This dissertation focused on the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying adolescent learning and mental health in the context of peers and friends. The neuroimaging findings revealed that... Show moreThis dissertation focused on the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying adolescent learning and mental health in the context of peers and friends. The neuroimaging findings revealed that reward processing for self and peers rely on common reward-related brain regions, whereas a social brain region (TPJ) showed social specificity to observed outcomes for unfamiliar peers compared to friends. Moreover, typically developing adolescents and adolescents with ADHD show neural sensitivity in reward and salience brain regions towards rewards for themselves, friends and peers compared to losses. There were no group differences in neural processing of (vicarious) outcomes between adolescents with and without ADHD, yet a symptom-level approach showed more neural sensitivity for own compared to friends’ losses in individuals with more inattention symptoms. The behavioral findings indicated that adolescents’ learning performance benefitted from observing the choices and outcomes of peers irrespective of the relationship with this peer. The results did not show effects of friendship (quality) and social status on observational and academic learning, but there was a protective effect of friendship quality on internalizing problems. Taken together, these findings highlight adolescence as a period of observational learning opportunities from different types of peers. Adolescence can also serve as a window of opportunity to improve mental health by fostering high-quality friendships. Show less
This thesis generated insights into the neural and affective signatures of connectedness between parents and adolescents and between people in general, which is operationalized by responses to eye... Show moreThis thesis generated insights into the neural and affective signatures of connectedness between parents and adolescents and between people in general, which is operationalized by responses to eye contact and empathy. Overall, our findings show that during adolescence, parents are still highly attuned to their child at the neural and affective level. In addition, adolescents report to feel more connected with their parents than with unknown others, although this was not directly reflected in stronger neural responses. Another interesting finding is that making eye contact for a prolonged period generally enhanced the socio-emotional connection between people, both between parents and adolescents and with unknown others. For individuals with a history of CEM and depressed adolescents eye contact is less socially rewarding, however, and does not seem to foster a stronger connectedness with others. Studying the psychobiological underpinnings of affiliative bonding, including the parent-adolescent bond, brings us a step closer to unraveling how such bonds are established and maintained during adolescence. And even more important: Once we know how these bonds are established, we might be better able to modify and repair these bonds in situations in which they for some reason got disrupted. Show less
This dissertation focuses on identifying neural mechanisms underlying social evaluations and self-views from a parent-adolescent perspective among adolescents with and without depression, and their... Show moreThis dissertation focuses on identifying neural mechanisms underlying social evaluations and self-views from a parent-adolescent perspective among adolescents with and without depression, and their parents. As part of RE-PAIR, affective and neural responses to praise and criticism about the adolescent child, and neural responses to reliving positive autobiographical memories were assessed, using ecologically valid fMRI-tasks. Particularly criticism seems to be highly salient to parents and adolescents, activating the salience network and decreasing mood. Both praise and reliving positive autobiographical memories activate areas important for self-referential processing in adolescents, which might reflect the ‘positive self’. Aberrant self-related processing when reliving autobiographical memories and increased sensitivity to parental criticism might be key underlying neural mechanisms in adolescent depression. By feeling more negatively, having more negative self-views, interpreting the environment as more negatively, memorizing past experiences in a more negative way, and focusing on negative events more often, adolescents with depression seem to have multiple negativity biases. These negativity biases are likely to negatively impact social relationships, potentially further reinforcing negative feelings and a negative self. Interventions exploring and strengthening the positive self, in particular the positive self aligning with the current self, might be useful for treating, or even preventing adolescent depression. Show less
The overarching goal of this thesis was to examine the behavioral, computational, and neural mechanisms underlying social learning in adolescence. The first aim was to examine developmental... Show moreThe overarching goal of this thesis was to examine the behavioral, computational, and neural mechanisms underlying social learning in adolescence. The first aim was to examine developmental patterns across adolescence of two forms of social learning: (1) learning about other people, specifically, whether they are (un)cooperative and (un)trustworthy, and (2) learning for other people (prosocial learning) to know what actions may benefit or help others. I made use of multiple experimental paradigms based on well-known economic games and/or probabilistic reinforcement learning paradigms to assess these forms of social learning. Secondly, I aimed to examine underlying mechanisms and factors that account for age-related and individual differences in social learning. Applying computational modeling and functional neuroimaging as additional tools contributed to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms and how these develop across adolescence. The findings in this thesis converge to early-to-mid adolescence as a key developmental period for developing well-adjusted social behaviors, and especially in the cooperative domain there are pronounced improvements. These studies make an important contribution to the literature on social development and learning, and may eventually contribute to interventions targeted at promoting well-adjusted behavior in typically developing adolescents, as well as youth with maladaptive social tendencies. Show less
In this thesis, I investigated the behavioral and neural processes involved in self-concept development in adolescence within the context of future-oriented educational decision-making. The studies... Show moreIn this thesis, I investigated the behavioral and neural processes involved in self-concept development in adolescence within the context of future-oriented educational decision-making. The studies presented in this thesis all highlight that self-concept is a multifaceted and complex construct that not only develops in interaction with the social environment, but can also have an impact on someone’s future environment. For example, results from chapter 2 indicated that the social environment, expressed in the outcomes of social comparisons, can affect the positivity of the self to a different extent across multiple domains and different stages of adolescence. Chapter 3 showed how adolescents’ academic self-concept can influence their motivation to stay committed to goals important for their future educational environment, whereas chapter 4 illustrated differences in self-esteem and self-concept clarity in individuals who differed in their experienced problems with choosing this future educational environment. Finally, chapter 5 demonstrated that in late adolescence, sensitivity to outside influences can be used to stimulate self-concept development through training which can ultimately help adolescents in their educational decision-making and adjustment in higher education. Together, these studies provide a comprehensive view on self-concept development in adolescence that takes place within a broader social, and educational context. Show less
Humans have a strong need for social connections, which provide social security and a feeling of social acceptance. Across adolescence, peers emerge as important social interaction partners to... Show moreHumans have a strong need for social connections, which provide social security and a feeling of social acceptance. Across adolescence, peers emerge as important social interaction partners to fulfill the need for social connections. In her dissertation, Elisabeth Schreuders highlights adolescence as a sensitive period for pursuing personal goals and social development through interactions with different familiar peers, particularly friends.Neural reward-related processes and neural processes underlying prosocial behavior were examined using longitudinal and ecologically valid research designs. The findings show involvement of changes in ventral striatum reward sensitivity from early to mid-adolescence in the motivation to pursue personally valued goals, including stable friendships. It was furthermore found that adults who to a lesser extent adhered to the social norm of behaving in a prosocial manner toward friends yielded greater activity in the supplementary motor area and anterior insula. Additionally, exploratory analyses showed that mid-adolescents with greater social competence yielded greater activity in several brain areas implicated in prosocial decision-making involving friends, including the putamen and superior parietal lobule. Together, these findings highlight adolescence as a sensitive period for self and social development, in which social motivations are reflected in interactions with different types of peers. Show less
The aim of this thesis is to highlight social environmental and neural pro-cesses at play during adolescent prosocial development using an integrative approach of multiple levels of social... Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to highlight social environmental and neural pro-cesses at play during adolescent prosocial development using an integrative approach of multiple levels of social functioning and relationships. This approach integrates adolescent peer relations research with prosocial development perspectives using behavioral, sociometric and neuroimaging techniques. The evidence provided by this thesis and previous studies supports a model that highlights interactions between the peer context, individual prosocial functioning and brain development. In this neuro-ecological model of prosocial development, the morphology of social brain regions develops in interaction with social experiences. Positive experiences could be responsible for the motivation that is necessary for the recruitment of regions that support social cognition skills and thereby facilitate prosocial behavior. Show less
Peer influence plays a crucial role in the rise of health-risk behaviors during adolescence. However, there is increasing evidence that peer influence can also lead to positive psychosocial... Show morePeer influence plays a crucial role in the rise of health-risk behaviors during adolescence. However, there is increasing evidence that peer influence can also lead to positive psychosocial outcomes, such as prosocial behavior. The main goal of this thesis was to investigate peer influence on risk-taking and prosocial behavior in adolescence and to unravel its underlying neural processes. Findings showed that effects of peers on risk-taking behavior are dependent on the context. Adolescents take into account both social norms from peer feedback and the uncertainty associated with outcomes in risky decisions. Moreover, peers can both increase and decrease prosocial behavior in typically developing (TD) adolescents and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), illustrating that peer influence can also lead to more adaptive outcomes. Finally, we studied the neural processes underlying prosocial peer feedback and results indicate that prosocial peer influence is underlined by the social brain network, regions involved in thinking about the self and others. Eventually, the results of this thesis can contribute to interventions aimed at decreasing risk-taking and promoting prosocial behavior in adolescence, with possibly long lasting effects into adulthood. Show less
Adolescence is often characterized as a period of increased risk taking and impulsive behavior. Researchers have constructed brain-based models to explain the higher prevalence of risk taking... Show moreAdolescence is often characterized as a period of increased risk taking and impulsive behavior. Researchers have constructed brain-based models to explain the higher prevalence of risk taking during adolescence. It has been hypothesized that brain regions for cognitive control develop relatively slow compared to 'affective' brain regions. An imbalance between the maturity of these brain regions is thought to underlie the increased incidence of risk taking during adolescence. However, results on functional brain development remain contradictory and few studies have investigated the assumptions of imbalance models in large-scale longitudinal studies. In this PhD thesis both cognitive and affective aspects of development were investigated using a combination of functional and structural MRI data, hormonal measures and behavioral assessments, capturing the whole range of adolescence in a large sample of children, adolescents and adults between 8 and 27 years old. The results indicated that, contrary to predictions from imbalance models, brain regions for cognitive control could be recruited even by young children and adolescents, but in different situations than adults. The results have implications for the construction of new theoretical frameworks and may eventually contribute to educational interventions that are better tailored to both the challenges and possibilities of the adolescent brain. Show less
This thesis focused on the development of creative thinking across adolescence and into adulthood. To this end, a range of creativity tasks, both with and without an fMRI scanner, and before and... Show moreThis thesis focused on the development of creative thinking across adolescence and into adulthood. To this end, a range of creativity tasks, both with and without an fMRI scanner, and before and after training paradigms has been used to ex_amine both age- and experience-related effects on creative thinking performance during functional brain develop_ment. Chapter 1 provides a theoretical background for the research described in chapters 2 to 6. In Chapter 2, developmental trajectories of creative cognition across adolescence and early adulthood were examined using a set of tasks gauging both insight and divergent thinking in the verbal and visual domain. In Chapter 3, behavioral and neural differences for creative problem solving in middle-adolescents and adults were examined. Chapter 4 examined the neural correlates of divergent thinking in adults and adolescents. Chapter 5 focused on the effectiveness of creative ideation training in adolescents and adults. In Chapter 6, the benefits of training creativity in adolescents were examined using fMRI techniques. Finally, Chapter 7 summarizes the main results of the empirical studies presented in this thesis. Here, implications of the results are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented. Show less
Adolescence, defined as the transition phase between childhood and adulthood, is a time of many physical, cognitive and social-emotional changes. It is a natural time of exploring, thrill seeking,... Show moreAdolescence, defined as the transition phase between childhood and adulthood, is a time of many physical, cognitive and social-emotional changes. It is a natural time of exploring, thrill seeking, and for eventually setting long-term goals and aspirations. One of the most prominent findings is that adolescents take more risks than children or adults. The focus of this thesis is on adolescent risk taking behavior. The goal is to identify individual difference factors that are related to risk taking behavior and assess how these variables change over development. Adolescence is associated with major changes in hormonal levels, brain function and social environment. In this thesis it is tested how changes in pubertal development, brain function and social environment together influence real life risk taking. The studies in this thesis show that neural responses to rewards in the striatum are elevated during adolescence. This response is influenced by chronological age, pubertal development, personality and the social context. Importantly, the striatum response to rewards is related to real life risk taking behavior and therefore has functional relevance. The results of this thesis provide vital insight in the complex relationship between reward processing and real life risk taking behavior. Show less
This thesis aimed to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms of adolescent onset depression and anxiety disorders. A longitudinal fMRI study design was used that included both task related brain... Show moreThis thesis aimed to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms of adolescent onset depression and anxiety disorders. A longitudinal fMRI study design was used that included both task related brain activation and resting state functional connectivity. All participants were scanned three times in a six-month period. In between scan sessions the adolescents from the clinical group received treatment as usual. Adolescents from the control group were scanned within the same time interval but did not receive treatment. During a scan session several MRI parameters were collected including task based fMRI (emotional face processing task) and resting state fMRI. We also administered several questionnaires about derpession and anxiety symptomatology. It was demonstrated that adolescents with depressive and anxiety disorders show differentiating patterns of amygdala reactivity and connectivity compared to a healthy control group. Furthermore, using a dimensional approach and taking individual differences in self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms into account highlighted the role of self-reported anxiety symptoms in amygdala reactivity during emotional faces processing. These findings indicate that the amygdala indeed is an important region involved in emotional face processing and that focusing on this region can provide further insights in the development and persistence of depressive and anxiety disorders in adolescents. Show less
School refusal is an attendance problem characterized by a young person’s difficulty in going to school, accompanied by emotional distress on the part of the young person and parental attempts to... Show moreSchool refusal is an attendance problem characterized by a young person’s difficulty in going to school, accompanied by emotional distress on the part of the young person and parental attempts to return the young person to regular school attendance. Prolonged absence from school has serious short- and long-term consequences for young people, their families, and schools. Therefore, effective treatment of school refusal is essential. Numerous treatment outcome studies provide evidence for the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for school refusal. Previous research has however indicated that adolescent school refusers may be particularly disturbed and harder to treat. An existing treatment for school-refusing children and adolescents was modified to better account for the impact of developmental variables on engagement in treatment. The studies presented in this dissertation describe the preparation, implementation, and evaluation of the resulting developmentally-appropriate CBT for adolescent school refusal. The treatment was associated with increased school attendance, reduced emotional symptoms, and increased adolescent and parental self-efficacy. Exploratory analyses revealed that several developmental factors were related to treatment outcomes, namely clinician developmental appropriateness, insight, and autonomy. Recommendations for research and clinical practice are made on the basis of these findings, and on the methodological strengths and limitations of the current research. Show less
This thesis studies the normal developmental pattern of social evaluative fears from childhood to adolescence. We have investigated age differences in self-reported social fears and physical... Show moreThis thesis studies the normal developmental pattern of social evaluative fears from childhood to adolescence. We have investigated age differences in self-reported social fears and physical responses during a public speaking task. In addition, youth's perceptions of speaking in public were studied through a short interview. Finally, two aspects of adolescent development are highlighted, namely resistance to peer influence and self-restraint, in the two concluding chapters. The main finding of the thesis is that social evaluative fears seem to increase with age. However, future research needs to develop more developmentally sensitive measures and further investigate the underlying processes of this increase. Show less
To what extent does psychosocial development have an effect on problem behaviour development? And does the effect of this development of psychosocial maturity differ for boys and girls? This thesis... Show moreTo what extent does psychosocial development have an effect on problem behaviour development? And does the effect of this development of psychosocial maturity differ for boys and girls? This thesis focuses on answering these questions. The research that is presented aims to identify relations in levels as well as paths of psychosocial development on problem behaviour. The study uses data from the School project, a longitudinal research project on adolescents that examined (problem) behaviour and relevant relating factors. This research provides insight into psychosocial development, as well as the effect of parental relations and peer relations on problem behaviour prevalence. Show less
