Neurobiological metric of cortical delay discounting differentiates risk for self- and other-directed violence among trauma-exposed individuals
Date
2023-09-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science
Abstract
Self- and other-directed violence (SDV/ODV) contribute to elevated rates of mortality. Early trauma exposure shows robust positive associations with these forms of violence but alone does not distinguish those at heightened risk for later engagement in SDV/ODV. Novel assessment metrics could aid early identification efforts for individuals with vulnerabilities to violence perpetration. This study examined a novel neurobiological measure of impulsive choice for reward as a potential moderator of associations between childhood trauma exposure and lifetime SDV/ODV. A high-risk community sample of 177 adults (89 men; 50.3%) were assessed for childhood trauma exposure, engagement in SDV (e.g., suicide attempts), and ODV (e.g., assault). A cortical delay discounting (C-DD) measure was created using a multivariate additive model of gray matter thickness across both hemispheres, previously found to be positively associated with susceptibility to impulsivity and externalizing disorders. Childhood trauma exposure was positively associated with ODV and SDV; however, these relationships differed as a function of C-DD. Engagement in ODV increased as scores on C-DD increased, and SDV increased as scores on C-DD decreased. Furthermore, moderation revealed biological sex differences, as the association between childhood trauma and SDV depended on C-DD for women but not for men. Findings from the present work demonstrate that risk conferred by childhood trauma exposure to violence varied as a function of a C-DD. Together, these findings point to the utility of neurobiological markers of impulsive decision-making for differentiating risk for violence among individuals with a history of trauma exposure.
Description
This article was originally published in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. © American Psychological Association, 2023. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000857
Keywords
violence, suicide, aggression, cortical delay discounting, trauma
Citation
Sheehan, A. E., Bounoua, N., Stumps, A., Miglin, R., Huerta, W., & Sadeh, N. (2023). Neurobiological metric of cortical delay discounting differentiates risk for self- and other-directed violence among trauma-exposed individuals. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 132(7), 897–907. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000857