Relations among maternal withdrawal in infancy, borderline features, suicidality/self-injury, and adult hippocampal volume: A 30-year longitudinal study

Abstract

The hippocampus plays an important role in stress regulation and has been the focus of research regarding the effects of early life stress on brain development. Much of this research has focused on severe forms of early adversity, particularly maltreatment. However, a handful of studies are now examining the effects of more subtle variations in quality of early caregiving on hippocampal development. In addition, both early caregiving and hippocampal volumes have been linked to psychopathology, particularly borderline personality disorder (BPD) and its associated features, such as suicidality. In the context of a 30-year longitudinal study, we assessed associations between maternal withdrawal in infancy, hippocampal volume, and BPD features in adulthood. Hippocampal volume was assessed among 18 adults (29.33 ± 0.49 years) assessed for caregiving quality at 18 months (M =18.55 months, SD = 1.21 months) and followed longitudinally to age 29. Left hippocampal volume in adulthood was associated with maternal withdrawal in infancy, but not by other components of disrupted parenting. Other risk factors, including maternal psychosocial risk and severity of maltreatment in childhood, were not significantly related to left hippocampal volume. Left hippocampal volume was further associated with increased BPD features and suicidality/self-injury. In addition, left hippocampal volume partially mediated the association between early maternal withdrawal and later suicidality/self-injury. Results point to the importance of quality of early care for hippocampal development and suggest that the first two years of life may be an early sensitive period during which intervention could have important consequences for long-term psychological functioning into adulthood.