Dissecting “Peer Presence” and “Decisions” to Deepen Understanding of Peer Influence on Adolescent Risky Choice

Proposing an Integrated Theory of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Susceptibility Among Latinx and Non-Latinx Youth

INTRODUCTION

Despite a reduction in overall cigarette smoking rates in the last several decades, recent increases in the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), such as e-cigarettes and Juul devices, prompted the Surgeon General to declare the use of such products to be an "epidemic." Along with the increase in the overall incidence of ENDS use, there are corresponding disparities in initiation, attitudes, and use patterns among Latinx populations. The present study sought to examine how elements of several behavioral theories, including parent, peer, media and environmental factors, are associated with a comprehensive measure of ENDS use susceptibility among both Latinx and non- Latinx youth.

METHODS

Data from 9630 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years were collected in wave 3 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH). Data were used to create and test a covariance structural path model examining the effects of parental modeling, communication, attitudes, rule-setting, and peer perceptions on ENDS use susceptibility. Multigroup model comparisons between Latinx and non-Latinx youth were completed.

RESULTS

Despite non-Latinx youth having more risk factors associated with ENDS use susceptibility, including parental ENDS use, more lenient rules regarding ENDS use in the home, and less perceived harm from ENDS use, Latinx youth had higher overall susceptibility. Additionally, despite predictions from prior research and theory, perceived social norms regarding ENDS use were not associated with susceptibility among non-Latinx youth. Parental ENDS use and having ENDS products available in the home were associated with greater susceptibility in Latinx, but not non-Latinx youth.

CONCLUSIONS

Key differences in ENDS susceptibility between Latinx and non-Latinx youth warrant both further investigation and increased culturally tailored prevention programming.

Combined Effects of Social Exclusion and Social Rank Feedback on Risky Decision-Making Across Adolescence

Adolescents' need to belong and concerns about social status are thought to increase risk-taking, however, not much is known about how feedback about social rank and the effects of social exclusion moderate risky decision-making. To this end, the present study examined how social rank feedback moderates the effects of social exclusion on risky decisions during adolescence. The experimental study included a total of 122 participants (11-19 years; 44% female). Participants were randomly assigned to receive either individual or social rank feedback in the Columbia Card Task after social inclusion and exclusion via the Cyberball paradigm. Contrary to expectations, social exclusion led to more cautious decision-making. Mid-adolescents were most influenced by the combination of social exclusion and social rank feedback, while late adolescents became more cautious with individual feedback. These findings suggest that peer influences also have adaptive effects, increasing sensitivity to risk information, with developmental differences in the role of social rank.

The connecting brain in context: How adolescent plasticity supports learning and development

Puberty initiates significant neurobiological changes that amplify adolescents' responsiveness to their environment, facilitating neural adaptation through processes like synaptic pruning, myelination, and neuronal reorganization. This heightened neuroplasticity, combined with their burgeoning social curiosity and appetite for risk, propels adolescents to explore diverse new environments and forge social bonds. Such exploration can accelerate experiential learning and the formation of social networks as adolescents prepare for adult independence. This review examines the complex interplay between adolescent neuroplasticity, environmental influences, and learning processes, synthesizing findings from recent studies that illustrate how factors such as social interactions, school environments, and neighborhood contexts influence both the transient activation and enduring organization of the developing brain. We advocate for incorporating social interaction into adolescent-tailored interventions, leveraging their social plasticity to optimize learning and development during this critical phase. Going forward, we discuss the importance of longitudinal studies that employ multimodal approaches to characterize the dynamic interactions between development and environment, highlighting recent advancements in quantifying environmental impacts in studies of developmental neuroscience. Ultimately, this paper provides an updated synopsis of adolescent neuroplasticity and the environment, underscoring the potential for environmental enrichment programs to support healthy brain development and resilience at this critical development stage.

Does cognitive control mediate the relationship between peer presence and adolescent risk-taking? An ERP study

Peer presence influences risk-taking behavior, particularly in adolescence. Based on the dual system model, this event-related potential study examined whether and how the presence of a peer displayed a preference for risky behavior would increase adolescents' risk-taking by disrupting their cognitive control processes in either emotional or non-emotional contexts. A sample of 106 adolescents (17-19 years of age) completed two Stoop tasks and a Balloon Analog Risk Task under three peer presence conditions. Results revealed that compared to other conditions, the presence of a risk-averse peer caused adolescents to make safer decisions through improving their conflict monitoring (more negative N200-diff), whereas a risk-preference peer's presence led adolescents to more risky decisions through disrupting their conflict resolution (more positive N450-diff) but they were only observed on the Emotional Stroop task. These findings suggest that different peer presence contexts could increase or decrease adolescents' risk-taking behaviors by influencing their cognitive control under an emotional context rather than in a non-emotional context.

How adolescents learn to build social bonds: A developmental computational account of social explore-exploit decision-making

Building social bonds is a critical task of adolescence that affords opportunities for learning, identity formation, and social support. Failing to develop close relationships in adolescence hinders adult interpersonal functioning and contributes to problems such as loneliness and depression. During adolescence, increased reward sensitivity and greater social flexibility both contribute to healthy social development, yet we lack a clear theory of how these processes interact to support social functioning. Here, we propose synthesizing these two literatures using a computational reinforcement learning framework that recasts how adolescents pursue and learn from social rewards as a social explore-exploit problem. To become socially skilled, adolescents must balance both their efforts to form individual bonds within specific groups and manage memberships across multiple groups to maximize access to social resources. We draw on insights from sociological studies on social capital in collective networks and neurocognitive research on foraging and cooperation to describe the social explore-exploit dilemma faced by adolescents navigating a modern world with increasing access to diverse resources and group memberships. Our account provides important new directions for examining the dynamics of adolescent behavior in social groups and understanding how social value computations can support positive relationships into adulthood.

