Community violence exposure is a common stressor, known to compromise youth cognitive and emotional development. In a diverse, urban sample of 22 adolescents, participants reported on community violence exposure (witnessing a beating or illegal drug use, hearing gun shots, or other forms of community violence) in early adolescence (average age 12.99), and underwent a neuroimaging scan 3-5 years later (average age 16.92). Community violence exposure in early adolescence predicted smaller manually traced left and right hippocampal and amygdala volumes in a model controlling for age, gender, and concurrent community violence exposure, measured in late adolescence. Community violence continued to predict hippocampus (but not amygdala) volumes after we also controlled for family aggression exposure in early adolescence. Community violence exposure was also associated with stronger resting state connectivity between the right hippocampus (using the manually traced structure as a seed region) and bilateral frontotemporal regions including the superior temporal gyrus and insula. These resting state connectivity results held after controlling for concurrent community violence exposure, SES, and family aggression. Although this is the first study focusing on community violence in conjunction with brain structure and function, these results dovetail with other research linking childhood adversity with smaller subcortical volumes in adolescence and adulthood, and with altered frontolimbic resting state connectivity. Our findings suggest that even community-level exposure to neighborhood violence can have detectable neural correlates in adolescents.

Men appear to gain weight during the transition to parenthood, and fathers are heavier than non-fathers. Paternal perinatal weight gain may set weight trajectories in midlife and have long-term health implications. Since men do not undergo the physical demands of pregnancy and breastfeeding, the specific mechanisms underlying weight gain in new fathers warrant investigation. This review aims to stimulate research on paternal perinatal weight gain by suggesting testable potential mechanisms that (1) show change across the transition to parenthood and (2) play a role in weight and body composition. We identify seven mechanisms, within three categories: behavioural mechanisms (sleep, physical activity, and diet), hormonal mechanisms (testosterone and cortisol), and psychological mechanisms (depression and stress). We also discuss direct effects of partner pregnancy influences (e.g., 'couvade syndrome') on men's body weight. In presenting each mechanism, we discuss how it may be affected by the transition to parenthood, and then review its role in body composition and weight. Next, we describe bidirectional and interactive effects, discuss timing, and present three broad research questions to propel theoretical development.

Social cognition may facilitate fathers' sensitive caregiving behavior. We administered the Why‐How Task, an fMRI task that elicits theory of mind processing, to expectant fathers (n = 39) who also visited the laboratory during their partner's pregnancy and provided a plasma sample for oxytocin assay. Three months postpartum, fathers reported their beliefs about parenting. When rating “Why” an action was being performed versus “How” the action was being performed (Why > How contrast), participants showed activation in regions theorized to support theory of mind, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and superior temporal sulcus. Fathers' prenatal oxytocin levels predicted greater signal change during the Why > How contrast in the inferior parietal lobule. Both prenatal oxytocin and attunement parenting beliefs were associated with Why > How activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a theory of mind region implicated in emotion regulation. Posterior parahippocampal gyrus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation during the Why > How contrast predicted fathers' attunement parenting beliefs. In conclusion, fathers' neural activation when engaging in a theory of mind task was associated with their prenatal oxytocin levels and their postpartum attunement parenting beliefs. Results suggest biological and cognitive components of fathering may track with the theory of mind processing.

Expectant parents’ responses to infant cry may indicate future risk and resiliency in the parent-child relationship. Most studies of parental reactivity to infant cry have focused on mothers, and few studies have focused on expectant fathers, although fathers make important contributions to parenting. Additionally, although different responses to infant cry (behavioral, psychological and neural) are hypothesized to track together, few studies have analyzed them concurrently. The current investigation aimed to address these gaps by characterizing multimodal responses to infant cry within expectant fathers and testing whether prenatal testosterone moderates these responses. Expectant fathers responded to infant cry vs frequency-matched white noise with increased activation in bilateral areas of the temporal lobe involved in processing speech sounds and social and emotional stimuli. Handgrip force, which has been used to measure parents’ reactivity to cry sounds in previous studies, did not differentiate cry from white noise within this sample. Expectant fathers with higher prenatal testosterone showed greater activation in the supramarginal gyrus, left occipital lobe and precuneus cortex to cry sounds. Expectant fathers appear to interpret and process infant cry as a meaningful speech sound and social cue, and testosterone may play a role in expectant fathers’ response to infant cry.

Despite evidence linking prenatal psychosocial stress and social support to perinatal maternal and infant health, no study has explored couple conflict behavior during pregnancy as a predictor of subsequent birth outcomes. The current study examines whether couples' positive and negative conflict behaviors during pregnancy predict their stress during the birth experience and gestational and birth outcomes. Forty-seven first-time expectant couples participated in a conflict discussion during pregnancy that was observationally coded. Several months later, following the birth of their child, couples reported on their subjective childbirth stress. By summing medical chart data on gestational outcomes and birth complications, we computed a cumulative birth risk score. Negative conflict behavior was related to higher cumulative birth risk scores, and conversely, positive conflict behavior was associated with lower birth risk, even after controlling for maternal pregnancy symptoms. Similarly, more negative conflict behavior predicted higher mother-reported birth stress, while positive conflict behavior predicted lower fatherreported birth stress. However, birth stress effects became nonsignificant after controlling for maternal pregnancy symptoms. Although the pregnancy literature has focused primarily on maternal characteristics, these findings highlight the significance of couple interactions in predicting parental birth stress and birth outcomes. This study integrates psychological, behavioral, and medical chart data to enhance our understanding of how interpersonal factors influence gestational outcomes and the birth experience. These results have important clinical implications for potential couple interventions during pregnancy that can shape fetal development, the labor and delivery experience, and influence child and family health.