Understanding the Role of Pubertal Timing and Tempo with Adolescent Brain Development: Effects of Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Outcomes in Young Adulthood

Abstract

Adolescence is a vulnerable developmental period characterized by the onset of puberty accompanied by social and physical changes that contribute to brain development and risk for psychopathology. Specifically, changes in hormones during this period may be related to the development of neural circuitry associated with cognitive and affective processes that are often associated with adolescent adjustment and mental health problems. Additionally, theoretical models of stress acceleration propose that early life adversity may be associated with accelerated biological aging, including faster neurodevelopment, earlier pubertal timing, and faster pubertal development. The current study aimed to clarify longitudinal pathways from childhood abuse and neglect to adolescent substance use and depressive symptoms through longitudinal changes in pubertal status and brain activation across four years. Hypothesized models were tested using bivariate growth curve modeling. The sample included 167 adolescents (13-14 years old at Time 1) assessed annually for six years. Adolescents completed the Multi-Source Interference Task and an Economic Lottery Choice Task while blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses were monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) from ages 14 to 17. The Pubertal Development Scale was used to assess pubertal status from ages 14 to 17. Adolescents retrospectively reported on maltreatment experiences occurring during ages 1 to 13 using the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure. Substance use and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Adult Self-Report at ages 18 to 20. The results indicated that abuse, not neglect, was significantly associated with earlier pubertal timing (indicating accelerated biological aging). Significant indirect effects revealed that abuse, not neglect, was associated with higher depressive symptoms through accelerated developmental changes in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex during cognitive control. In addition, abuse, not neglect, was associated with higher substance use through earlier pubertal timing and slower pubertal tempo during mid-adolescence. These findings elucidate how abuse and neglect differentially influence indicators of biological aging (e.g. pubertal timing, pubertal tempo, brain maturation) and mental health outcomes. The current findings emphasize the significant role of childhood abuse in substance use and depression in young adulthood through accelerated aging (i.e., pubertal development and brain maturation).