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Abstract An important issue in the field of clinical and developmental psychopathology is whether cognitive control processes, such as response inhibition, can be specifically enhanced by motivation. To determine whether non‐social (i.e. monetary) and social (i.e. positive facial expressions) rewards are able to differentially improve response inhibition accuracy in typically developing children and adolescents, an 'incentive' go/no‐go task was applied with reward contingencies for successful inhibition. In addition, the impact of children's personality traits (such as reward seeking and empathy) on monetary and social reward responsiveness was assessed in 65 boys, ages 8 to 12 years. All subjects were tested twice: At baseline, inhibitory control was assessed without reward, and then subjects were pseudorandomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, including (1) social reward only, (2) monetary reward only, (3) mixed social and monetary reward, or (4) a retest condition without reward. Both social and non‐social reward significantly improved task performance, although larger effects were observed for monetary reward. The higher the children scored on reward seeking scales, the larger was their improvement in response inhibition, but only if monetary reward was used. In addition, there was a tendency for an association between empathic skills and benefits from social reward. These data suggest that social incentives do not have an equally strong reinforcing value as compared to financial incentives. However, different personality traits seem to determine to what extent a child profits from different types of reward. Clinical implications regarding probable hyposensitivity to social reward in subjects with autism and dysregulated reward‐seeking behaviour in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are discussed.

Abstract: Background: Many youth living in out-of-home care have higher rates of mental health problems and more negative developmental outcomes than youth who live in their biological families. Aims: While previous studies have focused primarily on risk factors that increase the likelihood of behavioral problems, this study focuses on resources that contribute to positive development. Method: As part of the EMPOWERYOU research project, youth aged 11–18 years living in out-of-home care ( n = 79, living in foster and adoptive families and residential groups) and living with their biological families ( n = 71) participated in an online survey. Youth reported on their personal resources, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and well-being. Results: Youth in out-of-home care reported significantly fewer personal resources, less well-being, and more internalizing and especially externalizing symptoms than youth growing up in their biological families. Path analysis results showed that high self-esteem and high self-control were associated with less externalizing symptoms. Lower empathy/perspective-taking and more self-esteem were associated with less internalizing symptoms. More optimism was associated with increased well-being. These relationships were independent of family placement as there was no moderating effect for placement type. Limitations: Potential limitations arise from focusing solely on self-report and using of a cross-sectional design. Conclusion: The results highlight the relevance of promoting the personal resources of youth in out-of-home care. Since the path analysis did not reveal moderation by family placement, possible interventions do not need to be specified for them, but (already existing) effective interventions can be used.

Abstract. This study investigated whether foster parents' reports of their dyadic coping competencies differ from biological parents, whether there are differences with regard to the temporal associations between maternal and paternal dyadic coping in the two samples, and whether parental dyadic coping competencies predict future mental health problems in children. A total of 94 foster children and 157 children living in their biological families, both samples aged 2–7 years, as well as their (foster) parents were assessed three times over a 12-month period. The mothers' and fathers' dyadic coping competencies were assessed using the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI). Child psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and a standardized clinical interview (Kinder-DIPS), both mainly based on maternal report. Foster parents reported better dyadic coping competencies across the three assessments than did biological parents. There were no significant differences with regard to the temporal associations between mothers' and fathers' report over time between the two samples. Cross-lagged panel models yielded a high within person stability across the three assessments for both, mothers and fathers (actor effects), as well as some significant interpersonal effects primarily from paternal to maternal dyadic coping (partner effects). In contrast to the expectation, mothers' and fathers' dyadic coping did not predict child mental health problems at the third assessment. The results make an important contribution to the research on dyadic coping and on how child mental health problems affect parental dyadic coping competencies and vice versa.

Abstract. This paper focuses on the longitudinal relationships between foster children's mental health problems and parental stress across a 1-year interval with three measurements. A sample of 94 foster children and a comparison group of 157 biological children and their families participated in this study. The age of the children was between 2 and 7 years. At the initial assessment, the foster children had been in their foster families since 2–24 months. Based on Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) scores, the results indicated increased internalizing and externalizing mental health problems in the foster children group. Both mental health scores remained rather stable across the longitudinal assessments in foster as well as in biological children. Internalizing as well as externalizing scores were substantially correlated with parental stress in both samples. Moreover, changes in mental health scores were associated with changes in parental stress. However, cross-lagged panel analyses showed no clear pattern of temporal relationships between children's mental health scores and parental stress. Implications as well as strengths and limitations of the current study are addressed in the Discussion section.

The results leading to this publication have received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.

The results leading to this publication have received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.