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Cited by 142Attachment and Relationship DynamicsChild Abuse and TraumaPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Disorganized attachment in infancy predicts greater amygdala volume in adulthood

Open access
Lyons-Ruth, K., Pechtel, P., Yoon, S.A., Anderson, C.M., Teicher, M.H.·2016·Behavioural Brain Research
DOI 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.03.050PMC PMC5017306
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Abstract

Early life stress in rodents is associated with increased amygdala volume in adulthood. In humans, the amygdala develops rapidly during the first two years of life. Thus, disturbed care during this period may be particularly important to amygdala development. In the context of a 30-year longitudinal study of impoverished, highly stressed families, we assessed whether disorganization of the attachment relationship in infancy was related to amygdala volume in adulthood. Amygdala volumes were assessed among 18 low-income young adults (8M/10F, 29.33±0.49years) first observed in infancy (8.5±5.6months) and followed longitudinally to age 29. In infancy (18.58±1.02mos), both disorganized infant attachment behavior and disrupted maternal communication were assessed in the standard Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Increased left amygdala volume in adulthood was associated with both maternal and infant components of disorganized attachment interactions at 18 months of age (overall r=0.679, p<0.004). Later stressors, including childhood maltreatment and attachment disturbance in adolescence, were not significantly related to left amygdala volume. Left amygdala volume was further associated with dissociation and limbic irritability in adulthood. Finally, left amygdala volume mediated the prediction from attachment disturbance in infancy to limbic irritability in adulthood. Results point to the likely importance of quality of early care for amygdala development in human children as well as in rodents. The long-term prediction found here suggests that the first two years of life may be an early sensitive period for amygdala development during which clinical intervention could have particularly important consequences for later child outcomes.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.03.050

Cites

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Claims the paper makes

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  • Findingown data

    Maternal withdrawing behavior has a moderate positive but non-significant relation to left amygdala volume.

    “maternal withdrawing behavior and contradictory communications made the strongest contributions to left amygdala volume (withdrawing partial r = .397, p = .128, 95% CI = −.09–.73; contradictory communications partial r = .405, p = .120, 95% CI = −.08–.73).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.
  • Findingown data

    None of the three forms of disturbed attachment in adolescence is significantly related to left or right amygdala volume.

    “However, none of the three forms of disturbed attachment in adolescence were significantly related to left or right amygdala volume”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.
  • Findingown data

    Left amygdala volume mediates the prediction from overall attachment disturbance in infancy to limbic irritability in adulthood.

    “Mediation analyses, using recommended bootstrapping methods (95), indicated that the prediction from overall attachment disturbance in infancy to limbic irritability in adulthood was mediated by increased volume of the left amygdala (bias-corrected confidence interval did not contain zero (CI 2.05–13.27); Figure 3).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [95] Preacher KJ Hayes AF 2008 Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models Behavior Research Methods 40 3 691 879 18697684 source

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    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.
    • Rests on an assumption: The three-level summary attachment measure validly captures overall attachment disturbance.
  • Findingown data

    The relation between overall attachment disturbance and left amygdala volume is significantly stronger than its relation to right amygdala volume.

    “This association was significantly stronger than the correlation between overall attachment disturbance and adjusted right amygdala volume (right partial r = −.048, p = .860, 95% CI =−0.5–.43; Meng’s test for dependent correlations Z = 2.343, p = .020) (96).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [96] Meng X-l Rosenthal R Rubin DB 1992 Comparing Correlated Correlation Coefficients Psychological Bulletin 111 1 172 175 source

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    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.
    • Rests on an assumption: The three-level summary attachment measure validly captures overall attachment disturbance.
  • Findingown data

    Left amygdala volume is strongly related to dissociative symptoms.

    “In contrast, left amygdala volume was strongly related to both dissociative symptoms (partial r = .586, p = .017, 95% CI = .16–.83) and limbic irritability (partial r = .770, p = .001, 95% CI = .47–.91).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.
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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 49
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1

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    Findingown data

    Right amygdala volume is unrelated to anxiety disorder, major depression, and substance dependence.

    “Right amygdala volume was unrelated to these disorders (anxiety disorder: partial r = −.090, p = .740, 95% CI = −.39–.53; major depression: partial r = −.031, p = .909, 95% CI = −.49–.44; substance dependence: partial r = −.154, p = .569, 95% CI = −.58–.34).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Early attachment disturbance is strongly related to both dissociation and limbic irritability.

    “Similar to left amygdala volume, early attachment disturbance was also strongly related to both dissociation and limbic irritability but did not reach significance for the three psychiatric disorders above (Table 3).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.
    • Rests on an assumption: The three-level summary attachment measure validly captures overall attachment disturbance.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    In infancy, 61% of mothers were classified as disrupted in their responses to their infants' attachment cues.

    “In infancy, 67% (n=12) of infants were classified as disorganized in their attachment behavior toward mother and 61% (n=11) of mothers were classified as disrupted in their responses to their infants’ attachment cues.”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    In infancy, 67% of the sample was classified as disorganized in attachment behavior toward the mother.

    “In infancy, 67% (n=12) of infants were classified as disorganized in their attachment behavior toward mother and 61% (n=11) of mothers were classified as disrupted in their responses to their infants’ attachment cues.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Right amygdala volume is not associated with limbic irritability or dissociative symptoms.

    “There were no corresponding associations between right amygdala volume and either limbic irritability (partial r = .032, p = .906, 95% CI = −.44–.49) or dissociative symptoms (partial r = −.310, p = .242, 95% CI = −.68–.18) (Figure 2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Other maternal disturbed interaction types, including negative intrusive behavior, role confusion, and disorientation, have negligible or negative relations to left amygdala volume.

    “Other types of disturbed interaction were negligible or negative in effect, including negative intrusive behavior (partial r = .111, p = .682, 95% CI = −.38–.55), role confusion (partial r = −.280, p = .294, 95% CI = −.66–.22), and disorientation (partial r = −.190, p = .481, 95% CI = −.60–.30).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and lifetime substance dependence are not significantly related to left amygdala volume.

    “The three psychiatric diagnoses with sufficient frequency for analysis in this cohort (anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, lifetime substance dependence) were not significantly related to left amygdala volume”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Neither left nor right amygdala volume is significantly related to family income.

    “However, neither left or right amygdala volumes were significantly related to family income (left partial r = −.054, p = .843, 95% CI = −.51–.42; right partial r = −.374, p = .154, 95% CI = −.72–.11)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • The quote only partly states this claim.

    Findingown data

    Maternal disrupted interaction at 18 months predicts larger left amygdala volume in adulthood.

    “Both maternal (partial r = .595, p = .015, 95% CI = .18–.83) and infant (partial r = .543, p = .030, 95% CI = .1 –.81) assessments were strongly predictive of left amygdala volume.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    On the three-level overall attachment disturbance variable, 16.7% had no disturbance, 38.9% had disturbance on one assessment, and 44.4% had disturbance on both assessments.

    “On the three-level variable for overall attachment disturbance, 16.7% (n=3) displayed no disturbance on either infant or maternal assessments, 38.9% (n=7) displayed disturbance on one assessment, and 44.4% (n=8) displayed disturbance on both assessments.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The three-level summary attachment measure validly captures overall attachment disturbance.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Neither left nor right amygdala volume is significantly related to serious maternal psychosocial risk.

    “or presence of serious maternal psychosocial risk (history of psychiatric hospitalization, involvement with state protective services, or high depressive symptoms; left partial r = −.003, p = .991, 95% CI = −.47–.46; right partial r = −.218, p = .417, 95% CI = −.62–.28).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Neither maternal disrupted interaction nor infant disorganization is significantly related to right amygdala volume.

    “Relations to right amygdala volume were not significant (maternal partial r = −.272, p = .308, 95% CI = −.66–.22; infant partial r = .146, p = .590, 95% CI = −.34–.57).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Hippocampus, thalamus, and caudate were not strongly or significantly associated with early attachment disturbance.

    “In accord with expectations, these other regions were not strongly or significantly related to early attachment disturbance.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Maternal negative-intrusive, disoriented, and role-confused behaviors had negligible to negative associations with left amygdala volume (r = .11, −.19, and −.28, respectively).

    “In contrast, mother’s negative-intrusive, disoriented, and role-confused behaviors showed negligible to negative associations to left amygdala volume (r = .11, −.19, and −.28, respectively).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The validity of maternal AMBIANCE classification has been confirmed by meta-analysis for infant attachment disorganization and in individual studies for adolescent psychiatric outcomes.

    “Validity of maternal AMBIANCE classification has been confirmed by meta-analysis in relation to infant attachment disorganization (57) and, in individual studies, in relation to adolescent psychiatric outcomes (72, 75, 76).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 4 sources checked
    • cites [57] Madigan S 2006 Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: a review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap Attachment & Human Development 8 2 89 111 16818417 source

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    • cites [72] Lyons-Ruth K Bureau JF Holmes B Easterbrooks A Brooks NH 2013 Borderline symptoms and suicidality/self-injury in late adolescence: prospectively observed relationship correlates in infancy and childhood Psychiatry Research 206 2–3 273 281 23123044 PMC3605274 source

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    • cites [75] Shi Z Bureau J-F Easterbrooks MA Zhao X Lyons-Ruth K 2012 Childhood maltreatment and prospectively observed quality of early care as predictors of antisocial personality disorder features Infant Mental Health Journal 33 55 69 22754051 PMC3385929 source

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    • cites [76] Pechtel P Woodman A Lyons-Ruth K 2012 Early maternal withdrawal and non-verbal childhood IQ as precursors for substance abuse diagnosis in young adulthood: Results of a 20 year prospective study International Journal of Cognitive Therapy 5 316 329 25473440 PMC4248720 source

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    Study design and conductown data

    The MRI participants were representative of the larger longitudinal cohort and did not differ in family demographic characteristics.

    “Participants in the MRI study were representative of the larger longitudinal cohort from which they were recruited. They did not differ from the remainder of the cohort in family demographic characteristics”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Study design and conductown data

    Total grey matter volume was strongly correlated with amygdala volume and was controlled in all analyses to reduce error variance.

    “Total grey matter volume (TGMV) was correlated strongly with amygdala volume and was controlled in all analyses to reduce error variance.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    MRI participants were marginally more likely than non-participants to have been referred for clinical services in infancy and to have been classified as disorganized in the Strange Situation Procedure.

    “Participants were marginally more likely than non-participants to have been referred for clinical services in infancy (φ = .219, p = .093 and to have been classified in the Strange Situation Procedure as having a disorganized attachment in infancy (φ = .235, p = .084).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    Race was retained as a covariate because of its moderate association with left amygdala volume, while age and gender were eliminated after controlling for total grey matter volume.

    “Age, gender and race were also assessed in relation to amygdala volumes and only race (white = 0, black = 1) was retained as a covariate due to its moderate association with left amygdala volume (r = 0.34). Age and gender were eliminated due to weak relationships once TGMV was controlled.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Study design and conductown data

    The MACE total score has shown excellent test-retest reliability across age.

    “Items within each category were selected using item response theory, and category scores were summed to provide a total score, which has shown excellent test-retest reliability across age (r = 0.91, n = 75).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Study design and conductcitation

    FreeSurfer is one of the most reliable automated brain segmentation methods for the amygdala, and its measures correlate highly with expert hand tracings.

