136 Chapter 5 unfamiliar child in any of the ROIs (right AI: p = .233, left AI: p = .933, aMCC: p = .668, right TPJ: p = .382, left TPJ: p = .877, right dmPFC: p = .356, left dmPFC: p = .155, and vmPFC: p = .119). Additionally, we performed an exploratory whole-brain regression analysis testing for the association between individual differences in parental care and neural responses to imagined suffering of the own child specifically (i.e., contrast own child minus unfamiliar child perspective). This analysis revealed negative associations between parental care and neural responses to imagined suffering of the own child in right SFG and left anterior orbitofrontal gyrus (OFG) (see Figure 5.5, Supplement S5.8), and showed overlap with whole-brain outcomes for the main effect of ‘perspective’ in right SFG and left IFG. Confound analyses revealed that the negative correlation between parental care and neural activity in the left anterior OFG was no longer significant after controlling for gender of parents, current psychopathology, or psychotropic medication status (see Supplement S5.9). Figure 5.5 Whole-brain regression analysis testing for individual differences in neural responses to imagined suffering of parents’ own child explaining individual variation in parental care as perceived by the adolescent child. Results revealed significant negative correlations between parental care as perceived by the adolescent child and neural responses to imagined suffering of one’s own child specifically (i.e., contrast own child minus unfamiliar child perspective) in right SFG and left anterior OFG. To visualize these associations, we plotted parameter estimates in these regions against adolescent-reported parental care. Regression lines are plotted for illustration purposes only. Whole-brain analyses were thresholded at p <.05 (FWE cluster-corrected using a cluster-forming threshold of p <.001). DISCUSSION This study examined affective and neural responses in parents to the imagined suffering of their own adolescent child in physically and socially unpleasant situations. Our findings show that parents reported higher levels of distress when imagining their own child versus an unfamiliar
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