Couples, Marriage, and Family Therapy Program, Department of Community, Family, & Addiction Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies Program, Department of Community, Family, & Addiction Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
Am J Addict. 2019 Sep;28(5):367-375. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12905. Epub 2019 May 15.
Substance use disorders (SUDs) have negative impacts on an entire family system and each family member may be at risk to develop a "codependency" on their SUD loved-one. Research has demonstrated that SUDs in the family environment associate with altered brain functioning of family members; however, research has not examined specific associations between codependency and brain functioning.
Prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation of family members (n = 38) was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy as they viewed images of a SUD loved-one (experimental group; n = 26) or of a "target family member" (control group; n = 12). Correlations between PFC activation and codependency were examined.
A significant negative association was found between codependency and left dorsomedial PFC activation in response to images of a loved-one with a SUD. This association was significantly larger than that found in the control group in response to a target family member, and that found in response to other affective images.
The left dorsomedial PFC is associated with executive functioning during responses to emotional and social situations. Findings may suggest that family members experiencing codependency may be limited in effectively responding to their SUD loved-one, and highlight the importance of systemic treatment and family member recovery.
Codependency is often discussed as a learned condition and research has only recently examined brain processes of family members with a loved-one with a SUD. This research is the first to demonstrate an association between codependency and PFC functioning. (Am J Addict 2019;28:367-375).
物质使用障碍（SUD）对整个家庭系统产生负面影响，每个家庭成员都有可能对其 SUD 亲人产生“依赖”。研究表明，家庭环境中的 SUD 与家庭成员大脑功能的改变有关；然而，研究尚未检查依赖性与大脑功能之间的具体关联。
通过功能近红外光谱技术评估家庭成员（n=38）的前额叶皮层（PFC）激活情况，当他们观看 SUD 亲人的图像（实验组；n=26）或“目标家庭成员”的图像（对照组；n=12）时。检查 PFC 激活与依赖性之间的相关性。
在对 SUD 亲人的图像做出反应时，依赖性与左背内侧前额叶皮层的激活呈显著负相关。这种相关性明显大于对照组对目标家庭成员的反应，也明显大于对其他情感图像的反应。
左背内侧前额叶皮层与执行功能有关，在对情绪和社会情境做出反应时。研究结果表明，依赖性强的家庭成员可能在有效应对 SUD 亲人方面受到限制，并强调了系统治疗和家庭成员康复的重要性。
依赖性通常被认为是一种习得的状态，研究人员最近才开始检查有 SUD 亲人的家庭成员的大脑过程。这项研究首次证明了依赖性与 PFC 功能之间的关联。（美国成瘾杂志 2019 年；28:367-375）