    “Overall, FreeSurfer provides one of the most reliable automated brain segmentation methods for assessing the amygdala and these measures correlate highly with expert hand tracings (90).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [90] Morey RA 2009 A comparison of automated segmentation and manual tracing for quantifying hippocampal and amygdala volumes Neuroimage 45 3 855 866 19162198 PMC2714773 source

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    Study design and conductown data

    Multiple imputation was used for missing data, and the missing-data percentages were within recommended ranges.

    “Multiple imputation was employed to estimate missing data (93), using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure (94) in SPSS software. The percentages of missing data ranged from 0–11.1%, well within the recommended ranges for imputation procedures.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [93] Schafer J Graham JW 2002 Missing data: Our view of the state of the art Psychological Methods 7 147 177 12090408 source

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    • cites [94] Gilks W Richardson S Spiegelhalter D 1996 Markov Chain Monte Carlo in Practice Chapman, Hall London

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    • Rests on an assumption: Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

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    Study design and conductown data

    GPACS coding was reliable across raters, with intraclass correlations from .75 to .96.

    “Coding of all scales was reliable across raters, ri = .75–.96 (N = 16).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Childhood adversity has been associated with 30-70% of the population attributable risk for depression, suicide attempts, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse.

    “Childhood adversity has been associated with 30–70% of the population attributable risk for depression, suicide attempts, anxiety disorders and substance abuse (1).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [1] Teicher MH Samson JA 2013 Childhood maltreatment and psychopathology: A case for ecophenotypic variants as clinically and neurobiologically distinct subtypes American Journal of Psychiatry 170 10 1114 1133 23982148 PMC3928064 source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The GPACS has demonstrated good validity in relation to concurrent psychopathology, romantic partner relations, and disorganized attachment in infancy.

    “Good validity has been demonstrated in relation to concurrent psychopathology and relations to romantic partners, as well as to disorganized attachment in infancy (78).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [78] Obsuth I Hennighausen K Brumariu LE Lyons-Ruth K 2014 Disorganized behavior in adolescent-parent interaction: relations to attachment state of mind, partner abuse, and psychopathology Child Development 85 1 370 387 23621826 PMC3732543 source

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    Premisecitation

    Meta-analyses indicate that insecure and particularly disorganized attachment relationships in infancy predict internalizing and externalizing problems in childhood.

    “with meta-analyses indicating that insecure and particularly disorganized attachment relationships in infancy predict internalizing and externalizing problems in childhood (2–5).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 4 sources checked
    • cites [2] van IJzendoorn MH Schuengel C Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ 1999 Disorganized attachment in early childhood: meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae Development and Psychopathology 11 2 225 249 16506532 source

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    • cites [3] Fearon RP Bakersman-Kranenberg MJ Van IJzendoorn MH Lapsley A Roisman GI 2010 The significance of insecure attachment and disorganizarion in the development of children's externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study Child Development 81 2 435 456 20438450 source

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    • cites [4] Madigan S Brumariu L Villani V Atkinson L Lyons-Ruth K in press Representational and questionnaire measures of attachment after early childhood: A meta-analysis of relations to child internalizing and externalizing problems Psychological Bulletin 26619212 source

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    • cites [5] Madigan S Atkinson L Laurin K Benoit D 2013 Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: A meta-analysis Developmental Psychology 49 4 672 689 22686171 source

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    Premisecitation

    The amygdala may be particularly vulnerable to early stressors because of high glucocorticoid receptor density and a postnatal developmental trajectory of rapid initial growth and gradual pruning.

    “The amygdala may be particularly vulnerable to such effects of early stressors due to high glucocorticoid receptor density (7) and to a postnatal developmental trajectory characterized by rapid initial growth and gradual pruning (8, 9).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [7] Peiffer A Barden N Meaney MJ 1991 Age-related changes in glucocorticoid receptor binding and mRNA levels in the rat brain and pituitary Neurobiol Aging 12 5 475 479 1770983 source

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    • cites [8] Payne C Machado CJ Bliwise NG Bachevalier J 2010 Maturation of the hippocampal formation and amygdala in Macaca mulatta: a volumetric magnetic resonance imaging study Hippocampus 20 8 922 935 19739247 PMC2891665 source

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    • cites [9] Uematsu A 2012 Developmental trajectories of amygdala and hippocampus from infancy to early adulthood in healthy individuals PLoS One 7 10 e46970 23056545 PMC3467280 source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The Dissociative Experiences Scale has demonstrated convergent validity, predictive validity for Dissociative Identity Disorder, and robust test-retest reliability.

    “A meta-analysis has demonstrated convergent validity with other measures of dissociation, predictive validity in relation to Dissociative Identity Disorder, and robust test-retest reliability (α = .93; (83)).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [83] van IJzendoorn MH Schuengel C 1996 The measurement of dissociation in normal and clinical populations: Meta-analytic validation of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) Clinical Psychology Review 16 365 382 source

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    Premisecitation

    In a previous report, longitudinal participants reported more severe childhood maltreatment and lower maternal care than controls.

    “Interviewed in adulthood, the longitudinal participants reported more severe exposure to maltreatment in childhood than controls and reported lower levels of maternal care on the Parental Bonding Instrument than controls (p = .002).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [38] Pechtel P Lyons-Ruth K Anderson CM Teicher MH 2015 Sensitive periods of amygdala development: The role of maltreatment in preadolescence NeuroImage 97 236 244 24736182 PMC4258391 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Infant attachment disorganization is meta-analytically associated with serious family risk factors, including poverty, maternal psychiatric disorder, and maltreatment, as well as later externalizing behavior problems.

