Prefrontal cortex and amygdala anatomy in youth with persistent levels of harsh parenting practices and subclinical anxiety symptoms over time during childhood

Abstract

Childhood adversity and anxiety have been associated with increased risk for internalizing disorders later in life and with a range of brain structural abnormalities. However, few studies have examined the link between harsh parenting practices and brain anatomy, outside of severe maltreatment or psychopathology. Moreover, to our knowledge, there has been no research on parenting and subclinical anxiety symptoms which remain persistent over time during childhood (i.e., between 2.5 and 9 years old). Here, we examined data in 94 youth, divided into four cells based on their levels of coercive parenting (high / low) and of anxiety (high / low) between 2.5 and 9 years old. Anatomical images were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and FreeSurfer. Smaller gray matter volumes in the prefrontal cortex regions and in the amygdala were observed in youth with high versus low levels of harsh parenting over time. In addition, we observed significant interaction effects between parenting practices and subclinical anxiety symptoms in rostral anterior cingulate cortical thickness and in amygdala volume. These youth should be followed further in time to identify which youth will or will not go on to develop an anxiety disorder, and to understand factors associated with the development of sustained anxiety psychopathology.

A Narrative Review of Methodological Considerations in Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Offspring Brain Development and the Influence of Parenting

“…Indeed, of the studies surveyed ( Table 1 ), 47 (57.32%) were cross sectional. Of the papers containing longitudinal data (10 structural MRI and 23 fMRI), only 12 (14.63% of all studies) assessed parenting and brain structure or function and then conducted MRI scans at a later time point ( Whittle et al, 2013a , b , 2016 , 2017 ; Kok et al, 2015 ; Pagliaccio et al, 2015 ; Tyborowska et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2019 ; Butterfield et al, 2021 ; Jiang et al, 2021 ; Pozzi et al, 2021 ; Suffren et al, 2021 ), although only five examined brain structural ( Whittle et al, 2013a , b , 2016 , 2017 ) or functional development over time ( Pozzi et al, 2021 ).…”

Rapid volumetric brain changes after acute psychosocial stress

“…Other studies have suggested an even earlier deactivation of limbic structures including the hippocampus and the amygdala during stress exposure (Pruessner et al, 2008) In animal models of acute stress (Kassem et al, 2013, Chakraborty et al 2020) and in stress-related mental disorders in humans (Chen et al, 2006;Karl et al, 2006) stress-induced brain structural changes in hippocampus and amygdala are found. At subclinical levels of chronic stress however, some studies did find changes in GMV (Dedovic et al, 2010;Savic, 2015;Suffren et al, 2021;Spalletta et al, 2014), but others did not: GMV reductions associated with stressful life events were, for example, found in the ACC, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus, but not in the amygdala (Papagni et al, 2011) as well as in the MPFC and right insula, but not in the hippocampus or amygdala (Ansell et al, 2012). Possibly, GMV alterations in hippocampus and amygdala may be related to pathophysiological processes in the context of chronic or severe stress (Ansell et al, 2012) rather than the brain response to acute stress.…”

Antenatal maternal intimate partner violence exposure is associated with sex-specific alterations in brain structure among young infants: Evidence from a South African birth cohort

“…While reduced hippocampal volume is evident in adults and children exposed to early life stress ( Humphreys et al, 2019 , Marečková et al, 2018 , Woon and Hedges, 2008 ), there is little evidence for an association between hippocampal volume and antenatal stress in humans ( Buss et al, 2012 , Favaro et al, 2015 , Marečková et al, 2018 , Qiu et al, 2013 ). Importantly, few studies have examined the developing brain in very young infants to minimize the impact of the postnatal environment as, for example, parenting styles may also contribute to children’s brain development ( Suffren et al, 2022 ). One recent study reported no association between maternal cortisol concentrations measured in pregnancy and neonatal amygdala volume (age range: 39–46 weeks’ gestation), but found evidence that high cortisol exposure in girls was associated with increased structural connectivity between the amygdala and other brain regions ( Stoye et al, 2020 ).…”