Decision-making under risk and its correlates in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are associated with pervasive cognitive impairments, including deficits in decision-making under risk. However, there is inconclusive evidence regarding specific mechanisms underlying altered decision-making patterns. In this study, participants (33 SSD and 28 non-SSD) completed the Columbia Card Task, an explicit risk-taking task, to better understand risk preference and adjustment in dynamic decision-making. We found that while there is no group difference in overall risk-taking, risk preference, or optimal decision-making, risk adjustment to contextual factors (e.g., loss probability) is blunted in SSD. We also found associations between risk-taking/suboptimal decision-making and disorganized symptoms, excited symptoms, and role functioning, but no associations between decision-making and working memory. These results suggest that during a complex, dynamic risk-taking task, individuals with SSD exhibit less adaption to changing information about risk, which may reflect risk imperception.

Children's risk preferences vary across sexes, social contexts, and cultures

People exhibit more risk-prone behaviors when together with peers than when in private. The interplay of social context effects and other variables that alter human risk preferences (i.e., age, sex, or culture) remains poorly understood. Here, we explored risk preferences among Namibian Hai||om and Ovambo children (N = 144; AgeRange = 6-10 years). Participants chose between risky and safe options in private or during peer presence. In a third condition, children collaborated with peers before their risk preferences were assessed in those peers' presence. Children from both societies were risk-averse, but Hai||om children showed greater risk aversion than their Ovambo counterparts. Across cultures and ages, boys were less averse to risks than girls. This effect was most pronounced during peer presence, whereas collaboration did not additionally affect risk preferences. These results suggest a dynamic interplay of individual, social, and cultural factors shaping children's risk preferences.

Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS): A team science effort to predict societal trajectories in adolescence and young adulthood

Our society faces a great diversity of opportunities for youth. The 10-year Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) program has the long-term goal to understand which combination of measures best predict societal trajectories, such as school success, mental health, well-being, and developing a sense of belonging in society. Our leading hypothesis is that self-regulation is key to how adolescents successfully navigate the demands of contemporary society. We aim to test these questions using socio-economic, questionnaire (including experience sampling methods), behavioral, brain (fMRI, sMRI, EEG), hormonal, and genetic measures in four large cohorts including adolescents and young adults. Two cohorts are designed as test and replication cohorts to test the developmental trajectory of self-regulation, including adolescents of different socioeconomic status thereby bridging individual, family, and societal perspectives. The third cohort consists of an entire social network to examine how neural and self-regulatory development influences and is influenced by whom adolescents and young adults choose to interact with. The fourth cohort includes youth with early signs of antisocial and delinquent behavior to understand patterns of societal development in individuals at the extreme ends of self-regulation and societal participation, and examines pathways into and out of delinquency. We will complement the newly collected cohorts with data from existing large-scale population-based and case-control cohorts. The study is embedded in a transdisciplinary approach that engages stakeholders throughout the design stage, with a strong focus on citizen science and youth participation in study design, data collection, and interpretation of results, to ensure optimal translation to youth in society.

Virtual agents and risk-taking behavior in adolescence: the twofold nature of nudging

Peer pressure can influence risk-taking behavior and it is particularly felt during adolescence. With artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly present in a range of everyday human contexts, including virtual environments, it is important to examine whether AI can have an impact on human's decision making processes and behavior. By using the balloon analogue risk task (BART) evaluating propensity to take risk, in this study 113 adolescents' risk-taking behavior was measured when playing alone and in the presence of either a robot avatar or human avatar. In the avatar conditions, participants performed the BART while the avatars either (1) verbally incited risk-taking or (2) discouraged risk-taking (experimental tasks). Risk-taking behavior in the BART was assessed in terms of total number of pumps, gain and explosions. Tendency to impulsivity was also evaluated, as well as the effects of age and gender on risky behavior. The main finding showed a significant effect of both avatars on risk-taking tendency, with riskier behavior during incitement than discouragement conditions, the latter being also substantially different from the playing-alone condition. The results of this study open up new questions in a very sensitive and timely topic and offer various insights into the effect of nudging on adolescents' behavior in virtual contexts.

Adolescents' Perceptions of Social Risk and Prosocial Tendencies: Developmental Change and Individual Differences

Many prosocial behaviors involve social risks such as speaking out against a popular opinion, bias, group norm, or authority. However, little is known about whether adolescents' prosocial tendencies develop over time with their perceptions of social risks. This accelerated longitudinal study used within-subject growth-curve analyses to test the link between prosocial tendencies and social risk perceptions, in a sample of adolescents who completed self-reports annually for three years (N = 893; M age = 12.30 years, 10 - 14 years at Wave 1, and 10 - 17 years across the full study period; 50% Girls, 33% White non-Latinx, 27% Latinx, 20% African American, 20% Mixed/Other Race). The association between social risk tolerance and prosocial tendencies changed significantly across adolescence, such that at for younger adolescents, more prosocial tendencies were associated with less social risk tolerance, whereas for relatively older adolescents, more prosocial tendencies were associated marginally with more social risk tolerance. Additional individual differences by empathy (but not sensation seeking) emerged. These findings suggest that prosocial development across adolescence may be associated with an underlying ability to tolerate social risks.

Deliberative and Affective Risky Decisions in Teenagers: Different Associations with Maladaptive Psychological Functioning and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation?

Using network analysis, we investigated the relationships between maladaptive psychological functioning, difficulties in emotion regulation, and risk-taking in deliberative and affective behavioral decisions. Participants (103 adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years, 62% boys) took the Cold (deliberative) and Hot (affective) versions of the Columbia Card Task and completed the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). In contrast to the view that risk propensity increases from preadolescence to middle adolescence and decreases at later ages, our study revealed no age-specific trend. YSR syndrome scales were significantly correlated with risk propensity, but only in the Cold version. The YSR Thought Problems scale was the most central node in the network, linking internalizing and externalizing problems with risk propensity in the Cold CCT. Lack of emotional Clarity was the only DERS consistently linked with risk-taking both in correlation and network analyses. Maladaptive psychological functioning and difficulties in emotion regulation were linked with risk propensity in affective risky decisions through deliberative processes. The statistical significance of direct and indirect effects was further examined using nonparametric mediation analyses. Our study highlights the role of cognitive factors that in each variable set might account for risk-taking in teenagers.

