Abstract
Different dimensions of adversity may affect mental health through distinct neurobiological mechanisms, though current supporting evidence consists largely of cross-sectional associations between threat or deprivation and fronto-limbic circuitry. In this exploratory three-wave longitudinal study spanning ages 9-19 years, we examined the associations between experiences of unpredictability, threat, and deprivation with the development of functional connectivity within and between three brain networks implicated in psychopathology: the salience (SAL), default mode (DMN), and fronto-parietal (FPN) networks, and tested whether network trajectories moderated associations between adversity and changes in internalizing symptoms. Connectivity decreased with age on average; these changes differed by dimension of adversity. Whereas family-level deprivation was associated with lower initial levels and more stability across most networks, unpredictability was associated with stability only in SAL connectivity, and threat was associated with stability in FPN and DMN-SAL connectivity. In youth exposed to higher levels of any adversity, lower initial levels and more stability in connectivity were related to smaller increases in internalizing symptoms. Our findings suggest that whereas deprivation is associated with widespread neurodevelopmental differences in cognitive and emotion processing networks, unpredictability is related selectively to salience detection circuitry. Studies with wider developmental windows should examine whether these neurodevelopmental alterations are adaptive or serve to maintain internalizing symptoms.
Highlights
IntroductionStressful experiences during childhood are common; more than half of youth report having been exposed to at least one form of adversity (e.g., parental loss, maltreatment, or economic adversity) (McLaughlin et al, 2012)
Stressful experiences during childhood are common; more than half of youth report having been exposed to at least one form of adversity (McLaughlin et al, 2012)
Examining distinct forms of childhood adversity and their developmental consequences is consistent with the framework outlined in the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP; McLaughlin & Sheridan, 2016), which posits that different dimensions of adversity affect mental health through distinct neurobiological mechanisms
Summary
Stressful experiences during childhood are common; more than half of youth report having been exposed to at least one form of adversity (e.g., parental loss, maltreatment, or economic adversity) (McLaughlin et al, 2012). Adolescence is a period of continued maturation of brain circuitry that supports cognitive and emotion processing; Two main dimensions of the DMAP – threat (the presence of potentially harmful experiences, such as physical or emotional abuse) and deprivation (the absence of expected social and cognitive input, such as physical and emotional neglect or poverty) – have been shown to have distinguishable neural consequences (McLaughlin et al, 2019; Sheridan & McLaughlin, 2014). Investigators have demonstrated further that these neural alterations are associated with specific behavioral characteristics; for example, children exposed to physical and emotional neglect by being raised in institutionalized settings have been shown to exhibit neuropsychological deficits in tasks that require cognitive control (Pollak et al, 2010)
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