The Teenage Brain: Social Sensitivity, Risk-Taking, and What It Means for Practice

Adolescence is a time of major physical, social, and brain development, beginning with puberty and continuing into the mid-20s. Research in developmental neuroscience shows that the teenage brain is highly sensitive to social information, including peer evaluation, rewards, threats, and the wider environment.^1,2

These changes create both vulnerability and opportunity. Teenagers may be more vulnerable to stress, risk-taking and mental health difficulties, but this same sensitivity also supports learning, identity development, social growth and adaptation.

The World Health Organization estimates that one in seven 10–19-year-olds globally experiences a mental disorder, with depression, anxiety, and behavioural disorders among the most common.³

Because of this, understanding teenage brain development is important for parents, educators and professionals working with young people. This article explores three key areas: social sensitivity, peer influence and learning, and risk-taking within the broader environment young people grow up in.

What is the social brain in teens?

The “social brain” is the group of brain areas that helps us understand other people’s thoughts, feelings, intentions and actions. These include regions such as the:¹

1. Medial prefrontal cortex
2. Temporo-parietal junction
3. Posterior superior temporal sulcus
4. Anterior temporal cortex

Earlier views often described adolescence mainly as a stage of poor self-control. Research now shows a more complex picture. Teenagers are not simply “less mature adults”; they are going through a period where social information becomes especially important, and the systems involved in understanding others are still developing and changing.⁴

This helps explain why some behaviours that adults see as impulsive, oppositional or overly self-conscious may actually reflect how strongly young people are tuned into their social world.

The ability to understand other people’s mental states, known as mentalising, continues to develop through adolescence into early adulthood. During tasks involving perspective-taking, emotion regulation and social judgement, teenagers may use social brain networks differently from adults.⁴

For clinicians and educators working with young people, this means that difficulties in groups, sensitivity to embarrassment or changes in social motivation should not automatically be seen as defiance. They may reflect the developing teenage brain – a system that is working hard to interpret complex social signals.

The relationship between peer influence and social learning

Adolescence is a time when young people become more sensitive to their peers. A substantial body of research indicates that adolescents are especially responsive to peer influence, but this influence is not always negative.

One study found that adolescents and young adults can copy both positive and negative behaviours, depending on the group norms they are exposed to.⁵ This is clinically and educationally important, because peer influence can increase risk, but it can also encourage helpful behaviours such as:

• Generosity
• Cooperation
• Help-seeking
• Making healthier choices

Further research found that adolescents are not equally influenced by everything.⁶ Instead, they are more responsive to certain social and emotional cues, especially those linked to belonging, status, rejection, reward or threat. This helps explain why peer feedback can feel so powerful during this stage of life.

Because of this, interventions for young people may be more effective when they go beyond simply telling individuals to “make better choices” or “resist peer pressure.” Instead, approaches that highlight positive peer norms, support leadership opportunities and reduce stigma around seeking help are likely to be more impactful.

The same sensitivity to peers that can increase risk can also be used to strengthen connection, support and positive behaviour.

How are risk-taking, puberty and decision-making linked?

Risk-taking is often linked with adolescence, but simple explanations such as “an immature brain” are no longer enough. Earlier research suggested that adolescent risk-taking reflects changes in reward systems and developing self-control systems in the brain.⁷

More recent work shows that risk-taking is also shaped by social context, individual differences, puberty and the meaning of the situation. One study using brain imaging found that aspects of puberty, including hormones such as testosterone, may be linked to differences in risk-taking behaviour and brain responses.⁸

This does not mean that puberty-related hormones determine behaviour in a simple or deterministic way. Rather, it highlights that chronological age alone does not fully explain adolescent brain development, or development in general.

Two young people of the same age may differ greatly in biological development, social environment and psychological needs. This has important implications for practice, where age-based expectations can be helpful but should not replace individual understanding. For example, a 13-year-old navigating early puberty, peer stress, and emotional difficulties may have different needs from another 13-year-old in a different developmental and social context.

This is why flexible, individualised approaches are often more accurate than assumptions based on age alone.

The impact of environment on teen brain development

A key shift in adolescent neuroscience is the move away from looking at the brain on its own, and towards understanding it as part of a wider social and environmental system. Experts Choudhury, Piera Pi-Sunyer and Blakemore describe a close link between brain development, social experiences and life circumstances.²

This perspective is especially important for mental health. Young people do not develop in neutral environments. Their development is shaped by:

• Friendships
• Family relationships
• School life
• Online spaces
• Socioeconomic conditions
• Discrimination
• Access to support

Research has found that when adolescents perceive higher levels of income inequality, they are more likely to experience mental health and relationship difficulties.⁹ This suggests that mental health is not only about individual traits or symptoms, but also about how young people experience their social world.

