Project Details
Projekt
The influence of stressful life events on trajectories of brain development and psychopathological symptoms in adolescence
Applicant
Dr. Nora C. Vetter
Subject Area
General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Term
from 2016 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 290210763
Adolescence, reaching from puberty until young adulthood, marks a phase of substantial vulnerability to stressful life events. Nowadays adolescents face higher stress levels due to higher workload in educational environments, and a prolonged phase of adolescence related with more diverse and uncertain life paths. Stressful life events can entail physical changes, as well as social and academic developmental tasks. Adolescence is a critical phase of brain development: while bottom-up subcortical emotion regions are relatively mature, top-down control regions continue to develop. As has been shown in previous studies these regions are most vulnerable to stress in adults. Therefore, their sensitive development in adolescence can be disturbed by stress. Little is known about the impact of stressful life events on brain development during adolescence yet. Investigating this impact is important since potential consequences of stress are anxiety disorders and depression which peak in adolescence. The first aim of the project is to elucidate effects of stressful life events on brain development across adolescence and identify developmental trajectories associated with the risk of psychopathology. The second aim is to explore whether specific developmental brain trajectories might be associated with greater likelihood of exhibiting symptoms of depression and anxiety. A major advantage for the planned longitudinal project is that magnetic resonance imaging data was already assessed at 3 time points (14, 16, 18 years), and stressful life events were assessed at 5 time points (14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 years). Preliminary results show an increase in activation of the prefrontal cortex from age 14 to 16. Our related publication indicates vulnerability for 14-year-old adolescents with a positive family history of depression reflected in higher amygdala activation.The longitudinal assessment of a large sample (n=250) will be methodologically innovative, i.e. repeated measurements of participants' brain activity, structure and connectivity with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ages 19.5, and 21. The rich data set will enable for the first time analysis of developmental trajectories of brain function, structure, and connectivity in relation to stressful life events. For this purpose complex structural equation models will be employed. The results of this project will contribute to the knowledge about the impact of stressful life events on brain development and psychopathological symptoms in adolescence. The project will lay the groundwork for awareness and early diagnosis of risk-factors in the vulnerable phase of adolescence to support prevention and intervention.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Belgium, USA
