Corticostriatal-Limbic Gray Matter Morphology in Adolescents With Self-reported Exposure to Childhood Maltreatment

TLDR: Even if adolescents reporting exposure to CM do not present with symptoms that meet full criteria for psychiatric disorders, they may have corticostriatal-limbic GM morphologic alterations that place them at risk for behavioral difficulties.

Abstract: Objective To study the relationship between self-reported exposure to childhood maltreatment (CM) and cerebral gray matter (GM) morphology in adolescents without psychiatric diagnoses. Design Associations were examined between regional GM morphology and exposure to CM (measured using a childhood trauma self-report questionnaire for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and for physical and emotional neglect). Setting University hospital. Participants Forty-two adolescents without psychiatric diagnoses. Main Outcome Measures Correlations between childhood trauma self-report questionnaire scores and regional GM volume were assessed in voxel-based analyses of structural magnetic resonance images. Relationships among GM volume, subtypes of exposure to CM, and sex were explored. Results Childhood trauma self-report questionnaire total scores correlated negatively (P  Conclusions Exposure to CM was associated with corticostriatal-limbic GM reductions in adolescents. Even if adolescents reporting exposure to CM do not present with symptoms that meet full criteria for psychiatric disorders, they may have corticostriatal-limbic GM morphologic alterations that place them at risk for behavioral difficulties. Vulnerabilities may be moderated by sex and by subtypes of exposure to CM.