This thesis had two main focuses. First, it investigated the mechanisms underlying individual differences in brain structure, developmental changes, and function. Second, it examined how enriched... Show moreThis thesis had two main focuses. First, it investigated the mechanisms underlying individual differences in brain structure, developmental changes, and function. Second, it examined how enriched and deprived environments affect brain development from middle childhood to early adolescence (ages 7-14). The study revealed distinct genetic and environmental influences on the developing brain during this period. Genetic contributions largely explained the variations in brain structure and developmental changes, along with location-specific environmental factors. While studies on genetic and environmental influences on brain regions showed both overlapping and unique outcomes, the interplay between these influences is complex. Using MRI and fMRI provided a comprehensive understanding of how individual differences arise. Additionally, the thesis highlighted the distinct effects of specific environmental influences on brain development. An enriched cognitive environment, such as musical ability, was linked to attenuated development, while a deprived environment, exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerated development. Notably, the brain showed resilience to adverse effects, particularly in TPJ growth during the pandemic, suggesting adaptive processes during this developmental phase. Future research should explore whether the relationship between environmental effects and brain maturation pace is linked to positive mental health outcomes. Ultimately, identifying interventions to ensure all children thrive throughout their development is crucial. Show less
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
The main aim of this dissertation was to provide insight into possible subtle forms of bias in youth socialization by various socializing agents in the Netherlands, and exploring new ways to... Show moreThe main aim of this dissertation was to provide insight into possible subtle forms of bias in youth socialization by various socializing agents in the Netherlands, and exploring new ways to document bias. Additionally, it addresses the importance of using sound statistical methods for calculating effect sizes. Social bias and unequal treatment of people can lead to structural societal inequalities. Findings in research on the sustained existence of bias have been inconsistent. These inconsistencies may obscure the importance of continuous effort to diminish inequalities. By studying subtle messages, this dissertation shows that bias is present in various contexts. Firstly, parents who talked about kissing and dating to their adolescent child subtly endorsed a sexual double standard, for instance by describing girls as sluts and boys as players. Secondly, in written evaluations by teachers on report cards of primary school pupils, positive bias towards White Dutch girls was found. Lastly, prolonged media attention to a child sexual abuse case was found to negatively affect the attitudes of parents towards male babysitters.As bias and discrimination change over time and context, continuous study is necessary. This dissertation demonstrates that using relevant and authentic data is an important tool in unveiling subtle bias. Show less
Why do some children easily find their way in social situations and are satisfied with their social lives, while others experience more difficulties? One key component that may explain this is... Show moreWhy do some children easily find their way in social situations and are satisfied with their social lives, while others experience more difficulties? One key component that may explain this is social competence: the ability to fulfill both own and other’s social goals. This thesis focused on individual differences in social competence from childhood to adolescence by examining contextual, developmental and neurobiological influences on aggressive and prosocial responses to social evaluation. Findings showed robust neural processes related to social feedback and subsequent aggression already in middle childhood. Additionally, this thesis revealed that the period between childhood and adolescence is important for the behavioral and neural development of inhibition of aggression following negative, neutral and positive social feedback. Aggression following social feedback decreased towards adolescence, but aggression following positive feedback decreased earlier in childhood than following negative feedback. Moreover, the involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, known for its role in executive functioning, decreased over time. Finally, results indicated that the co-occurrence of aggression following rejection and prosocial behavior following observed rejection may possibly protect against externalizing behaviors and promote wellbeing. This thesis highlights the importance of examining the interplay of developmental processes across social contexts to understand mental health outcomes. 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
Purpose: Both the resting heart rate (RHR) and the callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been associated with juvenile delinquency, however the effect of their interaction is not yet clear.Methods:... Show morePurpose: Both the resting heart rate (RHR) and the callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been associated with juvenile delinquency, however the effect of their interaction is not yet clear.Methods: Four hundred and twenty-three institutionalized adolescents divided into early adolescents (10-14 years, n = 133), late adolescents (15-17 years, n = 286), and young adults (18-22 years, n = 136) participated in the study. RHR was measured using a wristband, and CU traits and delinquency history were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. Moderation analysis was performed to understand how the combination between RHR and CU is associated to offending.Results: CU traits were associated with offending at all ages. The interactions between RHR and CU traits were significantly related to the likelihood of offending in the early and the late adolescent. The highest likelihood of offending is related to high CU traits combined with low RHR in early adolescents and with high RHR in late adolescents.Conclusions: These findings provide further insight in the relationship between psychopathic traits and bio-physiological maturation in explaining juvenile delinquency. Show less
