A dual systems model of adolescent risk‐taking

TLDR

Reward‑seeking and impulsivity are hypothesized to develop on different timetables with distinct neural bases, accounting for heightened adolescent risk‑taking. The study aimed to test whether reward‑seeking and impulsivity follow separate developmental trajectories. Age differences were examined in 935 participants aged 10–30 using self‑report and behavioral measures of reward‑seeking and impulsivity. Reward‑seeking increased from preadolescence to mid‑adolescence and then declined, while impulsivity decreased steadily from age 10, and the combination of high reward‑seeking and still‑maturing self‑control explains the peak risk‑taking in middle adolescence.

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that reward-seeking and impulsivity develop along different timetables and have different neural underpinnings, and that the difference in their timetables helps account for heightened risk-taking during adolescence. In order to test these propositions, age differences in reward-seeking and impulsivity were examined in a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 935 individuals between the ages of 10 and 30, using self-report and behavioral measures of each construct. Consistent with predictions, age differences in reward-seeking follow a curvilinear pattern, increasing between preadolescence and mid-adolescence, and declining thereafter. In contrast, age differences in impulsivity follow a linear pattern, with impulsivity declining steadily from age 10 on. Heightened vulnerability to risk-taking in middle adolescence may be due to the combination of relatively higher inclinations to seek rewards and still maturing capacities for self-control.