The adolescent stage is marred with many uncertainties, risks, and the demand to be independent. Among children, adolescence is linked to the period in which children face puberty changes to a point where they assume adult-like responsibilities. According to Hartley & Somerville (2015), there is growing evidence on the adolescent brain that suggests impending differences in brain activity and capabilities among adolescents and adults. These studies predict that brain activity among these two groups is tuned differently, more so tolerance, assessment, and reaction to risks and uncertainties. Unlike the childhood phase, adolescents spend much of their time unsupervised by their parents, thus are more at risk of adopting negative and risky behaviors, including engaging in illegal practices, consuming illicit substances, or making peer-related decisions that impact them negatively. Understanding the underlying processes that control adolescent decision-making continues to generate much-needed attention from researchers. This paper explores the adolescent brain in relation to what processes or factors guide their decision, and if they fully understand the consequences of their actions.
A child's brain is fragile and grows as the child reaches adolescence. At this stage, the brain needs remodeling before it can fully comprehend the surrounding. Brain development among adolescents is dependent on the time they reached puberty, age, experience, and hormones during puberty. As earlier reiterated, adolescents spend most of their time with peers who significantly affect their perceived behaviors, social cognition, and decision-making (Foulkes & Blakemore, 2018). Compared to adults, adolescent behavior on reasoning, risk-taking, and decision-making is mostly demonstrated by their actions and influence. Apart from these psychosocial changes, teenage behavior and decision-making are also influenced by biological processes involving physical and hormonal changes during puberty. These changes impact the development of the adolescent brain.
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Adolescents and adults differ in many ways, specifically how they reason, make decisions, behave, and solve problems. In most cases, parents hardly understand why their children act aggressively or impulsively. Arguably, teenagers do not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions. As the children transition into adulthood, their brains also grow and mature. Despite the adolescents and adults sharing the same brain size and organization, the differences come in structure. Different processes occur in the brain from adolescence to adulthood, impacting its overall structure, function, and features. Evidence from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies depicts the decrease in gray matter as the child moves from childhood through to adulthood (Hartley & Somerville, 2015). These studies believe that the volume of gray matter is relative to the reduction of dependence or experience in decision-making.
In their research study, Goddings et al. (2019) acknowledged a correlation between gray matter and puberty in structural brain development. As the child transitions to adolescence, the gray matter within the brain decreases. The amygdala, a region within the brain responsible for quick reactions and aggressive behavior, increases during puberty (Goddings et al., 2019). While the amygdala develops early in childhood, the frontal cortex controls our actions and reasoning, develops later during adolescence. As the adolescent experiences different environmental factors, peer-related activities, and other factors, the frontal cortex matures as well. Therefore, adolescents will not reason or understand the consequences of their actions before partaking in the act.
A cross-sectional examination of the brain between adults and adolescents show variations in problem-solving, reaction activity, and reasoning. Since the adolescent brain is still evolving and adapting to the changing environment, adolescents act differently from adults. According to Beltz (2018), adolescents are more likely to take on risky behavior when with their peers that alone. With less reasoning capabilities, the adolescents do not think before taking any action, act on impulse, and do not take a moment to think through the consequences of their actions. Moreover, Beltz (2018) and Hartley & Somerville (2015) note that the trajectories of specific neurodevelopment of the neurocircuitry in adolescents are critical to their decision-making prowess.
Typically, risks are choices with perceived outcomes that can be known or estimated. Several studies assert that adolescents engage in risky behavior with little knowledge about their adverse outcomes (Hartley & Somerville, 2015; Webber et al., 2017). Moreover, these adolescents think that they are invulnerable from the consequences of their actions. With the heightened risk assertion in adolescents being more than in adults, studies suggest that adults take fewer risks due to personal experiences as compared to trial and error methods witnessed among adolescents. Uncertainty, another aspect of decision-making, forms an argument on the difference between adolescents and adults. Daily decision-making uncertainties vary among the two groups, with high levels of uncertainties experienced by adolescents than adults (Hartley & Somerville, 2015).
Indeed, the choices we make today have future consequences. For instance, studying for an examination on a Friday evening rather than going out with friends will have a future benefit. When making such decisions, an adolescent will weigh in on the delayed reward paradigm, keeping in mind whether the reward will be immediate or the perceived benefit has an uncertain timeline. Maturity in adolescents increases the value of delayed rewards in decision-making (Beltz, 2018; Hartley & Somerville, 2015). The brain’s structural and functional changes are associated with delayed rewards, with Goddings et al. (2019) stating that the preferences for delayed rewards increase as one transitions to adulthood. According to Hartley & Somerville (2015), the gradual maturity levels in adolescents demonstrate the adolescent brain's structural and functional development, including reduced levels of impulsivity, adult-related cognitive processes, and self-realization.