The two-hit stress model predicts that exposure to stress at two different time-points in life may increase or decrease the risk of developing stress-related disorders later in life. Most studies... Show moreThe two-hit stress model predicts that exposure to stress at two different time-points in life may increase or decrease the risk of developing stress-related disorders later in life. Most studies based on the two-hit stress model have investigated early postnatal stress as the first hit with adult stress as the second hit. Adolescence, however, represents another highly sensitive developmental window during which exposure to stressful events may affect programming outcomes following exposure to stress in adulthood. Here, we discuss the programming effects of different types of stressors (social and nonsocial) occurring during adolescence (first hit) and how such stressors affect the responsiveness toward an additional stressor occurring during adulthood (second hit) in rodents. We then provide a comprehensive overview of the potential mechanisms underlying interindividual and sex differences in the resilience/susceptibility to developing stress-related disorders later in life when stress is experienced in two different life stages. 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
Jong, Y. de; Boon, A.E.; Gouw, D.; Gaag, M. van der; Mulder, C.L. 2022
Background: Screening methods for detecting Ultra High Risk status (UHR) or psychosis should be improved, especially in adolescent samples. We therefore tested whether the Child Behavior Checklist ... Show moreBackground: Screening methods for detecting Ultra High Risk status (UHR) or psychosis should be improved, especially in adolescent samples. We therefore tested whether the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self Report (YSR) add value to the Prodromal Questionnaire-16 items version (PQ-16) for detecting UHR status or psychosis. Methods: We included help-seeking adolescents who had completed the PQ-16, YSR, CBCL, and a Comprehensive Assessment of an At Risk Mental States (CAARMS) interview, and used independent samples t-tests and binary logistic regression analyses to determine the scales contributing to the prediction of UHR status or of having reached the psychosis threshold (PT). Cutoff scores were determined using ROC analyses. Results: Our sample comprised 270 help-seeking adolescents (mean age 14.67; SD 1.56, range 12-17); 67.8% were girls and 66.3% were of Dutch origin. The Thought Problems syndrome scales of both the YSR and the CBCL best predicted UHR or PT, and had screening values comparable to the PQ-16. Other syndrome scales did not improve screening values. Although combining measures reduced the number of false negatives, it also increased the number of adolescents to be interviewed. The best choice was to combine the YSR Thought Problems scale and the PQ-16 as a first-step screener. Conclusions: Combining measures improves the detection of UHR or PT in help-seeking adolescents. The Thought Problems subscales of the YSR and CBCL can both be used as a first-step screener in the detection of UHR and/or psychosis. Trial registration Permission was asked according to the rules of the Ethics Committee at Leiden. This study is registered as NL.44180.058.13 Show less
Zanolie, C.K.K.; Ma, I.; Bos, M.G.N.; Schreuders, E.; Vandenbroucke, A.R.E.; Hoorn, J. van; ... ; Güroglu, B. 2022
One of the major goals for research on adolescent development is to identify the optimal conditions for adolescents to grow up in a complex social world and to understand individual differences in... Show moreOne of the major goals for research on adolescent development is to identify the optimal conditions for adolescents to grow up in a complex social world and to understand individual differences in these trajectories. Based on influential theoretical and empirical work in this field, achieving this goal requires a detailed understanding of the social context in which neural and behavioral development takes place, along with longitudinal measurements at multiple levels (e.g., genetic, hormonal, neural, behavioral). In this perspectives paper, we highlight the promising role of team science in achieving this goal. To illustrate our point, we describe meso (peer relations) and micro (social learning) approaches to understand social development in adolescence as crucial aspects of adolescent mental health. Finally, we provide an overview of how our team has extended our collaborations beyond scientific partners to multiple societal partners for the purpose of informing and including policy makers, education and health professionals, as well as adolescents themselves when conducting and communicating research. Show less
Giving is essential for forming and maintaining social relationships, which is an important developmental task for adolescents. This pre-registered fMRI study investigated behavioral and neural... Show moreGiving is essential for forming and maintaining social relationships, which is an important developmental task for adolescents. This pre-registered fMRI study investigated behavioral and neural correlates of adolescents’ (N = 128, ages 9 – 19 years) small versus large size giving in different social contexts related to target (i.e., giving to a friend or unfamiliar peer) and peer presence (i.e., anonymous versus audience giving). Participants gave more in the small size than large size condition, more to friends than to unfamiliar peers, and more in the audience compared to anonymous condition. Giving very small or large amounts was associated with increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior insula (AI), and older adolescents showed increased lateral and anterior PFC activation for small size giving. We observed activity in the intraparietal cortex (IPL), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and AI for giving to friends, but no age-related differences in this activity. Behaviorally, in contrast, we observed that older adolescents differentiated more in giving between friends and unfamiliar peers. Finally, we observed interactions between peer presence and target in the AI, and between giving magnitude and target in the precuneus. Together, findings reveal higher context-dependency of giving and more lateral PFC activity for small versus large giving in older adolescents. Show less
