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Brain Changes After a Parenting Intervention in Adolescent Girls With Internalizing Symptoms: A Randomized Clinical
Sylvia C Lin1,2,3, Christiane E Kehoe4, Junxuan Zhao1,2
1Orygen, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
An emotion-focused parenting intervention improved adolescent brain function in emotion regulation areas. These neurobiological changes correlated with reduced internalizing symptoms and improved maternal emotion socialization.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Parenting interventions show promise for adolescent internalizing outcomes, but their neurobiological effects are not well understood.
- Understanding these mechanisms is key for refining and developing effective treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how an emotion-focused parenting intervention affects adolescent brain function.
- To determine if intervention-related brain changes link to behavioral and clinical improvements.
Main Methods:
- A randomized clinical trial involving mother-daughter dyads (daughters aged 10-12) with internalizing symptoms.
- Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at baseline and 6-month follow-up.
- Mothers received the manualized Tuning In to Teens (TINT) intervention over 8 weekly sessions.
Main Results:
- Intervention group showed increased superior frontal gyrus (SFG) activation during implicit emotion regulation and decreased inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) activation during explicit emotion regulation compared to controls.
- Changes in SFG and IFG activation were associated with reduced unsupportive maternal emotion socialization (sadness and anxiety).
- Neurofunctional changes also correlated with decreased adolescent anxiety and internalizing symptoms.
Conclusions:
- An emotion-focused parenting intervention can alter prefrontal cortex function related to emotion regulation in adolescent girls.
- These findings highlight the neurobiological impact of parenting interventions on internalizing difficulties.
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