Multi-Dimensional Natural and Social Environmental Factors, Genetic Components, and the Brain Health of Young Adolescents

Multi-Dimensional Natural and Social Environmental Factors, Genetic Components, and the Brain Health of Young Adolescents | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Multi-Dimensional Natural and Social Environmental Factors, Genetic Components, and the Brain Health of Young Adolescents Fei Li, Yun-Jun Sun, Tai Ren, Wei Zhou, Qingli Zhang, Lingli Zhang, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4969396/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Developing children encounter a diverse array of dimensional environmental exposures that collectively shape their brain health. However, studies are mainly limited to single-exposure or single-domain levels. We investigated the comprehensive relationships of youth multi-dimensional growth environmental factors with their brain structural signatures, cognitive performance, mental health, and the moderation effects of genetic components, in over 10,000 US participants from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Using environmental Exposome-Wide Association Study (ExWAS), linear mixed-effect association models (LMM) and principal component analysis (PCA), we found that the 4 main environmental domains were significantly correlated with their brain health indices to varying degrees. The contribution of the (I) family environmental domain ranked first, followed by (II) residential-community level socioeconomic status, (III) school and peer environment, and (IV) natural pollution indices, which ranked fourth. The associations of environmental domains with youth mental health and cognition were significantly mediated by brain cortical structure signatures and moderated by individuals’ genetic architecture components, identified through structural function and moderated mediation analysis. Our study revealed that the identified core environment components were closely linked to cognition and specific mental and behavior symptoms, including attention, social and conduct problems. These links were mediated through distinct brain cortical structural differences, which encompass intricate interaction mechanisms between genetic and environmental components. Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Socioeconomic scenarios environmental factors adolescents mental health cognition brain structure adolescent brain and cognitive development study principal component analysis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files EnvironmentalSupplementaryInformation202408.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4969396","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":346852497,"identity":"db6650c9-e14b-407f-8664-9a50bb82f912","order_by":0,"name":"Fei 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