<p class="first" id="d7306961e396">This longitudinal study investigates whether positive
parenting behaviors moderate
the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on brain development and adaptive functioning
in adolescents.
</p><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-1">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e402">Question</h5>
<p id="d7306961e404">Does positive parenting buffer the effects of neighborhood-level
and family-level
socioeconomic disadvantage on adolescent brain development?
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-2">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e407">Findings</h5>
<p id="d7306961e409">In this longitudinal study of 166 adolescents, positive parenting
moderated the effect
of socioeconomic disadvantage on the development of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.
Prefrontal cortex development was in turn associated with school completion.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-3">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e412">Meaning</h5>
<p id="d7306961e414">While socioeconomic disadvantage has established negative mental
health and other
outcomes, the family environment may serve to mitigate some of these effects via effects
on the developing brain.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-4">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e418">Importance</h5>
<p id="d7306961e420">The negative effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on lifelong
functioning are pronounced,
with some evidence suggesting that these effects are mediated by changes in brain
development. To our knowledge, no research has investigated whether parenting might
buffer these negative effects.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-5">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e423">Objective</h5>
<p id="d7306961e425">To establish whether positive parenting behaviors moderate the
effects of socioeconomic
disadvantage on brain development and adaptive functioning in adolescents.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-6">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e428">Design, Setting, and Participants</h5>
<p id="d7306961e430">In this longitudinal study of adolescents from schools in Melbourne,
Australia, data
were collected at 3 assessments between 2004 and 2012. Data were analyzed between
August 2016 and April 2017.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-7">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e433">Exposures</h5>
<p id="d7306961e435">Both family (parental income-to-needs, occupation, and education
level) and neighborhood
measures of socioeconomic disadvantage were assessed. Positive maternal parenting
behaviors were observed during interactions in early adolescence.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-8">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e438">Main Outcomes and Measures</h5>
<p id="d7306961e440">Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans at 3 times (early,
middle, and late adolescence)
from ages 11 to 20 years. Global and academic functioning was assessed during late
adolescence. We used linear mixed models to examine the effect of family and neighborhood
socioeconomic disadvantage as well as the moderating effect of positive parenting
on adolescent brain development. We used mediation models to examine whether brain
developmental trajectories predicted functional outcomes during late adolescence.
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-9">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e443">Results</h5>
<p id="d7306961e445">Of the included 166 adolescents, 86 (51.8%) were male. We found
that neighborhood,
but not family, socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with altered brain development
from early (mean [SD] age, 12.79 [0.425] years) to late (mean [SD] age, 19.08 [0.460]
years) adolescence, predominantly in the temporal lobes (temporal cortex: random field
theory corrected; left amygdala: B, −0.237;
<i>P</i> < .001; right amygdala: B, −0.209;
<i>P</i> = .008). Additionally, positive parenting moderated the effects of neighborhood
disadvantage
on the development of dorsal frontal and lateral orbitofrontal cortices as well as
the effects of family disadvantage on the development of the amygdala (occupation:
B, 0.382;
<i>P</i> = .004; income-to-needs: B, 27.741;
<i>P</i> = .004), with some male-specific findings. The pattern of dorsal frontal
cortical
development in males from disadvantaged neighborhoods exposed to low maternal positivity
predicted increased rates of school noncompletion (indirect effect, −0.018; SE, 0.01;
95% CI, −0.053 to −0.001).
</p>
</div><div class="section">
<a class="named-anchor" id="ab-yoi170037-10">
<!--
named anchor
-->
</a>
<h5 class="section-title" id="d7306961e460">Conclusions and Relevance</h5>
<p id="d7306961e462">Our findings highlight the importance of neighborhood disadvantage
in influencing
brain developmental trajectories. Further, to our knowledge, we present the first
evidence that positive maternal parenting might ameliorate the negative effects of
socioeconomic disadvantage on frontal lobe development (with implications for functioning)
during adolescence. Results have relevance for designing interventions for children
from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
</p>
</div>