Peer victimization predicts heightened inflammatory reactivity to social stress in cognitively vulnerable adolescents

Stress exposures, neurodevelopment and health measures in the ABCD study

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large, longitudinal study of brain development and child health, is uniquely positioned to explore relationships among stress, neurodevelopment, and psychiatric symptomatology, including substance use and addiction. There is much we do not know about how adverse experiences affect the developing brain and cognitive, social, emotional, and academic outcomes. The data collected by the ABCD Study will allow the examination of the relationships among these variables in adolescence, including the effects of stressors (e.g., abuse, neglect, household challenges, parental substance use) on psychological adjustment and other stress responses. A comprehensive protocol that includes physical and mental health, substance use, culture and environment, neurocognitive assessments, biospecimen analyses, and structural and functional neuroimaging will provide opportunities for learning about the impacts of stressors on health and other outcomes in the context of adolescent development. This knowledge could lead to the development of interventions that reduce or even reverse the impacts of stressors.

Adolescent Suicide as a Failure of Acute Stress-Response Systems

Suicide is the second leading cause of death worldwide for adolescents. Despite decades of research on correlates and risk factors for adolescent suicide, we know little about why suicidal ideation and behavior frequently emerge in adolescence and how to predict, and ultimately prevent, suicidal behavior among youths. In this review, we first discuss knowledge regarding correlates, risk factors, and theories of suicide. We then review why adolescence is a period of unique vulnerability, given changing biology and social network reorganization. Next, we present a conceptual model through which to interpret emerging findings in adolescent suicide research. We suggest that a promising area for future research is to examine adolescent suicide as a failure of biological responses to acute stress in the proximal moments of a suicidal crisis. After reviewing initial evidence for this conceptualization, we review future directions for studies on adolescent suicide.

Childhood Adversity and Adult Health: The Role of Developmental Timing and Associations With Accelerated Aging

Childhood adversity has been associated with poor adult health. However, it is unclear whether timing of adversity matters in this association and whether adversity is related to poorer age-related physical health status. A representative sample of the adult Dutch population ( N = 3,586, age M = 54.94, age range = 18-92) completed surveys on health and diagnoses of age-related diseases. Information about weight and fat percentage was collected using weighing scales and childhood experiences were assessed retrospectively. Adversity was associated with higher body mass index and fat percentage, more physical problems, and high cholesterol, and this association was most pronounced in individuals with experiences of adversity during early adolescence. In addition, individuals with adversity more often reported physical problems or a medical diagnosis at a younger age. This study indicates that (1) timing of exposure to adversity matters in the relationship between experienced childhood adversity and health and (2) adversity is associated with a higher prevalence of age-related diseases at earlier ages.

Bullying the Brain? Longitudinal Links Between Childhood Peer Victimization, Cortisol, and Adolescent Brain Structure

Background: Childhood peer victimization is a stressful life experience associated with long-lasting adverse psychological consequences. While there is some evidence that victimization is associated with alterations in brain function, little is known about effects on brain structure. This study explored the relationships between childhood peer victimization, cortisol, and adolescent ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) structure in a sample of healthy children.

Methods: A total of 50 (M_age = 9.29 years at baseline) children participated in this longitudinal study. We examined whether diurnal cortisol levels (assessed at baseline) moderated the link between children’s self-reported peer victimization (assessed at baseline) and vlPFC surface area, gray matter volume, and thickness 5 years later.

Results: For boys, cortisol levels moderated the association between victimization and brain structure. For boys with a low daily cortisol output (assessed as area under the curve; AUC), high victimization was associated with a smaller right vlPFC surface area, and for boys with a high AUC, high victimization was associated with a larger right vlPFC surface area. In addition, for boys with a steeper diurnal slope, high victimization was associated with a smaller right vlPFC surface area, and for boys with a low flatter diurnal slope, high victimization was associated with a larger right vlPFC surface area.

Conclusion: These results indicate the differential influence of cortisol on the relationship between victimization and brain structure. Findings suggest that victimization may have differential effects on brain development in boys who are more versus less biologically sensitive to stress.