Neurobiological correlates of resilience during childhood and adolescence – A systematic review
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Research examining the neurobiological mechanisms of resilience has grown rapidly over the past decade. However, there is vast heterogeneity in research study design, methods, and in how resilience is operationalized, making it difficult to gauge what we currently know about resilience biomarkers. This preregistered systematic review aimed to review and synthesize the extant literature to identify neurobiological correlates of resilience to adversity during childhood and adolescence. Literature searches on MEDLINE and PsycINFO yielded 3834 studies and a total of 49 studies were included in the final review. Findings were synthesized based on how resilience was conceptualized (e.g., absence of psychopathology, trait resilience), and where relevant, the type of outcome examined (e.g., internalizing symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder). Our synthesis showed that findings were generally mixed. Nevertheless, some consistent findings suggest that resilience neural mechanisms may involve prefrontal and subcortical regions structure/activity, as well as connectivity between these regions. Given substantial heterogeneity in the definition and operationalization of resilience, more methodological consistency across studies is required for advancing knowledge in this field.
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- Authors
- Zhang, L., Rakesh, D., Cropley, V., & Whittle, S.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Lu
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-11
- Volume
- 105
- Pages
- 102333
- ISSN
- 0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4386579977
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 1.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- resilience, neurobiological correlates, childhood adversity, adolescence, prefrontal cortex, subcortical structures, neuronal connectivity, internalizing problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, trait resilience, psychopathology
- MeSH terms
- Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adolescent, Brain, Child, Humans, Resilience, Psychological
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