UCLA CDA Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni and Policy and Practice Director Elise Brumbach explain how insights from developmental science could help schools promote attendance and engagement for middle and high school students.
Leveraging the Opportunity of Adolescence to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
Leveraging the Opportunity of Adolescence to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
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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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Spring 2024 Research Roundup
Research Roundup | Education | Community Engagement | Mental Health | Out-of-School Time | Adversity, Bias, & Discrimination
This issue provides an overview of research showcasing the protective role of positive lifestyle factors for mental health, the benefits of continuing contribution, an effective intervention to support positive racial-ethnic identity exploration, synchronized brain activity between parents and youth, and the importance of timing in parental support.
In this issue of our quarterly Research Roundup, we provide an overview of some recent research showcasing the protective role of positive lifestyle factors for mental health, the benefits of continuing contribution, an effective intervention to support positive racial-ethnic identity exploration, synchronized brain activity between parents and youth, and the importance of timing in parental support.
You can suggest research articles for future roundups by emailing meghanforder@ucla.edu or sign up to receive the quarterly research roundup in your inbox.
- Lifestyle factors counteract the neurodevelopmental impact of genetic risk for accelerated brain aging in adolescence (March 2024)
- The contribution of community service during the transition to adulthood to health in adulthood (February 2024)
- Parental involvement affects parent-adolescents brain-to-brain synchrony when experiencing different emotions together: An EEG-based hyperscanning study (February 2024)
- Teachers’ implementation of the Identity Project is associated with increases in U.S. high school students’ ethnic-racial identity exploration (February 2024)
- Responsive parental support buffers the link between chronic stress and cardiometabolic risk among adolescents (February 2024)
Lifestyle factors counteract the neurodevelopmental impact of genetic risk for accelerated brain aging in adolescence
A recent study led by Raluca Petrican and colleagues investigated the interplay between positive lifestyle factors (friendships, parental warmth, school engagement, physical exercise, and healthy nutrition) and genetic risk for major depressive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Analyzing data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (a long-term study of brain development and youth health), the researchers found that genetic risk for disorders such as anxiety and depression increased the risk for mental health problems, while positive lifestyle factors decreased the risk for mental health problems later in adolescence. Both genetic vulnerability and positive lifestyle factors were associated with altered development of brain regions involved in cognitive control, emotion regulation, and attention later in adolescence. Importantly, the changes in brain development linked to positive lifestyle factors reduced the risk for psychiatric disorders—especially among adolescents who had experienced high levels of adversity (Biological Psychiatry, March 2024).
Why this is important: This study highlights the protective role of positive experiences on brain and emotional development in adolescence. It suggests that programs that enhance positive lifestyle factors (such as by improving school connectedness) could help protect against stressors and promote mental health, even among young people who have a genetic risk for psychiatric disorders.
The contribution of community service during the transition to adulthood to health in adulthood
In this study, Laura Wray-Lake and colleagues examined changes in community service engagement from adolescence into adulthood (ages 18 to 30) and the impact on adult health outcomes. The researchers analyzed data from over 10,000 participants from a range of high school graduation years (from 1976 to 2000). They tracked changes in participants’ levels of community service from ages 18 to 30, then looked at behavioral, physical, and psychological health outcomes at ages 35 and 40. The results revealed significant associations between community service involvement and adult health outcomes such that adolescents who continued engaging in community service in the transition from adolescence to adulthood reported lower substance use, healthier behaviors, and higher psychological well-being later in life (Journal of Research on Adolescence, February 2024).
Why this is important: This study shows the importance to health and well-being of promoting and supporting civic engagement opportunities as young people transition into adulthood.
Parental involvement affects parent-adolescents brain-to-brain synchrony when experiencing different emotions together: An EEG-based hyperscanning study
In this study, Xinmei Deng and colleagues used a technique called electroencephalograph (EEG) hyperscanning to examine the brain functions underlying shared parent-adolescent experiences by simultaneously recording brain activity in 26 parent-adolescent pairs as they rated their feelings about several 10-second film clips.
They found that in pairs of parents and youth with high parental involvement (where parents show interest, caring, and warmth) there was greater synchronization in brain activity–that is, their brains were responding in similar ways at the same time–when they shared positive emotions. This kind of synchronization between parents and youth is believed to support adolescent social-emotional development, and is based on the strong emotional bonding and connection between the family members. In this context, it suggests that strong bonds with parents can enhance the way parents and adolescents connect emotionally—even on a brain level (Behavioral Brain Research, February 2024).
Why this is important: This study shows one way that parental involvement impacts the dynamics between parents and young people, highlighting the importance of fostering supportive, caring parent-adolescent relationships over the teenage years.
Teachers’ implementation of the Identity Project is associated with increases in U.S. high school students’ ethnic-racial identity exploration
The Identity Project is an eight-session, school-based intervention that provides high school students with strategies and tools to learn about, explore, and reflect on ethnic-racial identity (ERI). The program has been shown to increase in ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution in ways that support higher self-esteem, lower depressive symptoms, and better grades, among other positive outcomes, when delivered by researchers. In this study, Adriana Umaña-Taylor and her team sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the Identity Project when delivered by teachers themselves. In a group of 180 high school students from diverse backgrounds, the teacher-led Identity Project intervention increased ERI exploration over the course of the program. Further, the positive effects remained when accounting for factors such as ethnic-racial socialization within the family, student and teacher ethnic-racial identity, gender, immigrant status, and ethno-racial background, suggesting that this intervention is effective across diverse adolescent populations (Journal of Youth and Adolescence, February 2024)
Why this is important: These findings demonstrate that teachers, who are uniquely positioned to impact students, can be trained to effectively implement the Identity Project to help youth develop a positive ethnic-racial identity, which is essential to healthy social and emotional development during the adolescent years.
