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Martinez M, Cai T, Yang B, Zhou Z, Shankman SA, Mittal VA, Haase CM, Qu Y. Depressive symptoms during the transition to adolescence: Left hippocampal volume as a marker of social context sensitivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2321965121. [PMID: 39226358 PMCID: PMC11406239 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321965121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The transition to adolescence is a critical period for mental health development. Socio-experiential environments play an important role in the emergence of depressive symptoms with some adolescents showing more sensitivity to social contexts than others. Drawing on recent developmental neuroscience advances, we examined whether hippocampal volume amplifies social context effects in the transition to adolescence. We analyzed 2-y longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD®) study in a diverse sample of 11,832 youth (mean age: 9.914 y; range: 8.917 to 11.083 y; 47.8% girls) from 21 sites across the United States. Socio-experiential environments (i.e., family conflict, primary caregiver's depressive symptoms, parental warmth, peer victimization, and prosocial school environment), hippocampal volume, and a wide range of demographic characteristics were measured at baseline. Youth's symptoms of major depressive disorder were assessed at both baseline and 2 y later. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression analyses showed that negative social environments (i.e., family conflict, primary caregiver's depressive symptoms, and peer victimization) and the absence of positive social environments (i.e., parental warmth and prosocial school environment) predicted greater increases in youth's depressive symptoms over 2 y. Importantly, left hippocampal volume amplified social context effects such that youth with larger left hippocampal volume experienced greater increases in depressive symptoms in more negative and less positive social environments. Consistent with brain-environment interaction models of mental health, these findings underscore the importance of families, peers, and schools in the development of depression during the transition to adolescence and show how neural structure amplifies social context sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matias Martinez
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
| | - Tianying Cai
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455
| | - Beiming Yang
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
| | - Zexi Zhou
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712
| | - Stewart A Shankman
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
| | - Vijay A Mittal
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
| | - Claudia M Haase
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60611
- Buffett Institute for Global Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201
| | - Yang Qu
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
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Bentil HJ, Daang EM, Guyer AE, Yuan H, Adu-Afarwuah S, Amponsah B, Manu A, Mensah MO, Demuyakor ME, Arnold CD, Oaks BM, Prado E, Hastings PD. Assessing Children's Autonomic Nervous System Activity During Structured Tasks: A Feasibility and Reliability Study in Ghana. Dev Psychobiol 2024; 66:e22535. [PMID: 39106340 PMCID: PMC11428182 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/09/2024]
Abstract
The significance of physiological regulation in relation to behavioral and emotional regulation is well documented, but primarily in economically advantaged contexts. Few studies have been conducted in low- and middle-income countries. We investigated the feasibility and reliability of measuring autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and behavior during challenge tasks in 30 children aged 8-10 years in Ghana during two visits, 1 week apart. Completeness of ANS data ranged from 80% to 100% across all tasks. There was low-to-moderate test-retest reliability of video mood induction (VMI) emotion ratings and balloon analog risk task (BART) pumps (r = 0.34-0.52). VMI elicited higher targeted emotion ratings in Visit 2 than Visit 1. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was higher, and pre-ejection period (PEP) was longer at Visit 2 than Visit 1 for baseline and both tasks. RSA was higher at baseline than during the VMI anger scene at Visit 1, whereas PEP was shorter at baseline than during all VMI emotion scenes at Visit 2. RSA was higher at baseline than during BART at both visits. In conclusion, ANS data collection within evocative and arousing challenge tasks was feasible in Ghana, and the tasks were generally reliable and effective in eliciting target emotions and risk-taking behavior in this sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena J Bentil
- Institute of Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Enya M Daang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Amanda E Guyer
- Department of Human Ecology, Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Haiying Yuan
- Institute of Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Seth Adu-Afarwuah
- Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | | | - Adom Manu
- Department of Population, Family & Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Mavis Osipi Mensah
- Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | | | - Charles D Arnold
- Institute of Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Brietta M Oaks
- Department of Nutrition, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Elizabeth Prado
- Institute of Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Paul D Hastings
