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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

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Family protective service involvement and reduced infant cortical grey matter volume

Francesca Penner1,2, Banu Ahtam3, Yangming Ou3,4

  • 1Dept. of Psychology & Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA.

Infant Mental Health Journal
|March 10, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Family involvement with child protective services (CPS) was linked to reduced brain volumes in infants, including whole brain and cortical grey matter. This suggests caregiving adversity may impact early brain development, identifying at-risk infants.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Childhood adversity, such as neglect and abuse, impacts brain development in older children.
  • Neglect is associated with reduced cortical grey matter volume.
  • Abuse is linked to reduced right amygdala volume.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between family involvement with child protective services (CPS) and infant brain volumes.
  • To determine if early adversity affects brain development during infancy, a critical period of rapid brain growth.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited mothers (N=55) reporting CPS involvement in the northeastern United States.
  • Infants (Mage=11.56 months) underwent brain MRI scans between 4 and 25 months of age.
  • Assessed volumes of whole brain grey matter, cortical grey matter, insular cortex, and amygdala.

Main Results:

  • Family CPS involvement correlated with lower infant whole brain grey matter volume.
  • Cortical grey matter volume was reduced in infants with family CPS involvement.
  • Lower left insular cortex volume was observed in relation to family CPS involvement.
  • No significant associations were found between CPS involvement and amygdala volumes.

Conclusions:

  • Family involvement with child protective services (CPS) is associated with reduced brain volumes in infancy.
  • Caregiving adversity may negatively affect cortical grey matter development during early life.
  • Family CPS involvement serves as a potential indicator for identifying infants at risk for developmental impacts.

Keywords:
cortical grey mattergrey matter volumeinfancyinsulamaltreatment

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