Sensation Seeking and
the Development of Externalizing Behaviors during Adolescence
K. Paige Harden
University of Texas
at Austin
Department of
Psychology
Population Research
Center
Externalizing
behaviors, including substance use and delinquency, escalate during adolescence
and are leading contributors to mortality and morbidity in this age group. This
presentation will describe research on sensation seeking and its role in
driving adolescent increases in externalizing. First, I will describe a series
of studies on age-related changes in sensation seeking and impulse control.
Results from nationally-representative samples show that (a) average levels of
sensation seeking increase markedly from childhood to mid-adolescence, (b)
sensation seeking peaks earlier and declines more rapidly for females than
males, (c) changes in sensation seeking are largely independent from changes in
impulse control, and (d) individual differences in sensation seeking change are
under strong genetic control, and (e) adolescents who show more rapid increases
in sensation seeking also show the most rapid escalation in delinquent
behavior. Part 2 will describe results from a behavioral genetic study of twins
from the Texas Twin Project (Harden, Tucker-Drob, & Tackett, 2013). Factor
analytic results indicate that self-reports of sensation seeking map to some –
but not all – laboratory tasks designed to assess risk-taking or reward
seeking, but there is substantial task-specific variance in individual tests.
Studies of sensation seeking should use a multivariate measurement battery that
can isolate theoretically distinct constructs (i.e., sensation seeking from
impulsivity from cognitive ability). Finally, Part 3 will present hypotheses and
preliminary data regarding the influence of testosterone and other pubertal
hormones on the development of sensation seeking, including evidence for
possible testosterone × cortisol interactions.
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