Functional organization of the allostatic interoceptive network in adolescence: Links to peer victimization and prospective depressive symptoms

Abstract

The present study examines the role of brain network organization in the prospective prediction of adolescent depressive symptoms and links to the social and psychological context. Using a path model with data from a larger longitudinal study of adolescents beginning in 6th-8th grade (N = 117, 55 % female, M_{age at scan}= 12.99), we first established that organizational properties of brain networks theoretically linked to depression predicted greater depressive symptoms two years later. Specifically, when controlling for gender and initial depression, greater global efficiency of the allostatic interoceptive network (AIN) and greater segregation of the frontoparietal network (FPN) from the salience network (SN) predicted depressive symptoms an average of two years later. Linking these neural findings to psychological individual differences, we found that self-reported rumination mediated the effect of AIN global efficiency on prospective depressive symptoms. We further linked these neural findings to the social context by demonstrating that greater self-reported relational peer victimization prospectively predicted AIN global efficiency. Collectively, these findings situate the emergence of adolescent depressive symptoms as a confluence of brain organization properties, perceived social rejection, and individual differences in rumination.