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Author Spotlight: Understanding Adolescent Social Adversity Effects on Neurodevelopment in Mice
Published on: March 15, 2024
Skin-deep Resilience and Early Adolescence: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Executive Functioning, and Pubertal
Allen W Barton1, Tianyi Yu2, Qiujie Gong3
1Department of Human Development & Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. awbarton@illinois.edu.
Abstract:
Skin-deep resilience, in which youth overcome adversity and achieve success in psychological and academic domains but at a cost to their physiological well-being, has been documented in late adolescence and adulthood. However, its potential to emerge at earlier developmental stages is unknown. To address this gap, secondary data analyses were executed using waves 1 and 2 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 7712; ages 9-10 years at baseline [mean: 9.92; SD = 0.63]; 47.1% female; 66.1% White, 13.4% Black, and 20.6% Hispanic). The results indicated high levels of executive functioning were associated with improved psychological and behavioral outcomes at one-year follow-up. However, for racial and ethnic minority (i.e., Black or Hispanic) youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods, high levels of executive functioning were also associated with accelerated pubertal development. No significant interaction was observed among White youth. The findings suggest the skin-deep resilience pattern may be evident in early adolescence.
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