Neighborhood Resources Associated With Psychological Trajectories and Neural Reactivity to Reward After Trauma
Authors: E. Kate Webb, Jennifer S. Stevens, Timothy D. Ely, Lauren A. M. Lebois, Sanne J H. van Rooij, Steven E. Bruce, Stacey L. House, Francesca L. Beaudoin, Xinming An, Thomas C. Neylan, Gari D. Clifford, Sarah D. Linnstaedt, Laura T. Germine, Kenneth A. Bollen, Scott L. Rauch, John P. Haran, Alan B. Storrow, Christopher Lewandowski, Paul I. Musey, Phyllis L. Hendry, Sophia Sheikh, Christopher W. Jones, Brittany E. Punches, Robert A. Swor, Vishnu P. Murty, Lauren A. Hudak, Jose L. Pascual, Mark J. Seamon, Elizabeth M. Datner, Claire Pearson, David A. Peak, Robert M. Domeier, Niels K. Rathlev, Brian J. O’Neil, Paulina Sergot, Leon D. Sanchez, Jutta Joormann, Diego A. Pizzagalli, Steven E. Harte, Ronald C. Kessler, Karestan C. Koenen, Kerry J. Ressler, Samuel A. McLean, Nathaniel G. Harnett
Journal: JAMA Psychiatry (2024)

Importance Research on resilience after trauma has often focused on individual-level factors (eg, ability to cope with adversity) and overlooked influential neighborhood-level factors that may help mitigate the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Objective To investigate whether an interaction between residential greenspace and self-reported individual resources was associated with a resilient PTSD trajectory (ie, low/no symptoms) and to test if the association between greenspace and PTSD trajectory was mediated by neural reactivity to reward. Design, Setting, and Participants As part of a longitudinal cohort study, trauma survivors were recruited from emergency departments across the US. Two weeks after trauma, a subset of participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a monetary reward task. Study data were analyzed from January to November 2023. Exposures Residential greenspace within a 100-m buffer of each participant’s home address was derived from satellite imagery and quantified using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and perceived individual resources measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Main Outcome and Measures PTSD symptom severity measured at 2 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after trauma. Neural responses to monetary reward in reward-related regions (ie, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex) was a secondary outcome. Covariates included both geocoded (eg, area deprivation index) and self-reported characteristics (eg, childhood maltreatment, income). Results In 2597 trauma survivors (mean [SD] age, 36.5 [13.4] years; 1637 female [63%]; 1304 non-Hispanic Black [50.2%], 289 Hispanic [11.1%], 901 non-Hispanic White [34.7%], 93 non-Hispanic other race [3.6%], and 10 missing/unreported [0.4%]), 6 PTSD trajectories (resilient, nonremitting high, nonremitting moderate, slow recovery, rapid recovery, delayed) were identified through latent-class mixed-effect modeling. Multinominal logistic regressions revealed that for individuals with higher CD-RISC scores, greenspace was associated with a greater likelihood of assignment in a resilient trajectory compared with nonremitting high (Wald z test = −3.92; P &amp;amp;lt; .001), nonremitting moderate (Wald z test = −2.24; P = .03), or slow recovery (Wald z test = −2.27; P = .02) classes. Greenspace was also associated with greater neural reactivity to reward in the amygdala (n = 288; t 277 = 2.83; adjusted P value = 0.02); however, reward reactivity did not differ by PTSD trajectory. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, greenspace and self-reported individual resources were significantly associated with PTSD trajectories. These findings suggest that factors at multiple ecological levels may contribute to the likelihood of resiliency to PTSD after trauma.