Brain structure and functional connectivity linking childhood cumulative trauma to COVID-19 vicarious traumatization

Xiqin Liu; Yajun Zhao; Jingguang Li; Xueling Suo; Qiyong Gong; Song Wang

doi:10.1111/jcpp.13989

Brain structure and functional connectivity linking childhood cumulative trauma to COVID-19 vicarious traumatization

J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 17. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13989. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiqin Liu^{1

2

3}, Yajun Zhao⁴, Jingguang Li⁵, Xueling Suo^{2

3}, Qiyong Gong^{1

2

3}, Song Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, Xiamen, China.
² Department of Radiology and Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
³ Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China.
⁴ School of Education and Psychology, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China.
⁵ College of Teacher Education, Dali University, Dali, China.

PMID: 38629717
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13989

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some individuals to experience vicarious traumatization (VT), an adverse psychological reaction to those who are primarily traumatized, which may negatively impact one's mental health and well-being and has been demonstrated to vary with personal trauma history. The neural mechanism of VT and how past trauma history affects current VT remain largely unknown. This study aimed to identify neurobiological markers that track individual differences in VT and reveal the neural link between childhood cumulative trauma (CCT) and VT.

Methods: We used structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging before the pandemic to identify prospective brain markers for COVID-related VT by correlating individuals' VT levels during the pandemic with the gray matter volume (GMV) and seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and examined how these brain markers linked CCT to VT in a sample of general young adults (N = 115/100).

Results: Whole-brain GMV-behavior correlation analysis showed that VT was positively associated with GMV in the right dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus (DLPFC). Using the cluster derived from the GMV-behavior correlation analysis as the seed region, we further revealed that the RSFC between the right DLPFC and right precuneus was negatively associated with VT. Importantly, the right DLPFC volume and DLPFC-precuneus RSFC mediated the effect of CCT on VT. These findings remained unaffected by factors such as family socioeconomic status, other stressful life events, and general mental health.

Conclusions: Overall, our study presents structural and functional brain markers for VT and highlights these brain-based markers as a potential neural mechanism linking CCT to COVID-related VT, which has implications for treating and preventing the development of trauma-related mental disorders.

Keywords: COVID‐19; Childhood cumulative trauma; gray matter volume; resting‐state functional connectivity; vicarious traumatization.

Abstract

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