    “infant attachment disorganization has been meta-analytically associated with serious family risk factors, including poverty, maternal psychiatric disorder, and maltreatment, as well as later externalizing behavior problems (2, 3).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [2] van IJzendoorn MH Schuengel C Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ 1999 Disorganized attachment in early childhood: meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae Development and Psychopathology 11 2 225 249 16506532 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [3] Fearon RP Bakersman-Kranenberg MJ Van IJzendoorn MH Lapsley A Roisman GI 2010 The significance of insecure attachment and disorganizarion in the development of children's externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study Child Development 81 2 435 456 20438450 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In a previous report, severity of childhood maltreatment was significantly related to right hemisphere volumes but not left volumes, with maltreatment at 10-11 years the most important predictor of right amygdala volume.

    “Severity of childhood maltreatment was significantly related to right hemisphere volumes but not to left volumes, with severity of maltreatment at 10–11 years of age the most important predictor of right amygdala volume.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [38] Pechtel P Lyons-Ruth K Anderson CM Teicher MH 2015 Sensitive periods of amygdala development: The role of maltreatment in preadolescence NeuroImage 97 236 244 24736182 PMC4258391 source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The hippocampus is highly stress susceptible with sensitive periods in early childhood and puberty, but stress effects on it are less persistent.

    “The hippocampus is also highly stress susceptible, with sensitive periods in early childhood and during the pubertal period, but effects of stress are less persistent (15, 24, 47).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [15] Vyas A Pillai AG Chattarji S 2004 Recovery after chronic stress fails to reverse amygdaloid neuronal hypertrophy and enhanced anxiety-like behavior Neuroscience 128 4 667 673 15464275 source

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    • cites [24] Tottenham N 2010 Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation Dev Sci 13 1 46 61 20121862 PMC2817950 source

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    • cites [47] Andersen SL Teicher MH 2008 Stress, sensitive periods and maturational events in adolescent depression Trends Neurosci 31 4 183 191 18329735 source

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    Premisecitation

    Disorganized behavior in the infant is associated with directly observed disturbed maternal interaction.

    “Disorganized behavior on the part of the infant is also associated with directly observed disturbed maternal interaction (57).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [57] Madigan S 2006 Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: a review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap Attachment & Human Development 8 2 89 111 16818417 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The Limbic System Checklist-33 has high test-retest reliability and its scores are strongly influenced by childhood adversity.

    “Psychometric studies have shown that the Limbic System Checklist-33 has high test-retest reliability (r = 0.92, N = 16) and scores are strongly influenced by childhood adversity (64).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [64] Teicher MH Glod CA Surrey J Swett C Jr 1993 Early childhood abuse and limbic system ratings in adult psychiatric outpatients J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 5 3 301 306 8369640 source

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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    In a previous report, both left and right amygdala volumes were larger among longitudinal participants than controls, with adjusted volume 3.8% greater in the longitudinal group.

    “Both left and right amygdala volumes were larger among longitudinal participants than controls, with least square mean adjusted amygdala volume 3.8% greater among the longitudinal group.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [38] Pechtel P Lyons-Ruth K Anderson CM Teicher MH 2015 Sensitive periods of amygdala development: The role of maltreatment in preadolescence NeuroImage 97 236 244 24736182 PMC4258391 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    Maternal behavior shows substantial stability over periods from 8 months to 5 years, with a meta-analytic stability coefficient of .56.

    “Test-retest data indicate substantial stability in maternal behavior over periods ranging from 8 months to 5 years, meta-analytic stability coefficient t = .56 (N = 203) (57).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [57] Madigan S 2006 Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: a review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap Attachment & Human Development 8 2 89 111 16818417 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Psychological stressors and stress hormone administration stimulate dendritic arborization and new spine formation in the amygdala, increasing its volume.

    “Both psychological stressors and stress hormone administration stimulate dendritic arborization and formation of new spines in the amygdala, increasing volume (13, 14).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [13] Mitra R Jadhav S McEwen BS Vyas A Chattarji S 2005 Stress duration modulates the spatiotemporal patterns of spine formation in the basolateral amygdala Proc Natl Acad Sci 102 26 9371 9376 15967994 PMC1166638 source

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    • cites [14] Vyas A Jadhav S Chattarji S 2006 Prolonged behavioral stress enhances synaptic connectivity in the basolateral amygdala Neuroscience 143 2 387 393 16962717 source

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    Premisecitation

    Impaired regulation of early stress due to poor quality care may increase risk through excessive glucocorticoid release and epigenetic modifications that alter neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and myelination.

    “Impaired regulation of early stress due to poor quality care may increase risk through excessive release of glucocorticoids and associated epigenetic modifications that alter critical developmental processes such as neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and myelination (6).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [6] Lupien SJ McEwen BS Gunnar MR Heim C 2009 Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition Nat Rev Neurosci 10 6 434 445 19401723 source

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    Premisecitation

    The infant and maternal attachment measures are theoretically and empirically related.

    “The above infant and maternal measures are theoretically and empirically related (57).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [57] Madigan S 2006 Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: a review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap Attachment & Human Development 8 2 89 111 16818417 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    The FreeSurfer labeling procedure is statistically indistinguishable from labeling by experienced manual raters.

    “This procedure has been found to label the brain in a manner that is statistically indistinguishable from those provided by experienced manual raters (84).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [84] Fischl B 2002 Whole brain segmentation: automated labeling of neuroanatomical structures in the human brain Neuron 33 3 341 355 11832223 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    The authors visually inspected all T1-weighted and automated images, and manual adjustments were not required.

    “The authors (CMA, PP) visually inspected all T1-weighted and automated images. Manual adjustments were not required.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Organized attachment patterns are related to variations in maternal sensitivity but have not been consistently associated with serious family risk factors.

