24.1 Neurodevelopment During Adolescence as a Marker of Differential Susceptibility to Adverse and Positive Parenting

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Objectives

Diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility are 2 frameworks for how biology-by-environment interactions contribute to individual differences in mental health. Diathesis-stress theory suggests that biological vulnerability interacts with environmental stressors to predict poor mental health outcomes. Differential susceptibility theory suggests that biological susceptibility factors interact with both positive and negative environmental contexts to predict better or worse outcomes,

Methods

Participants included 103 adolescents who completed MRI brain scans at 3 time points (at approximately 13, 17, and 19 years of age). Regression analyses were conducted to investigate the interaction between cortical thickness/subcortical volume development (from early to late adolescence) and ratio of positive/negative maternal behavior in the prediction of late adolescent outcomes. Established indices designed to distinguish between diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility were used.

Results

Results indicated that relatively greater thinning of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex predicted high susceptibility to positive and negative parenting for both outcome variables. Greater thinning of the left pars opercularis indicated high sensitivity to positive parenting as indicated by fewer depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

Thus, results primarily support a differential susceptibility effect, whereby variability in structural brain development interacts with environmental influences to predict better and worse outcomes. Findings highlight that examining both positive and negative environmental factors and outcomes is a fruitful approach to better understand the complex interplay of biological and environmental factors in the prediction of mental health and illness during adolescence.

ADOL, DDD, NEURODEV

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Supported by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0878136

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