Risk-taking, peer-influence and child maltreatment: a neurocognitive investigation

Abstract

Maltreatment is associated with increased risk of a range of psychiatric disorders, many of which are characterized by altered risk-taking propensity. Currently, little is known about the neural correlates of risk-taking in children exposed to maltreatment, nor whether their risk-taking is atypically modulated by peer influence. Seventy-five 10- to 14-year-old children [maltreated (MT) group: N = 41; non-maltreated Group (NMT): N = 34] performed a Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), under three different peer influence conditions: while alone, while being observed by a peer and while being encouraged by a peer to take risks. The MT group engaged in less risk-taking irrespective of peer influence. There was no differential effect of peer influence on risk-taking behaviour across groups. At the neural level, the right anterior insula (rAI) exhibited altered risk sensitivity across conditions in the MT group. Across groups and conditions, rAI risk sensitivity was negatively associated with risk-taking and within the MT group greater rAI risk sensitivity was related to more anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that children with a history of maltreatment show reduced risk-taking but typical responses to peer influence. Abnormal rAI functioning contributes to the pattern of reduced risk-taking and may predispose children exposed to maltreatment to develop future psychopathology.

Childhood Adversity and Neural Development: A Systematic Review

“…Adversity-related associations with salience network activation have been inconsistent in children with mixed adversity exposures. One study reported greater anterior insula activation in maltreated children with increasing levels of risk in a risk-taking paradigm (Hoffman et al 2018a). Two others reported lower insula (Puetz et al 2016) and insula and dACC (Puetz et al 2014) activity to rejection words and social exclusion, respectively, among maltreated youth.…”

Peer Presence Effects on Eye Movements and Attentional Performance

“…To date, much of the research effort of neuroimaging studies of social facilitation has focused on pleasurable behaviors in adolescents and adults, such as gaming for money (Nawa et al, 2008;Fareri et al, 2012;Kätsyri et al, 2013;Breiner et al, 2018;Chib et al, 2018), donating to charities (Izuma et al, 2010;Van Hoorn et al, 2016) and risk-taking (Chein et al, 2011;Smith et al, 2015Smith et al, , 2018Hoffmann et al, 2018). In these studies, peer presence's most consistent effect was an increase of activation or connectivity in the brain reward system, especially the ventral striatum.…”

Adverse Childhood Experience‐Related Conditions and Substance Use in Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of Cross‐Sectional Survey Data

“…49 Fifth, children who have experienced ACEs may be more vulnerable to peer pressure and external influences, including associations with peers who use substances. 50 Sixth, ACEs can affect brain development and function, including brain's reward system, making children more prone to seeking out substances to experience pleasure or relief. 51 Finally, substance use can perpetuate a cycle of adverse experiences, as it can lead to criminal behaviors, legal problems, and further adverse events, creating a negative feedback loop.…”