Prosocial development in adolescence

In this review, we describe the development of prosocial behavior in adolescence as a critical inflection period for social adjustment. Experimental research using prosocial giving tasks demonstrates that adolescents differentiate more be-tween recipients and contexts, suggesting increasing ingroup-outgroup differentiation during adolescence. We also demonstrate that social brain development during adolescence is partly driven by environmental influences, further underlining adolescence as a critical period for social development. The COVID-19 pandemic has had and will have long-term effects on the current generation of adolescents, for which we describe both the risks, resilience factors, and opportunities for engaging in prosocial acts of kindness.

Automated summary

Adolescence is a critical period for social adjustment, where adolescents begin to differentiate more between recipients and contexts in prosocial behavior. Social brain development during adolescence is influenced by environmental factors, highlighting the importance of this developmental stage. The COVID-19 pandemic has long-term effects on current generation of adolescents, but also presents opportunities for engaging in acts of kindness.