- Department of Psychology, Center for Brain and Mind, University of California, Davis, USA
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Parra LA, Spahr CM, Goldbach JT, Bray BC, Kipke MD, Slavich GM. Greater lifetime stressor exposure is associated with poorer mental health among sexual minority people of color. J Clin Psychol 2023; 79:1130-1155. [PMID: 36459589 PMCID: PMC10010942 DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Research has shown that sexual minority people of color experience pervasive and sometimes severe life stressors that increase their risk of experiencing mental health problems, and that can contribute to lifelong health disparities. However, no studies in this population have investigated stressor exposure occurring over the entire lifespan. Moreover, it remains unknown whether these stressor-health effects differ based on the timing or types of stressors experienced. PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to examine how cumulative lifetime stressor exposure is associated with mental health among Black, Latinx, and biracial Black-Latinx sexual minority persons. METHOD Participants were 285 ethnic/racial minority young adults (Mage = 25.18 years old, SD = 1.94, age range = 19-29 years), who completed the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults to assess for retrospective reports of lifetime stressor count and severity. The Brief Symptom Inventory was used to assess participants' symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatization, which were the main outcomes. Most participants identified as cisgender male (94.7%) and gay (74.2%), with the remaining participants identifying as transgender or genderqueer/nonbinary for gender and bisexual/pansexual, queer, or another sexual orientation. RESULTS Multiple regression analyses indicated that experiencing more-and more severe-stressors across the lifespan was related to greater anxiety, depressive, and somatization symptoms. These effects were robust while controlling for race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, and employment status, and they differed based on stressor exposure timing, type, primary life domain, and core social-psychological characteristic. CONCLUSION Greater cumulative lifetime stressor exposure is related to poorer mental health among sexual minority people of color. Screening for lifetime stressors may thus help identify at-risk persons and provide an opportunity to intervene to help mitigate or prevent mental health disparities in multiply stigmatized adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis A. Parra
- School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
| | - Chandler M. Spahr
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | | | - Bethany C. Bray
- Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Michele D. Kipke
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Departments of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - George M. Slavich
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Ugarte E, Johnson LE, Robins RW, Guyer AE, Hastings PD. The impact of social disadvantage on autonomic physiology of latinx adolescents: The role of environmental risks. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev 2022; 2022:91-124. [PMID: 35634899 PMCID: PMC9492630 DOI: 10.1002/cad.20462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The experience of poverty embodies complex, multidimensional stressors that may adversely affect physiological and psychological domains of functioning. Compounded by racial/ethnic discrimination, the financial aspect of family poverty typically coincides with additional social and physical environmental risks such as pollution exposure, housing burden, elevated neighborhood unemployment, and lower neighborhood education levels. In this study, we investigated the associations of multidimensional social disadvantage throughout adolescence with autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning at 17 years. Two hundred and twenty nine low-income Mexican-American adolescents (48.6% female) and their parents were assessed annually between the ages of 10 and 16. Participants' census tracts were matched with corresponding annual administrative data of neighborhood housing burden, education, unemployment, drinking water quality, and fine particulate matter. We combined measures of adolescents' electrodermal response and respiratory sinuses arrhythmia at rest and during a social exclusion challenge (Cyberball) to use as ANS indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively. Controlling for family income-to-needs, youth exposed to greater cumulative water and air pollution from ages 10-16 displayed altered patterns of autonomic functioning at rest and during the social challenge. Conversely, youth living in areas with higher housing burden displayed healthy patterns of autonomic functioning. Altogether, results suggest that toxin exposure in youths' physical environments disrupts the ANS, representing a plausible mechanism by which pollutants and social disadvantage influence later physical and mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Ugarte
- Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis
- Center for Mind & Brain, University of California Davis
| | - Lisa E. Johnson
- Center for Mind & Brain, University of California Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
| | | | - Amanda E. Guyer
- Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis
- Center for Mind & Brain, University of California Davis
| | - Paul D. Hastings
- Center for Mind & Brain, University of California Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
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