Social isolation impacts risk perception but not peer influence in mid-adolescence

Adolescence is a period of increased sensitivity to the social world, when social connection becomes particularly important and peer influence is heightened, especially in the context of risky decision-making. Here, we investigated whether peer influence and risk perception are affected following an absence of social interaction. In an experimental within-participants design, 40 participants aged 16-19 completed short-term isolation with and without access to virtual social interactions, and a non-isolated baseline, and completed a task that measured risk perception and susceptibility to peer influence. The results demonstrated that, first, while participants showed significant peer influence in all sessions, this was not affected by isolation. Second, after complete isolation, participants perceived situations as less risky, compared to isolation with virtual interactions. These findings indicate that isolation affects adolescents' perception of risk, which might have implications for risk-taking when social connection is lacking.