Risk taking in adolescence: New perspectives from brain and behavioral science. Curr Dir Psycho Sci 2007;16:55–9

ABSTRACT—Trying to understand why adolescents and young adults take more risks than younger or older indi-viduals do has challenged psychologists for decades. Ado-lescents ’ inclination to engage in risky behavior does not appear to be due to irrationality, delusions of invulner-ability, or ignorance. This paper presents a perspective on adolescent risk taking grounded in developmental neuro-science. According to this view, the temporal gap between puberty, which impels adolescents toward thrill seeking, and the slow maturation of the cognitive-control system, which regulates these impulses, makes adolescence a time of heightened vulnerability for risky behavior. This view of adolescent risk taking helps to explain why educational interventions designed to change adolescents ’ knowledge, beliefs, or attitudes have been largely ineffective, an