    “These organized patterns are related to variations in maternal sensitivity (55, 56) but have not been consistently associated with serious family risk factors.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [55] van IJzendoorn M 1995 Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment: a meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the Adult Attachment Interview Psychological Bulletin 117 3 387 403 7777645 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [56] Ainsworth MDS Blehar MC Waters E Wall S 1978 Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation Lawrence Erlbaum Oxford England

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In animal models, low maternal responsiveness during infancy is a potent stressor associated with alterations in infant development, including amygdalar effects, that persist into adulthood.

    “In particular, animal models indicate that low maternal responsiveness (LMR) during infancy is a potent stressor, associated with a host of alterations in infant development, including amygdalar effects, that persist into adulthood (10–12, 16).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 4 sources checked
    • cites [10] Plotsky PM 2005 Long term consequences of neonatal rearing on central corticotropin-releasing factor systems in adult male rat offspring Neuropsychopharmacology 30 12 2192 2204 15920504 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [11] Cohen MM 2013 Early-life stress has persistent effects on amygdala function and development in mice and humans Proc Natl Acad Sci 110 45 18274 18278 24145410 PMC3831447 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [12] Raineki C Moriceau S Sullivan R 2010 Developing a neurobehavioral animal model of infant attachment to an abusive caregiver Biological Psychiatry 67 1137 1145 20163787 PMC3929962 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [16] Caldji C 1998 Maternal care during infancy regulates the development of neural systems mediating the expression of fearfulness in the rat Proc Natl Acad Sci 95 9 5335 5340 9560276 PMC20261 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The SCID yields reliability kappas around .61 for current diagnosis and .68 for lifetime diagnoses.

    “The SCID yields reliability kappa’s around .61 for current diagnosis and .68 for lifetime diagnoses, comparable to other structured diagnostic interviews (80, 81).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [80] Segal DL Hersen M Van Hasselt VB 1994 Reliability of the structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R: an evaluative review Comprehensive Psychiatry 35 4 316 327 7956189 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [81] Ventura J Liberman RP Green MF Shaner A Mintz J 1998 Training and quality assurance with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I/P) Psychiatry Research 79 2 163 173 9705054 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    The significance of amygdala measures was not adjusted for the planned negative control comparisons.

    “Thus, we did not adjust the significance of amygdala measures for these planned negative control comparisons.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Infants with disorganized attachments show a more prolonged cortisol response to stressors and atypical diurnal cortisol secretion.

    “In addition, infants with disorganized attachments demonstrate a more prolonged cortisol response to stressors (58–60) and atypical patterns of diurnal cortisol secretion (61).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 4 sources checked
    • cites [58] Nachmias M Gunnar M Mangelsdorf S Parritz RH Buss K 1996 Behavioral inhibition and stress reactivity: the moderating role of attachment security Child Development 67 2 508 522 8625725 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [59] Spangler G Grossman KE 1993 Biobehavioral organization in securely and insecurely attached infants Child Development 64 1439 1450 8222882 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [60] Bernard K Dozier M 2010 Examining infants' cortisol responses to laboratory tasks among children varying in attachment disorganization: stress reactivity or return to baseline? Developmental Psychology 46 6 1771 1778 20873923 PMC3209263 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [61] Luijk MP 2010 Attachment, depression, and cortisol: Deviant patterns in insecure-resistant and disorganized infants Developmental Psychobiology 52 5 441 452 20583141 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The Strange Situation Procedure is the most widely validated paradigm for direct observation of the quality of the mother-infant attachment relationship.

    “For human infants, the most widely validated paradigm for direct observation of the quality of the mother-infant attachment relationship is the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) (2, 3, 54).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [2] van IJzendoorn MH Schuengel C Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ 1999 Disorganized attachment in early childhood: meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae Development and Psychopathology 11 2 225 249 16506532 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [3] Fearon RP Bakersman-Kranenberg MJ Van IJzendoorn MH Lapsley A Roisman GI 2010 The significance of insecure attachment and disorganizarion in the development of children's externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study Child Development 81 2 435 456 20438450 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [54] Madigan S Atkinson L Laurin K Benoit D 2013 Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: A meta-analysis Developmental Psychology 49 4 672 689 22686171 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    The results point to the likely importance of quality of early care for amygdala development in human children as well as in rodents.

    “Results point to the likely importance of quality of early care for amygdala development in human children as well as in rodents.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The left amygdala responds to discrimination of family faces.

    “In addition, left amygdala has been shown to be particularly responsive to maternal stimuli in childhood (104), as well as to the discrimination of family faces more generally (105).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [105] Platek SM Kemp SM 2009 Is family special to the brain? An event-related fMRI study of familiar, familial, and self-face recognition Neuropsychologia 47 3 849 858 19159636 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The left hemisphere is more involved in approach motivation, while the right hemisphere is more involved in avoidance motivation.

    “Such findings are consistent with the motivational hypothesis emerging from EEG studies that the left hemisphere is more involved in motivating approach behavior and the right hemisphere is more involved in motivating avoidance behavior (106).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [106] Fetterman AK Ode S Robinson MD 2013 For which side the bell tolls: The laterality of approach-avoidance associative networks Motiv Emot 37 1 33 38 23869114 PMC3711864 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The long-term prediction found here suggests that the first two years of life may be an early sensitive period for amygdala development, during which clinical intervention could have particularly important consequences for later child outcomes.

    “The long-term prediction found here suggests that the first two years of life may be an early sensitive period for amygdala development during which clinical intervention could have particularly important consequences for later child outcomes.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Human amygdala volume is sensitive not only to very atypical rearing conditions such as institutional care but also to serious disturbances in maternal care among infants reared at home.

