Amygdala responses to threat in violence-exposed children depend on trauma context and maternal caregiving

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jennifer Stevens, Emory University; Sanne van Rooij, Emory University; Anais F Stenson, Wayne State University; Timothy D Ely, Emory University; Abigail Powers, Emory University; Aimee Clifford, Emory University; Ye Ji Kim, Emory University; Rebecca Hinrichs, Emory University; Nim Tottenham, Columbia University; Tanja Jovanovic, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-10-25
• Publisher: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001085
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 12
• Keywords: CHILDHOOD MALTREATMENT; Psychology; Social Sciences; FACIAL EXPRESSIONS; resilience; NONANXIOUS MOTHERS; SENSITIVE PERIODS; EMOTIONAL FACES; EARLY-LIFE STRESS; Psychology, Developmental; DEVELOPMENTAL EMERGENCE; NEURAL RESPONSE; habituation; FEAR CIRCUITRY; maternal buffering; POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS; violence exposure; amygdala
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Mental Health; Psychology, Behavioral; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

Early life adversity (ELA) has been linked with increased arousal responses to threat, including increased amygdala reactivity. Effects of ELA on brain function are well recognized, and emerging evidence suggests that caregivers may influence how environmental stressors impact children's brain function. We investigated the hypothesis that positive interaction between mother and child can buffer against ELA effects on children's neural responses to threat, and related symptoms. N = 53 mother-child pairs (children ages 8-14 years) were recruited from an urban population at high risk for violence exposure. Maternal caregiving was measured using the Parenting Questionnaire and in a cooperation challenge task. Children viewed fearful and neutral face stimuli during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Children who experienced greater violence at home showed amygdala sensitization, whereas children experiencing more school and community violence showed amygdala habituation. Sensitization was in turn linked with externalizing symptoms. However, maternal warmth was associated with a normalization of amygdala sensitization in children, and fewer externalizing behaviors prospectively up to 1 year later. Findings suggested that the effects of violence exposure on threat-related neural circuitry depend on trauma context (inside or outside the home) and that primary caregivers can increase resilience.