PROJECT SUMMARY
Child maltreatment (CM) affects at least one in every seven U.S. children each year and has been recognized
as a major public and global health issue. Children who have experienced any form of CM are more likely to
manifest adverse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and substance use. CM is a
preventable, multidimensional risk factor for psychopathology, and research aimed at better understanding the
underlying mechanisms of these risk processes is a critical need. Researchers note the lack of clarity
surrounding this heterogeneity in mental health sequelae of CM and highlight the urgent need for additional
investigations to elucidate mechanisms of effect. Neurocognitive research mapping of structural brain
development can help identify mechanisms of the relation between CM and negative mental health outcomes.
Currently, it is unknown how CM subtypes (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and neglect) might
differentially affect neurodevelopmental trajectories and how these trajectories might explain subsequent
mental health outcomes.
This project focuses on the hippocampus, the most stress-sensitive brain structure, during the critical
neurodevelopmental period of adolescence. Past research on youth hippocampal volume following exposure to
adversity has produced mixed findings. This application posits that these inconsistent findings reflect the
existence of multiple trajectories and CM subtype-based differences that have not been accounted for in
previous work. The goal of this study is to examine neurodevelopmental trajectories of the hippocampus, with
attention given to the distinct role CM subtype may have, and ascertain if those trajectories act as a
mechanistic explanation for anxiety, depression, and substance use following CM. Secondary data analysis of
the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, an ongoing, multi-site, longitudinal investigation of
brain development and mental health of nearly 12,000 U.S. youth, will be used to address this goal through two
aims: (1) Identify trajectories in adolescent hippocampal development, as a function of different CM exposures,
using multilevel linear modeling, (2) Investigate the mediating role of brain development on adolescents’
mental health outcomes following CM. Findings will shed light on addressing vulnerability to psychopathology
following CM, specific to subtypes. With this knowledge, interventions and treatments could be better
customized to target the cognitions, processes, and skills associated with specific neurocognitive structures
known to underpin psychiatric sequelae of CM. This project aligns with priorities and the strategic plan of both
NIMH and NICHD’s PTCIB. Data analysis and interpretation of this project will confer essential skills needed
for a career as an independent research scientist at the intersection of developmental cognitive neuroscience
and CM. The funding of this project will result in a more innovative, rigorous, and effective CM researcher.