    “In addition, these findings add to the evidence base that human amygdala volume is sensitive not only to very atypical rearing conditions, such as institutional care, but also to serious disturbances in maternal care observed among infants reared at home (21, 25).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [21] Hanson JL 2015 Behavioral problems after early life stress: contributions of the hippocampus and amygdala Biological Psychiatry 77 4 314 323 24993057 PMC4241384 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [25] Lupien SJ 2011 Larger amygdala but no change in hippocampal volume in 10-year-old children exposed to maternal depressive symptomatology since birth Proc Natl Acad Sci 108 34 14324 14329 21844357 PMC3161565 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In developmental science, attachment measures are considered among the most well-validated ways to assess early risk.

    “Notably, attachment assessments are among the best validated assessments of early risk in developmental science.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 6 sources checked
    • cites [2] van IJzendoorn MH Schuengel C Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ 1999 Disorganized attachment in early childhood: meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae Development and Psychopathology 11 2 225 249 16506532 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [3] Fearon RP Bakersman-Kranenberg MJ Van IJzendoorn MH Lapsley A Roisman GI 2010 The significance of insecure attachment and disorganizarion in the development of children's externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study Child Development 81 2 435 456 20438450 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [4] Madigan S Brumariu L Villani V Atkinson L Lyons-Ruth K in press Representational and questionnaire measures of attachment after early childhood: A meta-analysis of relations to child internalizing and externalizing problems Psychological Bulletin 26619212 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [54] Madigan S Atkinson L Laurin K Benoit D 2013 Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: A meta-analysis Developmental Psychology 49 4 672 689 22686171 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [101] Fearon P Belsky J 2011 Infant–mother attachment and the growth of externalizing problems across the primary-school years Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 52 7 782 791 21214546 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [102] NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 2001 Child-care and family predictors of preschool attachment and stability from infancy Developmental Psychology 37 847 862 11699758 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The right amygdala may respond differently to negative or threatening stimuli.

    “Thus, right amygdala may be differentially responsive to negative or threatening stimuli (107–109), and alterations in structure (38, 109, 110) of the right amygdala in adulthood have been particularly related to exposure to childhood maltreatment.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [107] Schneider S 2011 Boys do it the right way: sex-dependent amygdala lateralization during face processing in adolescents Neuroimage 56 3 1847 1853 21316467 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [108] Yoshimura S 2009 Self-referential processing of negative stimuli within the ventral anterior cingulate gyrus and right amygdala Brain Cogn 69 1 218 225 18723260 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [109] Dannlowski U 2013 Childhood maltreatment is associated with an antomatic negative emotion processing bias in the amygdala Human Brain Mapping 34 2899 2909 22696400 PMC6870128 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Large-scale studies and meta-analyses support that attachment measures relate to concurrent infant risk factors and predict childhood behavior problems.

    “Supporting large scale studies and meta-analyses have confirmed their relation to concurrent risk factors in infancy and their predictive value for behavior problems in childhood (2–4, 54, 101, 102).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 6 sources checked
    • cites [2] van IJzendoorn MH Schuengel C Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ 1999 Disorganized attachment in early childhood: meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae Development and Psychopathology 11 2 225 249 16506532 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [3] Fearon RP Bakersman-Kranenberg MJ Van IJzendoorn MH Lapsley A Roisman GI 2010 The significance of insecure attachment and disorganizarion in the development of children's externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study Child Development 81 2 435 456 20438450 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [4] Madigan S Brumariu L Villani V Atkinson L Lyons-Ruth K in press Representational and questionnaire measures of attachment after early childhood: A meta-analysis of relations to child internalizing and externalizing problems Psychological Bulletin 26619212 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [54] Madigan S Atkinson L Laurin K Benoit D 2013 Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: A meta-analysis Developmental Psychology 49 4 672 689 22686171 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [101] Fearon P Belsky J 2011 Infant–mother attachment and the growth of externalizing problems across the primary-school years Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 52 7 782 791 21214546 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [102] NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 2001 Child-care and family predictors of preschool attachment and stability from infancy Developmental Psychology 37 847 862 11699758 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The left amygdala develops more rapidly than the right shortly after birth.

    “While both left and right amygdala develop shortly after birth, the left amygdala develops more rapidly, while the right amygdala has a more prolonged developmental period (9).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [9] Uematsu A 2012 Developmental trajectories of amygdala and hippocampus from infancy to early adulthood in healthy individuals PLoS One 7 10 e46970 23056545 PMC3467280 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The left amygdala is especially responsive to maternal stimuli during childhood.

    “In addition, left amygdala has been shown to be particularly responsive to maternal stimuli in childhood (104), as well as to the discrimination of family faces more generally (105).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [104] Tottenham N Shapiro M Telzer EH Humphreys KL 2012 Amygdala response to mother Developmental Science 15 3 307 319 22490172 PMC3522470 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Limbic irritability symptoms were markedly higher in adults with maltreatment histories.

    “In previous work, these ‘limbic irritability’ symptoms were dramatically elevated among adults with maltreatment histories (33, 63, 65, 118).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 4 sources checked
    • cites [33] Dannlowski U 2012 Limbic scars: long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment revealed by functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging Biological Psychiatry 71 4 286 293 22112927 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [63] Dackis MN Rogosch FA Oshri A Cicchetti D 2012 The role of limbic system irritability in linking history of childhood maltreatment and psychiatric outcomes in low-income, high-risk women: moderation by FK506 binding protein 5 haplotype Development and Psychopathology 24 4 1237 1252 23062294 PMC3697116 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [65] Teicher MH Samson JA Polcari A McGreenery CE 2006 Sticks, stones, and hurtful words: Relative effects of various forms of childhood maltreatment American Journal of Psychiatry 163 993 1000 16741199 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [118] Ito Y 1993 Increased prevalence of electrophysiological abnormalities in children with psychological, physical, and sexual abuse J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 5 4 401 408 8286938 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    The maternal data pattern suggests that withdrawal and contradictory communications may be especially important for the left amygdala effects linked to disorganized attachment, unlike right hemisphere effects linked to organized avoidant behavior.

