Maternal Stress-Related Neural Reactivity and Caregiving Sensitivity in Early Childhood: Associations with Peri-Pubertal Disruptive Behaviors

Disruptive behavior disorders among youth are a pressing public-health concern and a key pathway of intergenerational risk. In the 8-year longitudinal Geneva Early Childhood Stress Study, we tested whether maternal psychological, behavioral, and neurobiological factors assessed in toddlerhood predicted peri-pubertal disruptive behaviors. Mother-child dyads (n = 28; child age at Phase 1 = 12-44 months; Phase 3 = 9-15 years) completed clinical interviews; mothers underwent fMRI while viewing emotion-related (prosocial/romantic and threatening vs neutral) and threat-related (threatening vs prosocial/romantic) adult interactions; maternal sensitivity (MS) was coded from filmed play; child disruptive symptoms were assessed with the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) at follow-up. Ten a priori neural clusters were reduced via principal components analysis, yielding a theory-consistent Neural-Threat component and a Neural-Preoccupation component reflecting precuneus activity. Using exploratory forward stepwise regression adjusted for child age, sex, and socioeconomic status, Neural-Threat and MS each uniquely predicted fewer disruptive behaviors (protective), whereas Neural-Preoccupation predicted more symptoms (risk). A planned moderation test showed that MS buffered the Neural-Threat-behavior association, with stronger protection at higher sensitivity. Maternal posttraumatic stress severity in early childhood showed no direct association with later disruptive behaviors. These findings suggest that stress-responsive maternal brain function relates to childrens disruptive outcomes and that sensitive caregiving may potentiate protective neural processes. Results are preliminary and warrant replication in larger, more representative samples, but they highlight neurobehavioral targets for early, trauma-informed prevention, i.e., enhancing maternal sensitivity and supporting adaptive threat monitoring in mothers.