Transitioning from childhood into adolescence: A comprehensive longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging study on prosocial behavior and social inclusion
Mara van der Meulen,
Simone Dobbelaar,
Lina van Drunen,
Stephan Heunis,
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,
Neeltje E. Blankenstein,
Eveline A. Crone
Affiliations
Mara van der Meulen
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Simone Dobbelaar
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Corresponding author: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands.
Lina van Drunen
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Stephan Heunis
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Research Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, UCL, University of London, United Kingdom
Neeltje E. Blankenstein
Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Eveline A. Crone
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Acting prosocially and feeling socially included are important factors for developing social relations. However, little is known about the development of neural trajectories of prosocial behavior and social inclusion in the transition from middle childhood to early adolescence. In this pre-registered study, we investigated the development of prosocial behavior, social inclusion, and their neural mechanisms in a three-wave longitudinal design (ages 7–13 years; NT1 = 512; NT2 = 456; NT3 = 336). We used the Prosocial Cyberball Game, a ball tossing game in which one player is excluded, to measure prosocial compensating behavior. Prosocial compensating behavior showed a linear developmental increase, similar to parent-reported prosocial behavior, whereas parent-reported empathy showed a quadratic trajectory with highest levels in late childhood. On a neural level we found a peak in ventral striatum activity during prosocial compensating behavior. Neural activity during social inclusion showed quadratic age effects in anterior cingulate cortex, insula, striatum, and precuneus, and a linear increase in temporo-parietal junction. Finally, changes in prosocial compensating behavior were negatively associated with changes in ventral striatum and mPFC activity during social inclusion, indicating an important co-occurrence between development in brain and social behavior. Together these findings shed a light on the mechanisms underlying social development from childhood into adolescence.