    “The patterning of maternal data here suggests that the mother’s withdrawal and contradictory communications may be particularly important to the left amygdalar effects related here to disorganized attachment, in contrast to the right hemisphere effects recently associated with infant organized avoidant behavior (49).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [49] Moutsiana C 2015 Insecure attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volumes in early adulthood Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 56 5 540 548 25156392 PMC4407912 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    Interpreting morphometric change is difficult because structural volume is influenced by multiple factors.

    “Despite these suggestive findings, the interpretation of morphometric change remains challenging, as multiple factors contribute to structural volume (e.g., size of neurons and glial cells, density, vascularity) (122).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [122] Giedd JN 1996 Quantitative MRI of the temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus in normal human development: ages 4–18 years J Comp Neurol 366 2 223 230 8698883 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The mPFC and amygdala have extensive bidirectional connections and often function together.

    “Although mPFC and amygdala have extensive bidirectional connections and often function in tandem (110, 116, 117), these mPFC findings on greater left responding under conditions of deprived care are suggestive but have yet to be extended to amygdala structure or function.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [110] Herringa RJ 2013 Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered fear circuitry and increased internalizing symptoms by late adolescence Proc Natl Acad Sci 110 47 19119 19124 24191026 PMC3839755 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [116] Gabard-Durnam LJ 2014 The development of human amygdala functional connectivity at rest from 4 to 23 years: a cross-sectional study NeuroImage 95 193 207 24662579 PMC4305511 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [117] Burghy CA 2012 Developmental pathways to amygdala-prefrontal function and internalizing symptoms in adolescence Nature Neuroscience 15 12 1736 1741 23143517 PMC3509229 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Factors beyond those examined may have mediated the observed relationship.

    “Although we examined the intervening factors most prominent in current literature, other factors may have been involved in mediating the observed relation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Disorganized early attachment may have long-term effects on adaptation by increasing left amygdala volume, which contributes to limbic pathway irritability.

    “In conclusion, the results suggest that disorganized early attachment relationships may have long-term effects on later adaptation by promoting increased volume in the left amygdala that contributes to increased irritability in limbic pathways.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Animals exposed to low maternal responsiveness show excessive hemispheric asymmetry in mPFC dopamine stress responsivity, with left mPFC peak responses two to three times higher than controls.

    “Animals exposed to LMR develop excessive hemispheric asymmetry in mPFC DA stress responsivity, such that peak DA stress responses in left mPFC of LMR animals are two to three times greater than those of controls (115).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [115] Zhang TY Chretien P Meaney MJ Gratton A 2005 Influence of naturally occurring variations in maternal care on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle and the medial prefrontal cortical dopamine response to stress in adult rats Journal of Neuroscience 25 1493 1502 15703403 PMC6725982 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationcitation

    Possible mechanisms linking early attachment disturbance to increased left amygdala volume include early stress-related spine overproduction and later inadequate pruning.

    “Based on randomized animal models, possible neurobiological mechanisms relating early attachment disturbance to increased left amygdala volume include both early stress-related overproduction of new spines in the amygdala and later inadequate pruning.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The mother's relative unavailability may promote infant hypervigilance to her whereabouts and approach motivation, partly through the left amygdala.

    “Thus, the mother’s relative unavailability to the infant may be important in stimulating infant hypervigilance to the mother’s whereabouts and infant approach motivation, mediated in part by the left amygdala.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The threat of neglect or abandonment by the caregiver is an equally potent survival threat to the infant as the threat of attack.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Rodent findings indicate that low maternal responsiveness relates to differential left hemisphere responding in medial prefrontal cortex.

    “Finally, intriguing findings from rodent models indicate that low maternal responsiveness (LMR) is related to differential left hemisphere responding in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [115] Zhang TY Chretien P Meaney MJ Gratton A 2005 Influence of naturally occurring variations in maternal care on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle and the medial prefrontal cortical dopamine response to stress in adult rats Journal of Neuroscience 25 1493 1502 15703403 PMC6725982 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    LSCL-33 ratings show a significant inverse correlation with left inferior longitudinal fasciculus integrity.

    “In addition, a significant inverse correlation has been found between LSCL-33 ratings and integrity of left fornix (119), integrity of left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (62), and T2-relaxation time (an indirect measure of relative cerebral blood flow) in the cerebellar vermis (120).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [62] Choi J Jeong B Polcari A Rohan ML Teicher MH 2012 Reduced fractional anisotropy in the visual limbic pathway of young adults witnessing domestic violence in childhood Neuroimage 59 2 1071 1079 21985907 PMC3236680 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Infant disorganized behavior is thought to reflect an inability to form a consistent approach or avoidance strategy, with confused, contradictory, or aborted attempts to seek comfort from the mother.

    “Consistent with this thinking, the infant’s disorganized behavior is thought to indicate that the infant cannot organize a strategy of consistently avoiding or consistently approaching the caregiver and, instead, exhibits confused, contradictory or aborted attempts to approach the mother for comfort.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [57] Madigan S 2006 Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: a review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap Attachment & Human Development 8 2 89 111 16818417 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [74] Lyons-Ruth K Bronfman E Parsons E 1999 Atypical attachment in infancy and early childhood among children at developmental risk. IV. Maternal frightened, frightening, or atypical behavior and disorganized infant attachment patterns Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 64 3 67 96 10597543 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [114] Main M Hesse E 1990 Parents’ unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research and intervention Greenberg MT Cicchetti D Cummings EM University of Chicago Press Chicago, IL 161 182

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    These fiber tracts and regions have specific connections to limbic system components.

