OBJECTIVE Discrimination exposure has a detrimental impact on mental health, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. The impact discrimination exposure has on mental health is likely mediated by neural processes associated with emotion expression and regulation. However, the specific neural processes that mediate the relationship between discrimination exposure and mental health remain to be determined. The present study investigated the relationship adolescent discrimination exposure has with stress-elicited brain activity and mental health symptoms in young adulthood. METHODS A total of 301 participants completed the Montreal Imaging Stress Task while functional MRI data were collected. Discrimination exposure was measured four times from ages 11 to 19, and stress-elicited brain activity and psychological distress (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress) were assessed in young adulthood (age 20). RESULTS Stress-elicited dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and hippocampal activity varied with discrimination exposure. Activity within these brain regions varied with the cumulative amount and trajectory of discrimination exposure across adolescence (initial exposure, change in exposure, and acceleration of exposure). Depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms varied with discrimination exposure. Stress-elicited activity within the dorsolateral PFC and the IPL statistically mediated the relationship between discrimination exposure and psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that adolescent discrimination exposure may alter the neural response to future stressors (i.e., within regions associated with emotion expression and regulation), which may in turn modify susceptibility and resilience to psychological distress. Thus, differences in stress-elicited neural reactivity may represent an important neurobiological mechanism underlying discrimination-related mental health disparities.

中文翻译：

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歧视暴露、神经对压力的反应和心理困扰。


目的 歧视暴露对心理健康有不利影响，增加抑郁、焦虑和创伤后压力的风险。歧视暴露对心理健康的影响可能是由与情绪表达和调节相关的神经过程介导的。然而，介导歧视暴露与心理健康之间关系的特定神经过程仍有待确定。本研究调查了青少年歧视暴露与压力引发的大脑活动和成年早期心理健康症状的关系。方法 共有 301 名参与者完成了蒙特利尔成像压力任务，同时收集了功能性 MRI 数据。从 11 岁到 19 岁，对歧视暴露进行了四次测量，并在成年早期（20 岁）评估了压力引发的大脑活动和心理困扰（抑郁、焦虑、创伤后压力）。结果 应激诱导的背外侧和背内侧前额叶皮层 （PFC） 、顶下小叶 （IPL） 和海马活动随辨别暴露而变化。这些大脑区域内的活动随整个青春期歧视暴露的累积量和轨迹（初始暴露、暴露变化和暴露加速）而变化。抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激症状因歧视暴露而异。背外侧 PFC 和 IPL 内的压力引发的活动在统计学上介导了歧视暴露与心理困扰之间的关系。结论 研究结果表明，青少年歧视暴露可能会改变对未来压力源的神经反应（即，在与情绪表达和调节相关的区域内），这反过来可能会改变对心理困扰的易感性和恢复力。因此，压力引发的神经反应性的差异可能代表了与歧视相关的心理健康差异的重要神经生物学机制。