Childhood maltreatment, prefrontal-paralimbic gray matter volume, and substance use in young adults and interactions with risk for bipolar disorder

AbstractChildhood maltreatment is associated with adverse effects on the brain, and an increased risk for psychopathology, including mood and substance use disorders. Individuals vary on the degree to which they exhibit neurobiological and clinical differences following maltreatment. Individuals with bipolar disorder exhibit greater magnitude of maltreatment-related prefrontal-paralimbic gray matter volume (GMV) deficits compared to typically developing individuals. It is unclear if greater structural differences stem from greater neural vulnerability to maltreatment in bipolar disorder, or if they relate to presence of other clinical features associated with childhood maltreatment, e.g., elevated prevalence of comorbid substance use disorders. To investigate this, we compared young adults with a family history of bipolar disorder (n = 21), but who did not fulfill diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder, with typically developing young adults without a family history of bipolar disorder (n = 26). Participants completed structural neuroimaging, clinical and family history interviews, and assessment of childhood maltreatment and recent alcohol and cannabis use patterns. We examined relations between childhood maltreatment and prefrontal-paralimbic GMV by modeling main effects of maltreatment and family history group by maltreatment interactions on prefrontal-paralimbic GMV. We also examined relations between maltreatment and associated GMV changes with recent alcohol and cannabis use. Childhood maltreatment correlated with lower ventral, rostral and dorsolateral prefrontal and insular cortical GMV across all participants regardless of the presence or absence of familial history of bipolar disorder. However, exploratory analyses did reveal greater maltreatment-related GMV differences in individuals with prodromal symptoms of depression. Lower insula GMV was associated with greater frequency of cannabis use across all participants and greater quantity of alcohol use only in those with familial risk for bipolar disorder. Results suggest familial risk for bipolar disorder, and presumably genetic risk, may relate to outcomes following childhood maltreatment and should be considered in prevention/early intervention strategies.

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Recent Perceived Stress, Amygdala Reactivity to Acute Psychosocial Stress, and Alcohol and Cannabis Use in Adolescents and Young Adults With Bipolar Disorder

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.767309 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Vanessa Le ◽

Dylan E. Kirsch ◽

Valeria Tretyak ◽

Wade Weber ◽

Stephen M. Strakowski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Substance Use ◽

Young Adults ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Acute Stress ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Amygdala Activation ◽

Amygdala Reactivity

Background: Psychosocial stress negatively affects the clinical course of bipolar disorder. Studies primarily focused on adults with bipolar disorder suggest the impact of stress is progressive, i.e., stress response sensitizes with age. Neural mechanisms underlying stress sensitization are unknown. As stress-related mechanisms contribute to alcohol/substance use disorders, variation in stress response in youth with bipolar disorder may contribute to development of co-occurring alcohol/substance use disorders. This study investigated relations between psychosocial stress, amygdala reactivity, and alcohol and cannabis use in youth with bipolar disorder, compared to typically developing youth.Methods: Forty-two adolescents/young adults [19 with bipolar disorder, 23 typically developing, 71% female, agemean ± SD = 21 ± 2 years] completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Daily Drinking Questionnaire modified for heaviest drinking week, and a modified Montreal Imaging Stress functional MRI Task. Amygdala activation was measured for both the control and stress conditions. Main effects of group, condition, total PSS, and their interactions on amygdala activation were modeled. Relationships between amygdala response to acute stress with recent alcohol/cannabis use were investigated.Results: Greater perceived stress related to increased right amygdala activation in response to the stress, compared to control, condition in bipolar disorder, but not in typically developing youth (group × condition × PSS interaction, p = 0.02). Greater amygdala reactivity to acute stress correlated with greater quantity and frequency of alcohol use and frequency of cannabis use in bipolar disorder.Conclusion: Recent perceived stress is associated with changes in amygdala activation during acute stress with amygdala reactivity related to alcohol/cannabis use in youth with bipolar disorder.

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Delineating genetic and familial risk for psychopathology in the ABCD study

10.1101/2020.09.08.20186908 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Clare E Palmer ◽

Robert John Loughnan ◽

Carolina Makowski ◽

Wesley Thompson ◽

Deanna Barch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Family History ◽

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Genetic Risk ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Risk Scores ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Polygenic Risk ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

History Of ◽

Risk Predictors

Psychiatric disorders place a huge burden on those affected and their families, as well as society. Nearly all psychiatric disorders have a heritable component and lifetime prevalence rates of several disorders are higher among first degree biological relatives of individuals with a diagnosis. Given that many psychiatric disorders have their onset in adolescence, estimating genetic risk during childhood may identify at-risk individuals for early intervention that can reduce this burden. Here we measured genetic risk for psychopathology using both polygenic risk scores (PRS) and family history in a large typically developing sample of 9-10 year old children from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) StudySM and determined associations with a large battery of behavioural phenotypes. By including all genetic risk predictors in the same model, we were able to delineate unique behavioral associations across these measures. Polygenic risk for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression (DEP) was associated with unique patterns of both externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Family history of conduct problems, depression and anxiety/stress additionally predicted unique behavioral variance across similar measures. These findings provide important insight into the potential predictive utility of PRS and family history in early adolescence and suggest that they may be signaling differential, additive information that could be useful for quantifying risk during development.

