No robust evidence for an interaction between early-life adversity and protective factors on global and regional brain volumes

Andrea P. Cortes Hidalgo; Henning Tiemeier; Stephen A. Metcalf; Maximilian Monninger; Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg; Pascal-M. Aggensteiner; Marian J. Bakermans‑Kranenburg; Tonya White; Tobias Banaschewski; Marinus H. van IJzendoorn; Nathalie E. Holz

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (Dec 2022)

No robust evidence for an interaction between early-life adversity and protective factors on global and regional brain volumes

Andrea P. Cortes Hidalgo,
Henning Tiemeier,
Stephen A. Metcalf,
Maximilian Monninger,
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg,
Pascal-M. Aggensteiner,
Marian J. Bakermans‑Kranenburg,
Tonya White,
Tobias Banaschewski,
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,
Nathalie E. Holz

Affiliations

Andrea P. Cortes Hidalgo: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Correspondence to: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, 3000 CB Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Henning Tiemeier: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
Stephen A. Metcalf: The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Maximilian Monninger: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Pascal-M. Aggensteiner: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Marian J. Bakermans‑Kranenburg: Department of Clinical Child and Family Studies, and Amsterdam Public Health, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Tonya White: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Tobias Banaschewski: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn: Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCL, University of London, London, UK
Nathalie E. Holz: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Donders Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 58
p. 101166

Abstract

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Childhood adversity is associated with brain morphology and poor psychological outcomes, and evidence of protective factors counteracting childhood adversity effects on neurobiology is scarce. We examined the interplay of childhood adversity with protective factors in relation to brain morphology in two independent longitudinal cohorts, the Generation R Study (N = 3008) and the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS) (N = 179). Cumulative exposure to 12 adverse events was assessed across childhood until age 9 years in Generation R and 11 years in MARS. Protective factors (temperament, cognition, self-esteem, maternal sensitivity, friendship quality) were assessed at various time-points during childhood. Global brain volumes and volumes of amygdala, hippocampus, and the anterior cingulate, medial orbitofrontal and rostral middle frontal cortices were assessed with anatomical scans at 10 years in Generation R and at 25 years in MARS. Childhood adversity was related to smaller cortical grey matter, cerebral white matter, and cerebellar volumes in children. Also, no buffering effects of protective factors on the association between adversity and the brain outcomes survived multiple testing correction. We found no robust evidence for an interaction between protective factors and childhood adversity on broad brain structural measures. Small interaction effects observed in one cohort only warrant further investigation.

Published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

ISSN: 1878-9293 (Print); 1878-9307 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Science: Physiology: Neurophysiology and neuropsychology
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/developmental-cognitive-neuroscience/

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