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14 pages, 1057 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure

by Jack L. Andrews, Lucy E. Foulkes, Jessica K. Bone and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

Brain Sci. 2020, 10(6), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060397 - 23 Jun 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4643

In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could [...] Read more.

In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an individual being excluded by their peers, such as appearing different to one’s friends. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in individuals of 11 years and over (N = 1399). Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Cognitive Development across Contexts)

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14 pages, 1810 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Neighbor Housing Environment Enhances Social Interaction and Rescues Cognitive Deficits from Social Isolation in Adolescence

by Alexander B. Pais, Anthony C. Pais, Gabriel Elmisurati, So Hyun Park, Michael F. Miles and Jennifer T. Wolstenholme

Brain Sci. 2019, 9(12), 336; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9120336 - 22 Nov 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4163

Abstract

Adolescence is characterized by high levels of playful social interaction, cognitive development, and increased risk-taking behavior. Juvenile exposure to social isolation or social stress can reduce myelin content in the frontal cortex, alter neuronal excitability, and disrupt hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis function. [...] Read more.

Adolescence is characterized by high levels of playful social interaction, cognitive development, and increased risk-taking behavior. Juvenile exposure to social isolation or social stress can reduce myelin content in the frontal cortex, alter neuronal excitability, and disrupt hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis function. As compared to group housed animals, social isolation increases anxiety-like phenotypes and reduces social and cognitive performance in adulthood. We designed a neighbor housing environment to alleviate issues related to social isolation that still allowed individual homecages. Neighbor housing consists of four standard mouse cages fused together with semi-permeable ports that allow visual, olfactory, and limited social contact between mice. Adolescent C57BL/6J males and females were group housed (4/cage), single housed (1/cage), or neighbor housed (4/complex). As adults, mice were tested for social, anxiety-like, and cognitive behaviors. Living in this neighbor environment reduced anxiety-like behavior in the social interaction task and in the light-dark task. It also rescued cognitive deficits from single housing in the novel object recognition task. These data suggest that neighbor housing may partially ameliorate the social anxiety and cognitive deficits induced by social isolation. These neighbor cage environments may serve as a conduit by which researchers can house mice in individual cages while still enabling limited social interactions to better model typical adolescent development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Cognitive Development across Contexts)

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20 pages, 349 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cognitive Mediators of School-Related Socio-Adaptive Behaviors in ASD and Intellectual Disability Pre- and Adolescents: A Pilot-Study in French Special Education Classrooms

by Cécile Mazon, Charles Fage, Charles Consel, Anouck Amestoy, Isabelle Hesling, Manuel Bouvard, Kattalin Etchegoyhen and Hélène Sauzéon

Brain Sci. 2019, 9(12), 334; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9120334 - 21 Nov 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3182

Abstract

The school inclusion of students with autism is still a challenge. To address the cognitive underpinnings of school-related adaptive behaviors, 27 students with autism and 18 students with intellectual and/or severe learning disability, aged from 11 to 17, were recruited. They underwent socio-emotional [...] Read more.

The school inclusion of students with autism is still a challenge. To address the cognitive underpinnings of school-related adaptive behaviors, 27 students with autism and 18 students with intellectual and/or severe learning disability, aged from 11 to 17, were recruited. They underwent socio-emotional processing and executive functioning assessments, as well as school-related adaptive behavior and quality of life measurements. Both groups performed equally on socio-emotional and executive assessments, and they reported the same low quality of life. However, students with autism exhibited more limitations than the students with intellectual disabilities on complex school adaptive behaviors (socialization and autonomy) and problem behaviors, but both groups performed equally on more basic adaptive behaviors (school routines, communication). Multiple regression analyses highlighted between-group differences in terms of adaptive functioning profiles, which were linked with different cognitive predictors according to students’ medical conditions. The greater school-related limitations of students with autism were mostly explained by socio-emotional performance, while IQ (intellectual quotient) mostly explained the comparable between-group limitations. The low quality of life of both groups was slightly explained by executive performance. The role of both socio-emotional and executive functioning in students’ adaptive behaviors and quality of life suggests remediation targets for promoting the school inclusion of students with autism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescent Cognitive Development across Contexts)

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