At-risk families and caregivers from low-and middle-income countries have been shown to benefit from parenting interventions. But there is limited evidence on the impact of interventions on... Show moreAt-risk families and caregivers from low-and middle-income countries have been shown to benefit from parenting interventions. But there is limited evidence on the impact of interventions on adolescent parents. This paper considers the effects of a parenting programme targeting adolescent parents in South Africa, emphasising parenting and adolescent well-being outcomes. Secondly, it explores whether such an intervention can influence adolescent depression and parenting behaviours. Using a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design, data was collected over 2015-2017 from 113 adolescent parents (aged 12-22 years) who attended three secondary schools in Cape Town. Adolescents (biological and non-biological parents) were assigned to intervention (parenting programme participation) and control groups. They completed assessments on parenting, adolescent well-being, and social context at three time-points. Inter-group, and time-period differences were examined, and analyses on whether depression moderates programme effects on outcomes were conducted. At the ten-month follow-up, positive parenting and resilience improved for biological and non-biological parents and in both study groups. For the non-biological intervention group parents, depression rates increased over time. Intervention adolescents with high depression risk showed smaller improvements in supportive parenting than their control group counterparts. Although adolescents increased in positive parenting and resilience, it is unclear whether and how the intervention contributed to these results. As the intervention group included more adolescents at high risk of depression at follow-up, this study highlights the importance of including mental health support in interventions targeting adolescents in LMIC contexts. The study is limited by a small sample size and reliance on self-reported data. 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
For many traits, males show greater variability than females, with possible implications for understanding sex differences in health and disease. Here, the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics... Show moreFor many traits, males show greater variability than females, with possible implications for understanding sex differences in health and disease. Here, the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) Consortium presents the largest-ever mega-analysis of sex differences in variability of brain structure, based on international data spanning nine decades of life. Subcortical volumes, cortical surface area and cortical thickness were assessed in MRI data of 16,683 healthy individuals 1-90 years old (47% females). We observed significant patterns of greater male than female between-subject variance for all subcortical volumetric measures, all cortical surface area measures, and 60% of cortical thickness measures. This pattern was stable across the lifespan for 50% of the subcortical structures, 70% of the regional area measures, and nearly all regions for thickness. Our findings that these sex differences are present in childhood implicate early life genetic or gene-environment interaction mechanisms. The findings highlight the importance of individual differences within the sexes, that may underpin sex-specific vulnerability to disorders. Show less
Blöte, A.W.; Miers, A.C.; Van den Bos, E.; Westenberg, P.M. 2019
This three-wave longitudinal study spanning five years evaluated the mediating roles of negative social self-perception and social interpretation bias in the link between adolescent shyness and... Show moreThis three-wave longitudinal study spanning five years evaluated the mediating roles of negative social self-perception and social interpretation bias in the link between adolescent shyness and social anxiety. Participants were 331 (pre-)adolescents aged 9 to 17 years old at Wave 1, with data from 261 participants available for the main analyses. The study used a parent-reported measure of shyness. Social anxiety and the mediator variables were self-reported. Results showed that shyness predicted a relative increase in social anxiety over time. Negative social self-perception mediated the shyness social anxiety link, but social interpretation bias did not. The results suggest that shy adolescents who think negatively about their social performance may become socially anxious. Boosting the social self-perception of shy (pre-)adolescents may help to prevent the development of social anxiety. 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
Adolescence has been described as a unique period for self-concept development, with an intensified alertness to social comparison as a mechanism for self-knowledge and self-evaluation. However, it... Show moreAdolescence has been described as a unique period for self-concept development, with an intensified alertness to social comparison as a mechanism for self-knowledge and self-evaluation. However, it remains difficult to disentangle the specific influence of these social comparisons on the development of self-descriptions in adolescence. Moreover, it is still unclear how social comparisons impact upon the development of self-views in different domains, such as physical, academic and social self-views. The goal of this study was therefore to examine the development of self-descriptions in different domains across adolescence, and to experimentally test how the development of these self-descriptions is altered by an explicit social comparison context. For this purpose, we developed two tasks which both asked participants (aged 9-25-years, N = 202) for trait self-descriptions but differed in the salience of a social comparison. Results showed consistent age-differences with more positive self-views for children and adolescents in the age-range 9–14 years. The context of explicit social comparison yielded similar as well as additional age-differences that were more dependent upon valence and domain. Moreover, mid-adolescents (15–17 y) were most negatively affected by these social comparisons relative to other ages. Together, this study made a first step in disentangling the specific influence of social comparison outcomes within the development of general self-descriptions, and highlights the importance of social context in studying self-concept in adolescence. Show less
