Family socioeconomic status and adolescent substance use: The role of parent-adolescent brain similarity and parental monitoring.

Greater neural similarity between parents and adolescents may reduce adolescent substance use. Among 70 parent-adolescent dyads, we tested a longitudinal path model in which family economic environment is related to adolescent substance use, directly and indirectly through parent-adolescent neural similarity and parental monitoring. Neural similarity was measured as parent-adolescent pattern similarity in functional brain connectivity at Time 1. Parents reported socioeconomic status and parental monitoring at Time 1. Adolescents reported parental monitoring at Time 1 and substance use at Time 2. Higher family socioeconomic status was associated with greater neural similarity. Greater neural similarity was associated with lower adolescent substance use, mediated through greater adolescent-perceived parental monitoring. Parent-adolescent neural similarity may attenuate adolescent substance use by bolstering parental monitoring. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).