Trait emotional regulation mediates the protective role of resting-state brain activity against depressive symptoms in late adolescence.
BACKGROUND Depression is a common psychiatric condition posing serious threats to individual physical and mental health. While previous studies have demonstrated that trait emotional regulation (TER) is a protective factor for depression, the neural correlates between TER and depression remain unclear, especially in adolescents. This study aimed to investigate the neurofunctional substrates of TER and its neural link to depressive symptoms in adolescents. METHODS Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and a battery of behavioral assessments were administered to 231 general high school students. Whole-brain correlation analyses and prediction analyses were conducted to identify brain regions whose fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFFs) were associated with TER. We examined the correlation between the identified brain regions and depressive symptoms, and conducted mediation analyses to explore the role of TER in mediating the brain-depression relationship. RESULTS TER was significantly correlated negatively with fALFF in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), and positively with fALFF in the cuneus. Depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with TER, and positively with fALFF in the VMPFC. In mediation analysis, TER had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between the VMPFC activity and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS These results reveal the brain functional basis of TER at rest, and identify a neuropsychological pathway through which TER may help ameliorate depression. Our study may provide novel neurobiological insights for early interventions targeting adolescent depression.