More often than not, adults who interact with the youth find it hard to comprehend their decision-making capabilities, thoughts, and reasoning. The ongoing neurodevelopment of the neurocircuitry explains the context of flexibility and variability in decision-making among adolescents. For instance, in the context of risk-taking, the adolescents will partake in risks for the potential rewards rather than use their existing knowledge and experience to make an informed decision on the situation. Peer influence also contributes to the overall context of flexibility and variations in decision-making. As noted earlier, peers play a significant role in shaping the decisions and behaviors of adolescents. Compared to their adult counterparts, adolescents, for instance, will engage in risky behavior when being observed by their peers. Adults, on the other hand, do not get affected by peer influence. According to Hartley & Somerville (2015), peer influence significantly impacts impulsive behavior among adolescents.
There is growing research on the correlation between value-added learning and faith in adolescent brain development. As one observes the environment around them, they can make decisions based on the perceived positive or negative consequences of their action. The learning process is initiated when an individual makes errors and learns from them. The ventral striatum, a part of the brain that is associated with reward behavior and decision-making, correlates with value-added learning (Hartley & Somerville, 2015). As adolescents mature to adults, value-added learning becomes consistent, and there is increased heightened response to delayed reward. However, the ability to learn from errors depends on one’s learning rate.
On the other hand, faith and religious beliefs are noticeable changes in the development of the adolescent brain. With a different structural and functional makeup of the teenage brain, instilling faith and religious beliefs in the youths create an interpersonal perspective and connection with self and God. According to Goeke-Morey et al. (2014), children develop better qualities of love, friendship, and compassion, among others, with their families, close friends, and God if raised in a religious environment. As they develop a personal relationship with God and feel secure under his reign, these children turn to God to share in their distress and frustrations as a result of the challenges of the adolescent phase (Goeke-Morey et al., 2014). Since the ventral striatum develops later in puberty, a child’s emotional connection with faith, value-added learning, and religious beliefs are molded from a young age. As they grow, the values guide the child’s perceptions and actions later in life.
In conclusion, actions and behavior exhibited by teenagers are guided by the fragile brain. Compared to the adult, the adolescent brain is still growing and adopting behaviors, risks, and uncertainties based on the surrounding. As the frontal cortex develops later after puberty, teenagers are more at risk of engaging in risky behaviors without comprehending what consequences their actions carry. As they mature, the brain begins to reason more clearly, the teenager becomes more emotionally stable and develops self-regulation abilities. These changes are associated with the physical and hormonal attributes of the neurodevelopment of the neurocircuitry. Further, peer influence, value-added learning, and faith are other determinants of the adolescent brain and decision-making process. Faith and religious beliefs mold a child's internal characteristics and qualities, and value-added learning allows the youth to learn from previous trial and error mistakes. Ultimately, the correlation between the above factors in adolescent brain development showcase the impulsiveness, aggressive behavior, and the inability of teenagers to think before taking any action.
References
Beltz, A. M. (2018). Connecting theory and methods in adolescent brain research. Journal of Research on Adolescence , 28 (1), 10-25. DOI: 10.1111/jora.12366
Foulkes, L., & Blakemore, S. J. (2018). Studying individual differences in human adolescent brain development. Nature neuroscience , 21 (3), 315-323. DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0078-4
Goddings, A. L., Beltz, A., Peper, J. S., Crone, E. A., & Braams, B. R. (2019). Understanding the role of puberty in structural and functional development of the adolescent brain. Journal of Research on Adolescence , 29 (1), 32-53. DOI: 10.1111/jora.12408
Goeke-Morey, M. C., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (2014). Adolescents’ relationship with God and internalizing adjustment over time: The moderating role of maternal religious coping. Journal of Family Psychology , 28 (6), 749. DOI: 10.1037/a0037170
Hartley, C. A., & Somerville, L. H. (2015). The neuroscience of adolescent decision-making. Current opinion in behavioral sciences , 5 , 108-115. DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.09.004
Webber, T. A., Soder, H. E., Potts, G. F., Park, J. Y., & Bornovalova, M. A. (2017). Neural outcome processing of peer-influenced risk-taking behavior in late adolescence: Preliminary evidence for gene× environment interactions. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology , 25 (1), 31. DOI: 10.1037/pha0000105
