Effects of Early Life Adversity on Risk-Taking Behavior During Adolescence

• Paige DeVivo, Neuroscience, University of Delaware

• Mary Dozier, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware
• Marta Korom, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware
• Kristen Miller, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware

Existing literature details the importance of quality of parental care on children’s psychosocial development, including risk-taking behavior.  A wealth of literature suggests that exposure to psychosocial stressors is associated with heightened risk-taking behaviors in real-life decision making.  However, laboratory measures of risk-taking have been inconsistent in establishing a similar relationship among youth who experienced early life adversity.  The present study examined risk-taking among high- and low–risk adolescents using a laboratory risk-taking paradigm called the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Although high-risk children might be expected to show higher risky behavior (i.e., pumping up the balloon more times), previous studies had suggested the possibility of the opposite effect. The high–risk group consisted of adolescents (N=91, Mage=13.37, SD=0.37) who had a history of Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement during infancy due to parental neglect or other risk factors.  The low-risk group had no history of CPS involvement (N=49, Mage=13.27, SD=0.31).  A significant association emerged between risk status and pump count, with the high-risk group having a significantly lower average number of pumps than the low-risk group (t(140)=2.52, p=.013).   These results aligned with other findings that established a similar relationship between early life adversity and risk-taking behaviors in previously institutionalized adopted youth.  Our findings suggest that greater risk of experiencing major psychosocial stressors early in life may contribute to ambiguity or loss aversion, particularly when the outcome of the risk-taking task is unknown.  Further studies of risky behavior and decision making among high-risk youth are necessary to understand the effects of early life adversity on development.

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This project was supported by the Delaware INBRE program, with a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences – NIGMS (P20 GM103446) from the National Institutes of Health and the State of Delaware, as well as NIMH funding to Mary Dozier (R01 MH 74374). 

Supported by a grant from NIH-NIGMS (P20 GM103446) and the State of Delaware.

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