Social Victimization, Default Mode Network Connectivity, and Psychotic-Like Experiences in Adolescents

Background and Hypothesis: Social victimization (SV), the experience of physical and/or psychological harm arising from adverse social experiences (e.g., bullying), has been associated with psychotic-like experiences (PLE). Similarly, abnormal resting state neural connectivity has been linked to increased SV and PLE. Yet, research has not directly examined the connections between SV, neural connectivity, and PLE. We test whether SV increases PLE through neural networks central to socio-affective processes, specifically the default mode (DMN) and salience networks (SAN) in a diverse nationwide sample of adolescents.Study

Design: Utilizing two-year follow-up data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, we use structural equation modeling to examine if a latent SV factor is associated with PLE, whether this association was mediated by the DMN and/or SAN, and whether these findings were consistent across three racial groups (Black, Hispanic, and White).Study

Results: The latent SV factor (peer victimization, discrimination) was significantly associated with PLE outcomes. Simultaneous mediation analyses indicated that the DMN mediated the SV-PLE association (accounting for approximately 1% of the association) while the SAN did not. Multigroup testing found that while Black and Hispanic adolescents experienced SV differently than their White peers, the DMN mediated the effect of SV on PLE for all racial groups.

Conclusions: These cross-sectional results highlight the importance SV, and its potential impact on social cognitive neural networks, for psychosis risk. Future work is needed to evaluate putative causal associations and the other factors that explain variance in adolescent PLE.