Biopsychosocial Influences That Promote and Impede Social Brain Maturation

Social, emotional, and executive function systems of the brain change greatly during adolescence as the result of biopsychosocial influences. These factors alter the course of adolescent behavior through effects on the component processes of social behavior. Specifically, the influences of chronic stress, social and economic adversity, alcohol and drugs, and brain injury as well as parental buffering and support, increased neural connectivity and mentalizing resources, and enriched environments can impede or promote maturation of the social and executive brain networks that regulate social adjustment and emotional expression. Hence, there are many early “windows of opportunity” to affect the biological and neurocognitive foundations of adolescent social executive functions such as empathy, theory of mind, self-monitoring, and social emotions.