Peer-reviewed article
Family protective service involvement and reduced infant cortical grey matter volume.
Penner F, Ahtam B, Ou Y, Grant PE, Lyons-Ruth K ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether infants whose families were involved with child protective services showed differences in brain structure compared to other infants. Researchers used brain imaging scans of infants aged 4 to 25 months and found that those with CPS involvement had smaller volumes in several brain regions, particularly in the grey matter. The findings suggest that caregiving adversity during infancy may affect how the brain develops during this critical period of rapid growth.
Key points
- Family CPS involvement was associated with lower whole brain grey matter volume in infants
- Reduced cortical grey matter volume was found in infants with CPS involvement
- Left insular cortex volume was reduced in infants with CPS involvement
- No differences in amygdala volumes were observed between groups
- CPS involvement may serve as an indicator to identify infants at neurobiological risk
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot establish whether CPS involvement causes brain differences or whether underlying adversity causes both CPS involvement and brain changes. The sample size is relatively small (55 mothers), limiting generalisability.
Abstract
Among older children, neglect is linked to reduced cortical grey matter volume, whereas abuse is linked to reduced right amygdala volume. Less is known about whether similar effects of adversity are evident in infancy, a period of particularly rapid brain growth. This study evaluated whether family involvement with child protective services (CPS) was linked to differences in infant brain volumes (whole brain grey matter, cortical grey matter, right and left insular cortex, and right and left amygdala). Participants were recruited in the northeastern United States. Mothers (N = 55) reported on any family involvement with CPS as a parent. Infants completed a brain MRI between 4 and 25 months of age (Mage = 11.56 months). Family CPS involvement was associated with lower infant whole brain grey matter volume, cortical grey matter volume, and left insular cortex volume. No relations to amygdala volumes were observed. Caregiving adversity may affect cortical grey matter development during infancy, with family CPS involvement as an accessible index identifying infants at risk.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Identification of infants with family CPS involvement as a marker of exposure to adversity
- Population
- 55 infants aged 4-25 months (mean 11.56 months) and their mothers in the northeastern United States
Key finding
Family CPS involvement associated with lower whole brain grey matter volume