The Impact of Parental Treatment and Education on Social Exclusion Sensitivity in Adult Children: A Questionnaire Survey and fNIRS Study Using the Cyberball Paradigm

Abstract

We investigated how attachment styles between parents and children, as well as the coping styles taught by parents to their children, affect sensitivity to social exclusion using psychological assessments based on questionnaire surveys. Additionally, we examined whether differences in sensitivity to social distress could be detected as differences in activation sites in the brain using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measurements with the Cyberball Paradigm. The results suggested a potential correlation between children's own coping styles and their cognitive perception of parental guidance. However, no correlation was observed between parental guidance and children's cognition. Furthermore, in the group experiencing high levels of social distress, specific brain regions, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and anterior prefrontal cortex (APFC), were significantly more active during the experience of social distress. Several activations in brain regions not previously reported in conventional research were also observed. These findings suggest that the way parents interact with their children and the content of parental education may have an impact on children's future sensitivity to social distress.

Keywords: Attachment Style, Coping Style, Social Distress, Cyberball Paradigm, Psychological Assessment

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004209