Associations of neighborhood threat and deprivation with psychopathology: Uncovering neural mechanisms

TY - JOUR

T1 - Associations of neighborhood threat and deprivation with psychopathology

T2 - Uncovering neural mechanisms

AU - Vargas, Teresa G.

AU - Rakesh, Divyangana

AU - McLaughlin, Katie A.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press.

PY - 2025/6/30

Y1 - 2025/6/30

N2 - Background: Assessing dimensions of neighborhoods could aid identification of contextual features that influence psychopathology in children and contribute to uncovering mechanisms underlying these associations. Method: The ABCD sample included 8,339 participants aged 9–10 from 21 U.S. sites. Mixed effect and structural equation models estimated associations of self-reported neighborhood threat/safety and county-level neighborhood threat (i.e., crime) and tract-level deprivation with psychopathology symptoms and indirect effects. Hypothesized mechanisms included emotion processing (adaptation to emotional conflict, task-active ROIs for emotional n-back) and cognition (EF and task-active ROIs for the stop-signal task); exploratory analyses included neural function (of amygdala to network and within-network resting state connectivity). Results: Associations of neighborhood deprivation and all symptoms were mediated by EF; links with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) were mediated by retrosplenial temporal and dorsal attention within-network connectivity. In contrast, neighborhood threat was associated with attention difficulties, internalizing problems, and PLEs uniquely via default mode within-network connectivity; with attention difficulties, externalizing symptoms, and PLEs through amygdala-dorsal attention within-network connectivity, with PLEs and externalizing symptoms through visual within-network connectivity; with PLEs and attention difficulties through amygdala-sensorimotor connectivity, and with PLEs through amygdala-salience network connectivity. Conclusion: Neighborhood deprivation and threat predicted symptoms through distinct neural and cognitive pathways, with implications for prevention and intervention efforts at contextual levels.

AB - Background: Assessing dimensions of neighborhoods could aid identification of contextual features that influence psychopathology in children and contribute to uncovering mechanisms underlying these associations. Method: The ABCD sample included 8,339 participants aged 9–10 from 21 U.S. sites. Mixed effect and structural equation models estimated associations of self-reported neighborhood threat/safety and county-level neighborhood threat (i.e., crime) and tract-level deprivation with psychopathology symptoms and indirect effects. Hypothesized mechanisms included emotion processing (adaptation to emotional conflict, task-active ROIs for emotional n-back) and cognition (EF and task-active ROIs for the stop-signal task); exploratory analyses included neural function (of amygdala to network and within-network resting state connectivity). Results: Associations of neighborhood deprivation and all symptoms were mediated by EF; links with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) were mediated by retrosplenial temporal and dorsal attention within-network connectivity. In contrast, neighborhood threat was associated with attention difficulties, internalizing problems, and PLEs uniquely via default mode within-network connectivity; with attention difficulties, externalizing symptoms, and PLEs through amygdala-dorsal attention within-network connectivity, with PLEs and externalizing symptoms through visual within-network connectivity; with PLEs and attention difficulties through amygdala-sensorimotor connectivity, and with PLEs through amygdala-salience network connectivity. Conclusion: Neighborhood deprivation and threat predicted symptoms through distinct neural and cognitive pathways, with implications for prevention and intervention efforts at contextual levels.

KW - brain

KW - deprivation

KW - development

KW - neighborhood

KW - threat

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105009654950

U2 - 10.1017/S095457942510031X

DO - 10.1017/S095457942510031X

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105009654950

SN - 0954-5794

VL - 37

SP - 2646

EP - 2660

JO - Development and psychopathology

JF - Development and psychopathology

ER -