Although previous studies have reported associations between childhood trauma exposure and neurobiological alterations,9,10,21,41,73–75 it remains unclear to what extent childhood trauma influences adolescent and young adult neurodevelopment, and whether these effects influence risk for onset of psychopathology in young adulthood. Findings from the present study suggest that individuals exposed to sexual assaultive trauma before 10 years of age have atypical developmental trajectories of neurophysiologic functioning during response inhibition (no-go); the typical decrease in frontal theta oscillatory activity during response inhibition (no-go) observed throughout adolescence and young adulthood occurs at a slower rate in those who have been exposed to early sexual assault. Importantly, these effects remained significant after accounting for parental history of AUD and participants’ substance use (intercept differences were no longer significant when parental AUD was included in the model; see Table 3, Model 3). However, effects were no longer significant when aspects of impulsivity were included in the model, suggesting that impulsivity could have an important role in the relation of early sexual trauma and frontal theta development during response inhibition. In addition, change in frontal no-go theta trajectories was associated with AUD symptom count and INT psychopathology (depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation) in young adulthood.
