path from anxiety symptoms (SCARED) to CogC.

In preliminary regression analyses, sex did not predict study variables, so it was not included as a covariate in subsequent models. Models with CS as the CogC measure were not significant. Models with ED were significant; ED was thus explored as the CogC outcome measure in two moderation analyses. The first model’s fit was adequate (CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.00). COI significantly moderated the relationship between SCARED and ED, b = .10, SE = .04, z = 2.48, p = .013. At low COI only, there was a negative relationship between SCARED and ED, b = -2.60, SE = 1.02, z = -2.54, p = .011. The second model’s fit was adequate (CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.00). Pubertal timing significantly moderated the relationship between SCARED and ED, b = -3.40, SE = 1.73, z = -1.97, p = .049. For early pubertal timing only, there was a negative relationship between SCARED and ED, b = -2.48, SE = 1.04, z = -2.39, p = .017. These findings are in line with studies examining error detection in physiological outcomes. Results thus suggest that treatments targeting cognitive processes must be created with a nuanced understanding of how environmental and individual characteristics influence the risk markers of anxiety.