Risks and rewards in adolescent decision-making

Adolescent decision-making has been characterized as risky, and a heightened reward sensitivity may be one of the aspects contributing to riskier choice-behavior. Previous studies have targeted reward-sensitivity in adolescence and the neurobiological mechanisms of reward processing in the adolescent brain. In recent examples, researchers aim to disentangle the contributions of risk- and reward-sensitivity to adolescent risk-taking. Here, we discuss recent findings of adolescent's risk preferences and the associated neural mechanisms. We highlight potential frameworks that target individual differences in risk preferences in an effort to understand adolescent risk-taking, and with an ultimate goal of leveraging undesirable levels of risk taking.

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.

The personality and cognitive traits associated with adolescents' sensitivity to social norms

Little is known about the personality and cognitive traits that shape adolescents' sensitivity to social norms. Further, few studies have harnessed novel empirical tools to elicit sensitivity to social norms among adolescent populations. This paper examines the association between sensitivity to norms and various personality and cognitive traits using an incentivised rule-following task grounded in Game Theory. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 1274 adolescents. Self-administered questionnaires were used to measure personality traits as well as other psychosocial characteristics. Incentivised rule-following experiments gauged sensitivity to social norms. A series of multilevel mixed effects ordered logistic regression models were employed to assess the association between sensitivity to norms and the personality and cognitive traits. The results highlighted statistically significant univariate associations between the personality and cognitive traits and sensitivity to norms. However, in the multivariate adjusted model, the only factor associated with sensitivity to norms was gender. The gender-stratified analyses revealed differences in the personality and cognitive traits associated with sensitivity to norms across genders. For males need to belong was significantly negatively associated with sensitivity to norms in the multivariate model. By comparison, emotional stability was negatively associated with sensitivity to norms for females. This study reinforced the findings from an earlier study and suggested female adolescents had higher levels of sensitivity to norms. The results indicated no consistent pattern between sensitivity to norms and the personality and cognitive traits. Our findings provide a basis for further empirical research on a relatively nascent construct, and bring a fresh perspective to the question of norm-following preferences among this age group.

Risk-Taking Behavior Among Male Adolescents: The Role of Observer Presence and Individual Self-Control

A number of studies have focused on the same-sex peer effect on and the developmental difference in adolescent risk-taking in terms of the dual systems model. Little research, however, addresses the effects of different observers, the role of different levels of individual self-control, and their interactions. To fill this gap, the present study examined the main and interactive effects of observer presence and individual self-control on male adolescents' risk-taking behavior with an experimental design. A total of 261 male adolescents (M_age = 15.79 ± 0.79, range = 14-18) completed an adapted Stoplight Task, which measures risk-taking behavior, in the presence of an observer, either peer or adult, either male or female. The results indicated that a same-sex peer's presence and low self-control were both risk factors of male adolescents' risk-taking, but did only low self-control male adolescents take serious risks when in the presence of a same-sex peer whereas those with high self-control consistently had low levels of risk-taking under any condition. An opposite-sex observer, particularly an opposite-sex adult's presence, played a similar protective role for male adolescents with low self-control. The findings suggest that a high level of self-control closely related to the cognitive control system may significantly buffer the negative effect of an adverse social stimulus which activates the social-emotional system on male adolescents' risk-taking; the findings also reveal that an opposite-sex adult's presence may contribute to a decrease in male adolescents' risk-taking by improving their cognitive control system.

Behavioral inhibition as an early life predictor of callous-unemotional traits

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits predict behavioral problems in adolescence. But little is known about early modulatory factors. Behavioral Inhibition (BI) in particular has been suggested to protect against the development of CU-traits. This temperamental predisposition is characterized by heightened environmental sensitivity. The current prospective longitudinal study examined whether BI at 15 months of age predicted lower CU-traits across development to age 21. A longitudinal sample of normatively developing children ( n = 125) was used. BI was assessed at 15 months using a standard stranger/robot paradigm. CU-traits were assessed at 2, 5, 9, 12, 14, 17, and 21 years with parent, teacher, and self-reports. Developmental pathways across all available data points were examined using Bayesian mixed models and k-means cluster analysis. Infant BI predicted lower CU-traits across development for girls, suggesting that BI buffers the long-term development of CU-traits for girls. CU-traits peaked in early adulthood. Boys scored higher and showed higher increases in CU-traits than girls from childhood onward. There was no gender difference regarding infant BI. Together, the findings demonstrated gender differences in the development of CU-traits, with a protective role of BI for girls. These results shed new light on the developmental trajectories and protective factors of CU-traits and provide starting points for interventions aiming at increasing children’s responsiveness to external cues to prevent antisocial traits and conduct problems.

Exposure to tobacco and betel nut content on social media, risk perceptions, and susceptibility to peer influence among early adolescents in Guam

Introduction

This study aimed to examine the associations between exposure to tobacco and betel nut-related content on social media, perceived risks of tobacco and betel nut use, and susceptibility to peer influence for tobacco and betel nut use among adolescents living in Guam, a United States-Affiliated Pacific Island in the Western Pacific.

Methods

A representative survey of adolescents (N = 670) attending public middle schools on Guam was conducted. The survey measured exposure to tobacco and betel nut content on the following social media platforms: (a) Facebook, (b) Twitter, (c) Instagram, (d) Snapchat, and (e) WhatsApp. The survey also measured perceived risks of tobacco and betel nut use and susceptibility to peer influence for tobacco and betel nut use.

Results

Guam adolescents' exposure to tobacco-related content on social media was found to be associated with lower perceived risks toward the use of tobacco (β = -0.18, p < 0.001) and betel nut (β = -0.16, p < 0.001). Also, exposure to tobacco-related content on social media was found to be associated with higher levels of susceptibility to peer influence for uses of both tobacco (β = 0.10, p < 0.05) and betel nut (β = 0.15, p < 0.001). Similarly, exposure to betel nut-related content on social media was associated with lower perceived risks of using betel nut (β = -0.20, p < 0.001) and tobacco (β = -0.24, p < 0.001). Also, exposure to betel nut-related content on social media was associated with increased susceptibility to peer influence for use of both betel nut (β = 0.35, p < 0.001) and tobacco (β = 0.29, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Adolescents' exposure to tobacco- and betel nut-related content on social media may influence attitudinal risk factors associated with tobacco and betel nut use.

