Strack, Jordan, authorMerz, Emily, advisorThomas, Michael, committee memberSeger, Carol, committee memberLucas-Thompson, Rachel, committee member2023-06-012023-06-012023https://hdl.handle.net/10217/236613Socioeconomic disadvantage has been significantly associated with an increased risk for internalizing problems in children and adolescents. The neural mechanisms underlying these associations, however, are not well understood. Differences in connectivity of the amygdala and ventral striatum with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may play an important role in these mechanisms. The goals of this study were to examine (1) the associations among socioeconomic factors, amygdala and ventral striatal resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), and emotional outcomes in children and adolescents, (2) sex differences in associations between socioeconomic factors and amygdala and ventral striatal rsFC, and (3) interactions between socioeconomic factors and familial/genetic risk for anxiety/depression in predicting amygdala and ventral striatal rsFC. Participants were typically-developing 3- to 20-year-olds (50% male, N = 590) from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics (PING) study (Jernigan et al., 2016). Resting-state fMRI, socioeconomic (family income, parental education), and self-reported positive and negative affect data were collected. Measures of familial and genetic risk for anxiety/depression were family history of anxiety/depression and genome-wide polygenic risk scores for major depressive disorder (PRS-MDD), respectively. Whole-brain, seed-based functional connectivity analyses were conducted with the ventral striatum and the amygdala as seeds. Findings indicated significant interactions between socioeconomic factors and PRS-MDD for amygdala rsFC with the frontopolar cortex. Positive and negative affect were associated with amygdala and ventral striatum rsFC with various brain regions. Associations between socioeconomic factors and amygdala and ventral striatal rsFC and sex differences were not significant. These findings can be applied to informing the design of more effective prevention and intervention strategies to facilitate healthy emotional development.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.amygdalasocioeconomic inequalityaffectventral striatumfunctional connectivityText