Adolescent Brains Are Wired to Want Status and Respect: That’s an Opportunity for Teachers and Parents

The Connecting Adolescent Brain

This fact sheet gives an overview of adolescent brain development and explains how access to resources, opportunities, and meaningful relationships during adolescence can build connections within our brains and with the world around us that support us into adulthood.

Brain development during adolescence is fundamentally a story of connections.

Around age 9 or 10, hormonal changes kick off a period of intense learning and development, when brain cells form, strengthen, and streamline connections in response to our experiences more rapidly than in any period of life after early childhood.

Activity increases especially in the brain networks that propel us to explore the world, learn from our mistakes, and connect with others in new ways. In turn, these new experiences prompt our brain cells to connect with other neurons in ways that help us adapt to new events and new information. These neural connections become stronger the more we use them, while unused connections are pruned away, helping the brain become more efficient at acquiring and mastering new skills and new ways of thinking.

This brain-building learning happens through direct experiences in our environments and interactive, responsive relationships—with our families and peers, in our classrooms and neighborhoods, in community activities, and even online. The resources, opportunities, and experiences we as adults provide in and out of school can help young people’s brains build the extensive networks of connections that will manage the complex knowledge and behaviors needed to navigate adulthood.

Learning by Exploring the World Around Us

One of the networks that changes significantly with the increase in hormones and dopamine at the beginning of puberty is the “reward system” in our brain. Heightened activity in this system increases the feeling of reward we get from exploring the world, taking risks, and learning from the results.

Meanwhile, the network of brain regions that make up the “social brain” also changes during adolescence. These changes help us tune into social and emotional cues, like facial expressions or social rejection and approval, and increase our desire to earn respect and contribute to others. It also enables us to learn the nuances of changing social contexts in ways that help prepare us for adult relationships.

The prefrontal cortex (the region of the brain that orchestrates critical thinking and behavioral control) undergoes its most rapid period of development during adolescence. It builds on many other systems within the brain to manage our responses to the flood of new information and intensifying emotions. Engaging with other people and our environment and learning from our successes and our mistakes, known as “action-based learning,” helps shape the prefrontal cortex by strengthening the connections within it and between it and other brain networks. We learn through repeated practice—which includes trying and sometimes failing—what is adaptive and appropriate in different situations and how to guide our behavior accordingly, in ways that equip us to pursue new forward-looking goals.

When adults provide youth with opportunities to try new things, to practice navigating emotions, and to learn from failures along the way, it helps build the brain connections that we all need to grow into healthy, thriving adults.

Policies, Experiences, and Mindsets Shape the Connecting Brain

Although we can continue to learn new skills and behaviors as adults, the adaptability of the brain during adolescence means that these connections are much more likely to form quickly in response to experiences. The extent of these changes make the adolescent years a critical window when investments in the right policies and programs for youth can shape long-term positive development.

Likewise, this makes the adolescent years a time when negative experiences including racism, other forms of discrimination, poverty, or abuse can create steeper hills for young people to climb toward a healthy adulthood. When adults ensure that all young people, especially those who have experienced earlier adversity, have what they need along their journey, they can build the skills and capacities they need to thrive as adults. This includes opportunities to explore and take healthy risks, to connect with and contribute to those around us, to make decisions and learn from the outcomes, to develop a healthy sense of identity, and to rely on support from parents or other caring adults.

Understanding how and why the brain develops during adolescence lets us provide the support young people need to build healthy connections—in their world and within their brains—that will help our youth and our communities thrive.

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Winter 2024 Research Roundup

Research Roundup | Community Engagement | Mental Health | Adversity, Bias, & Discrimination

This roundup provides an overview of recent research about adolescent development that examined the importance of parents’ ethnic-racial identity, the benefits of a mindfulness intervention, the link between agency and sense of purpose, the association between brain development and resilience to stress, and the link between heart rate variability and mental health.

In this issue of our quarterly Research Roundup, we provide an overview of some recent research about adolescent development that examined the importance of parents’ ethnic-racial identity, the benefits of a mindfulness intervention, the link between agency and sense of purpose, the association between brain development and resilience to stress, and the link between heart rate variability and mental health.

You can suggest research articles for future roundups by emailing CDA@psych.ucla.edu or sign up to receive the quarterly research roundup in your inbox.

Increasing resilience to stress over time is associated with myelination of prefrontal brain networks during adolescence (July 2024)
The protective role of parents’ ethnic–racial identities for young adolescents facing ethnic-racial discrimination (November 2024)
Examining The impact of heart-rate variability on emotion regulation in adolescence (December 2024)
Mindfulness-based training effects on sleep and brain networks that support awareness of bodily sensations in healthy adolescents (August 2024)
Factors that help adolescent increase their sense of purpose through self‐driven learning opportunities (November 2024)

Increasing resilience to stress over time is associated with myelination of prefrontal brain networks during adolescence

(Nature Communications, July 2024)

In this study, Meike Hettwer and colleagues examined whether resilience to adversity during adolescence relates to ongoing development of brain regions that support emotion regulation and cognitive control. In a longitudinal study of 141 adolescents ranging from 14 to 26 years old, the researchers measured mental health and environmental stressors (including dysfunctional family environments, significant adverse life events, and low socioeconomic status) at two timepoints, one to two years apart. The researchers quantified the extent to which each adolescent was susceptible or resilient to stress — that is, whether the youth demonstrated worse-than-expected or better-than-expected mental health given their stressful life experiences. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at each timepoint, they examined whether resilience to adversity related to myelination, the process by which a protective, insulating layer called myelin develops around neurons, allowing for efficient communication throughout networks in the brain.

