Peer victimization and its impact on adolescent brain development and psychopathology

Quinlan, Erin Burke; Barker, Edward D.; Luo, Qiang; Banaschewski, Tobias; Bokde, Arun L. W.; Bromberg, Uli; B�chel, Christian; Desrivi�res, Sylvane; Flor, Herta; Frouin, Vincent; Garavan, Hugh; Chaarani, Bader; Gowland, Penny; Heinz, Andreas; Br�hl, R�diger; Martinot, Jean-Luc; Martinot, Marie-Laure Paill�re; Nees, Frauke; Orfanos, Dimitri Papadopoulos; Paus, Tom�; Poustka, Luise; Hohmann, Sarah; Smolka, Michael N.; Fr�hner, Juliane H.; Walter, Henrik; Whelan, Robert; Schumann, Gunter; IMAGEN Consortium

Abstract

Chronic peer victimization has long-term impacts on mental health; however, the biological mediators of this adverse relationship are unknown. We sought to determine whether adolescent brain development is involved in mediating the effect of peer victimization on psychopathology. We included participants (n = 682) from the longitudinal IMAGEN study with both peer victimization and neuroimaging data. Latent profile analysis identified groups of adolescents with different experiential patterns of victimization. We then associated the victimization trajectories and brain volume changes with depression, generalized anxiety, and hyperactivity symptoms at age 19. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed time-by victimization interactions on left putamen volume (F = 4.38, p = 0.037). Changes in left putamen volume were negatively associated with generalized anxiety (t = −2.32, p = 0.020). Notably, peer victimization was indirectly associated with generalized anxiety via decreases in putamen volume (95% CI = 0.004–0.109). This was also true for the left caudate (95% CI = 0.002–0.099). These data suggest that the experience of chronic peer victimization during adolescence might induce psychopathology-relevant deviations from normative brain development. Early peer victimization interventions could prevent such pathological changes.

Citation

Quinlan, E. B., Barker, E. D., Luo, Q., Banaschewski, T., Bokde, A. L. W., Bromberg, U., …IMAGEN Consortium. (2018). Peer victimization and its impact on adolescent brain development and psychopathology. Molecular Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0297-9

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 9, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Dec 12, 2018
• Publication Date: Dec 12, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 8, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 13, 2019
• Journal: Molecular Psychiatry
• Print ISSN: 1359-4184
• Electronic ISSN: 1476-5578
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0297-9
• Keywords: Molecular Biology; Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience; Psychiatry and Mental health
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1450072
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0297-9