Maternal warmth is associated with network segregation across late childhood: A longitudinal neuroimaging study

Sally Richmond; Richard Beare; Katherine A Johnson; Katherine Bray; Elena Pozzi; Nicholas B Allen; Marc L Seal; Sarah Whittle

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.917189

Maternal warmth is associated with network segregation across late childhood: A longitudinal neuroimaging study

Front Psychol. 2022 Sep 13:13:917189. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.917189. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sally Richmond^{1

2}, Richard Beare³, Katherine A Johnson⁴, Katherine Bray^{1

4}, Elena Pozzi¹, Nicholas B Allen^{4

5}, Marc L Seal^{3

6}, Sarah Whittle¹

Affiliations

¹ Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
² Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

The negative impact of adverse experiences in childhood on neurodevelopment is well documented. Less attention however has been given to the impact of variations in "normative" parenting behaviors. The influence of these parenting behaviors is likely to be marked during periods of rapid brain reorganization, such as late childhood. The aim of the current study was to investigate associations between normative parenting behaviors and the development of structural brain networks across late childhood. Data were collected from a longitudinal sample of 114 mother-child dyads (54% female children, M age 8.41 years, SD = 0.32 years), recruited from low socioeconomic areas of Melbourne, Australia. At the first assessment parenting behaviors were coded from two lab-based interaction tasks and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the children were performed. At the second assessment, approximately 18 months later (M age 9.97 years, SD = 0.37 years) MRI scans were repeated. Cortical thickness (CT) was extracted from T1-weighted images using FreeSurfer. Structural covariance (SC) networks were constructed from partial correlations of CT estimates between brain regions and estimates of network efficiency and modularity were obtained for each time point. The change in these network measures, from Time 1 to Time 2, was also calculated. At Time 2, less positive maternal affective behavior was associated with higher modularity (more segregated networks), while negative maternal affective behavior was not related. No support was found for an association between local or global efficacy and maternal affective behaviors at Time 2. Similarly, no support was demonstrated for associations between maternal affective behaviors and change in network efficiency and modularity, from Time 1 to Time 2. These results indicate that normative variations in parenting may influence the development of structural brain networks in late childhood and extend current knowledge about environmental influences on structural connectivity in a developmental context.

Keywords: cortical thickness; graph theory; longitudinal; magnetic resonance imaging; parenting.