Exposure to various forms of childhood adversity, such as family conflict and peer aggression, may significantly impact psychiatric risks and cognitive outcomes throughout early adolescence, according to a recent study.
The cohort study examined the distinct effects of traumatic and adverse childhood experiences (TRACEs) on mental health and cognitive development during early adolescence. Data was analyzed from 11,876 children, aged 9 to 10 at baseline and reaching 12 to 13 by the study’s end, as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Researchers distilled 268 distinct adverse life events into 8 key adversity components, including family conflict, peer aggression, poverty, community threat, caregiver maladjustment, chronic pain, discrimination, and interpersonal violence.
Findings revealed that distinct adversities had varied effects on mental health outcomes. Family conflict and peer aggression were associated with increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms across early adolescence, with peer aggression (t = 5.31) and family conflict (t = 5.67) showing significant associations with symptom escalation. In contrast, community threat (t = 2.82) and poverty (t = 2.07) were linked to reductions in psychiatric symptoms over time, which researchers suggest may reflect adaptive responses rather than protective effects.
Cognitive outcomes were also impacted by resource deprivation, including poverty and caregiver maladjustment, leading to declines in cognitive function throughout the study period. Nearly all adversity components were associated with lower cognitive ability and poorer mental health at the baseline assessment. Longitudinal analysis indicated that family conflict and caregiver maladjustment had the strongest baseline association with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms, emphasizing the specific impact of different types of adversity.
These findings, published in JAMA Psychiatry, underscore that TRACEs differentially influence psychiatric and cognitive trajectories, highlighting the importance of targeted prevention and intervention strategies. Importantly, while certain forms of adversity were linked to symptom reductions, the study cautions that these associations may reflect shifts in symptom timing rather than protective effects.
Full disclosures can be found in the published study.
