Open AccessStress-related hippocampus activation mediates the association between polyvictimization and trait anxiety in adolescents
Author(s) -
Rachel Corr,
Sarah Glier,
Joshua Bizzell,
Andrea Pelletier-Baldelli,
Alana Campbell,
Candace Killian-Farrell,
Ayşenil Belger
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
social cognitive and affective neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.229
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1749-5024
pISSN - 1749-5016
DOI - 10.1093/scan/nsab129
Subject(s) - psychology , anxiety , amygdala , association (psychology) , clinical psychology , hippocampal formation , hippocampus , trait anxiety , mediation , trait , developmental psychology , neuroscience , psychiatry , political science , computer science , law , psychotherapist , programming language
Early life stress exposures are associated with adverse health outcomes and heightened anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Stress-sensitive brain regions like the hippocampus and amygdala are particularly impacted by early life adversities and are also implicated in the development of anxiety disorders. However, to date, no studies have specifically examined the neural correlates of polyvictimization (exposure to multiple categories of victimization) or the contribution of stress-sensitive neural nodes to polyvictimization’s impact on mental health. To elucidate these relationships, the current study analyzed associations between polyvictimization, hippocampal and amygdalar activation during an acute stress task and trait anxiety in a sample of 80 children and adolescents aged 9–16 years (33 female participants). Results showed that polyvictimization was associated with higher trait anxiety as well as greater stress-related right hippocampus activation, and this greater hippocampal activity predicted heightened trait anxiety. Robust mediation analyses revealed that stress-related right hippocampus activation partially mediated the relationship between polyvictimization and trait anxiety. Our results expand upon the existing polyvictimization literature by suggesting a possible neurobiological pathway through which polyvictimization is connected to the etiology of mental illness.