Mother–Child Synchrony and Behavioral Problems in Chinese Children: A Preliminary fNIRS‐Hyperscanning Study

Main findings reveal that specific patterns of time-lagged mother-child neural synchrony, particularly when the mother leads and the child follows, are associated with reduced externalizing behavioral problems in children. These findings provide preliminary evidence regarding neurocognitive processes relevant to children's social-emotional development from middle childhood to preadolescence. These findings are consistent with emerging literature indicating that delayed but structured interbrain dynamics may contribute to co-regulated emotional development. However, the current evidence remains preliminary and warrants further validation using multimodal synchrony measures and larger longitudinal cohorts to establish causal pathways.