Preliminary development of a neuroimaging paradigm to examine neural correlates of relationship conflict

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 283; pp. 125 - 134
• Main Authors: Flanagan, Julianne C., Yonce, Shayla, Calhoun, Casey D., Back, Sudie E., Brady, Kathleen T., Joseph, Jane E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 30-01-2019
• Subjects: Addiction; Adult; Amygdala - diagnostic imaging; Amygdala - physiopathology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiopathology; Conflict, Psychological; Couples; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Intimate partner violence; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Motivation - physiology; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Nerve Net - physiopathology; Neuroimaging; Neuroimaging - methods; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; Social stress; Stress, Psychological - diagnostic imaging; Stress, Psychological - physiopathology; Substance-Related Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Substance-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Young Adult; Neuroimaging; Couples; Social stress; Addiction; Intimate partner violence
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2018.12.009

•We examined the feasibility and validity of a novel couples neuroimaging paradigm.•Participants demonstrated increased PFC-AMY functional connectivity during the novel cue.•Intimate partner violence was associated with functional connectivity.•Sex differences emerged in neural responses to the relationship conflict cue compared to the neutral cue.•Findings demonstrate preliminary validity of this novel neuroimaging paradigm for couples.
Social stress in the form of conflict between romantic partners is a salient correlate of substance use disorders (SUD), and also plays an integral role in SUD treatment outcomes. Neuroimaging has advanced the study of social stress on SUD etiology, course, and treatment. However, no neuroimaging paradigms have yet been developed to examine neural responses to conflict among romantic couples. In order to fill this gap in the literature, the goal of this exploratory study was to examine the preliminary feasibility of a novel relationship conflict fMRI paradigm. We compared the effects of an auditory relationship conflict versus a neutral cue on functional connectivity in corticolimbic brain regions, and the associations between neural activities and self-report ratings of relationship adjustment, substance use problems, and intimate partner violence. We also explored sex differences in neural correlates of relationship conflict versus neutral cues. Participants demonstrated increased functional connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex during the relationship conflict cue compared to the neutral cue. Intimate partner violence was associated with functional connectivity. Sex differences emerged in neural responses to the relationship conflict cue compared to the neutral cue. Collectively, the findings demonstrate preliminary validity of this novel neuroimaging paradigm for couples.