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Abstract
Early adolescence is characterized by significant neural, cognitive, and socioemotional development, which underlies vulnerability for psychopathology stemming from suboptimal rearing contexts. As a result, many adolescents develop externalizing problems such as aggression, delinquency, and antisocial behaviors, which confer increased risk for continued mental health problems and criminality into adulthood. Extant research informed by the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) suggests that continual and bidirectional interactions between the individual and their environment contribute to disruptions in self-regulation and consequent externalizing behaviors. However, the specific mechanisms underlying longitudinal associations between the rearing environment, youth neurobiological function, and development of externalizing behaviors in early adolescence largely remain to be seen. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation was to explore interactions between the parenting context and youth neurobiological function across the five RDoC domains—social processes, positive valence, negative valence, arousal, and cognition—as predictors of externalizing psychopathology. The data used in this dissertation come from two longitudinal studies: a diverse sample of low-income mothers and their children collected from the local community, and the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. We utilized observational, survey, physiological, and functional neuroimaging measures to assess parenting behaviors, youth neurobiological processes, and externalizing behavior between the ages of 8 and 12.
In the first and second studies, we investigated interactions between parenting and child neurobiological function as predictors of externalizing and antisocial behaviors across 18 to 24 months of early adolescence. In each study, we found that adverse parenting, characterized by high harshness or low support, exacerbated behavioral effects of neurobiological vulnerabilities for dysregulated behaviors. In the third study, we used a longitudinal, data-driven method to examine development of neural function underlying emotion regulation (ER) and working memory (WM) across 24 months. We found that early adolescents exhibit high between- and within-person variability in neural underpinnings of ER, but not WM. We also found that these patterns of neural function were not significantly associated with parental support or externalizing behaviors. The findings of this dissertation advance knowledge on the interactive contributions of parenting and child neurobiological function to development of externalizing psychopathology in early adolescence.
In the first and second studies, we investigated interactions between parenting and child neurobiological function as predictors of externalizing and antisocial behaviors across 18 to 24 months of early adolescence. In each study, we found that adverse parenting, characterized by high harshness or low support, exacerbated behavioral effects of neurobiological vulnerabilities for dysregulated behaviors. In the third study, we used a longitudinal, data-driven method to examine development of neural function underlying emotion regulation (ER) and working memory (WM) across 24 months. We found that early adolescents exhibit high between- and within-person variability in neural underpinnings of ER, but not WM. We also found that these patterns of neural function were not significantly associated with parental support or externalizing behaviors. The findings of this dissertation advance knowledge on the interactive contributions of parenting and child neurobiological function to development of externalizing psychopathology in early adolescence.