September 5, 2024
Lecture 1
Introduction Risk Behavior and Addiction in Adolescence
How do we define risk behavior?
Risk behavior: Behaviors that pose a risk to a healthy physical, cognitive,
psychosocial development of adolescents
o Substance use (e.g., smoking/vaping, alcohol use, cannabis use,
use of XTC and other party/designer drugs)
o Other risk behaviors (e.g., (online) gambling, gaming, social
media use)
leading to addiction
The general developmental process of
addiction
Different types of addiction: experimenting
with gaming is not a risk behavior, but
smoking is.
Whether behavior is ‘risk behavior’ depends
on:
o Characteristics of the substance or
behavior (smoking vs. gaming)
o Cultural and societal norms (for ex. Alcohol use in western vs.
Islamic cultures)
o Scientific knowledge (knowledge on the risks of alcohol use for the
cognitive development of adolescents)
Predictors of (change in) risk behavior
,Which (neurological) developments take place during
adolescence?
Stages of adolescence
Early adolescence (aged 10 – 14): physical growth, sexual maturation,
psychosocial development, social identity formation.
(Who am I in the eyes of peers/ family?)
Mid adolescence (aged 15 – 17): experimenting with (risk) behaviours,
personal identity formation
(Who am I in the eyes of myself? Getting a stable image of how you see
yourself)
Late adolescence (aged 18 – 24): practicing (/experimenting with) adult
roles
(first job, house, etc.)
1) Strong grow in brain volume:
increase in white matter
(connections), but decrease in grey
matter (nerve cells)
The decrease in gray matter is more
rapidly with girls than with boys.
Gray matter is not used much/ at all pruning.
o “If you don’t use it, you lose it”
2) Increase in white matter: communication between brain regions
strongly improves
Long term memory increases
Capacity for abstract (critical) thinking and metacognition increases (=
sometimes responsible for the conflict between children and parents)
3) High plasticity and flexibility of the brain
Why is there a peak in risk behaviors during
adolescence?
The speed of the development of two different brain regions differs
, o The affective-motivational system (emotional
brain) develops fast
o The control system (rational brain) develops
slowly
affective-motivational system (emotional
brain)
The affective-motivational system (‘reward center’)
is overactive duringearly and mid-adolescence
Adolescents experience stronger positive
emotions than adults when they receive or
anticipate a reward
o This process is enhanced by testosterone
o Boys have more testosterone and
engage more in risk behavior
control system (rational brain)
The rational brain develops slowly (until about 25
yr.)
o Plays an important role in the development
of executive functions:
Risk estimation
Monitoring long-term goals
Inhibit the tendency to respond to (short-term) possibilities for
reward
o impulse control, behavioral inhibition, self-control
The Maturation Imbalance Model
Increased risk-taking during adolescence is a result of an imbalance
between reward sensitivity (the affective- motivational system) and
impulse control (control system)
Lecture 1
Introduction Risk Behavior and Addiction in Adolescence
How do we define risk behavior?
Risk behavior: Behaviors that pose a risk to a healthy physical, cognitive,
psychosocial development of adolescents
o Substance use (e.g., smoking/vaping, alcohol use, cannabis use,
use of XTC and other party/designer drugs)
o Other risk behaviors (e.g., (online) gambling, gaming, social
media use)
leading to addiction
The general developmental process of
addiction
Different types of addiction: experimenting
with gaming is not a risk behavior, but
smoking is.
Whether behavior is ‘risk behavior’ depends
on:
o Characteristics of the substance or
behavior (smoking vs. gaming)
o Cultural and societal norms (for ex. Alcohol use in western vs.
Islamic cultures)
o Scientific knowledge (knowledge on the risks of alcohol use for the
cognitive development of adolescents)
Predictors of (change in) risk behavior
,Which (neurological) developments take place during
adolescence?
Stages of adolescence
Early adolescence (aged 10 – 14): physical growth, sexual maturation,
psychosocial development, social identity formation.
(Who am I in the eyes of peers/ family?)
Mid adolescence (aged 15 – 17): experimenting with (risk) behaviours,
personal identity formation
(Who am I in the eyes of myself? Getting a stable image of how you see
yourself)
Late adolescence (aged 18 – 24): practicing (/experimenting with) adult
roles
(first job, house, etc.)
1) Strong grow in brain volume:
increase in white matter
(connections), but decrease in grey
matter (nerve cells)
The decrease in gray matter is more
rapidly with girls than with boys.
Gray matter is not used much/ at all pruning.
o “If you don’t use it, you lose it”
2) Increase in white matter: communication between brain regions
strongly improves
Long term memory increases
Capacity for abstract (critical) thinking and metacognition increases (=
sometimes responsible for the conflict between children and parents)
3) High plasticity and flexibility of the brain
Why is there a peak in risk behaviors during
adolescence?
The speed of the development of two different brain regions differs
, o The affective-motivational system (emotional
brain) develops fast
o The control system (rational brain) develops
slowly
affective-motivational system (emotional
brain)
The affective-motivational system (‘reward center’)
is overactive duringearly and mid-adolescence
Adolescents experience stronger positive
emotions than adults when they receive or
anticipate a reward
o This process is enhanced by testosterone
o Boys have more testosterone and
engage more in risk behavior
control system (rational brain)
The rational brain develops slowly (until about 25
yr.)
o Plays an important role in the development
of executive functions:
Risk estimation
Monitoring long-term goals
Inhibit the tendency to respond to (short-term) possibilities for
reward
o impulse control, behavioral inhibition, self-control
The Maturation Imbalance Model
Increased risk-taking during adolescence is a result of an imbalance
between reward sensitivity (the affective- motivational system) and
impulse control (control system)
