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Borg ME, Heffer T, Willoughby T. Generational Shifts in Adolescent Mental Health: A Longitudinal Time-Lag Study. J Youth Adolesc 2024:10.1007/s10964-024-02095-3. [PMID: 39395919 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-024-02095-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2024] [Accepted: 09/22/2024] [Indexed: 10/14/2024]
Abstract
There is concern that adolescents today are experiencing a "mental health crisis" compared to previous generations. Research has lacked a longitudinal time-lag design to directly compare depressive symptoms and social anxiety of adolescents in two generations. The current study surveyed 1081 adolescents in the current generation (Mage = 14.60, SD = 0.31, 49% female) and 1211 adolescents in a previous generation (Mage = 14.40, SD = 0.51, 51% female) across the high school years (grades 9-12), 20 years apart. Mixed-effects analysis revealed that the Current-Sample reported higher and increasing mental health problems over time compared to the Past-Sample. Although most adolescents reported consistently low mental health problems, the Current-Sample had a higher proportion of adolescents who were consistently at risk across the high school years compared to the Past-Sample. These findings highlight while most adolescents in both generations do not report elevated mental health problems, there may be a small, yet growing, group of adolescents today at risk for experiencing a "mental health crisis".
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Poole KL, Willoughby T. Shyness and risk-taking during peer observation in children and adolescents. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 246:105981. [PMID: 38861806 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristie L Poole
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
| | - Teena Willoughby
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada
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Borg ME, Willoughby T. Longitudinal Changes in Psychosocial Adjustment Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Adolescents with Differential Patterns of Solitude and Sociability. J Youth Adolesc 2024; 53:2121-2138. [PMID: 38750315 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-024-02004-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024]
Abstract
Previous research has lacked a comprehensive, longitudinal analysis of characteristics of solitude and sociability, and how they are associated with changes in psychosocial adjustment before and during the pandemic. The current study surveyed 1071 adolescents (Mage = 10.6, SD = 1.69, 49.86% female, age range = 8-14 years at Year 1) over six years (three years before pandemic, three years during pandemic). Piecewise linear mixed-effects analysis showed that adolescents with higher solitude and lower sociability reported improvements in adjustment during the pandemic, whereas adolescents with lower solitude and higher sociability reported declines in adjustment. The findings highlight the importance of considering multiple characteristics of solitude and sociability, as well as contextual factors (e.g., pandemic), to better understand the implications of solitude on adolescent adjustment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan E Borg
- Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada.
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Guo M, Lu Y, Zhai R, Tian L. Does cognitive control mediate the relationship between peer presence and adolescent risk-taking? An ERP study. Psychophysiology 2024:e14675. [PMID: 39218953 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyu Guo
- Mental Health Education Center, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Yafei Lu
- Mental Health Education Center, Shandong Huayu Institute of Technology, Dezhou, China
| | - Ruonan Zhai
- Mental Health Education Center, Shandong Huayu Institute of Technology, Dezhou, China
| | - Lumei Tian
- Mental Health Education Center, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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Borg ME, Willoughby T. When is Solitude Maladaptive for Adolescents? A Comprehensive Study of Sociability and Characteristics of Solitude. J Youth Adolesc 2023; 52:2647-2660. [PMID: 37665481 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01856-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Petrican R, Fornito A. Adolescent neurodevelopment and psychopathology: The interplay between adversity exposure and genetic risk for accelerated brain ageing. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101229. [PMID: 36947895 PMCID: PMC10041470 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Petrican
- Institute of Population Health, Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, United Kingdom.
| | - Alex Fornito
- The Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Zhang W, Jiang Y, Wang C, Zhu L. Group decision-making on risky choice in adolescents and young adults. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 42:1-10. [PMID: 36468158 PMCID: PMC9702710 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-04027-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yingying Jiang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Liqi Zhu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Gonçalves SF, Mauro KL, Kinsey-Kerr MG, Fuentes AG, Thompson JC, Chaplin TM. Behavioral inhibition and approach tendencies are associated with striatal activation to loss: Implications for adolescent substance use. Neuropsychologia 2022; 176:108371. [PMID: 36210572 PMCID: PMC11008605 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie F Gonçalves
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States.
| | - Kelsey L Mauro
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| | - Max G Kinsey-Kerr
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| | | | - James C Thompson
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| | - Tara M Chaplin
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
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