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1. Engineering stress culture: Relationships among mental health, engineering identity, and sense of inclusion

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20391  

   Jensen, Karin J. ; Cross, Kelly J. ( May 2021 , Journal of Engineering Education)

   Stress is commonly experienced by college students, especially engineering students. However, the role of stress within engineering culture and its implications for engineering programs have not been fully explored in the literature.

   The purpose of this study was to measure and examine the relationships among self‐reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion of undergraduate engineering students.

   We validated a quantitative survey instrument built on previously published scales and used it to measure self‐reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion.

   Our findings indicate that self‐reported levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are high for engineering students. Further, levels of stress and anxiety are significantly higher for female students, while levels of depression are higher for first‐generation students. We find correlations between self‐reported mental health symptoms, engineering identity, and perceptions of inclusion, and these relationships differ by gender. Lastly, we find that students underrepresented in engineering rate their departments as less diverse than their peers.

   Our results suggest that perceptions of inclusion and engineering identity are related to student mental health, further emphasizing the importance of developing inclusive cultures in engineering programs. The findings suggest that mental health needs greater attention in engineering education, particularly for female and first‐generation students.

    

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2. Adipocytokine correlates of childhood and adolescent mental health: A systematic review

   https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22379  

   Scott, Samantha R. ; Millwood, Summer N. ; Manczak, Erika M. ( March 2023 , Developmental Psychobiology)

   The objective of this systematic review was to determine the current state of the literature regarding how adipocytokines associate with mental health symptoms/disorders in youth. Findings summarized in this review suggested that inneurodevelopmental disorders, higher levels of leptin, ghrelin, resistin, and visfatin as well as lower levels of adiponectin, retinol‐binding protein 4, and progranulin predicted increased risk for or were conflated with autism spectrum disorder. Adipocytokine correlates of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder and related symptoms included higher apelin, higher leptin‐to‐adiponectin ratio, and lower adiponectin. Evidence from studies examininganxiety symptomsevinced mixed results regarding leptin, and one study suggested higher levels of ghrelin.Depressivesymptoms correlated with higher leptin and ghrelin. Research examiningposttraumatic stresssymptoms found higher levels of ghrelin. In research examiningbroadbandsymptoms, conflicting results emerged for associations between internalizing symptoms (i.e., symptoms of emotional stress) and leptin in youth. Low levels of adiponectin and high levels of leptin predicted externalizing symptoms. Total symptom difficulties were associated with a higher leptin‐to‐adiponectin ratio. Our findings suggest that adipocytokines may be an important set of biomarkers to consider as underlying mechanisms contributing to developmental psychopathology.

    

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3. Ethnic–Racial Discrimination Exposure and Anxiety in Latina Girls: Amygdala Volume as an Indirect Neurobiological Pathway

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-024-00946-2  

   Mullins, Jordan_L ; Díaz, Dana_E ; Firat, Rengin_B ; Michalska, Kalina_J ( April 2024 , KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie)

   Ethnic–racial discrimination, the differential treatment of individuals based on ethnic or racial group membership, predicts poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety. This is supported by long-standing theories on the social determinants of health and minority stress. However, these theories are rarely expanded to neurobiological sciences, limiting our understanding of mechanisms underlying observed associations. One potential neurobiological pathway between ethnic–racial discrimination exposure and anxiety is that ongoing exposure to racially charged encounters presents imminent threats that may modify stress-sensitive neurocircuitry, like the amygdala.

   The current study evaluated whether amygdala volume mediated associations between ethnic–racial discrimination exposure and anxiety symptoms in Latina girls, a group exhibiting heightened levels of untreated anxiety and disproportionately subjected to ethnic–racial discrimination.

   Thirty predominantly Mexican-identifying Latina girls residing in Southern California (M_Age = 9.76,SD = 1.11 years) completed a T1-weighted structural MRI scan. Using thePerceptions of Racism in Children and Youth, participants self-reported the prevalence and severity of various discriminatory experiences. Participants also self-reported their anxiety symptoms via theScreen for Child Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders.Controlling for total intracranial volume and annual household income, an indirect effect of ethnic–racial discrimination on anxiety symptoms via left amygdala volume was observed,β = −0.28,SE = 0.17, BC 95% CI [−0.690, −0.017]. The current findings suggest that the left amygdala is sensitive to racialized threats in childhood and that stress-related alterations may, in part, contribute to elevated anxiety in Latina girls. Our data elucidate a potential mechanism by which this form of sociocultural stress can adversely impact mental health, particularly in the transition from middle childhood to early adolescence, a period marked by a host of interlinked neurophysiological and social changes.

    

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4. Linking depressive symptom dimensions to cerebellar subregion volumes in later life

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-00883-6  

   Bogoian, Hannah_R ; King, Tricia_Z ; Turner, Jessica_A ; Semmel, Eric_S ; Dotson, Vonetta_M ( June 2020 , Translational Psychiatry)

   The present study examined the relationship between subthreshold depressive symptoms and gray matter volume in subregions of the posterior cerebellum. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data from 38 adults aged 51 to 80 years were analyzed along with participants’ responses to the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Subscale scores for depressed mood, somatic symptoms, and lack of positive affect were calculated, and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between symptom dimensions and cerebellar volumes. Greater total depressive symptoms and greater somatic symptoms of depression were significantly related to larger volumes of vermis VI, a region within the salience network, which is altered in depression. Exploratory analyses revealed that higher scores on the lack of positive affect subscale were related to larger vermis VIII volumes. These results support that depressive symptom profiles have unique relationships within the cerebellum that may be important as the field move towards targeted treatment approaches for depression.

    

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5. Elevated perceived threat is associated with reduced hippocampal volume in combat veterans

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51533-x  

   Grupe, Daniel W. ; Hushek, Benjamin A. ; Davis, Kaley ; Schoen, Andrew J. ; Wielgosz, Joseph ; Nitschke, Jack B. ; Davidson, Richard J. ( October 2019 , Scientific Reports)

   Reduced hippocampal volume is frequently observed in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the psychological processes associated with these alterations remain unclear. Given hippocampal involvement in memory and contextual representations of threat, we investigated relationships between retrospectively reported combat exposure, perceived threat, and hippocampal volume in trauma-exposed veterans. T1-weighted anatomical MRI scans were obtained from 56 veterans (4 women, 52 men; 39 with elevated PTSD symptoms, “PTSS” group) and hippocampal volume was estimated using automatic segmentation tools in FreeSurfer. Hippocampal volume was regressed on self-reported perceived threat from the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory, and combat exposure from the Combat Exposure Scale. As a secondary analysis, hippocampal volume was regressed on Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) symptoms. In veterans with elevated PTSD symptoms, hippocampal volume was inversely related to perceived threat while deployed while controlling for self-reported combat exposure. Hippocampal volume was also inversely correlated with avoidance/numbing CAPS symptoms. Future research should clarify the temporal milieu of these effects and investigate whether individual differences in hippocampal structure and function contribute to heightened threat appraisal at the time of trauma vs. subsequently elevated appraisals of traumatic events.

    

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