Testing the ecophenotype hypothesis: Differences in white matter microstructure in youth with conduct disorder with versus without a history of childhood abuse

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sophie Townend - , University of Bath (Author)
  • Marlene Staginnus - , University of Bath (Author)
  • Jack Rogers - , University of Birmingham (Author)
  • Areti Smaragdi - , Child Development Institute (Author)
  • Anne Martinelli - , University Hospital Frankfurt, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences Idstein (Author)
  • Anka Bernhard - , Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt (Author)
  • Nora Maria Raschle - , University of Zurich, ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Gregor Kohls - , Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ) - Partner Site Leipzig/Dresden (Author)
  • Kerstin Konrad - , RWTH Aachen University (Author)
  • Christina Stadler - , University of Basel (Author)
  • Christine M. Freitag - , University Hospital Frankfurt (Author)
  • Esther Walton - , University of Bath (Author)
  • Stephane A. De Brito - , University of Birmingham (Author)
  • Graeme Fairchild - , University of Bath (Author)

Abstract

Childhood maltreatment is a key risk factor for conduct disorder (CD), and the "ecophenotype hypothesis"suggests that maltreatment-related versus non-maltreatment-related CD are neurobiologically distinct. This may explain inconsistent findings in previous structural connectivity studies of CD. We tested this hypothesis by comparing youth with CD with (CD/+) versus without (CD/-) childhood physical or sexual abuse in white-matter microstructure. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected from 100 CD and 169 control participants aged 9-18 years. Using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, we compared the CD and control groups in fractional anisotropy, and axial, radial and mean diffusivity, then compared the CD/+ (n = 39) and CD/- (n = 61) subgroups and controls. The combined CD group had higher fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum than controls. When divided by abuse history, only the CD/- subgroup exhibited higher corpus callosum fractional anisotropy than controls; the CD/+ subgroup did not differ from controls. Comparing the CD subgroups, the CD/+ subgroup displayed higher superior longitudinal fasciculus axial diffusivity than the CD/- subgroup. Notably, sex-stratified analyses yielded different findings in all-male and all-female samples. Findings support the ecophenotype hypothesis, demonstrating microstructural differences between the CD/+ and CD/- subgroups and emphasizing the importance of considering abuse/maltreatment (and sex) in future studies.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalDevelopment and psychopathology
Volume(2025)
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 26 May 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-2408-2939/work/188858112
ORCID /0000-0001-8864-1360/work/197966010

Keywords

Keywords

  • antisocial behavior, child abuse, childhood maltreatment, conduct disorder, diffusion tensor imaging, Keywords:, sex differences