Individual differences in adolescent cortical development are associated with neighborhood characteristics: Longitudinal findings from the ABCD study.

Developmental trajectories of adolescent cortical structure differ between individuals. Neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as influencing this variability. Few studies have examined how multifaceted neighborhood contexts relate to individual changes in cortical maturation patterns. Using 3 waves of neuroimaging data from the ABCD study (n = 11,639 with at least one scan), and latent growth models, the present investigation examined associations between exposure to neighborhood disadvantage and educational, health, and environmental opportunities at ages 9 to 10, and interindividual variability in trajectories of cortical thickness and surface area development between ages 9 and 15. Individuals exposed to disadvantaged neighborhoods showed lower cortical thickness and surface area, and accelerated rates of change in these metrics across adolescence, whereas greater neighborhood opportunities were associated with higher cortical thickness and surface area and a slower pace of change. Our findings indicate interindividual variability in cortical maturational trajectories and provide evidence for the role of neighborhood environments, including positive and negative features, in shaping this variability. This emphasizes the need for future studies examining multiple facets of neighborhood ecologies when examining their influence on adolescent cortical development.