A large body of evidence demonstrates the deleterious effects of childhood maltreatment that span across multiple levels of functioning and throughout development. This commentary highlights the important research in this special issue of Child Maltreatment that advances our understanding of the neural and physiological implications of maltreatment. Throughout, the commentary calls attention to critical issues in the study of maltreatment and neurobiological processes for future work in this area.
AndersenS. L. (2003). Trajectories of brain development: Point of vulnerability or window of opportunity?Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 27, 3–18. doi:10.1016/S0149-7634(03)00005-8
2.
AndersonS. L.TomadaA.VincowE. S.ValenteE.PolcariA.TeicherM. H. (2008). Preliminary evidence for sensitive periods in the effect of childhood sexual abuse on regional brain development. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 20, 292–301. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20.3.292
3.
BoyceW. T.EllisB. J. (2005). Biological sensitivity to context: I. An evolutionary-developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 271–301. doi:10.10170S0954579405050145
4.
CicchettiD.ValentinoK. (2006). An ecological-transactional perspective on child maltreatment: Failure of the average expectable environment and its influence on child development. In CicchettiD.CohenD. J. (Eds.), Development and psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 129–201). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
5.
De BellisM. D.MoreyR. A.NoonerK. B.WoolleyD. P.HaswellC. C.HooperS. R. (2019). A pilot study of neurocognitive function and brain structures in adolescents with alcohol use disorders: Does maltreatment history matter?Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559518810525
DePasqualeC. E.DonzellaB.GunnarM. R. (2019). Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life stress: A cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60, 566–575. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12992
8.
DoomJ. R.DoyleC. M.GunnarM. R. (2017). Social stress buffering by friends in childhood and adolescence: Effects on HPA and oxytocin activity. Social Neuroscience, 12, 8–21. doi:10.1080/17470919.2016.1149095
9.
DoomJ. R.HostinarC. E.VanZomeren-DohmA. A.GunnarM. R. (2015). The roles of puberty and age in explaining the diminished effectiveness of parental buffering of HPA reactivity and recovery in adolescence. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 59, 102–111. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.04.024
10.
DunnE. C.NishimiK.NeumannA.RenaudA.CecilC. A. M.SusserE. S.TiemerH. (2019). Time-dependent effects of exposure to physical and sexual violence on psychopathology symptoms in late childhood: In search of sensitive periods in development. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2019.02.022
11.
DunnE. C.SoareT. W.ZhuY.SimpkinsA. J.SudermanM. J.KlengelT.…ReltonC. L. (2019). Sensitive periods for the effect of childhood adversity on DNA methylation: Results from a prospective, longitudinal study. Biological Psychiatry, 85, 838–849. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.12.023
12.
GieddJ. N. (2004). Structural magnetic resonance imaging of the adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021, 77–85. doi:10.1196/annals.1308.009
13.
GunnarM. R.SullivanR. M. (2017). The neurodevelopment of social buffering and fear learning: Integration and crosstalk. Social Neuroscience, 12, 1–7. doi:10.1080/17470919.2016.1151824
14.
HallowellE. S.OshriA.LiebelS. W.LiuS.DudaB.ClarkU. S.SweetL. H. (2019). The mediating role of neural activity on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and impulsivity. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559519835975
15.
HankinB. L.YoungJ. F.GallopR.GarberJ. (2018). Cognitive and interpersonal vulnerabilities to adolescent depression: Classification of risk profiles for a personalized prevention approach. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 46, 1521–1533. doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0401-2
16.
HibelL. C.MercadoE.ValentinoK. (2019). Child maltreatment and mother-child transmission of stress physiology. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559519826295
17.
HostinarC. E.SullivanR. M.GunnarM. R. (2014). Psychobiological mechanism underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis: A review of animal models and human studies across development. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 256–282. doi:10.1037/a0032671
18.
KossK. J.GunnarM. R. (2018). Annual research review: Early adversity, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and child psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59, 327–346. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12784
19.
LunkenheimerE.BusuitoA.BrownK. M.PanlilioC.SkowronE. A. (2019). The interpersonal neurobiology of child maltreatment: Parasympathetic substrates of interactive repair in maltreating and nonmaltreating mother-child dyads. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559518824058
20.
LutzP. E.TureckiG. (2014). DNA methylation and childhood maltreatment: From animal models to human studies. Neuroscience, 264, 142–156. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.07.069
21.
MastenA. S.CicchettiD. (2010). Developmental cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 491–495. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000222
22.
McCroryE.OgleJ. R.GerinM. I.VidingE. (2019). Neurocognitive adaptation and mental health vulnerability following maltreatment: The role of social functioning. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559519830524
23.
McEwenB. S.WingfieldJ. C. (2003). The concept of allostasis in biology and biomedicine. Hormone and Behavior, 43, 2–15. doi:10.1016/S0018-506X(02)00024-7
24.
NemeroffC. B. (2016). Paradise lost: The neurobiological and clinical consequences of child abuse and neglect. Neuron, 89, 892–909. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2016.01.019
25.
OshriA.GrayJ. C.OwensM. M.LiuS.DupreyE. B.SweetL. H.MacKillopJ. (2019). Adverse childhood experiences and amygdalar reduction: High-resolution segmentation reveals associations with subnuclei and psychiatric outcomes. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559519839491
26.
OshriA.KoganS. M.KwonJ. A.WickramaK. A. S.VanderbroekL.PalmerA. A.MackillopJ. (2018). Impulsivity as a mechanism linking child abuse and neglect with substance use in adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 30, 417–435. doi:10.1017/S0954579417000943
27.
PeverillM.SheridanM. A.BussoD. S.McLaughlinK. A. (2019). Atypical prefrontal-amygdala circuitry following childhood exposure to abuse: Links with adolescent psychopathology. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559519852676
28.
PooleK. L.MacMillanH. L.SchmidtL. A. (2019). Trajectories of resting heart period and shyness in adolescent females exposed to child maltreatment. Child Maltreatment. doi:10.1177/1077559518818373
29.
SiskC. L.ZehrJ. L. (2005). Pubertal hormones organize the adolescent brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 26, 163–174. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2005.10.003
30.
ThibodeauE. L.AugustG. J.CicchettiD.SymonsF. J. (2016). Application of environmental sensitivity theories in personalized preventions for youth substance abuse: A transdisciplinary translational perspective. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 6, 81–89. doi:10.1007/s13142-015-0374-4
31.
ThompsonR. A.NelsonC. A. (2001). Developmental science and the media: Early brain development. American Psychologist, 56, 5–15. doi:10.1037//0003-066X.56.1.5
32.
TozziL.FarrellC.BooijL.DoolinK.NemodaZ.SzyfM.…FrodlT. (2018). Epigenetic changes in FKBP5 as a link connecting genetic and environmental risk factors with structural and functional brain changes in major depression. Neuropsychopharmacology, 43, 1138–1145. doi:10.1038/npp.2017.290
33.
TyrkaA. R.RidoutK. K.ParadeS. H.PaquetteA.MarsitC. J.SeiferR. (2015). Childhood maltreatment and methylation of FK506 binding protein 5 gene (FKBP5). Development and Psychopathology, 27, 1637–1645. doi:10.1017/S0954579415000991