Developmental relations between internalizing symptoms and negative urgency during middle adolescence

Negative urgency is a transdiagnostic risk factor for a plethora of mental disorders. Internalizing symptoms are embedded in theories of negative urgency, yet we know little regarding how developmental changes in each coincide, and if changes in one predict changes in the other across middle adolescence. This study filled these voids in the literature, with N = 754 (52% female) community-recruited youth from the National Consortium on Alcohol NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study reporting internalizing symptoms and negative urgency annually. Negative urgency and internalizing symptoms were highly correlated at the between-person level, and between-person correlations were nearly double in size within male versus female adolescents. At the within-person level, changes in negative urgency and internalizing symptoms co-occurred across ages 14–18 but not age 13. Age 14 within-person changes in negative urgency prospectively predicted age 15 within-person changes in internalizing symptoms, and this effect was nearly double in size within female versus male adolescents. Findings held when accounting for externalizing symptoms, other impulsive personality traits, parenting, and school transitions. Results indicate that relations between negative urgency and internalizing symptoms were demonstrated across and within adolescents, with time-varying changes in negative urgency at age 14 being particularly impactful in terms of future internalizing symptoms.