Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2025
Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Effects of Parental Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems on Children's Limbic Brain Structures-An MRI
1Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
Insights
Parental internalizing and externalizing behaviors impact children's brain development. This study reveals normative parental behaviors influence children's limbic structures, affecting future mental health and behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychiatry
Background:
- Parental behavior significantly influences child development, with potential long-term effects on brain structures.
- Existing research often focuses on severe parental behavior problems and their impact on children with existing mental health issues.
- Less is understood about the effects of normative variations in parental behavior on the developing brains of typically developing children and adolescents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between normative variations in parental internalizing and externalizing behaviors and children's limbic brain structures.
- To examine these relationships in a large cohort of children and adolescents without diagnosed mental disorders.
- To understand the early influence of parental behavior on brain development in typically developing youth.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the large-scale Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.
- Employed quantile (median) regression models to analyze associations.
- Controlled for biological confounders and parental socioeconomic status.
Main Results:
- Parental internalizing behaviors showed a unique association with children's limbic structures.
- Parental externalizing behaviors also demonstrated a unique association with children's limbic structures.
- These associations remained significant after adjusting for confounders.
Conclusions:
- Normative parental behavior exerts a significant early influence on the limbic structures of developing children and adolescents.
- Alterations in limbic structure maturation, influenced by parental behavior, may contribute to later behavioral issues and increased risk for mood disorders or substance abuse.
- Findings highlight the importance of considering normative parental behavior in understanding child brain development and mental health trajectories.
Abstract:
Parental behavior problems have long-term effects on children's limbic brain structures and functions. Parental behavior problems-related brain changes in children may lead to mental disorders and behavior dysfunction later in life. However, our understanding of the relationship between parental behavior and children's brain structures is less obvious when children and adolescents are studied in a general population without mental disorders. The majority of studies on the relationship between parental behavior and adolescent brain structure have been focused on severe forms of the following parental behavior problems: (1) internalizing behavior associated with mood and anxiety disorders, and (2) externalizing behavior associated with substance use and violence. A few studies examined the effect of normative variations or subtle differences in parental behavior. Therefore, we utilized a large study-Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD)-to determine relationships between normative variation in parental internalizing and externalizing behavior and limbic brain structures in children and adolescents without mental disorders. Quantile (median) regression models were used to compute associations between parental behavior and children's limbic structures. We found that parental internalizing and externalizing behaviors are uniquely associated with children's limbic structures after adjustment for biological confounders and parental socioeconomic status. Our findings indicate that normative parental behavior may have a significant early influence on limbic structures of normally developing children and adolescents. Accelerated or delayed limbic structure maturation may account for children's and adolescents' behavioral inadequacies and a risk of developing specific mood disorders or substance abuse problems later in life.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
01:15Functional Brain Systems: Limbic System
01:14Brain Imaging
These technologies include computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scans), positron-emission tomography (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic...