Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41672232›Full record

ArticleNeuroscience2026

The moderating role of psychological resilience on brain aging and PTSD in a community sample of South African women.

E Kate Webb, Sheri-Michelle Koopowitz, Jonathan Ipser, Nastassja Koen, Marilyn T Lake, Nadia Hoffman, Heather J Zar, Kerry J Ressler, Nathaniel G Harnett, Dan J Stein

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

E Kate WebbMcLean Hospital, Division of Depression and Anxiety Disorders, Belmont, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: kate.webb@duke.edu.
Sheri-Michelle KoopowitzDepartment of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Jonathan IpserDepartment of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Nastassja KoenDepartment of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Cape Town, South Africa.
Marilyn T LakeDepartment of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Nadia HoffmanDepartment of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Heather J ZarDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Unit on Child and Adolescent Health, Cape Town, South Africa.
Kerry J ResslerMcLean Hospital, Division of Depression and Anxiety Disorders, Belmont, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA.
Nathaniel G HarnettMcLean Hospital, Division of Depression and Anxiety Disorders, Belmont, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA.
Dan J SteinDepartment of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Cape Town, South Africa.

Funding

Multimodal characterization of affective visual processing in the early aftermath of traumaK01MH129828 · NIMH · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · PI Nathaniel G Harnett · 2023 to 2026
$719k
The Biological Cost of External and Internal Resilience Factors in Trauma SurvivorsF32MH134443 · NIMH · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · PI WEBB, ELISABETH KATHLEEN · 2023 to 2023
$69k
NIMH NIH HHS F32 MH134443NIMH NIH HHS K01 MH129828
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with accelerated biological aging. In general, psychological resilience is related to more normative aging patterns; however, among individuals with PTSD, resilience may be associated with older biological aging. For example, prior work suggests that individuals with PTSD who have higher psychological resilience show more advanced epigenetic aging than individuals with lower psychological resilience. We investigated whether psychological resilience moderated the relationship between PTSD and brain aging in a community sample of South African women. Individuals (N = 189) were recruited as part of the Drakenstein Child Health Study. Participants underwent a structural MRI and completed questionnaires of PTSD (modified-PTSD Symptom Scale, mPSS) and psychological resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; CD-RISC). Using a pre-trained model, a predicted brain age gap was derived. Linear models tested a CD-RISC x Group (no trauma exposure (NTE), trauma-exposed [TE], and PTSD) interaction on brain age gap. Follow-up models probed regional brain age gap (e.g., subcortical, frontal, parietal). There was no main effect of Group on brain age gap. There was a significant CD-RISC x Group interaction, such that higher CD-RISC scores were associated with a positive brain age gap (reflecting an older appearing brain) only in women with suspected PTSD but not in NTE or TE individuals. Follow-up tests showed the CD-RISC x Group interaction was only significant in the subcortical region, suggesting the effect was driven by alterations in subcortical structures frequently implicated in PTSD. Future longitudinal work should examine whether psychological resilience moderates PTSD-related brain aging across time.

Indexed as

AgingBrainResilience, PsychologicalStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdultFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMiddle AgedSouth AfricaSouthern African PeopleBrain agingPTSDResilienceStructural MRITrauma

Identifiers

PMID41672232
PMCPMC12997102

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.