Unraveling the neural threads: Exploring the association of violence exposure with early adolescent brain connectivity

Violence affects over one billion children globally each year. Early adolescence is a sensitive period for neurobehavioral development, making it critical to understand how violence impacts the brain. While emotional, physical, and social outcomes related to violence have been extensively studied, the neurobiological mechanisms linking violence to developmental outcomes remain underexplored. This study investigated associations between violence and neural communication in 9-10 year olds from the longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development-Social Development Study (n = 2016). Regression analyses tested whether lifetime violence exposure (ages 9-10), recent exposure (ages 11-13), and cumulative exposures over three years were associated with connectivity between critical networks and subcortical regions. Findings revealed distinct types of violence were associated with alterations in brain connectivity across critical networks involved in emotional regulation, cognitive control, and threat detection. Internet victimization was consistently associated with alterations in neural communication, suggesting digital environments may uniquely influence neural pathways linked to self-reflection and emotional processing. Cumulative violence exposure was associated with greater increases in progression of neural communication between the default mode and salience networks and the salience network and hippocampus. These findings emphasize the need for tailored interventions addressing specific violence exposures, mitigating potential impacts on youth brain development and emotional health.