Explore with Me: Peer Observation Decreases Risk-Taking but Increases Exploration Tendencies across Adolescence

It has been assumed that adolescents increase risk-taking tendencies when peers are present but findings on experimental decision-making have been inconclusive. Most studies focus on risk-taking tendencies, ignoring the effects peer presence can exert over other cognitive processes involved in decision-making, as well as any other underlying developmental and individual differences. In the present study, the trial-by-trial choice behavior was analyzed in a task in which adolescents adjust to dynamically changing risk probabilities. Using Bayesian modeling, the study aimed to infer about peer presence effects on risk-taking tendencies but also on reactions to, exploration of, and learning from positive and negative outcomes of risk-taking. 184 pre- to late adolescents (M = 14.09 years, min = 8.59, max = 18.97, SD = 2.95, 47% female) conducted the Balloon Analog Risk Task under two conditions: Once alone and once in the presence of a (non-existent) peer observing them virtually. Findings revealed that (a) peer observation reduced risk-taking but increased exploration tendencies and (b) that individual differences modulated this effect. Especially female pre-adolescents increased their openness to explore different choice outcomes when a peer observed their behavior. These results support the assumption that the occurrence and direction of peer influences on risk-taking depend on a person-environment interaction, emphasizing the dynamic role peers play in adolescent risk-taking.

Decision neuroscience and neuroeconomics: Recent progress and ongoing challenges

In the past decade, decision neuroscience and neuroeconomics have developed many new insights in the study of decision making. This review provides an overarching update on how the field has advanced in this time period. Although our initial review a decade ago outlined several theoretical, conceptual, methodological, empirical, and practical challenges, there has only been limited progress in resolving these challenges. We summarize significant trends in decision neuroscience through the lens of the challenges outlined for the field and review examples where the field has had significant, direct, and applicable impacts across economics and psychology. First, we review progress on topics including reward learning, explore-exploit decisions, risk and ambiguity, intertemporal choice, and valuation. Next, we assess the impacts of emotion, social rewards, and social context on decision making. Then, we follow up with how individual differences impact choices and new exciting developments in the prediction and neuroforecasting of future decisions. Finally, we consider how trends in decision-neuroscience research reflect progress toward resolving past challenges, discuss new and exciting applications of recent research, and identify new challenges for the field. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Reasoning and Decision Making Psychology > Emotion and Motivation.

Deterring illegal smartphone use while driving: Are perceptions of risk information associated with the impact of informal sanctions?

Advertising campaigns have used threat appeals to increase the perceptions of risk associated with dangerous driving behaviours. Building on recent research that suggests increasing the pertinence of informal sanctions (sense of guilt, fear of peer disapproval, or fear of hurting oneself and others) decreases the likelihood of illegal smartphone engagement while driving, this study aimed to determine if perceptions of risk information, that is, how effective drivers believe the information is in deterring their illegal use, is associated with perceptions of informal sanctions. An online survey of 1027 Victorians who self-reported illegal smartphone use while driving asked participants to rate the personal deterrent effectiveness of five types of risks associated with illegal smartphone use while driving. A hierarchical linear regression model explored the associations between the most effective risks and each informal sanction. Female drivers were more likely than male drivers to experience guilt, fear of social loss and fear of physical loss when using their smartphones illegally. More frequent illegal smartphone engagement while driving was associated with decreased impact of informal sanctions. Female drivers were more likely than male drivers to perceive each risk as effective. The most effective piece of information was, "Contributes to 16% of Victorian road deaths and serious injuries annually"; it was also the least known (32.7% males, 26.7% females). This message, alongside, "Increases risk of a crash comparable to those associated with driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis" and, "A 2 s glance at your phone while driving at 50 km/h effectively means driving blind for 27 m", were associated with stronger perceptions of guilt, fear of peer disapproval, or fear of hurting oneself and others when thinking about using a smartphone illegally while driving. These results suggest tailoring and targeting these specific risk information may be effective in deterring illegal smartphone use while driving.

Growing in generosity? The Effects of Giving Magnitude, Target, and Audience on the Neural Signature of Giving in Adolescence

Giving is essential for forming and maintaining social relationships, which is an important developmental task for adolescents. This pre-registered fMRI study investigated behavioral and neural correlates of adolescents’ (N = 128, ages 9 – 19 years) small versus large size giving in different social contexts related to target (i.e., giving to a friend or unfamiliar peer) and peer presence (i.e., anonymous versus audience giving). Participants gave more in the small size than large size condition, more to friends than to unfamiliar peers, and more in the audience compared to anonymous condition. Giving very small or large amounts was associated with increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior insula (AI), and older adolescents showed increased lateral and anterior PFC activation for small size giving. We observed activity in the intraparietal cortex (IPL), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and AI for giving to friends, but no age-related differences in this activity. Behaviorally, in contrast, we observed that older adolescents differentiated more in giving between friends and unfamiliar peers. Finally, we observed interactions between peer presence and target in the AI, and between giving magnitude and target in the precuneus. Together, findings reveal higher context-dependency of giving and more lateral PFC activity for small versus large giving in older adolescents.

Information about others' choices selectively alters risk tolerance and medial prefrontal cortex activation across adolescence and young adulthood

Adolescence is associated with major changes in the cognitive, emotional and social domains. One domain in which these processes intersect is decision-making. Previous research has shown that individuals' attitudes towards risk and ambiguity shape their decision-making, and information about others' choices can influence individuals' decisions. However, it is currently unknown how information about others' choices influences risk and ambiguity attitudes separately, and the degree to which others' choices shape decision-making differentially across development from adolescence to young adulthood. The current study used a computational modeling framework to test how information about others' choices influences these attitudes. Participants, aged 14-22 years, made a series of risky and ambiguous choices while undergoing fMRI scanning. On some trials, they viewed risky or safe choices of others. Results showed that participants aligned their choices toward the choice preferences of others. Moreover, the tendency to align choices was expressed in changes in risk attitude, but not ambiguity attitude. The change in risk attitude was positively related to neural activation in the medial prefrontal cortex. Results did not show age related differences in behavior and corresponding neural activation, indicating that the manner in which adolescents are influenced by peers is not ubiquitous but rather, is highly context-dependent.

