The Neuroscience of High-Risk Behavior: Implications for Prevention & Treatment in Youth

Abstract

The average age of first use of alcohol for teen boys is 11 and 13 for teen girls. The average age of first exposure to pornography is 9. More teens are suffering from depression than any other time in our history due to too much screen time. Cyberbullying peaks in the 6th grade. What is happening in our culture and to our children’s neurodevelopment as a result of it? Engaging in high-risk behavior as a teen increases the chance of struggling with addiction as an adult by up to 90% due neurodevelopmental exposure and priming of the mesolimbic reward system. The Neuroscience of High-Risk Behavior elucidates how substances and other risky behavior, such as technology overuse, affect healthy neurodevelopment and how these effects impair adult functioning as well as implications for prevention and treatment. Practical, every-day parenting solutions and clinical techniques will be discussed.