Antenatal maternal intimate partner violence exposure is associated with sex-specific alterations in brain structure among young infants: Evidence from a South African birth cohort.

Journal: Developmental cognitive neuroscience

Volume: 60

Issue: 

Year of Publication: 2023

Affiliated Institutions:  Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK. Electronic address: lh@bath.ac.uk. Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; The Neuroscience institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; The Neuroscience institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. The Neuroscience institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; SA MRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. The Neuroscience institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; The Neuroscience institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, USA. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; SA MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Abstract summary 

Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy has been linked to adverse outcomes in children with evidence of sex-specific effects on brain development. Here, we investigated whether in utero exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), a particularly severe maternal stressor, is associated with brain structure in young infants from a South African birth cohort. Exposure to IPV during pregnancy was measured in 143 mothers at 28-32 weeks' gestation and infants underwent structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (mean age 3 weeks). Subcortical volumetric estimates were compared between IPV-exposed (n = 63; 52% female) and unexposed infants (n = 80; 48% female), with white matter microstructure also examined in a subsample (IPV-exposed, n = 28, 54% female; unexposed infants, n = 42, 40% female). In confound adjusted analyses, maternal IPV exposure was associated with sexually dimorphic effects in brain volumes: IPV exposure predicted a larger caudate nucleus among males but not females, and smaller amygdala among females but not males. Diffusivity alterations within white matter tracts of interest were evident in males, but not females exposed to IPV. Results were robust to the removal of mother-infant pairs with pregnancy complications. Further research is required to understand how these early alterations are linked to the sex-bias in neuropsychiatric outcomes later observed in IPV-exposed children.

Authors & Co-authors:  Hiscox Lucy V LV Fairchild Graeme G Donald Kirsten A KA Groenewold Nynke A NA Koen Nastassja N Roos Annerine A Narr Katherine L KL Lawrence Marina M Hoffman Nadia N Wedderburn Catherine J CJ Barnett Whitney W Zar Heather J HJ Stein Dan J DJ Halligan Sarah L SL

Study Outcome 

Source Link: Visit source

Statistics
Citations :  Acosta H., Tuulari J.J., Scheinin N.M., Hashempour N., Rajasilta O., Lavonius T.I., Pelto J., Saunavaara V., Parkkola R., Lähdesmäki T., Karlsson L., Karlsson H. Maternal pregnancy-related anxiety is associated with sexually dimorphic alterations in amygdala volume in 4-year-old children. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 2019;13:175. 〈https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00175〉 [10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00175] [10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00175];Jewkes R. Intimate partner violence: causes and prevention. Lancet. 2002;359(9315):1423–1429. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08357-5.
Authors :  14
Identifiers
Doi : 101210
SSN : 1878-9307
Study Population
Males,Females,Mothers,Male
Mesh Terms
Male
Other Terms
Antenatal stress;Brain imaging;Intimate partner violence;LMIC;Neonate;Trauma
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
South Africa
Publication Country
Netherlands