Around the World, Adolescence Is a Time of Heightened Sensation Seeking and Immature Self-Regulation

Authors

Laurence Steinberg, Temple UniversityFollow
Grace Icenogle, Temple University
Elizabeth P. Shulman, Brock University
Kaitlyn Breiner, University of California, Los Angeles
Jason Chein, Temple University
Dario Bacchini, Second University of NaplesFollow
Lei Chang, University of MacauFollow
Nandita Chaudhary, University of Delhi
Laura Di Giunta, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Kenneth A. Dodge, Duke UniversityFollow
Kostas A. Fanti, University of Cyprus
Jennifer E. Lansford, Duke UniversityFollow
Patrick S. Malone, University of South CarolinaFollow
Paul Oburu, Maseno UniversityFollow
Concetta Pastorelli, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Ann T. Skinner, Duke UniversityFollow
Emma Sorbring, University West
Sombat Tapanya, Chiang Mai UniversityFollow
Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Universidad San BuenaventuraFollow
Liane Peña Alampay, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
Suha M. Al-Hassan, Hashemite UniversityFollow
Hanan M S Takash, Hashemite University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2017

Abstract

The dual systems model of adolescent risk‐taking portrays the period as one characterized by a combination of heightened sensation seeking and still‐maturing self‐regulation, but most tests of this model have been conducted in the United States or Western Europe. In the present study, these propositions are tested in an international sample of more than 5000 individuals between ages 10 and 30 years from 11 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, using a multi‐method test battery that includes both self‐report and performance‐based measures of both constructs. Consistent with the dual systems model, sensation seeking increased between preadolescence and late adolescence, peaked at age 19, and declined thereafter, whereas self‐regulation increased steadily from preadolescence into young adulthood, reaching a plateau between ages 23 and 26. Although there were some variations in the magnitude of the observed age trends, the developmental patterns were largely similar across countries.

Recommended Citation

Steinberg, L., Icenogle, G., Shulman, E. P., Breiner, K., Chein, J., Bacchini, D., Chang, L., Chaudhary, N., Giunta, L. D., Dodge, K. A., Fanti, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., Tirado, L. M. U., … Takash, H. M. S. (2018). Around the world, adolescence is a time of heightened sensation seeking and immature self-regulation. Developmental Science, 21(2), e12532. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12532