A Narrative Review of Methodological Considerations in Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Offspring Brain Development and the Influence of Parenting

Abstract

Parenting has been robustly associated with offspring psychosocial development, and these effects are likely reflected in brain development. This hypothesis is being tested with increasingly rigorous methods and the use of magnetic resonance imaging, a powerful tool for characterizing human brain structure and function. The objective of this narrative review was to examine methodological issues in this field that impact the conclusions that can be drawn and to identify future directions in this field. Studies included were those that examined associations between parenting and offspring brain structure or function. Results show four thematic features in this literature that impact the hypotheses that can be tested, and the conclusions drawn. The first theme is a limited body of studies including repeated sampling of offspring brain structure and function, and therefore an over-reliance on cross-sectional or retrospective associations. The second involves a focus on extremes in early life caregiving, limiting generalizability. The third involves the nature of parenting assessment, predominantly parent- or child-report instead of observational measures which may be more ecologically valid measures of parenting. A closely related fourth consideration is the examination of detrimental versus positive parenting behaviors. While studies with one or more of these thematic limitations provide valuable information, future study design should consider addressing these limitations to determine how parenting shapes offspring brain development.