Fall 2025 Research Roundup
This roundup highlights recent research about adolescent development that showcases the importance of adaptive risk taking, how close relationships with parents can support mental health, how practitioners can best support LGBTQ+ youth, and how early support in high school can promote positive outcomes later in life.
In this Research Roundup, we highlight recent research about adolescent development that showcases the importance of adaptive risk taking during adolescence, how close relationships with parents can support mental health, how practitioners can best support LGBTQ+ youth, and how early support from parents and counselors in high school can promote positive outcomes in adolescents later in life.
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In this Roundup
- Positive and Prosocial Risk Taking During Adolescence Can Predict Future Leadership Status (August 2025)
- Close Parental Relationships Predict Greater Reward Positivity, Indicating Lower Risk for Depression (August 2025)
- Barriers to Mental Health Support and Recommendations for Improvement From the Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Youth (October 2025)
- Positive Relationships with Parents and School Counselors During Early High School Can Support Future Goal Achievement and Feelings of Purpose (August 2025)
Positive and Prosocial Risk Taking During Adolescence Can Predict Future Leadership Status
(Journal of Adolescent Health, October 2025)
Research suggests that certain forms of risk taking can be beneficial during adolescence. In this study, Qian Tian and colleagues examined how two forms of adaptive risk taking (positive and prosocial) relate to leadership development in adolescence. In the study, 554 middle school students (12 to 15 years old) in Shanghai reported their frequency of positive risk taking—risk taking that promotes personal growth, such as trying out for a sports team or auditioning for a play—and prosocial risk taking—risk taking that involves concern for others, such as defending a peer who is being teased, even it requires facing a bully.
Participants then nominated three classmates who they viewed as leaders–defined by qualities including being “helpful” and “being someone who is listened to when speaking up.” The students were measured at three time points to assess how these behaviors changed over the course of a year. The researchers found that adolescents who took more positive and prosocial risks were more likely to be viewed as leaders by their peers six months later. In turn, this heightened leadership status predicted increases in future adaptive risk taking among these adolescents. Interestingly, negative risk taking—such as breaking rules or doing something dangerous on a dare—did not predict leadership nominations.
Together, these findings suggest that adaptive risk taking that promotes personal growth or supports others can help adolescents find respect and social status among their peers by fostering skills necessary for prosocial leadership.
Close Parental Relationships Predict Greater Reward Positivity, Indicating Lower Risk for Depression
(Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, August 2025)
Research has found that people at risk for depression often demonstrate decreased brain activity in response to rewards. This is characterized by reduced “reward positivity,” an electroencephalogram (EEG) signal that measures how strongly someone’s brain reacts to positive outcomes, such as winning money, based on electrical activity in the brain. In a sample of 93 youth assigned female at birth (13 to 15 years old) and their mothers, Julianne Griffith and colleagues used EEG to assess each adolescent’s reward positivity while they played a guessing game where they could win or lose money.
The researchers found that youth who reported greater closeness with their mothers–as defined by qualities including companionship, emotional support, and approval–demonstrated greater reward positivity, indicating lower risk for depression. This association remained even after accounting for other risk factors, including the young peoples’ depressive symptoms and their mothers’ history of depression. These findings suggest that healthy parent-adolescent relationships can buffer against risk for depression, even in adolescents with preexisting risk factors.
Why this is important: This research highlights the important role that healthy parent-adolescent relationships play in adolescent brain development and mental health.
Barriers to Mental Health Support and Recommendations for Improvement From the Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Youth
(Journal of Adolescent Health, October 2025)
In this study, Erica Szkody and colleagues surveyed 808 youth (13 to 17 years old) in the United States who identified as LGBTQ+ about their experiences with mental health care. The researchers found that while the majority (62 percent) of LGBTQ+ youth attempted to access mental health care, less than half (46 percent) were able to access care. Youth identified parental consent requirements and practical concerns–including cost, availability of providers, insurance, and location–as the two most common barriers to accessing care. Among those who were able to receive mental health care, about half (52 percent) said they felt validated in their sexual or gender identity by the mental health professional they worked with. Those who felt validated by their provider reported that their provider made it clear that they were welcomed, supported, and respected.
The researchers then asked the participating youth for recommendations on how mental health care providers can support LGBTQ+ youth. The most common recommendation was that providers receive training in LGBTQ+ cultural competency—that is, for providers to be educated on the unique experiences of LGBTQ+ youth and trained on how to navigate LGBTQ+ topics with their patients. The second most common recommendation was for providers to respect youth by using the names and pronouns that align with their gender identity and by prioritizing the youth’s autonomy (for instance, by allowing the adolescent to guide conversations during a session). Based on the challenges reported and recommendations provided by the youth in the study, the researchers compiled a set of recommendations for caregivers, providers, programs, organizations, and policymakers, which can be found in Table 3 of the published manuscript.
Why this is important: This research provides essential insight into how communities can better support LGBTQ+ youth by centering the needs and recommendations of youth themselves.
Positive Relationships with Parents and School Counselors During Early High School Can Support Future Goal Achievement and Feelings of Purpose
(Journal of Research on Adolescence, August 2025)
In this study, My H. Do and colleagues examined how relationships with parents, teachers, and school counselors early in high school related to adolescents’ sense of purpose and confidence in their ability to achieve future goals. The researchers studied 645 high school students at three time points, starting when students were in ninth and tenth grades (average age = 15.62) and ending in eleventh and twelfth grades (average age = 17.62).
The study found that support from parents or school counselors early in high school was predictive of positive outcomes later in high school. Adolescents who reported having supportive school counselors and parents who promoted their autonomy and decision making and discussed future goals with them in ninth and tenth grade had a stronger sense of purpose one year later. In turn, this sense of purpose was associated with a greater confidence in their ability to successfully prepare for a positive future and achieve their future goals in their last years of high school. These results suggest that support early in high school from parents or counselors can promote adolescents’ confidence in their ability to achieve their goals years later, in part by promoting their sense of purpose.
Why this is important: This research showcases the important role that parents and school counselors play in adolescent development, and suggests that the early high school years are an important window during which supportive adults can promote future positive outcomes.
