Journal Article

Transitioning from childhood into adolescence: A comprehensive longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging study on prosocial behavior and social inclusion

van IJzendoorn, Marinus H., Crone, Eveline A., Blankenstein, Neeltje E., van der Meulen, Mara, Dobbelaar, Simone, Heunis, Stephan, van Drunen, Lina

2023

Overview

•The transition from childhood to adolescence is defined by social development.•Prosocial behavior increases with age, yet empathy peaks in late childhood.•Ventral striatum activity during prosocial behavior shows a peak in late childhood.•dACC, insula and striatum activity dips in late childhood when being socially included.•Changes in VS and mPFC activity co-occur with changes in prosocial behavior. Acting prosocially and feeling socially included are important factors for developing social relations. However, little is known about the development of neural trajectories of prosocial behavior and social inclusion in the transition from middle childhood to early adolescence. In this pre-registered study, we investigated the development of prosocial behavior, social inclusion, and their neural mechanisms in a three-wave longitudinal design (ages 7–13 years; NT1 = 512; NT2 = 456; NT3 = 336). We used the Prosocial Cyberball Game, a ball tossing game in which one player is excluded, to measure prosocial compensating behavior. Prosocial compensating behavior showed a linear developmental increase, similar to parent-reported prosocial behavior, whereas parent-reported empathy showed a quadratic trajectory with highest levels in late childhood. On a neural level we found a peak in ventral striatum activity during prosocial compensating behavior. Neural activity during social inclusion showed quadratic age effects in anterior cingulate cortex, insula, striatum, and precuneus, and a linear increase in temporo-parietal junction. Finally, changes in prosocial compensating behavior were negatively associated with changes in ventral striatum and mPFC activity during social inclusion, indicating an important co-occurrence between development in brain and social behavior. Together these findings shed a light on the mechanisms underlying social development from childhood into adolescence.

• Publisher: Elsevier Inc,Elsevier Limited,Elsevier
• Subject: Adolescence / Adolescent / Adolescents / Adults / Altruism / Behavior / Brain research / Child / Child development / Childhood / Children / Cognition & reasoning / Cognitive ability / Cortex (cingulate) / Cortex (parietal) / Development / Humans / Inclusion / Longitudinal Studies / Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Medical imaging / Middle childhood / Neostriatum / Neuroimaging / Neurotrophin 1 / Neurotrophin 2 / Neurotrophin 3 / Prosocial behavior / Social Behavior / Social brain / Social Inclusion / Social interaction / Teenagers