Developmental Review最新文献

Adolescents have long been characterized as the stereotypical risk-takers, due to their apparent heightened risk behavior (e.g., delinquency, substance use). Hence, the raising of minimum ages for substance use are common legal actions that presume that limiting the exposure to substances (i.e., “risk exposure”) will decrease such heightened adolescent risk behavior. This ecological concept of risk exposure (access to risk conducive situations) is acknowledged in criminological models—to some extent. However, risk exposure is virtually absent from contemporary psychological models, which focus on neuropsychological development, particularly socio-affective and cognitive control development. Moreover, when theories in these disciplines do consider risk exposure, the ubiquitous developmental (i.e., age-dependent) component of this concept is overlooked. For example, in the real-word, adolescents encounter far more risk conducive situations (both offline and online) than children, which could at least partially account for heightened adolescent risk behaviors compared to children. A meta-analysis (Defoe et al. 2015) on laboratory studies provided suggestive evidence for this assertion. Namely, this meta-analysis showed that in laboratory settings—where risk exposure is equal for all participants regardless of age—children and adolescents are generally equally susceptible to engage in risks. Hence, in the above-mentioned meta-analysis, a hybrid Developmental Neuro-Ecological Risk-taking Model (DNERM) was put forward. DNERM emphasizes an interaction between adolescents’ neuropsychological development and their changing physical- and social- ecology, which is further embedded in a cultural context. The current paper further develops DNERM’s aims, which include bridging contemporary psychology models with criminology models to comprehensively describe the development of risk behavior during the youth period (ages 11–24).

The detrimental outcomes associated with certain risk behaviors during adolescence has perpetuated a narrative that risk taking during adolescence is inherently maladaptive and warrants prevention. This is not the case. In the broadest sense, risk taking is engaging in a behavior with uncertain probabilities of desirable or undesirable outcomes. Whether a risk is considered positive or negative depends on various factors, many of which are culturally defined, including the developmental benefits of the risk, the potential for harm, and social acceptability. Although adolescents take many negative risks, such as substance use and delinquency, adolescents take positive risks, too. Evolutionary theories have pointed to the importance of risk taking for adolescent development. In order to develop a sense of identity, establish autonomy, hone new skills, and take advantage of exciting opportunities, people need to have a willingness to try things they may not like or at which they may fail. This requires a tolerance of risk. Although researchers have speculated about positive risk taking for decades, empirical work on positive risk taking is relatively sparse in the developmental literature. Society has seen many examples of adolescent positive risk taking in the popular media through teen activists, Olympic medalists, and young inventors. Yet, little is understood about what motivates adolescents to take positive risks. To this end, the present paper reviews the literature on positive risk taking from various fields, summarizes existing theories of positive risk taking, identifies what is currently known about positive risk taking from empirical findings, and identifies remaining questions for future research.

Adolescents are often described as a strange and different species that behaves like no other age group, typical behaviours being excessive risk-taking and sensitivity to peer influence. Different theories of adolescent behaviour attribute this to different internal mechanisms like undeveloped cognitive control, higher sensation-seeking or extraordinary social motivation. Many agree that some of adolescent risk-taking behaviour is adaptive. Here we argue that to understand adolescent risk-taking, and why it may be adaptive, research needs to pay attention to the adolescent environments’ structure and view adolescents as learning and exploring agents in it. We identify three unique aspects of the adolescent environment: 1) the opportunities to take risks are increased significantly, 2) these opportunities are novel and their outcomes uncertain, and 3) peers become more important. Next, we illustrate how adolescent risk-taking may emerge from learning using agent-based modelling, and show that a typical inverted-U shape in risk-taking may emerge in absence of a specific adolescent motivational drive for sensation-seeking or sensitivity to social information. The simulations also show how risky exploration may be necessary for adolescents to gain long-term benefits in later developmental stages and that social learning can help reduce losses. Finally, we discuss how a renewed ecological perspective and the focus on adolescents as learning agents may shift the interpretation of current findings and inspire future studies.

Despite substantial grounds for such research, the role of chronic exposure to stressors in the onset and aggravation of learning disabilities (LDs) is largely unexplored. In this review, we first consider the hormonal, (epi)genetic, and neurobiological mechanisms that might underlie the impact of adverse childhood experiences, a form of chronic stressors, on the onset of LDs. We then found that stress factors combined with feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem, and peer victimization could potentially further aggravate academic failures in children with LDs. Since effective evidence-based interventions for reducing chronic stress in children with LDs could improve their academic performance, consideration of the role of exposure to stressors in children with LDs has both theoretical and practical importance, especially when delivered in combination with academic interventions.

