Exploring the mediating role of functional connectivity in the association between violence exposure and psychopathology during early adolescence.

Early adolescence represents a sensitive developmental period characterized by rapid maturation of large scale brain systems and heightened vulnerability to environmental influences, such as exposure to violence. Guided by the Triple Network Model of Psychopathology and the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology, this study examined if intrinsic functional connectivity between the default mode network, frontoparietal network, and salience network and two subcortical regions (hippocampus and amygdala) mediated associations between violence exposure and psychopathology using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Social Development Study. Violence exposure domains, including conventional crime, peer victimization, witnessing violence, internet victimization and school climate, had direct associations with increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Internet victimization demonstrated strong associations with neurobehavioral development, influencing communication between brain networks and regions. Violence exposure was associated with decreased connectivity across cortical-subcortical pairs, except for salience network-hippocampus connectivity which increased and emerged as a consistent mediator across multiple domains of violence. These findings suggest that alterations in large scale network communication may represent intermediate neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities linking violence exposure to later psychopathology during early adolescence. Results emphasize the importance of understanding trajectories of brain development in the face of violence exposure, as they may provide insights into potential biomarkers for early intervention and inform more targeted prevention and treatment strategies.