<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec>
<h3>Objective</h3>
<p>Sexual abuse (SA) is known for its effects on brain structures in adolescents. We aimed to explore if SA has any effect on limbic and prefrontal cortex (PFC) structures. We hypothesized that children with SA would have a thinner PFC with larger amygdala and hippocampus that lead to aberrations in threat detection, orientation and response circuit; that would be highly adaptive in a dangerous environment in the short term.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Method</h3>
<p>We included 57 SA and 33 healthy control (HC) female participants. In addition to psychiatric evaluation, we acquired 3 T MR images from all participants. We compared prefrontal cortical thicknesses, hippocampus and amygdala volumes between groups.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Results</h3>
<p>The age and education levels of study groups were matched, however, IQ scores and socioeconomic status (SES) scores of the SA group were lower than the controls. Total CTQ scores of the SA group were higher than the HC. Nevertheless, the mean value of sexual abuse scores was above the cut-off scores only for the SA participants. SA participants had larger right and left hippocampus and right amygdala volumes than the controls. SA group had reduced inferior frontal gyrus cortical thickness (T=3.5, p&lt;0.01, cluster size=694 mm2, x=51 y=-30 z=6) than HC group. None of the structural findings were correlated with total or sexual abuse CTQ scores.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>Children with SA history has structural abnormalities in threat detection, orientation and response circuit. SA victims with no psychiatric diagnosis have a high probability of psychiatric problems with a possible contribution of these aberrations. SA cases that do not have a diagnosis must not be overlooked as they may have structural changes in emotion related brain regions. Careful follow-up is needed for all of all SA cases.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Objective
Sexual abuse (SA) is known for its effects on brain structures in adolescents. We aimed to explore if SA has any effect on limbic and prefrontal cortex (PFC) structures. We hypothesized that children with SA would have a thinner PFC with larger amygdala and hippocampus that lead to aberrations in threat detection, orientation and response circuit; that would be highly adaptive in a dangerous environment in the short term.


Method
We included 57 SA and 33 healthy control (HC) female participants. In addition to psychiatric evaluation, we acquired 3 T MR images from all participants. We compared prefrontal cortical thicknesses, hippocampus and amygdala volumes between groups.


Results
The age and education levels of study groups were matched, however, IQ scores and socioeconomic status (SES) scores of the SA group were lower than the controls. Total CTQ scores of the SA group were higher than the HC. Nevertheless, the mean value of sexual abuse scores was above the cut-off scores only for the SA participants. SA participants had larger right and left hippocampus and right amygdala volumes than the controls. SA group had reduced inferior frontal gyrus cortical thickness (T=3.5, p<0.01, cluster size=694 mm2, x=51 y=-30 z=6) than HC group. None of the structural findings were correlated with total or sexual abuse CTQ scores.


Conclusion
Children with SA history has structural abnormalities in threat detection, orientation and response circuit. SA victims with no psychiatric diagnosis have a high probability of psychiatric problems with a possible contribution of these aberrations. SA cases that do not have a diagnosis must not be overlooked as they may have structural changes in emotion related brain regions. Careful follow-up is needed for all of all SA cases.

The effects of sexual abuse on female adolescent brain structures

Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"The effects of sexual abuse on female adolescent brain structures"}

Objective
Sexual abuse (SA) is known for its effects on brain structures in adolescents. We aimed to explore if SA has any effect on limbic and prefrontal...

The effects of sexual abuse on female adolescent brain structures

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jul 25, 2023

Page range: 87 - 94

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjcapp-2023-0009

Keywords
sexual abuse, cortical thickness, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex

© 2023 Melek Hande Bulut Demir et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The effects of sexual abuse on female adolescent brain structures

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jul 25, 2023

Page range: 87 - 94

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjcapp-2023-0009

Keywordssexual abuse, cortical thickness, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex

© 2023 Melek Hande Bulut Demir et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
sexual abuse, cortical thickness, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex