A longitudinal mediation study of peer victimization and resting-state functional connectivity as predictors of development of adolescent psychopathology

Hanie Edalati; Mohammad H Afzali; Sean Spinney; Josiane Bourque; Alain Dagher; Patricia J Conrod

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1099772

A longitudinal mediation study of peer victimization and resting-state functional connectivity as predictors of development of adolescent psychopathology

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 23:14:1099772. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1099772. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hanie Edalati¹, Mohammad H Afzali¹, Sean Spinney¹, Josiane Bourque², Alain Dagher³, Patricia J Conrod¹

Affiliations

¹ CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
³ Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Peer victimization (PV) is associated with alterations in neural responses in regions subserving emotional regulatory processes and with increased risk of psychopathology during adolescence. The present study examined the longitudinal mediating effects of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between adolescent PV and subsequent internalizing (depression and anxiety), and externalizing (conduct and hyperactivity/inattention) symptoms.

Methods: 151 adolescents (baseline mean age 12-14; 54% males) were assessed and imaged three times during a five-year period. We focused on rsFC of a priori determined Regions-of-Interest (ROIs) guided by the literature (i.e., amygdala, anterior and posterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex). Multilevel mediation (MLM) analyses simultaneously examined the between-person, concurrent within-person, and lagged within-person associations between PV and internalizing/externalizing symptoms through changes in couplings of the amygdala with the other four ROIs. All models controlled for the effects of self-reported childhood maltreatment and sex differences.

Results: An increased rsFC of the amygdala-posterior insula significantly mediated the lagged within-person association of PV and internalizing symptoms (β = 0.144; 95% CI [0.018, 0.332]). This effect was significant regardless of childhood maltreatment, concurrent externalizing symptoms, and sex differences. The rsFC did not mediate the relationship between PV and externalizing symptoms.

Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that adolescent PV may lead to long-lasting maladaptive neural communication between emotional response and sensory perception of pain (i.e., bottom-up emotion regulation) and that these neural responses may serve as unique markers for increased internalizing symptoms that appear in later adolescence in peer-victimized youth. These findings have implications for interventions targeting internalizing symptoms in victimized adolescents.

Keywords: adolescence; developmental psychopathology; peer victimization; resting-state functional connectivity; social pain.

Grants and funding

We gratefully acknowledge research support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to PC (FRN114887 and 126053). HE and JB were supported through postdoctoral fellowship by the CIHR. MA was supported through postdoctoral fellowship by the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. PC was supported through a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, a senior research fellowship from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) and the following Research Chair: Fondation Julien/Marcelle et Jean Coutu en Pediatrie Sociale en Communaute de l’ Universite de Montreal. The funders had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.