Other research shows that short-term social isolation can make adolescents more sensitive to threat and negative social cues.¹⁰ This helps explain why loneliness, exclusion, peer conflict or missing school can feel especially intense during this stage of life.

Overall, social connection is not a luxury in adolescence; it is a core part of healthy development.
How does social media affect mental health and teen brains?

How does social media affect mental health and teen brains?

Digital environments now form a major part of adolescent social life. Research on social media and mental health has often focused on screen time, but experts suggest this may be too simplistic.¹¹ What matters more is how young people experience social media and how it affects their emotions, relationships and sense of self.

Researchers argue that social media can influence mental health through processes such as:¹²

• Social comparison
• Seeking approval
• Managing self-image
• Reacting to feedback online

These processes can feel especially intense during adolescence because teenagers are naturally more sensitive to social evaluation, belonging and peer relationships. For practitioners, this means that conversations about social media should move beyond simple limits and moral panic. More useful questions include:

• What role does social media play in the young person’s relationships?
• Does it increase connection or intensify comparison?
• Does it support identity exploration or heighten distress?
• Does it amplify exclusion, threat or reassurance-seeking?

The impact on social media often depends on how it fits into the young person’s wider emotional and social world.

How parents, educators and clinicians can help

Research on adolescent development highlights several important lessons for parents, educators and clinicians working with young people.

1. Social sensitivity is a normal part of development

Teenagers’ sensitivity to peer approval, exclusion and reputation should not automatically be seen as a weakness or flaw. It reflects a normal stage of development. Adults can help by creating supportive environments with positive peer influence and fewer unnecessary social pressures.

2. Context has a major role in adolescent development

Context matters. A young person’s development is shaped not only by their brain, but also by their relationships, school environment, family stress, social media experiences and wider life circumstances.²

3. Peer influence can be positive

Peer influence is not always harmful. Teenagers can also be strongly influenced by positive behaviours such as kindness, cooperation and seeking support.⁵ Approaches that encourage these positive social norms may be more effective than focusing only on self-control.

4. Every adolescent develops differently

Young people differ in puberty, teen brain development, social experiences and emotional needs.⁸ This means adolescents benefit from flexible, individualised support rather than one-size-fits-all expectations.

Final thoughts on the teenage brain

Adolescence is not an incomplete version of adulthood. It is a distinctive developmental period marked by social sensitivity, learning, plasticity, reward responsiveness, and environmental influence.

While these changes can increase vulnerability to stress, risk-taking and mental health difficulties, they also create powerful opportunities for growth, connection, and intervention.

Research led by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and colleagues shows that young people are deeply influenced by their relationships, peer experiences, family environment, school life and digital world. Understanding behaviour through this wider lens can help us as parents, educators and clinicians respond with greater empathy and effectiveness.

If you’d like to learn how to apply this understanding to practice, we’re hosting an interactive workshop on 8th July 2026, Understanding the Adolescent Brain: From Research to Real-World Practice, led by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Book now.

References

1. Blakemore, S.-J. (2008). The social brain in adolescence. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(4), 267–277.
2. Choudhury, S., Piera Pi-Sunyer, B., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2023). A neuroecosocial perspective on adolescent development. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 5, 285–307.
3. World Health Organization. (2025, September 1). Mental health of adolescents.
4. Andrews, J. L., Ahmed, S. P., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2021). Navigating the social environment in adolescence: The role of social brain development. Biological Psychiatry, 89(2), 109–118.
5. Chierchia, G., Piera Pi-Sunyer, B., Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., Sakhardande, A. L., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2020). Prosocial influence and opportunistic conformity in adolescents and young adults. Psychological Science, 31(12), 1585–1601.
6. Towner, E. A., Chierchia, G., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2023). Sensitivity and specificity in affective and social learning in adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(7), 642–655.
7. Blakemore, S.-J., & Robbins, T. W. (2012). Decision-making in the adolescent brain. Nature Neuroscience, 15(9), 1184–1191.
8. Goddings, A.-L., Dumontheil, I., Viner, R. M., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2023). Puberty and risky decision-making in male adolescents. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 60, Article 101230.
9. Piera Pi-Sunyer, B., Andrews, J. L., Orben, A., Speyer, L. G., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2023). The relationship between perceived income inequality, adverse mental health and interpersonal difficulties in UK adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(3), 417–425.
10. Towner, E. A., Thomas, K., Tomova, L., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2024). Increased threat learning after social isolation in human adolescents. Royal Society Open Science, 11(11), Article 240101.
11. Orben, A., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2023). How social media affects teen mental health: A missing link. Nature, 614(7948), 410–412.
12. Orben, A., Meier, A., Dalgleish, T., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2024). Mechanisms linking social media use to adolescent mental health vulnerability. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3, 407–423.