The researchers found that adolescents who demonstrated increasing resilience to stress over time also exhibited greater myelination within the anterolateral prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain that supports emotion regulation and cognitive control. Together, these findings suggest that efficient maturation of prefrontal networks helps adolescents effectively regulate their emotions and flexibly adapt to environmental stressors.

Why this matters: These findings suggest that myelination, a critical part of adolescent brain development, may promote resilience in the face of adversity during adolescence by enabling efficient functioning of still-developing emotion regulation networks. Interventions that help build resilience during adolescence, like strong social support, could contribute to these critical connections in the developing adolescent brain.

The protective role of parents’ ethnic–racial identities for young adolescents facing ethnic-racial discrimination

(American Psychologist, November 2024)

In this study, Juan del Toro and colleagues explored whether parents reduce the risk of early pubertal development in young adolescents who experience ethnic-racial discrimination. Using data from the ABCD study, the researchers analyzed survey data from 1,651 adolescent siblings (average age = 11.49 years) and their parents. Based on prior work demonstrating that chronic stress, including ethnic–racial discrimination, can accelerate biological aging, they tested whether adolescents who reported greater ethnic-racial discrimination also exhibited advanced pubertal development for their age. They found that adolescents who self-reported greater ethnic-racial discrimination than their siblings showed more advanced pubertal development. However, they also found that parents’ own ethnic-racial identities might play a protective role: The relationship between discrimination and pubertal maturation was weakened in households with parents who reported a greater sense of belonging and commitment to their ethnic-racial group. This suggests that parents’ own ethnic-racial identities can help confer resilience to the negative consequences of discrimination in adolescents.

Why this is important: This study showcases the powerful role that parents can play in promoting resilience in adolescents experiencing ethnic-racial discrimination.

The impact of heart-rate variability on emotion regulation in adolescence

(Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, December 2024)

Research has shown that higher heart rate variability is associated with an increased ability to respond adaptively to stress and effectively regulate emotions. To test this idea, Gillian Debra and colleagues examined whether the association between rumination (repetitive thinking about one’s problems) and negative emotions was reduced in adolescents with higher resting heart rate variability. In a sample of 235 adolescents (average age = 13.48 years), researchers measured adolescents’ heart rate variability while they watched a five-minute video depicting natural landscapes. Then, over fourteen days, participants received five smartphone surveys each day. In each survey, they rated their current negative emotions (sad, angry, anxious, uncertain, and stressed) and indicated how much they had been ruminating about their negative emotions. The researchers found that adolescents with higher heart rate variability showed less of a link between rumination and negative emotions.

Why this is important: This research demonstrates that higher heart rate variability may benefit adolescent mental health in everyday life and suggests that interventions focused on increasing heart rate variability could promote adolescent wellbeing.

Effects of mindfulness-based training on sleep and brain networks that support awareness of bodily sensations in healthy adolescents

(Frontiers in Psychology, August 2024)

In this study, Olga Tymofiyeva, Benjamin Sipes, and colleagues tested the efficacy of a mindfulness intervention in 14-to 18-year-old adolescents. A group of 100 adolescents were randomly assigned to an intervention group or waitlist-control group. Adolescents assigned to the Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA) intervention completed a 12-week training program of remote, weekly sessions and at-home practice. During the training, participants learned about topics including stress responses and strategies to regulate emotions and practiced mindfulness techniques including breathing exercises, yoga sequences, and meditation. The researchers assessed brain connectivity, sleep, and emotional well-being before and after the program. Adolescents who completed the TARA intervention, but not those in the control group, reported significantly improved sleep following the program. The researchers also found that the intervention led to increased connectivity within brain networks that support interoception, or awareness of internal bodily sensations, which has been linked to positive mental health.

Why this is important: This research provides evidence that a remote mindfulness intervention may benefit adolescent wellbeing by improving sleep and modifying “interoceptive networks,” the brain circuitry that enables adolescents to tune in to the physical sensations within their own bodies and is related to emotional well-being.

