Negative Parenting Affects Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms Through Alterations in Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuitry: A...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Genetics

Background:

• Gene-environment interactions are crucial for emotion regulation in depression and anxiety.
• Limited understanding of how maternal parenting influences adolescent brain circuitry and internalizing symptoms.
• The heritability of neurobehavioral associations between parenting and internalizing symptoms during adolescence is largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of maternal negative parenting on amygdala-based emotional circuitry.
• To examine the link between altered brain circuitry and adolescent internalizing symptoms.
• To assess the heritability of this neurobehavioral association.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in adolescent twins (100 monozygotic, 78 dizygotic) from age 13 to 16.
• Structural equation modeling assessed mediation effects.
• Quantitative genetic analysis evaluated heritability.

Main Results:

• Maternal negative parenting predicted increased functional connectivity between the amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
• This neural pathway mediated the link between negative parenting and adolescent depressive symptoms.
• The amygdala-prefrontal connectivity pathway showed moderate heritability (21%).

Conclusions:

• Maternal negative parenting in early adolescence is associated with atypical amygdala-prefrontal connectivity in mid-adolescence.
• This altered connectivity is linked to adolescent internalizing depressive symptoms.
• The observed abnormality in emotion-related brain circuitry is moderately heritable.