There is converging evidence supporting the critical role of direct and indirect adversity in brain development, with effects lasting until adulthood. Holz et al. (2019) state that childhood abuse and familial hardship are examples of direct adversity. In contrast, characteristics such as urban life or ethnic minority status are examples of indirect societal trouble. The authors, working in the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy, discuss the evidence that supportive social environments may have an impact on similar neural substrates, thereby strengthening the capacity to cope with stress exposure actively and counteract the negative effects evoked by social adversity. The article is relevant to the topic because the authors studied the issue from a psychological point of view. Holz et al. (2019) present a review in a scientific journal, so the intended audience is psychologists and researchers interested in the impact of social stress on brain development. The authors address potential preventative and early intervention strategies that target both the person and the social environment to lower the risk of mental diseases and develop resilience.
Takanashi et al. (2018) state that social stress can cause a variety of psychological issues, ranging from increased anxiety and melancholy to antisocial and violent conduct. Moreover, the authors say that immune dysregulation may be one of the mediators of social stress that leads to violence and depression. The authors have professional knowledge of neuroscience and studied the topic of social stress from a neuroscientific perspective, so their scientific article for scientists and academic researchers in a research journal is a relevant source of information. Takanashi et al. (2018) wrote that while depression and aggressiveness are fundamentally different behavioral and physiological reactions to social stress, they contend that both may be underpinned by an overlapping and separate pattern of immunological signaling. They also propose that animal models of maladaptive aggressiveness generated by social stress must be studied to understand the neuro-immune mechanisms of aggression and depression, which may apply to human charge.
References
Holz, N. E., Tost, H., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2019). Resilience and the brain: A key role for regulatory circuits linked to social stress and support. Molecular Psychiatry, 25, 379-396.
Takanashi, A., Flanigan, M. E., McEwen, B. S., & Russo, S. J. (2018). Aggression, social stress, and the immune system in humans and animal models. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.