Socioeconomic Risk for Adolescent Cognitive Control and Emerging Risk-Taking Behaviors.

This study examined whether cognitive control mediated the association between socioeconomic status (SES; composite of income-to-needs ratio and parent education) and changes in risk-taking behaviors. The sample included 167 dyads of adolescents (53% male; Mage  = 14.07 years at Time 1) and their parents, assessed annually across 4 years. Parents reported socioeconomic variables at Time 1. Adolescents reported risk-taking behaviors at Times 1 and 4, and completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging cognitive control task at Times 2 and 3. Lower SES was associated with lower behavioral (but not neural) cognitive control, which was associated with increases in risk-taking behaviors. The findings suggest that elevated socioeconomic risk may compromise cognitive control which can cascade into maladaptive behaviors in adolescence.