It is well established that one’s home environment during childhood and adolescence is associated with lasting impacts on psychological and physical well-being in adulthood. For example, having experienced maltreatment and adverse home environments during childhood is associated with increased risk of psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicidality, as well as being linked to physical illness such as heart and lung disease (Filitti et al., 1998). In addition, lower perceived neighborhood safety—mediated by parental stress and family conflict—has been associated with greater presence of externalizing behaviors, such as aggression, impulsivity, deviance, and hyperactivity, in children and adolescents (Li et al., 2017).
Extensive research has examined the effects of adverse experiences during early childhood, but the transition from childhood to adolescence is also a critical period in brain development, and less is known about how adversity during this period affects brain development. The human brain develops rapidly as one approaches adulthood, and changes in white matter integrity during adolescence, including strengthening of thalamic pathways and the corpus callosum, coincide with changes in cognitive and behavioral development, such as greater use of complex and refined cognitive skills, which include such things as problem-focused coping, abstract thinking, and better emotion regulation skills (Barnea-Goraly et al., 2005). These cognitive and neurobiological changes allow an individual to successfully transition from childhood to adulthood, but they may also leave adolescents particularly vulnerable to the impact of aversive environmental factors including abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. Indeed, a correlation has been found between stress occurring in …
Correspondence should be addressed to Tristan A. Benjamin at tristan.benjamin{at}marquette.edu.
