Developmental pathways to aggression in mental disorders

Der Nervenarzt

Abstract

Aggression in mental disorders is a clinically and societally highly relevant transdiagnostic phenomenon with heterogeneous developmental trajectories in childhood and adolescence: Aggressive behaviors may occur transiently and decline, but they may also stabilize across adolescence and persist into adulthood. The Collaborative Research Center Transregio 379 "Neuropsychobiology of Aggression: A Transdiagnostic Approach in Mental Disorders" investigates the biological, psychological, and social mechanisms that explain these divergent trajectories. The guiding framework is a developmental model in which aggressive biosignatures emerge from an imbalance between the developing negative valence system and cognitive control. During adolescence, reactivity to social threat, rejection, frustration, and status loss increases, while cognitive control systems continue to mature. Peers, exclusion, victimization, bullying, and puberty-related hormonal changes may shape these maturational processes. This article describes the child and adolescent developmental projects of TRR 379 and the longitudinal cohort. Understanding transdiagnostic biosignatures opens new opportunities for preventive and mechanism-based therapeutic interventions during critical windows of developmental plasticity.

Authors 10

1. Kerstin Konrad corresponding Aachen Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology Faculty of Medicine

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. kkonrad@ukaachen.de

   Institute of Neuroscience & Medicine, Translational Neuroscience (INM-10), Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany. kkonrad@ukaachen.de

2. Vanessa Reindl Aachen Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology Faculty of Medicine

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

3. Tobias Banaschewski

   Heidelberg University · Central Institute of Mental Health · Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim · Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

   German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Mannheim, Germany

4. Nathalie E. Holz

   Heidelberg University · Central Institute of Mental Health · Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim · Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

   German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Mannheim, Germany

5. Andreas G. Chiocchetti

   Goethe University Frankfurt · University Hospital Frankfurt

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

6. Christine Ecker

   Goethe University Frankfurt · King's College London · University Hospital Frankfurt

   Affiliation as printed

   Cooperative Brain Imaging Center (CoBIC), Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

   Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

   Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK

7. Heike Tost

   Heidelberg University · Central Institute of Mental Health · Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim · Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

   German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Mannheim, Germany

8. Andreas Meyer‐Lindenberg

   Heidelberg University · Central Institute of Mental Health · Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim · Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

   German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Mannheim, Germany

9. U. Habel Aachen Institute of Translational Neuroscience and Clinical Psychology Faculty of Medicine

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience & Medicine, Translational Neuroscience (INM-10), Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany

   Institute of Translational Neuroscience and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

10. Christine Margarete Freitag

    Goethe University Frankfurt · University Hospital Frankfurt

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany