Social seeking declines in young adolescents

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Social Behavior

Background:

• Social engagement is a fundamental human motivation across the lifespan.
• While social behavior changes with age, its link to underlying social motivation is unclear.
• Understanding developmental changes in social motivation is crucial for developmental psychology and neuroscience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate developmental changes in social motivation from childhood to young adulthood.
• To determine if social motivation follows a linear or non-monotonic trajectory.
• To quantify effort-based decision-making for social versus non-social stimuli across age groups.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated 255 typically developing participants aged 4-20 years.
• Utilized the 'Choose a Movie' (CAM) behavioral paradigm assessing effort for social vs. non-social content.
• Measured motivation by the difference in effort allocated to chosen vs. unchosen stimuli.

Main Results:

• Children (4-8), older adolescents (12-16), and young adults (17-20) showed increased effort for social movies.
• Young adolescents (approx. 9-12 years) exhibited reduced preference for social stimuli, contrary to expectations.
• A U-shaped developmental trajectory for social motivation was observed across the studied age range.

Conclusions:

• This study provides the first evidence of a non-monotonic (U-shaped) developmental change in social motivation.
• Social motivation is not constant but fluctuates during typical development, particularly during adolescence.
• The findings have implications for understanding social development and potential interventions.