In this review, I consider the developmental interactions between two domains sometimes characterised as at opposite ends of the human spectrum: early-developing arousal/regulatory domains, that subserve basic mechanisms of survival and homeostasis; and the later-developing ‘higher-order’ cognitive domain of effortful control. First, I examine how short-term fluctuations within arousal/regulatory systems associate with fluctuations in effortful control during early childhood. I present evidence suggesting that both hyper- and hypo-arousal are associated with immediate reductions in attentional and affective control; but that hyper-aroused individuals can show cognitive strengths (faster learning speeds) as well as weaknesses (reduced attentional control). I also present evidence that, in infancy, both hyper- and hypo-aroused states may be dynamically amplified through interactions with the child’s social and physical environment. Second, I examine long-term interactions between arousal/regulatory systems and effortful control. I present evidence that atypical early arousal/regulatory development predicts poorer attentional and affective control during later development. And I consider moderating influences of the environment, such that elevated early arousal/regulatory system reactivity may confer both cognitive advantages in a supportive environment, and disadvantages in an unsupportive one. Finally, I discuss how future research can further our understanding of these close associations between attentional and affective domains during early development.

About one eighth of people are exposed to adversities such as abuse and neglect. Life history theory suggests that early experiences of adversity are strongly associated with later engagement in risky sexual behaviors. Specifically, those exposed to early adversity tend to engage in sex at an earlier age, have casual sex, and have high numbers of partners. Interestingly, it is also known that individuals exposed to early adversity are more likely to engage in more same-gender behavior. Existing research clearly outlines the association between early adversity and sexual behaviors that are considered risky. However, we have yet to identify a potential mediating mechanism that explains the full range of sexual behaviors seen in those who experience early adversity including adult sexual risk taking and same gender behavior. Outlining the specific mechanisms that influence later sexual risk taking is critically important in understanding the unique developmental experiences of those who experience early adversity. Here we propose and support one mediator important in the association between early adversity and later sexual behavior. We hypothesize that an increased sensitivity to the potential for sexual rewards mediates the association between early experiences of adversity and later sexual behavior, both risk behavior and female same-gender behavior. In the present manuscript we review relevant theoretical and empirical research in support of our claims.

Positive psychology has highlighted the importance of personal positive qualities such as gratitude for human thriving. Reviews of research on gratitude are predominantly based on work with adults. We address this gap by considering the familial roots and well-being implications of gratitude in children. We conducted two systematic reviews examining children’s gratitude as it relates to parent–child relationships (N = 10) and children’s gratitude and well-being (N = 38). Children’s gratitude was higher when parents modeled gratitude, there was a more secure parent–child attachment, and parents employed more supportive, autonomy granting, and warm parenting. These findings align with attachment theory, social learning and emotion socialization theories, and the find-remind-and-bind theory. Additionally, children’s gratitude was positively related to greater life satisfaction, positive affect, and mental well-being in cross-sectional and intervention studies. These findings provide some support for the broaden-and-build theory, the adaptive cycle model, and the schematic hypothesis. The reviewed theoretical frameworks and empirical findings formed the basis of our proposed model whereby children’s gratitude is posited to mediate the relation between parent–child relationship factors and children’s well-being. Further, we identified several testable mechanisms that might explain why gratitude is related to well-being. Our proposed model is an important contribution to the current literature because it provides a novel, overarching synthesis of existing work on children’s gratitude that is intended to be a framework for future research to test potential mechanisms relevant to children’s gratitude development and well-being outcomes.

Almost one in three children globally live in households lacking basic necessities, and 356 million of these children were living in extreme poverty as of 2017. Disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic further increase rates of child poverty due to widespread job and income loss and economic insecurity among families. Poverty leads to unequal distribution of power and resources, which impacts the economic, material, environmental and psychosocial conditions in which children live. There is evidence that poverty is associated with adverse child health and developmental outcomes in the short term, as well as increased risk of chronic diseases and mental illnesses over the life course. Over the past decade, advances in genomic and epigenomic research have helped elucidate molecular mechanisms that could in part be responsible for these long-term effects. Here, we review evidence suggestive of biological embedding of early life poverty in three, interacting physiological systems that are potential contributors to the increased risk of disease: the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, the brain, and the immune system. We also review interventions that have been developed to both eliminate childhood poverty and alleviate its impact on pediatric development and health. Pertinently, studies estimate that the costs of child poverty, calculated by increased healthcare expenditures and loss of productivity, are immense. We argue that investing in child development by reducing child poverty has the potential to improve the health and well-being at the population level, which would go a long way towards benefiting the economy and promoting a more just society by helping all individuals reach their full potential.

Adolescence often is thought to be the age period of heightened risk taking (e.g., substance use, reckless driving, sexual risks, delinquency) by both researchers and the general public. In the present article we challenge this assumption by examining the prevalence of a wide variety of real-world risk-taking behaviors across different age groups. Focusing on North American data, we first explore types of risk-taking behaviors across different age groups, both within and across different domains of risk taking. Second, we consider historical trends in risk taking, given that prevalence and types of risk-taking behaviors can change over time. Overall, our review highlights that emerging adulthood (i.e., 19–29 years of age) is the age period when risk taking is most prevalent across multiple domains. Risk taking in many domains, however, is common across the entire adult lifespan, sometimes with the appearance of minimal differences among emerging adults and adults. Moreover, while the majority of risk-taking behaviors have declined over time, this pattern is not consistent for all behaviors and all age groups. Thus, our understanding of whether adolescence is a heightened period of risk taking requires answering the questions: “For what type of risk taking” and “How does that type of risk-taking behavior change or not change across age and historical time periods?”