The Influence of Early-Life Adversity on the Coupling of Structural and Functional Brain Connectivity Across Childhood

Early-life adversity (ELA) exposure is suggested to accelerate development. However, the influence of ELA on neurodevelopmental trajectories has not been assessed directly but largely inferred from retrospective reporting in adult cohorts. Using multimodal neuroimaging data from a pediatric cohort study ( N = 549), we modeled neurodevelopmental trajectories over childhood with structure–function coupling (SC–FC), the correlation between structural and functional connectivity. A linear decrease in SC–FC was observed from age 4.5 to 7.5 years. When stratified by ELA, only the high-adversity group showed a curvilinear trajectory, with a steep decrease between age 4.5 and 6 years, suggestive of accelerated neurodevelopment. This finding was confirmed by increased DNA-derived epigenetic age acceleration at age 6 years in the high- relative to low-adversity groups. SC–FC at age 4.5 years also positively moderated the associations between ELA and behavioral outcomes assessed in mid-childhood. These results demonstrate the association between ELA and neurodevelopment, and how they interact to influence behavior.