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.

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In this Roundup

• Longitudinal variation in resilient psychosocial functioning is associated with ongoing cortical myelination and functional reorganization during adolescence, July 2024
• Early adolescents’ ethnic–racial discrimination and pubertal development: Parents’ ethnic–racial identities promote adolescents’ resilience, November 2024
• Cognitive control processes and emotion regulation in adolescence: Examining the impact of affective inhibition and heart-rate-variability on emotion regulation dynamics in daily life, December 2024
• Interoceptive brain network mechanisms of mindfulness-based training in healthy adolescents, August 2024
• Trajectories and predictors of adolescent purpose development in self‐driven learning, November 2024

Research

Longitudinal variation in resilient psychosocial functioning is associated with ongoing cortical myelination and functional reorganization 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.

Early adolescents’ ethnic–racial discrimination and pubertal development: Parents’ ethnic–racial identities promote adolescents’ resilience

(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.

Cognitive control processes and emotion regulation in adolescence: Examining the impact of affective inhibition and heart-rate-variability on emotion regulation dynamics in daily life

(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.

Interoceptive brain network mechanisms of mindfulness-based training 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.

Trajectories and predictors of adolescent purpose development in self‐driven learning

(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.