Amygdala activity to angry and fearful faces relates to bullying and victimization in adolescents

Abstract

Relational bullying and victimization are common social experiences during adolescence, but relatively little functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research has examined the neural correlates of bullying and victimization in adolescents. The aim of the present study was to address this gap by examining the association between amygdala activity to angry and fearful faces and peer relational bullying and victimization in a community-based sample of adolescents. Participants included 49 adolescents, 12-15 years old, who underwent fMRI scanning while completing an emotional face matching task. Results indicated that interactions between amygdala activity to angry and fearful faces predicted self-reported relational bullying and victimization. Specifically, a combination of higher amygdala activity to angry faces and lower amygdala activity to fearful faces predicted more bullying behavior, whereas a combination of lower amygdala activity to angry faces and lower amygdala activity to fearful faces predicted less relational victimization. Exploratory whole-brain analyses also suggested that increased rostral anterior cingulate cortex activity to fearful faces was associated with less bullying. These results suggest that relational bullying and victimization are related to different patterns of neural activity to angry and fearful faces, which may help in understanding how patterns of social information processing predict these experiences.

Keywords: adolescence; amygdala; bullying; fMRI; victimization.

Figure 1

Main effects of task for Angry Faces > Shapes (A) and Fearful Faces > Shapes (B). Effects were evaluated with a P < 0.05 FWE small-volume correction for the bilateral amygdala ROI.

Figure 2

Interaction between amygdala activity to angry and fearful faces predicts relational bullying. Results are displayed for a simple slopes analysis for low levels of amygdala activity to fearful faces (1 SD below the mean) and high levels of amygdala activity to fearful faces (1 SD above the mean) (A) and plotting data points with a median split for amygdala activity to fearful faces (B). The relational bullying variable was square root-transformed for all analyses. ^*P < 0.05 in simple slopes analysis.

Figure 3

Interaction between amygdala activity to angry and fearful faces predicts relational victimization. Results are displayed for a simple slopes analysis for low levels of amygdala activity to fearful faces (1 SD below the mean) and high levels of amygdala activity to fearful faces (1 SD above the mean) (A) and plotting data points with a median split for amygdala activity to fearful faces (B). The relational victimization variable was square root-transformed for all analyses. ^***P < 0.001 in simple slopes analysis.

Figure 4

rACC activity to fearful faces is negatively associated with relational bullying. Results are displayed at P < 0.005 uncorrected voxelwise with a minimum cluster extent threshold of 386 voxels. (A) demonstrates activity in sagittal view and (B) demonstrates activity in axial view.