Research has shown that experiencing a hurricane can lead to internalizing, externalizing, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in children. However, the effects of experiencing two hurricanes within a short time frame have not been examined. Moreover, there is limited research examining how children's coping is linked to their psychological functioning and no research using the empirically supported conceptualization of coping that includes primary control coping (i.e., attempts to control the stressor) and secondary control coping (i.e., attempts to adapt to the stressor). This study examined the psychological functioning of 108 children and adolescents (69.7% Black, Non‐Hispanic; 56.5% female;
Violence exposure is associated with worsening anxiety and depression symptoms among adolescents. Mechanistically, social defeat stress models in mice indicate that violence increases peripherally derived macrophages in threat appraisal regions of the brain, which have been causally linked to anxious behavior. In the present study, we investigate if there is a path connecting violence exposure with internalizing symptom severity through peripheral inflammation and amygdala connectivity. Two hundred and thirty‐three adolescents, ages 12–15, from the Chicago area completed clinical assessments, immune assays and neuroimaging. A high‐dimensional multimodal mediation model was fit, using violence exposure as the predictor, 12 immune variables as the first set of mediators and 288 amygdala connectivity variables as the second set, and internalizing symptoms as the primary outcome measure. 56.2% of the sample had been exposed to violence in their lifetime. Amygdala–hippocampus connectivity mediated the association between violence exposure and internalizing symptoms (, ). There was no evidence that inflammation or inflammation and amygdala connectivity in tandem mediated the association. Considering the amygdala and the hippocampus work together to encode, consolidate, and retrieve contextual fear memories, violence exposure may be associated with greater connectivity between the amygdala and the hippocampus because it could be adaptive for the amygdala and the hippocampus to be in greater communication following violence exposure to facilitate evaluation of contextual threat cues. Therefore, chronic elevations of amygdala–hippocampal connectivity may indicate persistent vigilance that leads to internalizing symptoms.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10489949
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Human Brain Mapping
- Volume:
- 45
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1065-9471
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract M age = 11.59 years,SD = 2.43) in Grades 3–12 as measured 3 months after experiencing Hurricanes Irma and Maria on the island of St. Thomas. Participants completed electronic questionnaires about their demographic characteristics, hurricane exposure (i.e., perceived life‐threat, life‐threatening events, loss/disruption after hurricanes), coping strategies utilized, and their psychological functioning (i.e., PTS, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms). A principal component analysis of the coping items determined four coping factors: primary control, secondary control, disengagement, and negative coping. Linear regressions, including children's age and aspects of hurricane exposure, found primary control coping was positively associated with PTS symptoms, β = .18, whereas secondary control coping was negatively associated with PTS and externalizing symptoms, βs = −.17 and −.19, respectively. Negative coping, but not disengagement coping, was positively associated with all three outcomes, βs = .31–.42. These findings suggest positive ways children can cope after experiencing a hurricane, informing possible early intervention efforts. -
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