An ERP investigation of children and adolescents' sensitivity to wins and losses during a peer observation manipulation

Shyness and risk-taking during peer observation in children and adolescents

Although temperamental shyness is conceptualized as a trait marked by cautiousness, we know relatively little about its relation to risk-taking. We examined how shyness was related to opportunities for risk-taking while considering how social context (i.e., presence of peers) and developmental stage (i.e., children and adolescents) might influence this relation. In the current study, 198 children (Mage = 10.17 years) and 221 adolescents (Mage = 13.46 years) completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) alone or during a peer observation manipulation. For children and adolescents, shyness was related to physiological arousal and self-reporting feeling anxious during the peer condition. However, peer observation did not influence the relation between shyness and behavioral responses during the BART. Across both alone and peer conditions, shyness was related to a longer response time for children and adolescents, which may reflect decisional conflict during risk-taking opportunities. Furthermore, shyness in children (but not in adolescents) was related to poorer performance (i.e., fewer points), whereas shyness was unrelated to risk-taking propensity (i.e., number of pumps) for both children and adolescents. Overall, although the presence of peers may induce anxiety during a risk-taking opportunity for children and adolescents higher in shyness, this does not appear to modify their risk-taking behaviors. Instead, shyer children and adolescents in general may take a longer time to decide whether to act in a risky manner, whereas shy children in particular may show poorer performance in obtaining a reward on a risk-taking task.

When is Solitude Maladaptive for Adolescents? A Comprehensive Study of Sociability and Characteristics of Solitude

Research examining the link between solitude and psychosocial adjustment among adolescents has lacked a comprehensive, person-centered examination of differential patterns of both solitude and sociability. The current study surveyed 1071 adolescents (Mage = 12.48, SD = 1.71, 49.86% female, age range = 10-16 years). Using latent-profile analysis, four groups were identified with differential patterns of characteristics of solitude (i.e., enjoyment, motivations, preference, frequency) and sociability. Results indicated that worse psychosocial adjustment across time points was associated with membership in the PFS-NonSociable group (characterized by high enjoyment, preference, and frequency of solitude; low sociability) compared to all other groups. Findings suggest that solitude for adolescents appears to be linked to worse psychosocial adjustment only if accompanied by a lack of sociability.

Adolescent neurodevelopment and psychopathology: The interplay between adversity exposure and genetic risk for accelerated brain ageing

In adulthood, stress exposure and genetic risk heighten psychological vulnerability by accelerating neurobiological senescence. To investigate whether molecular and brain network maturation processes play a similar role in adolescence, we analysed genetic, as well as longitudinal task neuroimaging (inhibitory control, incentive processing) and early life adversity (i.e., material deprivation, violence) data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (N = 980, age range: 9-13 years). Genetic risk was estimated separately for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD), two pathologies linked to stress exposure and allegedly sharing a causal connection (MDD-to-AD). Adversity and genetic risk for MDD/AD jointly predicted functional network segregation patterns suggestive of accelerated (GABA-linked) visual/attentional, but delayed (dopamine [D2]/glutamate [GLU5R]-linked) somatomotor/association system development. A positive relationship between brain maturation and psychopathology emerged only among the less vulnerable adolescents, thereby implying that normatively maladaptive neurodevelopmental alterations could foster adjustment among the more exposed and genetically more stress susceptible youths. Transcriptomic analyses suggested that sensitivity to stress may underpin the joint neurodevelopmental effect of adversity and genetic risk for MDD/AD, in line with the proposed role of negative emotionality as a precursor to AD, likely to account for the alleged causal impact of MDD on dementia onset.

Group decision-making on risky choice in adolescents and young adults

Adolescence, a period during which risk-taking behaviors frequently occur, is susceptible to peer influence. However, the direction of peer influence on group decision-making among adolescents and whether it increases group decision-making risk-seeking or risk-aversion is still unclear. This study recruited 84 adolescents (age = 14.44, 48 girls) and 99 young adults (M age = 20.48, 48 women) and adopted two framing tasks (life and money problems) to examine the differences between individual decision-making and group decision-making (of three members each), as well as the strategies for reaching consensus in group discussion. Results showed no evidence that adolescents are more risk seeking than adults in individual decision-making, and the adolescents were even more risk averse toward money problems than adults. We also found that the adolescents were more risk seeking for life problems but more risk averse for money problems in group decision-making than in individual decision-making under the loss frame. Further analysis of group discussion showed that the adolescents were more likely to apply the strategy of "one person puts forward an idea and then the others follow" to reach an agreement, while the adults tended to vote. This study indicated that peers' influence on group decision-making is domain specific, especially among adolescents.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-04027-5.

Behavioral inhibition and approach tendencies are associated with striatal activation to loss: Implications for adolescent substance use

Behavioral inhibition/avoidance and approach systems (BIS/BAS), which facilitate avoidance of aversive stimuli and approach of enticing stimuli, are thought to underlie engagement in substance use (SU). However, little is known about the neural correlates of these systems, particularly in adolescence. The current study examined associations between BIS/BAS tendencies and neural response to reward and loss and then examined whether there was an indirect effect of BIS/BAS on later SU initiation through these neural responses. 79 12-14 year olds underwent fMRI at baseline during a card guessing task. Adolescents reported on their BIS/BAS at baseline and on their SU at baseline and through a 3-year follow-up period. Results showed that higher BIS was associated with lower striatal activation and higher BAS with higher striatal activation to monetary loss. BIS and BAS were not associated with neural activation to monetary reward. There was no support that BIS or BAS predicted SU initiation through striatal activation to monetary loss. Overall, these results may suggest that adolescents with the tendency to avoid aversive stimuli assign less salience and adolescents with the tendency to approach enticing stimuli assign more salience to monetary loss.