Early psychosocial deprivation and adolescent risk-taking: The role of motivation and executive control

Risk-taking in adolescence has been often associated with early life adversities. However, the impact of such macrolevel factors on risk behavior has been rarely studied in humans. To address these gaps we recruited a sample of young adolescents who were part of a randomized control trial of foster care. Children institutionalized at or soon after birth were randomly assigned either to be removed from institutions and placed into a family or foster care intervention or to remain in institutions receiving care as usual. These children were subsequently followed up through 12 years of age and compared with a sample of children who had never been institutionalized. Using this sample, we examined the impact of early childhood deprivation on risk-taking behavior and explored the role of motivation (i.e., sensation seeking) and executive control (i.e., planning). Early psychosocial deprivation decreased engagement in risk-taking among young adolescents by reducing sensation seeking, a motivation often associated with risk-taking in adolescence. The impact of early psychosocial deprivation on sensation seeking and consequently on engagement in risk-taking was further reduced by its deleterious effects on executive control. These findings challenge the traditional view according to which risk behavior is a maladaptive response to adversities and suggest that it may represent adolescents' attempts to fulfill important motivations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).