The Teenage Brain: Peer Influences on Adolescent Decision Making
Open accessAbstract
Research efforts to account for elevated risk behavior among adolescents have arrived at an exciting new stage. Moving beyond laboratory studies of age differences in risk perception and reasoning, new approaches have shifted their focus to the influence of social and emotional factors on adolescent decision making. We review recent research suggesting that adolescent risk-taking propensity derives in part from a maturational gap between early adolescent remodeling of the brain’s socioemotional reward system and a gradual, prolonged strengthening of the cognitive-control system. Research has suggested that in adolescence, a time when individuals spend an increasing amount of time with their peers, peer-related stimuli may sensitize the reward system to respond to the reward value of risky behavior. As the cognitive-control system gradually matures over the course of the teenage years, adolescents grow in their capacity to coordinate affect and cognition and to exercise self-regulation, even in emotionally arousing situations. These capacities are reflected in gradual growth in the capacity to resist peer influence.
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Decision-making in the presence of peers is substantially different from individual decisions.
“Accordingly, decision-making in the presence of peers is substantially different from individual decisions [56].”
From Medical decision-making in children and adolescents: developmental and neuroscientific aspects (2017) · cites this paper as [56]
The Identification of Mechanisms section reports that adolescents took more risks and preferred immediate rewards when peers were present than when alone. But the claim leaves out an important limit: the paper reports no peer-related increase in risk-taking among adults and no difference on the adolescent inhibitory-control task. It therefore supports a difference in some adolescent decisions, not decision-making generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe importance of obtaining peer social approval increases and peer influence is heightened in adolescence.
“The importance of obtaining peer social approval increases and peer influence is heightened in adolescence.7, 8, 9, 10”
From The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health (2020) · cites this paper as [8]
Evidence from both humans and mice suggest there may be a related phenomenon in adolescence: peers may prime an environment in which other rewards increase in value.
“Finally, evidence from both humans and mice suggest there may be a related phenomenon in adolescence: peers may prime an environment in which other rewards increase in value [37,38].”
From Is there heightened sensitivity to social reward in adolescence? (2016) · cites this paper as [37]
The presence of peers may create an environment in which other rewarding stimuli take on an increased reward value, and this effect is enhanced in adolescence.
“A related hypothesis is that the presence of peers may create an environment in which other rewarding stimuli take on an increased reward value, and that this effect is enhanced is adolescence [9,37,38].”
From Is there heightened sensitivity to social reward in adolescence? (2016) · cites this paper as [37]
Peers may serve as a cue that biases behaviors that occur in the presence of peers through the decision-making and reinforcement learning process.
“Consistent with both of these accounts, peers may serve as a cue that biases behaviors that occur in the presence of peers through the decision-making and reinforcement learning process; for a review, see Albert et al. (2013).”
From Buffering social influence: neural correlates of response inhibition predict driving safety in the presence of a peer (2015) · cites this paper as Albert et al. (2013)
Adolescence appears to be a time when reward circuits are particularly sensitive to social context and peer experiences.
“Adolescence appears to represent a time when reward circuits are particularly sensitive to social context and peer experiences (180, 181).”
From A transdiagnostic perspective on social anhedonia (2019) · cites this paper as [181]
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- Authors
- Albert, D., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Temple University (US)
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-04
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 114-120
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- PMC
- PMC4276317
- OpenAlex
- W2105763928
- Cited by
- 713
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 48 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 71 · 2021: 97 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 17.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr College) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (T32HD007376)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- adolescent brain development, adolescent risk-taking, cognitive control, socio-emotional processing, peer influence, self-regulation, risk-taking
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