The Mediating Role of Resilience and Social Support on the Relationship Between Childhood Neglect and Adult Well-Being

Juvenile social isolation in Sprague Dawley rats does not have a lasting impact on social behavior in adulthood

Adolescent social interactions are essential for shaping adult behavior in humans. While rodent studies have highlighted the impact of social isolation on behavior, many extend isolation into adulthood, making it challenging to pinpoint the long-term consequences of juvenile isolation. To address these challenges, we examined the effects of social isolation using two independent protocols with male and female Sprague Dawley rats. In both prfotocols, rats were isolated during the juvenile stage; however, in one protocol, rats were re-socialized following isolation and tested in adulthood, while in the other, rats were tested immediately after isolation. This approach allowed us to determine whether social deficits emerged following adolescent isolation and if they could be reversed by re-socialization before adulthood. We found that juvenile isolation had no lasting effects but increased motivation for social interaction immediately after isolation. These findings underscore the need to account for housing conditions and isolation protocols when assessing the effects of social isolation.

Interaction of perceived social support and childhood maltreatment on limbic responsivity towards negative emotional stimuli in healthy individuals

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with increased limbic activity, while social support is linked to decreased limbic activity towards negative stimuli. Our study aimed to explore the interaction of perceived social support with CM, and their combined impact on limbic activity in negative emotion processing. A total of 130 healthy individuals (HC) underwent a negative emotional face processing paradigm. They were divided into two groups based on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: n = 65 HC without CM matched with n = 65 HC with CM. In a region-of-interest approach of the bilateral amygdala-hippocampus-complex (AHC), regression analyses investigating the association of CM and perceived social support with limbic activity and a social support x CM ANCOVA were conducted. CM was associated with increased AHC activity, while perceived social support tended to be associated with decreased AHC activity during negative emotion processing. The ANCOVA showed a significant interaction in bilateral AHC activity (pFWE ≤ 0.024) driven by a negative association between perceived social support and bilateral AHC activity in HC without CM. No significant association was observed in HC with CM. Exploratory analyses using continuous CM scores support this finding. Our results suggest that CM moderates the link between perceived social support and limbic activity, with a protective effect of perceived social support only in HC without CM. The lack of this effect in HC with CM suggests that CM may alter the buffering effect of perceived social support on limbic functioning, highlighting the potential need for preventive interventions targeting social perception of HC with CM.