A new study from Yale University suggests that facing some adversity during childhood and adolescence may actually help build resilience to anxiety disorders later in life.
The research, published in Communications Psychology, found that while severe childhood stress increases the risk of anxiety, experiencing low-to-moderate levels of adversity between ages 6 and 12 may help the brain develop coping mechanisms that protect mental health in adulthood.
The Link Between Adversity and Anxiety
Past research has shown that children who face traumatic or stressful events during brain development are 40% more likely to develop anxiety disorders as adults. However, not everyone who experiences childhood adversity struggles with mental health issues later in life—many people show resilience.
This study helps explain why: The brain’s ability to distinguish between safety and danger plays a key role in whether someone develops anxiety.
Lead researcher Lucinda Sisk, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at Yale, explained, “Our findings suggest that the relationship between childhood adversity and mental health is more complex than we thought.”
How the Study Was Conducted
The researchers studied 120 adults who had faced different levels of adversity at four life stages:
- Early childhood (before age 6)
- Middle childhood (ages 6–12)
- Adolescence (ages 13–18)
- Adulthood
To understand how adversity affects brain function, the researchers used neuroimaging technology to scan participants’ brains while they viewed images signaling either threat or safety. This helped them analyze how well each person’s brain could tell the difference between dangerous and safe situations—a process often disrupted in people with anxiety.
The study identified three groups of participants based on their brain responses and childhood experiences:
- Low adversity, high threat response, low safety response: These individuals had little childhood adversity but showed a strong reaction to danger and struggled to recognize safety cues.
- Moderate adversity in middle childhood/adolescence, low threat response, high safety response: These individuals had experienced some stress but developed a strong ability to recognize safety, which was linked to lower anxiety.
- High adversity, low response to both threat and safety: These individuals had faced the most stress and showed minimal brain activation to both danger and safety cues, suggesting difficulty processing emotional situations.
Key Findings
- People in the second group (moderate childhood adversity) had the lowest levels of anxiety in adulthood.
- People in the first group (low adversity) and third group (high adversity) had higher anxiety levels.
- The brain’s ability to recognize safety signals was a strong predictor of lower anxiety.
Why This Matters
The study highlights that the timing and amount of childhood adversity matter when it comes to mental health. Experiencing some challenges during childhood—without extreme trauma—may actually help the brain develop resilience.
Dr. Dylan Gee, a Yale psychology professor and co-author of the study, emphasized that this research could help identify which children are most at risk for anxiety disorders based on how their brains process threats and safety.
“If a stressful event happens at age 5 versus age 15, the brain is at a completely different stage of development,” Dr. Gee explained. “This study shows that certain periods are more sensitive than others, and experiences during these times can have a lasting impact on mental health.”
What This Means for Mental Health
This research could help doctors and psychologists develop better ways to support children who experience adversity, focusing on how to strengthen their ability to distinguish between safety and danger.
It also suggests that childhood challenges are not always harmful—in some cases, they may help build resilience and reduce the risk of anxiety later in life. Understanding these patterns could lead to new strategies for preventing anxiety disorders before they develop.
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The research findings can be found in Communications Psychology.
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