Work

Causal Effects of Enhanced Parenting on Resting-State Graph Properties of Adolescents at Risk for Maltreatment

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background This study investigates the sustained causal effects of enhanced early caregiving quality on adolescent brain network properties, approximately 11 years after families received an attachment-based parenting intervention. Methods Participants included 60 adolescents whose parents were referred by Child Protective Services (CPS) because of risk for child maltreatment and 35 adolescents from families without a CPS history (total N=95). CPS-involved families were randomly assigned to either the target intervention (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up, ABC; N=31) or a control intervention (Developmental Education for Families, DEF; N=29) before the infants turned 2. During adolescence (M age =13.4 years, SD=0.37), participants underwent a 6-minute resting-state functional MRI scan. Results Graph theoretical analyses were completed with intervention status as the group-level predictor of interest. Adolescents who received ABC exhibited distinct global and local network properties compared to the DEF group. The ABC group demonstrated lower current-flow global efficiency and more hierarchical structure, indicating intervention-driven modulation of connectome-wide neurodevelopmental outcomes. Node-specific analyses also indicate intervention effects on clustering coefficients and communicability distances in frontal, limbic, and parietal cortices, suggesting nuanced effects of early interventions on local network properties. Exploratory moderation analyses revealed associations between brain network metrics and externalizing symptoms in the DEF group—indicative of neurobiological risk—that were absent in the ABC and low-risk groups. Conclusions The results suggest that the ABC intervention causally shapes the development of the resting-state connectome and associated regulatory health, offering insights into the neural pathways through which early enhanced care may get under the skin of at-risk adolescents.

Source: Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science

DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2025.100646

Authors: Marta Korom, Mary Dozier, Hung-Wei Bernie Chen, Elisa Macera, Nim Tottenham, Jeffrey M. Spielberg

Institutions: University of Delaware, University of Southern California, Columbia University

Language: English

Topic: Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,700