    “These fiber tracts and regions all have specific connections to components of the limbic system (121).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [121] Glascher J Adolphs R 2003 Processing of the arousal of subliminal and supraliminal emotional stimuli by the human amygdala J Neurosci 23 32 10274 10282 14614086 PMC6741000 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Maternal negative-intrusive, disoriented, and role-confused behaviors are linked to increased infant avoidance of the mother.

    “Behavioral studies have confirmed that, even in the context of overall disorganization, maternal withdrawing behavior is associated with higher levels of infant approach behavior, while maternal negative- intrusive, disoriented, and role-confused behaviors are associated with increased infant avoidance of the mother (74).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [74] Lyons-Ruth K Bronfman E Parsons E 1999 Atypical attachment in infancy and early childhood among children at developmental risk. IV. Maternal frightened, frightening, or atypical behavior and disorganized infant attachment patterns Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 64 3 67 96 10597543 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The first two years of life may be a sensitive period when clinical intervention could prevent long-term consequences of early attachment disturbance.

    “These findings also suggest that the first two years of life may be an early sensitive period during which clinical intervention could preempt long-term consequences of early attachment disturbance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The Limbic System Checklist-33 was designed to test whether childhood adversity kindled the amygdala and limbic system and increased symptoms typical of temporal lobe epilepsy.

    “The Limbic System Checklist-33 (LSCL-33) was created to test the hypothesis that childhood adversity kindled the amygdala and associated limbic system and increased the occurrence of symptoms characteristically observed in individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (64).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [64] Teicher MH Glod CA Surrey J Swett C Jr 1993 Early childhood abuse and limbic system ratings in adult psychiatric outpatients J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 5 3 301 306 8369640 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    The small sample size makes this a preliminary proof-of-construct study requiring follow-up in larger longitudinal studies.

    “In addition, the small sample size makes this a ‘proof of construct’ preliminary study that needs to be followed up by larger longitudinal studies of limbic development in relation to quality of care in infancy.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Because amygdala volume was measured in adulthood, non-linear developmental changes and unmeasured intervening stressors may have affected the link between early care quality and left amygdala volume.

    “In addition, because amygdala volume was assessed in adulthood, non-linear developmental change in regional volumes and intervening stressful events that were not measured here may have influenced the relation between quality of early care and left amygdala volume.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    LSCL-33 ratings show a significant inverse correlation with T2-relaxation time in the cerebellar vermis.

    “In addition, a significant inverse correlation has been found between LSCL-33 ratings and integrity of left fornix (119), integrity of left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (62), and T2-relaxation time (an indirect measure of relative cerebral blood flow) in the cerebellar vermis (120).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [120] Anderson CM Teicher MH Polcari A Renshaw PF 2002 Abnormal T2 relaxation time in the cerebellar vermis of adults sexually abused in childhood: potential role of the vermis in stress-enhanced risk for drug abuse Psychoneuroendocrinology 27 231 244 11750781 source

      Not checked in the free run.

76 of 76

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Missing data in the analyses are missing at random, so multiple imputation yields valid estimates.

    “Multiple imputation was employed to estimate missing data (93), using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure (94) in SPSS software.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The three-level summary attachment measure validly captures overall attachment disturbance.

    “To capture the combined effect of overall attachment disturbance, we also created a summary attachment measure as follows: 0 = No maternal or infant attachment disturbance in the Strange Situation Procedure; 1 = Disturbance on either maternal or infant assessment in the Strange Situation Procedure; 2 = Disturbance on both maternal and infant assessments in the Strange Situation Procedure.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The threat of neglect or abandonment by the caregiver is an equally potent survival threat to the infant as the threat of attack.

    “An equally potent survival threat to the infant is the threat of neglect or abandonment by the caregiver.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Disorganized attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volume.

    “Longitudinal studies27 as well as studies of children raised in orphanages28 indicate that disorganized attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volume—a hypothesized biomarker of difficulty with emotion regulation28.”

    From Psychobiological factors of resilience and depression in late life (2019) · cites this paper as [27]

Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • Not confirmedz = 2.343reported p = .02 · recomputed p = .019

    “Z = 2.343, p = .020”

1 of 1

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Confidence interval excludes its reported correlation

    Minor

    The reported right-amygdala correlation of −.293 falls outside its stated 95% confidence interval, which starts at −.20.

1 of 1

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

5 of the 133 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Pechtel, 2015, Sensitive periods of amygdala development: the role of maltreatment in preadolescence, Neuroimage, 97, 236, 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.04.025 · DOI · Paper page
  2. Madigan, 2013, Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: a meta-analysis, Dev. Psychol., 49, 672, 10.1037/a0028793 · DOI · Paper page
  3. Tottenham, 2012, Amygdala response to mother, Dev. Sci., 15, 307, 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01128.x · DOI · Paper page

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Related

Authors
Lyons-Ruth, K., Pechtel, P., Yoon, S. A., Anderson, C. M., & Teicher, M. H.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
ORCID
Venue
Behavioural Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-07
Volume
308
Pages
83-93
ISSN
0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2016.03.050
PMC
PMC5017306
OpenAlex
W2322696033
Cited by
142
References
133
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
FWCI
20.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Harvard Catalyst/Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (025758)
  • Frederick Leonhardt Foundation awarded to KLR (MH091391, MH062030)
  • Nancy Hall Brooks
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
disorganized attachment, amygdala volume, early life stress, infant attachment, maternal communication, Strange Situation Procedure, child abuse, dissociation, amygdala development, sensitive period, low-income households
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Amygdala, Anomie, Child, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Infant, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Object Attachment, Risk Factors, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-04.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-04.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

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