title: Positive parenting predicts the development of adolescent brain structure: a longitudinal study.
abstract: Little work has been conducted that examines the effects of positive environmental experiences on brain development to date. The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the effects of positive (warm and supportive) maternal behavior on structural brain development during adolescence, using longitudinal structural MRI. Participants were 188 (92 female) adolescents, who were part of a longitudinal adolescent development study that involved mother-adolescent interactions and MRI scans at approximately 12 years old, and follow-up MRI scans approximately 4 years later. FreeSurfer software was used to estimate the volume of limbic-striatal regions (amygdala, hippocampus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens) and the thickness of prefrontal regions (anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices) across both time points. Higher frequency of positive maternal behavior during the interactions predicted attenuated volumetric growth in the right amygdala, and accelerated cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate (males only) and left and right orbitofrontal cortices, between baseline and follow up. These results have implications for understanding the biological mediators of risk and protective factors for mental disorders that have onset during adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia; Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whittle
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Julian G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Meg
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dennison
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Nandita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vijayakumar
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Orli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Marie B H
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sheeber
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: nba@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Nicholas B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D012201:Reward; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Adolescence; Brain development; Environment; Parenting; Positive; Resilience