Parent–Child Neural Similarity in Emotional and Social Development: Differential Roles of Family Relationships and Affective Systems in Youth

Abstract

Family environment plays a crucial role in shaping children's development of social-emotional behaviors. The present dissertation investigated the interplay among parental and family factors, neural similarities between parents and youths, and various aspects of adolescent socioemotional adjustment—including emotional adaptation, aggression, and prosociality—using task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique. Study 1, with 50 participants (25 parent–youth dyads; youths: Mage = 11.16 ± 2.85 years, 44% female), found that parent–child neural similarity in the amygdala during emotionally uncertain situations was associated with lower youth anxiety and depression, and higher resilience, especially among dyads characterized by low parent–youth conflict. This synchrony appeared to mediate the beneficial effects of supportive parent–youth relationships on youths' emotional health. Additionally, amygdala similarity influenced youths' recruitment of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during uncertainty, as revealed by generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analyses. This amygdala-dlPFC connectivity, in turn, contributed to youths' emotional health. Study 2A, with 66 participants (33 parent–youth dyads; youths: Mage = 11.61 ± 2.56 years, 45% female), revealed context-specific effects, showing that parent–child amygdala similarity during mild interpersonal provocation was unexpectedly heightened among dyads with higher levels of parent–child conflict. Crucially, this similarity predicted lower levels of youth aggressive behavior, suggesting a regulatory function despite challenging family dynamics. However, no significant associations were found in the prosociality task. Study 2B, which shifted focus to the striatum, found that parent–child neural similarity in reward-processing regions during positive, prosocial interactions was associated with greater prosocial behavior in youth. Moreover, this form of neural similarity mediated the association between supportive parent–child relationships and youths' prosocial tendencies. Integrating findings across studies underscores the complexity and contextual specificity of parent–child neural attunement. Distinct neural circuits (amygdala versus striatum) appear to serve distinct roles, buffering against negative outcomes (e.g., emotional distress and aggressive behaviors) and promoting positive social behaviors. Collectively, these results highlight parent–child neural similarity as a critical neurobiological mechanism through which family relationships shape youths' emotional regulation and social functioning, offering new avenues for developmental theory and informing future directions for family-based interventions.