Prediction of trauma-related disorders: Identifying pre-exposure factors, neurobiological mechanisms, and their impact on future adaptation in a comprehensive analysis of risk and resilience

Direct or indirect exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, violence, or aversive details of traumatic events—alongside catastrophic scenarios such as global health crises, climate change, political instability, wars, terrorism, and migrant and refugee crises—represents a range of dangers we may encounter daily in our modern lives. Consequently, experiencing trauma is remarkably common, with over 70% of adults reporting exposure to at least one traumatic event and over 30% reporting exposure to four or more. Notably, an estimated 4-6% of the global population who have witnessed traumatic events meet the criteria for trauma-related disorders, highly debilitating psychiatric conditions, which come with profound social and economic costs. In recent years, the exacerbation of trauma-related disorders due to multiple tragic scenarios has led to alarmingly high rates of mental health impairment, which may persist for a long time, imposing a substantial emotional and economic burden.

In the prevailing framework, it is widely accepted that the symptomatology of trauma-related disorders often reflects a prolonged response to previously encountered adversity. For instance, early life stress has been shown to increase the risk of adult traumatization. In other words, after experiencing fearful events, individuals who are traumatized and exhibit significant and prolonged fear symptoms may activate neurobiological processes that result in inadequate fear memory inhibition. Nonetheless, not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop a trauma-related disorder.

The groundbreaking hypothesis of this Research Topic posits that, in both humans and animals, certain individuals may exhibit identifiable characteristics even before fear exposure that can predict their future functioning and adaptation. Those with inherent fear circuit alterations—present prior fear exposure—may be at higher risk for trauma-related psychopathology, when faced with adversities. While identifying the complex environmental factors contributing to trauma-related disorders is important, pinpointing predisposing risk factors is imperative for advancing our understanding and intervention strategies.
In both humans and animals, already before the fear exposure, susceptible individuals are characterized by a footprint that can be detected and used to predict the individual's functioning and adaptation later in life.

This Research Topic aims to investigate pre-exposure risk factors, that predispose individuals to trauma-related disorders. The goal is to further understand the role of pre-exposure neurobiological changes and inherent fear circuit dysfunctions, with a focus on individual differences.

Submitted articles should ideally explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

· Neurobiology of pre-exposure predictors in trauma response.
· Interactions between environmental factors and pre-existing susceptibilities.
· Longitudinal studies on the role of early life stress in trauma disorders.
· Mechanisms of fear memory inhibition and their disruptions.
· Strategies for early diagnosis and intervention based on pre-exposure characteristics.
· Predictive value for future functioning, adaptation, and susceptibility to trauma-related psychopathology. resilience and future disorder onset.

This article collection will contribute to highlighting gaps in current research and suggest future directions for studies aimed at improving diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of trauma-related psychopathology.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: stress, PTSD, maladaptive response, trauma-related disorders, risk factors, susceptibility, psychopathology, animal models, individual differences

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.