Children Exposed to Family Violence Show Same Brain Activity as Soldiers
Scientists at UCL, in collaboration with the Anna Freud Centre, have conducted the first brain scan study to show how exposure to domestic violence and physical abuse can alter children’s brain functioning.
Using fMRI scans, they found that children exposed to family violence displayed heightened activity in the anterior insula and amygdala when looking at angry faces, patterns previously observed in soldiers exposed to combat.
These regions of the brain are involved in detecting threat but are also linked to anxiety disorders, suggesting that while such adaptations may help children remain alert to danger in the short term, they may also increase the risk of anxiety and depression later in life.
Importantly, the children studied were healthy and showed no current mental health problems, indicating that changes in brain activity can occur even before psychiatric symptoms appear. The researchers emphasize that this represents an underlying neural risk factor rather than a diagnosis.
Professor Peter Fonagy of the Anna Freud Centre noted that these findings highlight the profound impact violence in the home can have on a child’s development and called on clinicians and social workers to strengthen efforts to protect children from abuse.