Peer Presence Effect on Numerosity and Phonological Comparisons in 4th Graders: When Working with a SchoolMate Makes Children More Adult-like

Simple Summary

The presence of others helps us when we are good or an expert at something and hinders us when we are bad or novice. Such social facilitation or inhibition is well-documented in adults, but much less in children despite the omnipresence of peers throughout education. To explore potential peer presence effects on children’s academic performance, fourth-graders performed basic numerical and language skills (typically mastered at their age) either alone or with a schoolmate. For comparison, the same was performed in adults. We found that a schoolmate’s presence enabled children to perform more like adults, with a better response strategy and faster and less variable response times than children tested alone. This provides research-based evidence supporting pedagogical methods promoting collective practice of individually acquired knowledge. Future studies pursuing this hitherto neglected developmental exploration of peer presence effects on academic achievements might have the potential to help educators tailor their pedagogical choices to maximize peer presence when beneficial and minimize it when harmful. The present study also paves the way towards a neuroimaging investigation of how peer presence changes the way the child brain processes cognitive tasks relevant to education.

Abstract

Little is known about how peers’ mere presence may, in itself, affect academic learning and achievement. The present study addresses this issue by exploring whether and how the presence of a familiar peer affects performance in a task assessing basic numeracy and literacy skills: numerosity and phonological comparisons. We tested 99 fourth-graders either alone or with a classmate. Ninety-seven college-aged young adults were also tested on the same task, either alone or with a familiar peer. Peer presence yielded a reaction time (RT) speedup in children, and this social facilitation was at least as important as that seen in adults. RT distribution analyses indicated that the presence of a familiar peer promotes the emergence of adult-like features in children. This included shorter and less variable reaction times (confirmed by an ex-Gaussian analysis), increased use of an optimal response strategy, and, based on Ratcliff’s diffusion model, speeded up nondecision (memory and/or motor) processes. Peer presence thus allowed children to at least narrow (for demanding phonological comparisons), and at best, virtually fill in (for unchallenging numerosity comparisons) the developmental gap separating them from adult levels of performance. These findings confirm the influence of peer presence on skills relevant to education and lay the groundwork for exploring how the brain mechanisms mediating this fundamental social influence evolve during development.

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

The purpose of this ERP P3 study was to test a peer observation manipulation (being observed by a peer versus being alone) on neural markers of attention to reward (win-feedback) and punishment (loss-feedback) during the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. Participants (126 children, 53 % male, 8–10 years; 196 early adolescents, 50 % male, 11–13 years; and 121 mid-adolescents, 52 % male, 14–16 years) were assessed by age group and pubertal status. Individual differences in how participants felt about being observed by a peer, and self-report personality factors, also were examined. Findings indicated that early and mid-adolescents (and individuals in mid-puberty and late-puberty) were sensitive to peer observation as both groups showed larger neural responses to loss-feedback in the peer condition than in the alone condition. Conversely, children (and individuals in pre- and early-puberty) were unaffected by peer observation. In addition, there clearly were individual differences in how rewarding versus anxiety-provoking participants found the peer experience. Early adolescents and mid-adolescents (and individuals in mid- and late-puberty) who reported feeling more anxious about the peer observation elicited larger neural responses to loss-feedback, and individuals in mid- and late-puberty in particular reported higher worry and lower sensation-seeking scores than those who reported a positive experience.

Self-Oriented Neural Circuitry Predicts Other-Oriented Adaptive Risks in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study

Adolescence is marked by changes in decision-making and perspective-taking abilities. Although adolescents make more adaptive decisions with age, little is understood about how adolescents take adaptive risks that impact others and how this behavior changes developmentally. Functional coupling between reward [e.g., ventral striatum (VS)] and ‘social brain’ [e.g. temporal parietal junction (TPJ)/ posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)] systems may be differentially shape adaptive risks for the self and other. A total of 173 participants completed between one and three sessions across three waves [a total of 433 behavioral and 403 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data points]. During an fMRI scan, adolescents completed a risky decision-making task where they made risky decisions to win money for themselves and their parent. The risky decisions varied in their expected value (EV) of potential reward. Results show that from the 6th through 9th grades, adolescents took increasingly more adaptive risks for themselves than for their parent. Additionally, greater VS–TPJ/pSTS and VS–mPFC connectivity that tracks EV when making risky decisions for themselves in 6th grade, but a lower VS–mPFC connectivity in 9th grade, predicted greater adaptive risk-taking for their parent. This study contributes to our understanding of the self as a neural proxy for promoting adaptive social behaviors in youth.

Preference uncertainty accounts for developmental effects on susceptibility to peer influence in adolescence

Adolescents are prone to social influence from peers, with implications for development, both adaptive and maladaptive. Here, using a computer-based paradigm, we replicate a cross-sectional effect of more susceptibility to peer influence in a large dataset of adolescents 14 to 24 years old. Crucially, we extend this finding by adopting a longitudinal perspective, showing that a within-person susceptibility to social influence decreases over a 1.5 year follow-up time period. Exploiting this longitudinal design, we show that susceptibility to social influences at baseline predicts an improvement in peer relations over the follow-up period. Using a Bayesian computational model, we demonstrate that in younger adolescents a greater tendency to adopt others’ preferences arises out of a higher uncertainty about their own preferences in the paradigmatic case of delay discounting (a phenomenon called ‘preference uncertainty’). This preference uncertainty decreases over time and, in turn, leads to a reduced susceptibility of one’s own behaviour to an influence from others. Neuro-developmentally, we show that a measure of myelination within medial prefrontal cortex, estimated at baseline, predicts a developmental decrease in preference uncertainty at follow-up. Thus, using computational and neural evidence, we reveal adaptive mechanisms underpinning susceptibility to social influence during adolescence.

People often change their preferences to conform with others. Using a longitudinal design, the authors show that such conformity decreases over the course of adolescence and that this reduction in conformity is accompanied by a decreasing degree of uncertainty about what to like.

