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Abstract
Parental history of substance abuse (PHA) is linked to increased risk for alcohol use problems; however, the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Emerging research suggests PHA is associated with poorer executive functioning (EF) in adult offspring, and may also result in changes to the coherence of intrinsic neural networks, such as the frontoparietal control network (FPC), which supports EF. No studies to date have directly examined whether observed changes in neural connectivity serve as a mechanism of the effect of PHA on EF. The present study examined the direct effects of PHA on EF and FPC network coherence, as well as the indirect effects of PHA on EF via FPC coherence in a sample of 176 healthy young adults. Results demonstrated a significant inverse relationship between reported PHA and network coherence of the FPC at rest. Contrary to study hypotheses, PHA was not significantly inversely related to performance on behavioral measures of EF. Mean FPC network coherence did not significantly mediate the relationship between PHA and EF. Findings suggest that PHA may result in altered resting state neural activity; however, this did not serve as a mechanism of executive weakness in this population.