Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York.
Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York.
Dev Psychobiol. 2019 Sep;61(6):953-961. doi: 10.1002/dev.21859. Epub 2019 Apr 21.
Although parental harshness has been consistently linked with increased depressive symptoms in youth, its associations with children's brain structure are not well understood. The striatum has been strongly implicated in depression in adolescents and adults. In this study, we investigated the associations among parental harsh discipline, striatal volume, and depressive symptoms in children. Participants were parents and their 5- to 9-year-old children (63% female; 29% African American; 47% Hispanic/Latino). Parents completed questionnaires about their parenting behaviors and children's depressive symptoms. Children participated in a high-resolution, T1-weighted MRI scan, and volumetric data for the caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens were extracted (n = 20 with both parenting and MRI data; n = 48 with both MRI and depressive symptom data). Findings indicated that more frequent parental harsh discipline was significantly associated with smaller dorsal striatal volume (caudate plus putamen). In addition, smaller dorsal striatal volume was significantly associated with increased depressive symptoms in children. These associations remained significant after accounting for child age, sex, whole brain volume, and parental depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that parental harsh discipline may be associated with children's striatal volume, which may in turn be associated with their level of depressive symptoms.
虽然父母的严厉一直与青少年抑郁症状的增加有关，但它与儿童大脑结构的关系还不太清楚。纹状体在青少年和成年人的抑郁症中被强烈牵连。在这项研究中，我们调查了父母严厉的纪律、纹状体体积和儿童抑郁症状之间的关联。参与者是父母及其 5 至 9 岁的孩子（63%为女性；29%为非裔美国人；47%为西班牙裔/拉丁裔）。父母完成了关于他们养育行为和孩子抑郁症状的问卷。孩子们参加了高分辨率 T1 加权 MRI 扫描，提取了尾状核、壳核和伏隔核的体积数据（n=20 名父母和 MRI 数据均有；n=48 名 MRI 和抑郁症状数据均有）。研究结果表明，父母更频繁地严厉管教与背侧纹状体体积（尾状核加壳核）较小有关。此外，背侧纹状体体积较小与儿童抑郁症状增加显著相关。在考虑了儿童年龄、性别、全脑体积和父母抑郁症状后，这些关联仍然显著。这些发现表明，父母的严厉纪律可能与儿童的纹状体体积有关，而纹状体体积又可能与他们的抑郁症状水平有关。
