Title: Risk And Resilience Following Childhood Maltreatment: A Longitudinal Investigation
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: Childhood maltreatment continues to represent a major societal problem in the UK. The NSPCC have shown that almost one in five adolescents report experiencing severe maltreatment. Of these, around 70% experienced maltreatment from their parent or guardian. We know from previous research that familial maltreatment - including physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect - can have a profound impact on a child's development. In particular, we know that exposure to maltreatment significantly increases a child's risk of later mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. Over the last decade neuroscience has begun to shed light on why early adversity is associated with future problems We and others have identified structural differences in specific parts of the brain that characterise children with maltreatment. However, there has been relatively little research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which investigates brain function. In the first fMRI study investigating the impact of physical abuse and domestic violence on children, we found that exposure to such adverse experiences were associated with greater activation in threat regions of the brain, including the amygdala, suggesting that these children may have become 'hypervigilant' to threat cues in their environment. But there are many important questions we still need to answer. Do the 'neural markers' associated with maltreatment go away over time or do they persist? Are these neural markers associated with future symptoms of anxiety or depression? Do brain changes differ across boys and girls? And what do we know about resilience? We plan to answer these questions by carrying out the first longitudinal fMRI study comparing children exposed to maltreatment with their non-maltreated peers. We will verify that children have been exposed to maltreatment from social services records. All children will be seen when they are 12-14 years old and undergo psychological tests and a brain scan. We will then follow up the same children two years later when they are 14-16 years old, and repeat our set of measures and carry out a second scan. By following up the same children over time we can learn about how their brain function and structure changes, but we will also have the chance to see if brain differences early on predict future problems This does not mean that we would use brain scans to test all children in the future; rather, identifying brain differences associated with maltreatment may help us understand why maltreated children are often vulnerable to psychological problems Our study will also use novel tasks to broaden our understanding of the impact of maltreatment. Future vulnerability to mental health problems may be associated with greater brain reactivity to threat in maltreated children. However, we know that poor memory of past personal events is also common in maltreated children and this may be another factor that contributes to their vulnerability to mental health problems A key function of memory for past events for all of us is to help better solve problems in the future. We will therefore investigate whether behavioural and neural measures of personal memory are associated with future mental health. Finally, we know that maltreatment affects boys and girls differently, with girls more likely to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression. Why? Using brain imaging we will investigate the brain basis of these different patterns of vulnerability. We hope that our research will contribute to a better understanding of the impact of maltreatment on children and help inform more effective forms of prevention and treatment.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH