Parental Deprivation- and Threat-Based Factors Associated with Youth Emotion-Based Neurocircuitry and Externalizing Behavior: A Systematic Review

Parental factors, including negative parenting practices (e.g., family conflict, low monitoring), parental depression, and parental substance use, are associated with externalizing behaviors in youth; however, the mediating role of youth’s neurocircuitry in explaining these associations has been less studied. Both the dimensional and stress acceleration models provide frameworks for understanding how frontolimbic and frontoparietal networks implicated in emotional attention and regulation processes may be associated with parental factors. The current review builds upon this work by examining how deprivation- and threat-based parental factors are associated with youth externalizing behaviors through youth neurocircuitry involved in emotional functioning. A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines was completed and included five studies assessing parenting behaviors, six studies assessing parental depressive symptoms and/or diagnosis, and 12 studies assessing parental history of substance use. Overall, reviewed studies provided support for the dimensional and stress acceleration models within the context of deprivation and threat. There was limited support for the proposed mediation model, as only six studies tested for mediation. Specific recommendations for future work include more deliberate planning related to sample composition, improved clarity related to parental constructs, and consistency in methodology in order to better understand associations between contextual parental influences and youth neural and behavioral functioning.