Social threat, neural connectivity, and adolescent mental health: a population-based longitudinal study

Abstract Background Although perceived threats in a child’s social environment, including in the family, school, and neighborhood, are known to increase risk for adolescent psychopathology, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate, we examined whether perceived social threats were associated with the functional connectivity of large-scale cortical networks in early adolescence, and whether such connectivity differences mediated the development of subsequent mental health problems in youth. Methods Structural equation models were used to analyze data from 8,690 youth (50% female, 45% non-White, age 9–10 years) drawn from the large-scale, nationwide Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study that has 21 clinical and research sites across the United States. Data were collected from 2016 to 2018. Results Consistent with Social Safety Theory, perceived social threats were prospectively associated with mental health problems both 6 months (standardized $ \beta =0.27,p<.001 $ ) and 30 months ( $ \beta =0.14,p<.001 $ ) later. Perceived social threats predicted altered connectivity patterns within and between the default mode (DMN), dorsal attention (DAN), frontoparietal (FPN), and cingulo-opercular (CON) networks. In turn, hypoconnectivity within the DMN and FPN – and higher (i.e., less negative) connectivity between DMN-DAN, DMN-CON, and FPN-CON – mediated the association between perceived social threats and subsequent mental health problems. Conclusions Perceiving social threats in various environments may alter neural connectivity and increase the risk of psychopathology in youth. Therefore, parenting, educational, and community-based interventions that bolster social safety may be helpful.