Peers' Choices Influence Adolescent Risk-taking Especially When Explicit Risk Information is Lacking

This study examines the impact of peers' previous cautious versus risky choices on adolescents' risk-taking depending on the level of information about the risk. Adolescents completed an adaptation of the BART that manipulated social influence (cautious and risky) and risk information (i.e., informed, noninformed). Results showed that social influence impacts adolescents' decisions on the noninformed BART but not on the informed BART. In the noninformed BART, the peers' cautious choices strongly decreased risk-taking and led to greater performance. The peers' risky choices increase adolescents' risk-taking, but this effect is limited to situations involving minimal risk. Thus social experience may be a specific social context that represents a valuable source of information during adolescence, especially in situations with high uncertainty.

Social and Non-social Brain Areas in Risk Behaviour: The Role of Social Context

The human brain contains social areas that become active when interacting with another human. These are located in the ventral prefrontal and mediodorsal cortices, adjacent to areas involved in reward processing and cognitive control. Human behaviour is strongly influenced by the social context. This is particularly evident when observing greater risk propensity in the presence of a peer, particularly during adolescence and emerging adulthood. We explored the widely held view that enhanced risk propensity is the consequence of weak cognitive control. We used brain activity, estimated from EEG recordings in a sample of 114 emerging adult dyads whilst performing a risk perception task, to predict risk behaviour in a subsequent driving simulation task. Being with a peer reduced the ability to discriminate riskiness in images of traffic scenes, biased responses towards the perception of no-risk, and increased the rate of accidents in the driving simulation. Risk perception involved three sets of clusters showing activity only when being with a peer, only when being alone, and in both social contexts. Functional connectivity between the clusters accounted for the later driving simulation performance depending on the peer's presence. In the light of our findings, greater risk-taking, when a peer is present, seems to be triggered by the activation of a different, less efficient brain network for risk-processing.

An effort-based social feedback paradigm reveals aversion to popularity in socially anxious participants and increased motivation in adolescents

We created a novel social feedback paradigm to study how motivation for potential social links is influenced in adolescents and adults. 88 participants (42F/46M) created online posts and then expended physical effort to show their posts to other users, who varied in number of followers and probability of positive feedback. We focused on two populations of particular interest from a social feedback perspective: adolescents relative to young adults (13-17 vs 18-24 years of age), and participants with social anxiety symptoms. Individuals with higher self-reported symptoms of social anxiety did not follow the typical pattern of increased effort to obtain social feedback from high status peers. Adolescents were more willing to exert physical effort on the task than young adults. Overall, participants were more likely to exert physical effort for high social status users and for users likely to yield positive feedback, and men were more likely to exert effort than women, findings that parallel prior results in effort-based tasks with financial rather than social rewards. Together the findings suggest social motivation is malleable, driven by factors of social status and the likelihood of a positive social outcome, and that age, sex, and social anxiety significantly impact patterns of socially motivated decision-making.

Brain and Behavior Correlates of Risk Taking in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders

Avoidant behavior is a defining feature of pediatric anxiety disorders. Although prior research has examined it from the perspective of early information processing events, there has been relatively less consideration of the processes by which anxious youth make avoidant decisions and how these choices are reinforced over time. Studies of risk taking are valuable in this regard because they consider how individuals identify the pros and cons of their choices, how they weigh potential gains and losses and estimate their respective probabilities, and how they tolerate the uncertainty intrinsic to any decision. In this review, we place risk taking within existing models of information processing in pediatric anxiety disorders and highlight the particular value of this construct for informing models of developmental psychopathology and individual differences in outcome over time. We review existing behavioral and neurobiological studies of risk taking in anxious youth and conclude by identifying directions for future research.

Social norms in adolescent risk engagement and recommendation

Social influence is an important determinant of adolescent risk-taking, but little is known about how social norms contribute to adolescents' tendency to recommend and engage in risky behaviours. Using the Adolescent Risk-taking Questionnaire, we assessed subjects' (n = 198, age = 10-26) propensity to engage in and recommend risk-taking as well as their perception of risk norms. Adolescents recommended risk-taking more often compared to children and young adults. Perceived social norms were the most important factor predicting engagement in risky behaviours, and adolescents perceived risk-taking to be more normative than children or adults. Our findings highlight two mechanisms that contribute to adolescent risk-taking, active recommendation and perceived social norms. On this basis, we discuss potential means to attenuate excessive adolescent risk-taking.

Using the Risk-Return Model to Explain Gambling Disorder Symptoms in Youth: An Empirical Investigation with Italian Adolescents

Historically, individual differences research has sought to explain problem-gambling severity in adolescence by means of unitary "risk-taking" traits, such as sensation seeking and impulsivity, implying that these personality traits account for risk-taking tendencies across different types of behaviors and situations. However, increasing empirical evidence suggests that risk taking seems to be better conceptualized as a domain-specific construct. In the current study, we adopted a psychological risk-return framework, which posits that perceptions of perceived risks and benefits predict gambling risk attitudes, which in turn, account for variance in Gambling Disorder (GD) symptoms in adolescents. The study involved 296 Italian adolescents (68% boys, M_age = 17.76, SD = 1.17). Participants completed the risk-taking, risk perception, and expected benefits scales from the Adolescent Domain Specific Risk Taking (DOSPERT) scale (Barkley-Levenson et al. in Dev Cognitive Neurosci 3: 72-83, 2013), as well as the Gambling Behavior Scale for Adolescents (GBS-A; as reported (Primi et al. in Gambling Behavior Scale for Adolescents in, Hogrefe, Florence, 2015) were administered. Consistent with predictions, risk-taking scores for the Gambling domain predicted adolescent gambling outcomes, relative to the other DOSPERT risk-domains (Ethical, Health/Safety, Recreational, Social). Additionally, we found that greater Gambling risk perceptions were associated with lower risk-taking scores, whereas greater perceived expected benefits were associated with higher risk-taking scores. Moreover, we found significant indirect effects between perceived risks and benefits and problem-gambling severity, mediated via Gambling risk-taking scores, though expected benefits demonstrated a stronger indirect effect. These results have important implications for practice as they emphasize that specific interventions aimed at preventing problem gambling in adolescents should address their perceptions about gambling benefits.

