Brain structure and functional connectivity linking childhood cumulative trauma to COVID-19 vicarious traumatization

IF 6.5 1区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Pub Date : 2024-04-17 DOI:10.1111/jcpp.13989

Xiqin Liu, Yajun Zhao, Jingguang Li, Xueling Suo, Qiyong Gong, Song Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some individuals to experience vicarious traumatization (VT), an adverse psychological reaction to those who are primarily traumatized, which may negatively impact one's mental health and well-being and has been demonstrated to vary with personal trauma history. The neural mechanism of VT and how past trauma history affects current VT remain largely unknown. This study aimed to identify neurobiological markers that track individual differences in VT and reveal the neural link between childhood cumulative trauma (CCT) and VT.

Methods

We used structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging before the pandemic to identify prospective brain markers for COVID-related VT by correlating individuals' VT levels during the pandemic with the gray matter volume (GMV) and seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and examined how these brain markers linked CCT to VT in a sample of general young adults (N = 115/100).

Results

Whole-brain GMV–behavior correlation analysis showed that VT was positively associated with GMV in the right dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus (DLPFC). Using the cluster derived from the GMV–behavior correlation analysis as the seed region, we further revealed that the RSFC between the right DLPFC and right precuneus was negatively associated with VT. Importantly, the right DLPFC volume and DLPFC-precuneus RSFC mediated the effect of CCT on VT. These findings remained unaffected by factors such as family socioeconomic status, other stressful life events, and general mental health.

Conclusions

Overall, our study presents structural and functional brain markers for VT and highlights these brain-based markers as a potential neural mechanism linking CCT to COVID-related VT, which has implications for treating and preventing the development of trauma-related mental disorders.

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将童年累积性创伤与 COVID-19 转承性创伤联系起来的大脑结构和功能连通性

背景COVID-19大流行使一些人经历了替代性创伤（VT），这是一种对那些主要受到创伤的人的不良心理反应，可能会对个人的心理健康和幸福产生负面影响，并且已被证明与个人创伤史有关。VT的神经机制以及过去的创伤史如何影响当前的VT，在很大程度上仍是未知数。本研究旨在确定跟踪 VT 个体差异的神经生物学标记，并揭示童年累积性创伤（CCT）与 VT 之间的神经联系。方法我们在大流行前使用结构和静息态功能磁共振成像技术，通过将个人在大流行期间的 VT 水平与灰质体积（GMV）和基于种子的静息态功能连通性（RSFC）相关联，来识别 COVID 相关 VT 的前瞻性大脑标记物，并在普通青壮年样本（N = 115/100）中研究了这些大脑标记物如何将 CCT 与 VT 联系起来。结果全脑 GMV 行为相关性分析表明，VT 与右侧背外侧前额叶回 (DLPFC) 的 GMV 呈正相关。以 GMV 行为相关分析得出的聚类为种子区域，我们进一步发现右侧 DLPFC 和右侧楔前回之间的 RSFC 与 VT 负相关。重要的是，右侧 DLPFC 的体积和 DLPFC 与楔前肌之间的 RSFC 在 CCT 对 VT 的影响中起中介作用。总之，我们的研究提出了VT的大脑结构和功能标记，并强调这些基于大脑的标记是连接CCT与COVID相关VT的潜在神经机制，这对治疗和预防创伤相关精神障碍的发展具有重要意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

13.80

自引率

5.30%

发文量

169

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JCPP) is a highly regarded international publication that focuses on the fields of child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry. It is recognized for publishing top-tier, clinically relevant research across various disciplines related to these areas. JCPP has a broad global readership and covers a diverse range of topics, including: Epidemiology: Studies on the prevalence and distribution of mental health issues in children and adolescents. Diagnosis: Research on the identification and classification of childhood disorders. Treatments: Psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions for child and adolescent mental health. Behavior and Cognition: Studies on the behavioral and cognitive aspects of childhood disorders. Neuroscience and Neurobiology: Research on the neural and biological underpinnings of child mental health. Genetics: Genetic factors contributing to the development of childhood disorders. JCPP serves as a platform for integrating empirical research, clinical studies, and high-quality reviews from diverse perspectives, theoretical viewpoints, and disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach is a key feature of the journal, as it fosters a comprehensive understanding of child and adolescent mental health. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry is published 12 times a year and is affiliated with the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), which supports the journal's mission to advance knowledge and practice in the field of child and adolescent mental health.