Parental influences on neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation

Abstract

Emotional intelligence allows for the recognition and regulation of emotions in the self and others, making it critical for healthy social and emotional development. Research has shown that the parent-child relationship and family environment are influential in the development of emotion regulation, one key component of emotional intelligence. However, the neurobiological processes underlying this relationship have yet to be fully explored. This review examines perspectives from several disciplines to further understand the influence of parent-child interactions on the neurocircuitry shaping emotion regulation. Our proposed model demonstrates how parent-child interactions and parents' emotion regulation neurocircuitry may influence the development of children's own emotion regulation neurocircuitry, with a specific focus on associations among prefrontal regions, the anterior insula, and the amygdala.

Keywords: Amygdala; Developmental neuroscience; Emotion regulation; Emotional intelligence; Parent-child relationship; Parenting behaviors.