Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Language
English
Publication Date
3-4-2026
Journal
Biological Psychiatry
DOI
10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.02.016
PMID
41791639
Abstract
Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM), encompassing abuse and neglect, is highly prevalent and associated with elevated risk for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other related conditions. The extent to which neuroanatomical alterations in MDD and PTSD are attributable to CM, however, is uncertain.
Methods: Here, we analyzed CM and whole-brain MRI data from 3,711 participants in the ENIGMA MDD and PTSD Working Groups (25 sites; 33.3±13.0 years; 59.9% female). Normative modeling estimated deviation z-scores for 14 subcortical volumes (SV), 68 cortical thickness (CT), and 68 surface area (SA) measures. To identify transdiagnostic effects, associations between CM and brain deviation scores were evaluated across all participants (patients and healthy controls) stratified by sex and three age bins (pediatric, young adult, older adult).
Results: In young adults (ages 18-35), abuse was associated with larger volumes in thalamus and pallidum, thinner isthmus cingulate and middle frontal regions, and thicker medial orbitofrontal cortex; there were no significant effects in pediatric (≤18 years) participants. The strongest effects were observed in young female adults (|β|=.07-.22, q< .05): greater abuse and neglect were correlated with smaller hippocampus and putamen volumes, thinner entorhinal cortex, and smaller SA in fusiform/inferior parietal regions, and with larger SA in orbitofrontal and occipital cortices. In males, abuse had widespread effects on CT and SA (|β|=.1-.18, q< .05); effects for neglect were minimal.
Conclusions: Our findings of age- and sex-specific instantiations of CM on brain morphometry highlight the importance of developmental context in understanding how adverse experiences shape neurobiological vulnerability to MDD and PTSD.
Keywords
Childhood maltreatment, PTSD, brain morphometry, major depressive disorder, normative modeling, sex differences
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Wang, Haley R; Liu, Zhen-Qi; Pozzi, Elena; et al., "Childhood Maltreatment and Deviations from Normative Brain Structure: A Mega-Analysis of 3,711 Individuals from the ENIGMA MDD and ENIGMA PTSD Working Groups" (2026). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 6544.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthgsbs_docs/6544
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