Hostility often co-occurs in parents and associates with increased aggression and inattention problems in children. In this population-based cohort of 484 mother–father–child neuroimaging trios, we investigated the degree to which associations of prenatal and childhood parental hostility would be associated with maternal, paternal, and child brain structural differences. Also, we examined whether hippocampal volumes of the parents or child mediate the association of prenatal parental hostility with child externalizing behaviors. Maternal and paternal hostility was assessed with the hostility subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory at three time points: prenatally at 30 weeks’ gestation and when the child was 3 and 10 years old. During adolescence assessment wave (age 14), maternal, paternal, and offspring assessment included a magnetic resonance imaging. Child externalizing problems were assessed with Youth Self-Report Child Behavior Checklist. Our findings suggest that maternal and paternal hostility were each associated with smaller gray matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes of their own and their partner's brain. Prenatal maternal but not paternal hostility was associated with smaller total gray matter, white matter, and hippocampal volumes in the offspring. The child's hippocampal volumes partially mediated the associations of prenatal parental hostility (latent construct) with adolescent externalizing behavior, even after adjusting for prior child externalizing problems. Moreover, parental psychopathology may have long-lasting neurodevelopmental correlates in children that underlie the intergenerational transmission of behavioral problems. The behavior of family members results from a system of interdependent dyadic relationships over time that associate with specific brain structural differences.

敌意通常同时发生在父母身上，并与儿童的攻击性和注意力不集中问题有关。在这个由 484 名母 - 父 - 子神经影像学三重奏组成的基于人群的队列中，我们调查了产前和儿童父母敌意的关联与母系、父系和儿童大脑结构差异的关联程度。此外，我们检查了父母或孩子的海马体积是否介导了产前父母敌意与儿童外化行为的关联。在三个时间点使用简要症状量表的敌意分量表评估母亲和父亲的敌意： 产前妊娠 30 周以及孩子 3 岁和 10 岁时。在青春期评估波 （14 岁） 期间，母体、父系和后代评估包括磁共振成像。使用青少年自我报告儿童行为检查表评估儿童外化问题。我们的研究结果表明，母系和父系的敌意都与他们自己和伴侣大脑中较小的灰质、白质和海马体积有关。产前母系而非父系敌意与后代总灰质、白质和海马体积较小有关。孩子的海马体积部分介导了产前父母敌意（潜在结构）与青少年外化行为的关联，即使在调整了先前的儿童外化问题之后也是如此。此外，父母精神病理学可能在儿童中具有持久的神经发育相关性，这是行为问题代际传递的基础。 家庭成员的行为是随着时间的推移相互依存的二元关系系统的结果，该系统与特定的大脑结构差异相关联。