Youth mental health and brain development are profoundly shaped by highly heterogeneous childhood environments. However, research often operates under the assumption that neural networks linked to psychopathology function in the same way across different individuals, with limited consideration of how brain-behavior associations themselves may vary across environmental contexts. This poses challenges for identifying the precise neural correlates of risk or resilience to psychopathology.

In a large, longitudinal sample (N = 8,078), we examined differences in psychological symptoms and their associations with brain network functional connectivity across three clusters of youth identified by their home, school, and community environments.

Child environment groups differed in mental health symptoms, as well as the links between large-scale functional network connectivity and symptoms. Youth exposed to high trauma and familial risk showed the highest symptom levels over time compared to those youth in low-risk or economically disadvantaged environments. Moreover, youth in the high trauma and familial risk group showed stronger functional connectivity between the salience and frontoparietal networks with increased symptoms, whereas youth in the high disadvantage group showed the opposite pattern. Notably, these brain and mental health associations were not observed when examined across the entire sample, and group differences were more pronounced in female and older youth.

The same neural patterns of functional network connectivity can have different implications for mental health depending on the environment. These findings highlight the importance of context-sensitive approaches for developing personalized interventions in supporting youth mental health.