Responsive parental support buffers the link between chronic stress and cardiometabolic risk among adolescents
Exposure to chronic stress from experiences including poverty, bullying, and family turmoil during adolescence can impact mental and physical health–particularly in cardiometabolic issues such type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke in adulthood. In a new study, Phoebe Lam and colleagues investigated a potential protective factor in the association between stress and health in adolescence: the nature and timing of parental support. Using data from 242 adolescents, the researchers found that youth who experienced higher levels of psychological stress over the past 6 months also showed higher levels of cardiometabolic risk (inflammation). Timely parental support—that is, an increase in support such as advice, comfort, and listening received on stressful days—acted as a buffer against the detrimental effects of stress on heart-related health. When adolescents received support from their parents on days when they experienced stress, the link between chronic stress and cardiovascular risk was weakened. Chronic stress was only linked with cardiovascular risk when youth did not receive support in response to days when they experienced stress. (Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, February 2024)
Why this is important: These findings highlight the importance of parental support provided at the time of stressful experiences to prevent the negative physical effects of stress during adolescence. This makes it clear that youth need support from their parents that is attuned to their experiences.
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism by Aligning School Settings with the Developmental Needs of Adolescents
Science Spotlight | Education | Community Engagement | Adversity, Bias, & Discrimination
This spotlight highlights adolescent development research aimed to help school leaders and policymakers more equitably meet the needs of adolescent learners and enhance their attachment to school.
Adolescence is a time of remarkable opportunity and growth. We know from extensive research about adolescent brain development that these are critical years for learning and development. In addition to academic learning, the social and emotional learning that occurs through lessons, experiences, and relationships within school settings are important for youth to thrive, making chronic absenteeism particularly concerning among middle and high school students.
High rates of chronic absenteeism–a measure that describes the number of students who miss, for any reason, at least 10 percent of school days in an academic year–have persisted since in-person schooling was first curtailed by COVID-19. School districts that served students from neighborhoods with high levels of poverty tended to see the highest rates of chronic absenteeism prior to the pandemic and the rate of chronically absent students significantly increased in these districts following the pandemic, raising urgent questions about how best to mitigate a trend that contributes to historical inequity.
Research indicates that there are multiple underlying causes of chronic absenteeism ranging from structural conditions, such as poor transportation infrastructure and teacher shortages, to student-level factors, such as students’ health, home responsibilities, and feeling of connectedness to supportive adults., Initial efforts to understand the continuing effects of the pandemic-specific spike in chronic absenteeism indicate that these causes remain relevant today.
For example, in spring of 2023, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) conducted a series of statewide interviews to investigate the root causes of student absenteeism and a range of societal, family, and school-related factors emerged. PACE also noted student-level factors, including inconsistent access to basic needs, uncertainty about safety, lack of a sense of belonging and connection, and inability to experience “competence, independence, and freedom” within school settings.
Approaches to addressing these underlying challenges at the middle and high school levels should be responsive to the developmental needs of adolescents, which can be distinct from those of younger learners. School leaders and policymakers can leverage insights from decades of research in the developmental science of adolescence to help navigate a path toward more equitably meeting the needs of adolescent learners and enhancing their attachment to school.
Adolescence is a unique period for learning and development
Adolescents are motivated to explore, discover, and connect with the world around them. Regions in the brain responsible for motivation, learning, and feelings of reward become more active and responsive to social experience during adolescence. Connections between these regions and the networks responsible for planning and social cognition are strengthened and refined in response to experiences and relationships throughout the years between childhood and adulthood, providing new capacities for learning, emotional development, and social behavior.
Together, these changes create unique opportunities for adolescent learning and development. Youth are more likely to take risks to learn about the world around them. They also are more tolerant of uncertainty and more likely to update their prior knowledge in response to new environments or making errors. Adolescents are driven to understand the world and their place in it, both among their peers in school as well as broader society. Conversations with youth about their future goals can help them cultivate a sense of purpose and encourage a desire to have an impact upon their worlds. Understanding these unique capacities for learning can help spark ideas about how to ensure that schools can best engage adolescent learners as an attempt to address at least one contributing factor to chronic absenteeism.
There is no universal solution to chronic absenteeism, and experts in education suggest that districts will need to develop strategies tailored to their local settings. As leaders partner with young people and their communities to create and test new approaches to restore attendance, they should aim to close the gap between the developmental needs of adolescents and the school-based settings young people encounter. Specifically, they can:
➢ Provide compelling and supported ways for middle and high school students to explore and learn from experience. Thoughtfully designed efforts both inside the classroom (such as project-based learning) and after school (for example, interest-based clubs and activities) leverage the natural inclination to explore and learn from experience during adolescence.
➢ Incorporate ways for students to contribute to others at school and in their broader communities. Longstanding research on classroom environments points to the ways in which incorporating student participation in decision-making promotes motivation and achievement. Similarly, extracurricular programs that encourage adolescents’ contributions to their school, teams, and communities enhance students’ attachment to school.
➢ Build supportive relationships between adolescents and caring adults in their schools and communities. Having these relationships at home and in the school and community is predictive of virtually every aspect of healthy adolescent development, including engagement with school.
➢ Identify and eliminate inequities in the availability and quality of adolescents’ opportunities to have these vital experiences and relationships. Ensure that all youth, including those impacted by racial, ethnic, or other forms of discrimination as well as those facing challenges related to poverty or financial instability, can meaningfully access opportunities to explore, contribute, and form strong relationships with trusted adults.