Changes in parents' brain by parenting stress and depression.
Poster No:
560
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Jihyun Bae1, Yong Jeon Cheong1, Seonkyoung Lee1, Ji Hyeong Ro1, Minyoung Jung1
Institutions:
1Korea Brain Research Institude, Daegu, Korea, Republic of
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Despite happiness from child-rearing, it is challenging and stressful. Psychological stress, specifically due to parenting, can cause depression. However, it is largely unknown how parenting stress (PS) and depression interact each other and whether their interaction affects the morphological features of parenting brain. In this study, we aim to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between the PS-depression interaction on the brain structure of primary caregivers.
Methods:
This study includes 179 participants who are primary caregivers of elementary school children (170 female, mean age [SD] = 40.84 [3.09] years old). The structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was acquired by 3T. The brain was parcellated into 68 cortical regions via the FreeSurfer toolbox. To assess the level of PS and depression, the participants were asked to complete self-report questionnaires, 1) Korean Parenting Stress Index Forth Edition (K-PSI-4) and 2) Korean-Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). The PSI consists of a 'child domain' and a 'parent domain' that affects the overall stress of the parent, each of which contains a subscale.
First, we performed partial correlation analyses between PS, depression, and brain structures using primary caregiver's sex, age, handedness, number of children, intracranial volume, and child's sex as covariates. Second, we divided depression into three levels (top 20%, middle 60%, and bottom 20%) and conducted ANCOVA. Finally, we performed a structural equation model (SEM) analysis to explore causal relationship between PS, depression, and the brain. The institutional research board of the Korea Brain Research Institute granted ethical approval for this study (KBRI-202206-HR-001).
First, we performed partial correlation analyses between PS, depression, and brain structures using primary caregiver's sex, age, handedness, number of children, intracranial volume, and child's sex as covariates. Second, we divided depression into three levels (top 20%, middle 60%, and bottom 20%) and conducted ANCOVA. Finally, we performed a structural equation model (SEM) analysis to explore causal relationship between PS, depression, and the brain. The institutional research board of the Korea Brain Research Institute granted ethical approval for this study (KBRI-202206-HR-001).
Results:
The significant positive correlations were found between 14 subscales of PS and BDI at FDR q<0.05. PS negatively correlated to right fusiform gyrus area (FFG): PSI child domain (Adaptability : r=-0.244, Acceptability : r = -0.258, Child domain : r = -0.258, q<0.05). Additionally, depression scores showed negative correlation with the left entorhinal cortex area (ERC) (r=-0.246, q<0.05).
We found that 3 groups divided by depression level were significantly different for the right FFG (F=3.334, p<0.05) and left ERC (F=5.676, p<0.01) area: 1) compared with low depression group, high depression group had significantly smaller sizes in the right FFG and ERC, and 2) high depression group showed significant area reduction in the right FFG compared with middle depression group.
SEM analysis showed that PS increased by depression led to area reduction in the right FFG area (NFI = 0.970, CFI = 0.986, RMSEA = 0.067). For the child and parent domains, depression increased by PS led to reduction in the ERC area (PSI child domain : NFI = 0.975, CFI = 0.987, RMSEA = 0.074; PSI parent domain : NFI = 0.961, CFI = 0.993, RMSEA = 0.033).
We found that 3 groups divided by depression level were significantly different for the right FFG (F=3.334, p<0.05) and left ERC (F=5.676, p<0.01) area: 1) compared with low depression group, high depression group had significantly smaller sizes in the right FFG and ERC, and 2) high depression group showed significant area reduction in the right FFG compared with middle depression group.
SEM analysis showed that PS increased by depression led to area reduction in the right FFG area (NFI = 0.970, CFI = 0.986, RMSEA = 0.067). For the child and parent domains, depression increased by PS led to reduction in the ERC area (PSI child domain : NFI = 0.975, CFI = 0.987, RMSEA = 0.074; PSI parent domain : NFI = 0.961, CFI = 0.993, RMSEA = 0.033).
·Figure 1. The Significant association with Parenting stress relates to Depression & Brain cortex surface
·Figure 2. Best model for each SEM analysis.
Conclusions:
In the current study, we demonstrated that both PS and depression affected the brain structure of primary caregivers. The mutual positive relation between PS and depression led to reduction of the brain area, especially in ERC and FFG. Given these areas involve information processing and memory formation, we suggest that PS and depression may affect the cognitive function. In future, we are going to investigate how PS and depression influence the brain function using resting-state functional MRI data.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 1
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Interaction 2
Keywords:
ADULTS
Cortex
Psychiatric
STRUCTURAL MRI
Other - Depression, Stress
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
[2] Fang, Y. (2022). 'Parent, child, and situational factors associated with parenting stress: A systematic review', European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1-19.
[3] Wang, J. (2017). 'Electroconvulsive therapy selectively enhanced feedforward connectivity from fusiform face area to amygdala in major depressive disorder', Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 12(12), 1983-1992.
[4] Li, X. (2020). 'Effect of emotional enhancement of memory on recollection process in young adults: the influence factors and neural mechanisms', Brain Imaging and Behavior, 14, 119-129