Differential Behavioral and Neural Profiles in Youth With Conduct Problems During Risky Decision-Making

Neuroimaging work has examined neural processes underlying risk taking in adolescence, yet predominantly in low-risk youth. To determine whether we can extrapolate from current neurobiological models, this functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated risk taking and peer effects in youth with conduct problems (CP; N = 19) and typically developing youth (TD; N = 25). Results revealed higher real-life risk taking, lower risky decisions, and no peer effects on a risk-taking task in CP youth. CP youth showed greater ventral striatum (VS) activity during safe than risky decisions, whereas TD youth showed greater VS activation during risky decisions. Differential VS activity explained higher real-life risk taking in CP youth. Findings provide preliminary evidence that risk-taking behavior in youth with CD problems is characterized by differential neural patterns.

School-based extracurricular activity involvement and high school dropout among at-risk students: Consistency matters

Encouraging involvement in school-based extracurricular activities (ECA) may be important for preventing high school dropout. However, the potential of these activities remains underexploited, perhaps because studies linking ECA involvement and dropout are rare and based on decades-old data. Previous studies also ignore key parameters of student involvement. The present study expands and updates this limited literature by using recent data from a high-risk Canadian sample (N = 545) and by considering a range of involvement parameters. Results showed that consistent involvement in the past year was associated with lower odds of dropout (OR = 0.32; 95% CI = 0.17-0.61). However, adolescents who interrupted their involvement during this period (e.g., because of cancelations or exclusions) were as much at risk of dropout as those who were not involved at all. Findings notably imply that excluding students from ECA (e.g., because of No Pass/No Play policies) may heighten their dropout risk.

The neural development of prosocial behavior from childhood to adolescence

The transition from childhood to adolescence is marked by increasingly sophisticated social cognitive abilities that are paralleled by significant functional maturation of the brain. However, the role of social and neurobiological development in facilitating age differences in prosocial behavior remains unclear. Using a cross-sectional sample of children and adolescents (n = 51; 8–16 years), we examined the age-related correlates of prosocial behavior. Youth made costly and non-costly prosocial decisions to anonymous peers during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Among a subsample of youth who made prosocial decisions (n = 35), we found quadratic age differences in neural activation that peaked in early adolescence relative to childhood and older adolescence. In particular, early adolescents showed heightened recruitment of the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), temporal pole and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) when engaging in costly prosocial behavior at the expense of gaining a reward, whereas they evoked heightened pSTS and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex/IFG activation when engaging in costly vs non-costly forms of prosocial behavior. Given that we did not find age differences in prosocial behavior, this suggests that early adolescents show unique patterns of brain activation to inform similar levels of prosocial behavior.

Is the Peer Presence Effect on Heightened Adolescent Risky Decision-Making only Present in Males?

Social neurodevelopmental imbalance models posit that peer presence causes heightened adolescent risk-taking particularly during early adolescence. Evolutionary theory suggests that these effects would be most pronounced in males. However, the small but growing number of experimental studies on peer presence effects in adolescent risky decision-making showed mixed findings, and the vast majority of such studies did not test for the above-described gender and adolescent phase moderation effects. Moreover, most of those studies did not assess the criterion validity of the employed risky decision-making tasks. The current study was designed to investigate the abovementioned hypotheses among a sample of 327 ethnically-diverse Dutch early and mid-adolescents (49.80% female; M_age = 13.61). No main effect of peer presence on the employed risky-decision making task (i.e., the stoplight game) was found. However, the results showed a gender by peer presence moderation effect. Namely, whereas boys and girls engaged in equal levels of risks when they completed the stoplight game alone, boys engaged in more risk-taking than girls when they completed this task together with two same-sex peers. In contrast, adolescent phase did not moderate peer presence effects on risk-taking. Finally, the results showed that performance on the stoplight game predicted self-reported real-world risky traffic behavior, alcohol use and delinquency. Taken together, using a validated task, the present findings demonstrate that individual differences (i.e., gender) can determine whether the social environment (i.e., peer presence) affect risk-taking in early- and mid-adolescents. The finding that performance on a laboratory risky decision-making task can perhaps help identify adolescents that are vulnerable to diverse types of heightened risk behaviors is an important finding for science as well as prevention and intervention efforts.

Information use in risky decision making: Do age differences depend on affective context?

The current study focused on the degree to which decision context (deliberative vs. affective) differentially impacted the use of available information about uncertainty (i.e., probability, positive and negative outcome magnitudes, expected value, and variance/risk) when older adults were faced with decisions under risk. In addition, we examined whether individual differences in general mental ability and executive function moderated the associations between age and information use. Participants (N = 96) completed a neuropsychological assessment and the hot (affective) and cold (deliberative) versions of an explicit risk task. Our results did not find a significant Age × Hot/Cold Condition interaction on overall risk-taking. However, we found that older adults were less likely to use the full decision information available regardless of the decision context. This finding suggested more global age differences in information use. Moreover, older adults were less likely to make expected-value sensitive decisions, regardless of the hot/cold context. Finally, we found that low performance on measures of executive functioning, but not general mental ability, appears to be a risk factor for lower information use. This pattern appears in middle age and progressively becomes stronger in older age. The current work provides evidence that common underlying decision processes may operate in risk tasks deemed either affective or deliberative. It further suggests that underlying mechanisms such as information use may be paramount, relative to differences in the affective context. Additionally, individual differences in neuropsychological function may act as a moderator in the tendency to use available information across affective context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Social Influence in Adolescent Decision-Making: A Formal Framework

Adolescence is a period of life during which peers play a pivotal role in decision-making. The narrative of social influence during adolescence often revolves around risky and maladaptive decisions, like driving under the influence, and using illegal substances (Steinberg, 2005). However, research has also shown that social influence can lead to increased prosocial behaviors (Van Hoorn et al., 2017) and a reduction in risk-taking (Braams et al., 2019). While many studies support the notion that adolescents are more sensitive to peer influence than children or adults, the developmental processes that underlie this sensitivity remain poorly understood. We argue that one important reason for this lack of understanding is the absence of precisely formulated models. To make a first step toward formal models of social influence during adolescence, we first identify three prominent verbal models of social influence in the literature: (1) social motivation, (2) reward sensitivity, and (3) distraction. We then illustrate how these can be translated into formal models, and how such formal models can inform experimental design and help identify developmental processes. Finally, by applying our formal models to existing datasets, we demonstrate the usefulness of formalization by synthesizing different studies with seemingly disparate results. We conclude with a discussion on how formal modeling can be utilized to better investigate the development of peer influence in adolescence.

