| Yes, adolescent behaviour is a consequence of parenting. Marriage is not a guarantee of good parenting. It's just a legal status that may or may not indicate a capacity and readiness to perform good parenting. So, what is good parenting, and how does it work? It is an inter-generational positive feedback system. All mammals have it. The human parenting lifecycle is longer than most. Securely attached parents have higher baseline oxytocin (OT) and a more pronounced OT response to interactions with their children. OT augments the mesolimbic DA system response to visual child stimuli, enhancing their reward value. It also inhibits AMY and augments anterior insula (AI) responses to infant-cry stimuli, facilitating a more empathic reaction. OTmay also modulate prefrontal cortex activity to suppress negative emotional reactions to infant crying. These neurobiological influences promote responsive, affectionate caregiving, which in turn promotes OT activity in children, along with child attachment behaviors that further engage parental brain systems, resulting in a positive feedback cycle that culminates in a mentally healthy, securely attached child. Genetic influences of the child can also either support or interfere with child attachment behaviors and parent-offspring bonding. OFC, orbitofrontal cortex; PFC, prefrontal cortex. The biology of mammalian parenting and its effect on offspring social development
James K. Rilling1, and Larry J. Young https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306567/ |