Parent-child neural similarity during socioemotional processing relates to internalizing symptoms

Intergenerational transmission of mental well-being and socioemotional functioning is widely documented at the behavioral level, yet how such patterns are instantiated in the brain remains poorly understood. Using a movie-watching fMRI paradigm, we investigated parent-child similarity in socioemotional processing and its associations with family environment, parental emotion regulation, and similarity in internalizing symptoms. Across 258 family members (120 children, 138 parents), parent–child dyads showed greater neural similarity in socioemotional processing than unrelated adult–child pairs. Effects were concentrated in prefrontal and temporal regions, particularly the right lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). Neural similarity was stronger in mother–daughter and father–son dyads. Poorer family functioning was associated with reduced whole-brain similarity. Critically, parent-child right lateral PFC similarity was associated with similarity in internalizing symptoms depending on parental emotion regulation. These findings establish parent–child socioemotional neural similarity as a context-dependent pathway through which intergenerational patterns of mental well-being may emerge.