Age and Gender Effects in Sensitivity to Social Rewards in Adolescents and Young Adults

Adolescence is a sensitive period for socio-cultural processing and a vast literature has established that adolescents are exceptionally attuned to the social context. Theoretical accounts posit that the social reward of social interactions plays a large role in adolescent sensitivity to the social context. Yet, to date it is unclear how sensitivity to social reward develops across adolescence and young adulthood and whether there are gender differences. The present cross-sectional study (N = 271 participants, age 11-28 years) examined age and gender effects in self-reported sensitivity to different types of social rewards. In order to achieve this aim, the Dutch Social Reward Questionnaire for Adolescents was validated. Findings revealed that each type of social reward was characterized by distinct age and gender effects. Feeling rewarded by gaining positive attention from others showed a peak in late adolescence, while enjoying positive reciprocal relationships with others showed a linear increase with age. Enjoying cruel behavior toward others decreased with age for girls, while boys showed no changes with age and reported higher levels across ages. Reward from giving others control showed a mid-adolescent dip, while enjoying group interactions did not show any changes with age. Taken together, the results imply that the social reward of social interactions is a nuanced and complex construct, which encompasses multiple components that show unique effects with age and gender. These findings enable us to gain further traction on the ubiquitous effects of the social context on decision-making in adolescent's lives.

Effect of peer presence on adolescents' risk-taking is moderated by individual self-esteem: An experimental study

Prior research suggests that the presence of peers increases adolescents' risk-taking. However, it is not clear whether the effect of peer presence is moderated by individual characteristics such as self-esteem, since individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to peer influence theoretically. The present study examined this problem using an adapted Stoplight Game in an experiment. A final sample of 140 adolescent students aged 14-18 (M = 16.25 ± 0.73 years, 61 girls), divided into two groups-low self-esteem and high self-esteem, according to their self-esteem scores, completed a risk-taking task either alone or in the presence of a same-sex peer. The results indicated that peer presence increased adolescents' risk-taking, specifically for those with low self-esteem, while those with high self-esteem were not affected by peer presence. The findings are helpful for our understanding of peer influence on adolescent risk-taking and the moderating role of the self and have practical implications for preventing and intervening adolescents' risk-taking via increasing their self-esteem.

Differential effects of parent and peer presence on neural correlates of risk taking in adolescence

Adolescence is a developmental period associated with increased health-risk behaviors and unique sensitivity to the input from the social context, paralleled by major changes in the developing brain. Peer presence increases adolescent risk taking, associated with greater reward-related activity, while parental presence decreases risk taking, associated with decreased reward-related activity and increased cognitive control. Yet the effects specific to peers and parents are still unknown. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study compared within-person peer and parent influences on risky decision-making during adolescence (ages 12–15 years; N = 56). Participants completed the Yellow Light Game (YLG), a computerized driving task, during which they could make safe or risky decisions, in the presence of a peer and their parent. Behavioral findings revealed no effects of social context on risk taking. At the neural level, a collection of affective, social and cognitive regions [ventral striatum (VS), temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC)] was more active during decision-making with peers than parents. Additionally, functional connectivity analyses showed greater coupling between affective, social and cognitive control regions (VS-insula, VS-TPJ) during decision-making with parents than peers. These findings highlight the complex nature of social influence processes in peer and parent contexts, and contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and vulnerabilities associated with adolescent social sensitivity.

Heightened Adolescent Risk-Taking? Insights From Lab Studies on Age Differences in Decision-Making

Surveys concur that adolescents disproportionately engage in many real-world risk behaviors, compared with children and adults. Recently researchers have employed laboratory risky decision-making tasks to replicate this apparent heightened adolescent risk-taking. This review builds on the main findings of the first meta-analysis of such age differences in risky decision-making in the laboratory. Overall, although adolescents engage in more risky decision-making than adults, adolescents engage in risky decision-making equal to children. However, adolescents take fewer risks than children on tasks that allow the option of opting out of taking a risk. To reconcile findings on age differences in risk-taking in the real-world versus the laboratory, an integrative framework merges theories on neuropsychological development with ecological models that emphasize the importance of risk exposure in explaining age differences in risk-taking. Policy insights and recent developments are discussed.

The computational basis of following advice in adolescents

Advice taking helps one to quickly acquire knowledge and make decisions. This age-comparative study (in children [8- to 10-year-olds], adolescents [13- to 15-year-olds], and adults [18- to 22-year-olds]) investigated developmental differences in how advice, experience, and exploration influence learning. The results showed that adolescents were initially easily swayed to follow peer advice but also switched more rapidly to exploring alternatives like children. Whereas adults stayed with the advice over the task, adolescents put more weight on their own experience compared with adults. A social learning model showed that although social influence most strongly affects adolescents' initial expectations (i.e., their priors), adolescents showed higher exploration and discovered the other good option in the current task. Thus, our model resolved the apparently conflicting findings of adolescents being more and less sensitive to peer influence and provides novel insights into the dynamic interaction between social and individual learning.

Neurocognitive Development of Motivated Behavior: Dynamic Changes across Childhood and Adolescence

The ability to anticipate and respond appropriately to the challenges and opportunities present in our environments is critical for adaptive behavior. Recent methodological innovations have led to substantial advances in our understanding of the neurocircuitry supporting such motivated behavior in adulthood. However, the neural circuits and cognitive processes that enable threat- and reward-motivated behavior undergo substantive changes over the course of development, and these changes are less well understood. In this article, we highlight recent research in human and animal models demonstrating how developmental changes in prefrontal-subcortical neural circuits give rise to corresponding changes in the processing of threats and rewards from infancy to adulthood. We discuss how these developmental trajectories are altered by experiential factors, such as early-life stress, and highlight the relevance of this research for understanding the developmental onset and treatment of psychiatric disorders characterized by dysregulation of motivated behavior.