TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Children with maltreatment exposure exhibit rumination-like spontaneous thought patterns: association with symptoms of depression, subcallosal cingulate cortex thickness, and cortisol levels
JO  - Journal of child psychology and psychiatry
A1  - Hoffmann, Ferdinand
A1  - Linz, Roman
A1  - Steinbeis, Nikolaus
A1  - Bauer, Martin
A1  - Dammering, Felix
A1  - Lazarides, Claudia
A1  - Klawitter, Heiko
A1  - Bentz, Lea
A1  - Entringer, Sonja
A1  - Winter, Sibylle M.
A1  - Buss, Claudia
A1  - Heim, Christine
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is associated with pervasive risk for depression. However, the immediate cognitive and neural mechanisms that mediate this risk during development are unknown. We here studied the impact of maltreatment on self-generated thought (SGT) patterns and their association with depressive symptoms, subcallosal cingulate cortex (SCC) thickness, and cortisol levels in children. <br><br>METHODS: We recruited 183 children aged 6-12 years, 96 of which were exposed to maltreatment. Children performed a mind wandering task to elicit SGTs. A subgroup of children underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (N = 155) for SCC thickness analyses and saliva collection for quantification of free cortisol concentrations (N = 126) was collected. Using network analysis, we assessed thought networks and compared these networks between children with and without maltreatment exposure. Using multilevel analyses, we then tested the association between thought networks of children with maltreatment exposure with depressive symptoms, SCC thickness, and cortisol levels. <br><br>RESULTS: Children exposed to maltreatment generated fewer positively valenced thoughts. Network analysis revealed rumination-like thought patterns in children with maltreatment exposure, which were associated with depressive symptoms, SCC thickness, and cortisol levels. Children with maltreatment exposure further exhibited decreased future-self thought coupling, which was associated with depressive symptoms, while other-related and past-oriented thoughts had the greatest importance within the network. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Using a novel network analytic approach, we provide evidence that children exposed to maltreatment exhibit ruminative clustering of thoughts, which is associated with depressive symptoms and neurobiological correlates of depression. Our results provide a specific target for clinical translation to design early interventions for middle childhood. Targeting thought patterns in children with maltreatment exposure may be an effective strategy to effectively mitigate depression risk early in life.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0021-9630
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13853
ID  - ref1
ER  -