Into the Unknown: Examining Neural Representations of Parent-Adolescent Interactions.

The parent-adolescent relationship is important for adolescents' emotion regulation (ER), yet little is known regarding the neural patterns of dyadic ER that occur during parent-adolescent interactions. A novel measure that can be used to examine such patterns is cross-brain connectivity (CBC)-concurrent and time-lagged connectivity between two individuals' brain regions. This study sought to provide evidence of CBC and explore associations between CBC, parenting, and adolescent internalizing symptoms. Thirty-five adolescents (mean age = 15 years, 69% female, 72% Non-Hispanic White, 17% Black, 11% Hispanic or Latino) and one biological parent (94% female) completed an fMRI hyperscanning conflict discussion task. Results revealed CBC between emotion-related brain regions. Exploratory analyses indicated CBC is associated with parenting and adolescent depressive symptoms.