Neural vulnerability and hurricane-related media are associated with post-traumatic stress in youth

• Published in: Nature human behaviour 2021-11, Vol.5 (11), p.1578-1589
• Main Authors: Dick, Anthony Steven, Silva, Karina, Gonzalez, Raul, Sutherland, Matthew T., Laird, Angela R., Thompson, Wesley K., Tapert, Susan F., Squeglia, Lindsay M., Gray, Kevin M., Nixon, Sara Jo, Cottler, Linda B., La Greca, Annette M., Gurwitch, Robin H., Comer, Jonathan S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 4014/477/2811; 631/378/2649/2150; 706/689/477/2811; Amygdala - diagnostic imaging; Amygdala - pathology; Anxiety; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - pathology; Child; Children; Children & youth; Cyclonic Storms; Disasters; Experimental Psychology; Female; Florida; Functional Neuroimaging; Geography; Gyrus Cinguli - diagnostic imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - pathology; Hippocampus - diagnostic imaging; Hippocampus - pathology; Humans; Hurricanes; Injuries; Life Sciences; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mass Media; Microeconomics; Neurosciences; Personality and Social Psychology; Post traumatic stress disorder; Reactivity; Risk Factors; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Vulnerability; Youth
• ISSN: 2397-3374; 2397-3374
• DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01216-3

The human toll of disasters extends beyond death, injury and loss. Post-traumatic stress (PTS) can be common among directly exposed individuals, and children are particularly vulnerable. Even children far removed from harm’s way report PTS, and media-based exposure may partially account for this phenomenon. In this study, we examine this issue using data from nearly 400 9- to 11-year-old children collected before and after Hurricane Irma, evaluating whether pre-existing neural patterns moderate associations between hurricane experiences and later PTS. The ‘dose’ of both self-reported objective exposure and media exposure predicted PTS, the latter even among children far from the hurricane. Furthermore, neural responses in brain regions associated with anxiety and stress conferred particular vulnerability. For example, heightened amygdala reactivity to fearful stimuli moderated the association between self-reported media exposure and PTS. Collectively, these findings show that for some youth with measurable vulnerability, consuming extensive disaster-related media may offer an alternative pathway to disaster exposure that transcends geography and objective risk. Dick et al. show that in youth, post-traumatic stress related to Hurricane Irma was predicted by self-reported direct and media exposure. Furthermore, neural responses in brain regions associated with anxiety conferred particular vulnerability to media exposure.