Abstract
<p>Household neglect and neighborhood opportunity are each linked to youth mental health and neural development, yet less is known about their co-occurrence, limiting understanding of layered ecological risk. Using a person-centered approach, this study identifies profiles of household neglect and neighborhood opportunity and examines longitudinal associations with adolescent mood disorders and superior frontal gyrus cortical thickness. Longitudinal data from 156 adolescents (100% female at birth, aged 10–13 at baseline [M = 11.54, SD = 0.80], 73.72% White, average income-to-needs ratio of 2.79) were used in the current analysis. Latent profile analysis identified distinct profiles of household neglect and neighborhood opportunity at baseline. Associations between profile membership, mood disorder prevalence, and superior frontal gyrus cortical thickness were examined across five time points, each approximately 18 months apart. A four-profile solution fit the data best: (1) Moderate Neglect/Moderately Low Opportunities, (2) Low Neglect/Moderately High Opportunities, (3) High Neglect/Very Low Opportunities, and (4) Low Neglect/Very High Opportunities. Profile 3 showed higher mood disorder prevalence than Profile 2 at baseline and than Profile 1 at time three; Profile 4 also exceeded Profile 1 at times three and four, indicating elevated risk at both extremes of the opportunity spectrum. Profile 3 exhibited thicker superior frontal cortical thickness than Profile 1 at times one, two, and four, and than Profiles 2 and 4 at time four. Results underscore the importance of multi-level, context-sensitive approaches to prevention and intervention for youth exposed to intersecting environments.</p>