Factors that help adolescents increase their sense of purpose through self‐driven learning opportunities

(Child Development, November 2024)

In this study, Kaylin Ratner and colleagues assessed whether adolescents who participated in a self-driven learning program experienced increases in their daily sense of purpose. During the program, 321 under-resourced adolescents between 14- and 19-year-olds explored a self-identified passion (e.g., software development, animal therapy, criminal justice) for about 10 weeks. Participants were provided with a stipend and were matched with a supportive adult to check in with during the program. For each day of the program, adolescents reported their daily sense of purpose (“How purposeful do you feel today?”), and researchers analyzed how each adolescent’s answer to this question changed over the course of the program. On average, adolescents in the program reported high and relatively stable senses of purpose over time. Adolescents who reported a greater sense of agency — measured by their self-reported motivation and ability to pursue and achieve personal goals — at baseline were more likely to experience increases in their sense of purpose. The authors suggest that interventions that increase one’s sense of agency could help adolescents benefit more from out-of-school opportunities.

Why this is important: These results suggest that increasing young people’s sense of agency during adolescence could provide youth with a greater sense of purpose and make out-of-school learning opportunities even more rewarding.

Secure Relationships with Supportive Adults Continue to Matter for Adolescents

This fact sheet offers insights from research about the critical role of adult support in our healthy development during adolescence and how policies and programs can ensure all young people have a caring adult in their corner.

Policies and programs that prioritize adolescents’ positive connections with supportive adults lead to healthier and more connected communities.

Adults in our families and communities continue to play a critical role in our healthy development during adolescence, even as we become less dependent on caregivers as we explore and expand our social world. Secure and supportive relationships with parents and other adults can help us build resilience, develop a positive sense of self, and navigate challenges. Circumstances that disrupt these connections can negatively impact our health and well-being during adolescence and into adulthood.

During adolescence, adult support remains essential to helping young people thrive. Youth need programs and policies that build on the strengths of families—including families who are facing challenges—and that ensure all young people have a caring adult in their corner.

Research shows that relationships with our parents during adolescence affect both our physical and mental health. Secure and supportive relationships with our parents during adolescence can promote well-being, prevent negative outcomes, and help us develop a clear sense of self and identity. Positive parenting behaviors—caring, validating, affectionate, or humorous interactions—affect the growth of brain regions involved in processing rewards and helping us regulate our emotions.

We’re not only affected by what our families do for us, but also by how we contribute to our families. Contributing to the family can be an important source of belonging and identity. Helping our families can also increase our levels of happiness. A strong sense of obligation to family also appears to alter brain regions involved in reward sensitivity and cognitive control in ways that can help us develop the skills and motivation to avoid unhealthy risk taking.

These positive relationships can vary, with different benefits and outcomes among distinct cultural and social contexts. For example, young people from immigrant families might have more of a sense of interdependence and family obligation than youth in non-immigrant families. Families of youth of color, and of Black youth in particular, may also be a primary source of racial and ethnic socialization, cultural pride, and preparation for facing racism and discrimination. LGBT youth who are accepted by their families have higher self-esteem, social support, and general health than those without supportive families. Natural mentors—caring adults from a young person’s existing social circle—can play similarly positive roles, particularly sense of self and identity. Positive parenting behaviors—caring, validating, affectionate, or humorous interactions—affect the growth of brain regions involved in processing rewards and helping us regulate our emotions.

Because parents remain so important through the adolescent years, factors that disrupt these connections can have negative effects on development. For example, youth placed in foster care have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders as well as substance misuse than young people who did not enter the system. Social inequities and biases can also interfere with positive family relationships, adding to stress in ways that affect the well-being of parents, in turn increasing depression and anxiety among youth.

Effective interventions can help reduce some of these challenges and bolster the essential connections we need. Research-informed, strength-based interventions that improve connections within families have been shown to improve mental health and reduce substance use. In addition, youth in the foster system can benefit from programs that offer foster parents training to support youth who have faced adversity and that help young people stay connected with their families.

➢ Programs and interventions that strengthen family bonds and give parents tools for communicating effectively with youth can support positive outcomes for young people. Learn more about one example, the Strong African American Families program.

➢ To meet the developmental needs of adolescents, policies and programs must also support the needs of the adults in their lives. Family-support programs can help support adolescent mental and behavioral health, either by treating mental health issues or preventing future mental health risks.

➢ Programs that connect young people with mentors who share their interests and advocate for their goals and ambitions can promote positive socioemotional, academic, and health outcomes. A review of formal mentoring programs for youth found positive benefits for adolescent development, including better academic performance, greater motivation, and fewer behavioral problems. Learn more about one example, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

➢ Research suggests that having a natural mentor—a caring adult from a young person’s existing social circles—can support youths’ mental and physical health. Sports, extracurricular activities, or community- or faith-based activities can help introduce youth to natural mentors. Learn more about one example, the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program.

➢ Due to the importance of relationships with supportive adults to the healthy development of adolescents, youth and families may benefit from extra support to help mitigate the effects when these relationships are disrupted. Disruptions exist in all communities and could include: the absence of a family member (for example, due to military deployment), illness or loss of a family member (for example, due to COVID-19 or substance use disorder), involvement in the criminal legal system of the adolescent or an adult family member, or relocations due to housing insecurity or job demands.