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T105. Childhood Maltreatment and Associated Prefrontal-Paralimbic Activity During Emotional and Cognitive Processing in Adolescents/Young Adults With Familial Risk for Bipolar Disorder

Biological Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.03.428 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 85 (10) ◽

pp. S169

Author(s):

Dylan Kirsch ◽

Valeria Tretyak ◽

Sepeadeh Radpour ◽

Wade Weber ◽

Stephen Strakowski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Young Adults ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Familial Risk

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Effects of Substance Misuse and current Family History of Substance Use Disorder on Brain Structure in Adolescents and Young Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Drug and Alcohol Dependence ◽

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109032 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 109032

Author(s):

Martina Novi ◽

Maria Paraskevopoulou ◽

Daan Van Rooij ◽

Aart H. Schene ◽

Jan K. Buitelaar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Substance Use ◽

Young Adults ◽

Family History ◽

Substance Use Disorder ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Substance Misuse ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

History Of

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Family history of substance use disorders: Significance for mental health in young adults who gamble

Journal of Behavioral Addictions ◽

10.1556/2006.2020.00017 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 289-297 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jon E. Grant ◽

Samuel R. Chamberlain

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Substance Use ◽

Young Adults ◽

Family History ◽

Family Member ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Positive Family History ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Degree Relative ◽

History Of

AbstractBackgroundAlthough family history of psychiatric disorders has often been considered potentially useful in understanding clinical presentations in patients, it is less clear what a positive family history means for people who gamble in the general community. We sought to understand the clinical and cognitive impact of having a first-degree relative with a substance use disorder (SUD) in a sample of non-treatment seeking young adults.Methods576 participants (aged 18–29 years) who gambled at least five times in the preceding year undertook clinical and neurocognitive evaluations. Those with a first-degree relative with a SUD were compared to those without on a number of demographic, clinical and cognitive measures. We used Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression to identify which variables (if any) were significantly associated with family history of SUDs, controlling for the influence of other variables on each other.Results180 (31.3%) participants had a first-degree family member with a SUD. In terms of clinical variables, family history of SUD was significantly associated with higher rates of substance use (alcohol, nicotine), higher rates of problem gambling, and higher occurrence of mental health disorders. Family history of SUD was also associated with more set-shifting problems (plus higher rates of obsessive-compulsive tendencies), lower quality of decision-making, and more spatial working memory errors.ConclusionsThese results indicate that gamblers with a first-degree family member with a SUD may have a unique clinical and cognition presentation. Understanding these differences may be relevant to developing more individualized treatment approaches for disordered gambling. Compulsivity may be important as a proxy of vulnerability towards addiction.

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Adversity, Parental Mental Illness, and Risk of Depression in Youth

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.2207 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S220-S220 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

V. Patterson ◽

L. Mackenzie ◽

A. Zwicker ◽

V. Drobinin ◽

J. Cumby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Family History ◽

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Parental Mental Illness ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

History Of Childhood ◽

History Of ◽

Competing Interest

BackgroundThe association between parental severe mental illness (SMI) and depression in offspring may be due to genetic liability or adverse environments. We investigated the effect of parental SMI, SES, and adversity on depression in a sample of youth enriched for familial risk of mental illness.MethodWe assessed 217 youth (mean age 11.95, SD 4.14, range 6–24), including 167 (77%) offspring of parents with SMI. We measured exposure to childhood maltreatment and bullying with the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) and Childhood Experiences of Care and Abuse (CECA) interview.ResultsIn total, 13.36% participants reported significant bullying and 40.76% had a history of childhood maltreatment. Rates of bullying and maltreatment were similar in offspring of parents with and without SMI. Maltreatment likelihood increased with decreasing socioeconomic status. Exposure to bullying (OR = 3.11, 95%CI 1.08–8.88, P = 0.03) predicted depression in offspring more strongly than family history of SMI in parents.ConclusionsAdversity, such as maltreatment and bullying, has a stronger impact on the risk of developing depression than family history of mental illness in parents. These adverse experiences are associated with socioeconomic status rather than parental mental illness.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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