Work

The biological burden of conflict across populations worldwide

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Contemporary societies are increasingly shaped by multilayered forms of interindividual and intergroup conflict that transcend traditional political or military boundaries.1,2 Violence, forced migration, environmental degradation, institutional fragility and widening social and political polarisation interact to generate complex forms of adversity that affect entire populations.These conditions carry profound consequences for mental and brain health, yet their biological impact remains insufficiently integrated into global health and policy agendas.Recent analyses show that even political polarisation itself now functions as a determinant of population health, shaping stress, trust, behaviour and risk perception.3 Thus, understanding the biological burden of conflict requires a genuinely transdisciplinary perspective capable of linking neurobiological mechanisms with social determinants, ecological pressures and institutional dynamics. CONFLICT EVERYWHEREAlthough classical armed conflicts persist, today's adversities extend beyond the battlefield.Many societies face recent escalating political polarisation, intergroup conflict, radicalisation, recurrent violence, institutional erosion, widening inequality and expanding illicit economies, including the resurgence of narcotrafficking and environmentally destructive extractive activities.High-income regions are not exempt; rising polarisation, mass shootings, hate crimes, digital extremism and climate-related displacement in the United States and Europe illustrate how conflict-like dynamics increasingly permeate daily life (Figure 1).Globally, conflict-related adversity is intensifying.Countries such as Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar, Venezuela,

Source: Clinical and Translational Medicine

DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.70574

Authors: Juan F. Cardona, Hernando Santamaría‐García, Agustín Ibáñez