Adolescence is a time of change, exploration, and discovery. It can also involve some level of risk or actions for which the outcome may be uncertain. Many adults naturally want to protect young people from that uncertainty and minimize potential risks. But what if risk-taking is not something to avoid, but something essential to how young people learn, grow, and begin to define who they are?
On any given afternoon, a risk might look like trying a new sport, speaking up in class, or making a new friend. These moments may seem small, but they are doing important developmental work. Neuroscience can help explain why these experiences matter so much. Adolescence is a period of extraordinary brain development, when young people are especially responsive to new experiences, relationships, and opportunities. The environments and support young people encounter during this time can shape not only their immediate development, but their future as well.
That understanding is central to the Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents (AOA) initiative, which is working with cross-sector partnerships to expand access to high-quality, interest-driven learning opportunities outside of school. We spoke with Adriana Galván, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles and an expert in adolescent brain development to explore how science can inform youth development practice. In our conversation below, Galván shares insights into what adolescents need to thrive and how adults, out-of-school-time systems, and communities can better support them. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Wallace Foundation: When people talk about “adolescence” there are often many different ideas around it. In your perspective, what stage of life are they referring to, and roughly what age range does it cover? Why is it such an important period neurologically?
Adriana Galván: Adolescence covers a broad age range. The exact ages are not set in stone, and they may differ a little bit. Generally, from a neuroscience perspective, we conceptualize adolescence as starting around puberty, whenever that strikes. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve—it varies by person. Then it spans what we typically call the teenage years, and then into the early 20s. This definition encompasses the many brain changes that are happening—the physical changes, the socio-emotional changes, and also changes in our interaction with our social world.
During that time span, we undergo a lot of changes in our friendships, in our relationships with our caregivers. Then, of course, we transition into different schooling systems or into the workforce. There's a lot happening in that 15 or so years. We can spend 45 minutes talking about why it's important, but one of the major reasons it's important is because it is this critical period of transition, whereby we do transition from pretty strong dependence on caregivers and other adults to independence. Our goal for this period of life is to attain the necessary cognitive, emotional skills that we need to function independently in our society. It's a really critical time when adults and society can have a very positive impact on the developing person.
Wallace: Many adults associate adolescence with risky behavior and see that as something to minimize. But in your research, you describe risk-taking as a necessary part of learning and development. What does the science tell us about why risk-taking is such an important part of adolescence, and how can adults help channel it in positive directions?
AG: I really appreciate this question because risk-taking is essential for learning. That is because, by definition, a risk is something we do when we don't know the outcome. Often, as adults, we may turn to thinking immediately of risks that are dangerous to our health or to others. Risk-taking is much broader than that and includes the opportunity to try something new and learn from it. During adolescence, in particular, our brains are designed to incorporate a lot of new skills and environments and are built to learn from those experiences.
When we take a risk, what happens at the neurobiological level is that our dopamine neurons are waiting eagerly to see what will happen. Then, at the end of that, whatever the outcome is, our dopamine neurons help us learn from that experience. When we take risks, and here I'm talking about risks like trying out for the school play, starting a new sport that we never tried, or seeking out a new friend group. Those are risks that, as adults, we may minimize because we don't see them as so consequential. During adolescence, those are very big social risks that we take. They are formative to who we become, and they help us learn and establish our own identity for what interests us, what we want to pursue, and helps us shape our goals.
One way adults can help adolescents foster healthy risks is to encourage them to try things they've never tried before. Sometimes, as adults, in our own interest of protection in supporting our adolescents, we try to predict their environment and predict outcomes for them by saying, "Maybe you don't want to try it out because you've never done it before." That is antithetical to the notion that they should try new things and take risks that may help them learn something new about themselves.
Wallace: You’ve said that everyday experiences and environments can shape adolescent brain development. How do factors like economic stress, discrimination, or limited opportunities affect development during this period?
AG: All of those experiences you describe are stressors on the body and the brain. Economic disadvantage, or simply not having the resources we need, means that our brains are paying attention to the deficit. It creates a stressor for us. When the brain is stressed, it adaptively helps us stay alert to the stress and tries to minimize the stress. It eats up a lot of neural resources when we are attending to that stress. That stressor can be economic disadvantage, discrimination, or some other way that we are not at ease. The reason that happens is that the brain releases cortisol, which is a stress hormone, and it directs a lot of neural resources to address that stressor.
This matters particularly during adolescence because it can impede learning. For example, learning in the classroom may be affected if the brain is focused on managing stress rather than absorbing new information. It may impact the ability to establish social relationships. Those kinds of stressors also indirectly affect development because they distract the adolescent from focusing on the developmental goals that they should be focused on.
During adolescence, in particular, our brains are designed to incorporate a lot of new skills and environments and are built to learn from those experiences.
Wallace: What role can communities and youth-serving systems play in creating environments where young people can thrive?
AG: The best thing to do is to minimize the distraction of unnecessary stressors. For example, if a young person does not have a supportive home environment, we can create spaces and organizations that help meet that core need—access to caring adults. Adults and mentors play a critical role to adolescents by encouraging growth, challenging them, directing them, and providing opportunities for them. As a society, we can also do more to provide spaces that support the kind of positive risk-taking we talked about earlier, encouraging young people to try new activities, explore their interests, and build meaningful relationships. By providing that third space for adolescents, we give them the opportunity to focus on their development.
Wallace: Research shows that supportive relationships with adults remain incredibly important during adolescence, even as young people spend more time with peers. What does a healthy, supportive adult relationship look like for adolescents, and how is it different from earlier childhood?
AG: Babies, young kids, and adolescents all need support. We all need our basic needs met. As young people transition into adolescence, their world is starting to expand. It's our job as caring adults to provide them with expanded possibilities and opportunities. If they show interest in a particular activity or academic endeavor, we can provide opportunities for them to expand that interest.
That's what I mean by expanding possibilities. We need to continue providing them support, and that support comes in many ways. It comes in the form of the basic needs that I mentioned before, but also in support when they do fail or stumble, or when they have challenges with social relationships. The ups and downs of social relationships during adolescence is very normal. Conflicts with parents, caregivers, or friends can feel intense or even threatening in the moment, but they are a natural part of learning how to navigate relationships. I think this can be difficult for adults experiencing it for the first time with their adolescents, but it’s all part of healthy development.
Wallace: The Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents initiative, supported by Wallace, is exploring how communities can strengthen high-quality, interest-driven career awareness and exploration opportunities for youth. Why are these kinds of opportunities so important during this stage of life? Why are out-of-school time opportunities particularly beneficial for youth during this stage of life?
AG: Out-of-school-time opportunities are so important because this is when kids get to explore what they might be interested in and not yet know about. In school, we have very prescribed things that we feel young people should learn: English, math, history, science. During adolescence, they start to realize that there are other possibilities for them. They often learn about these interests through afterschool activities or learning about what careers other people have or what interests or what academic path they take. These spaces provide that opportunity for them.
During this stage of life is when there is massive plasticity in the brain, and our brains are designed to incorporate new information pretty rapidly. Taking advantage of the fact that the brain is primed to learn, that the neurons are being established with every new learning connection, is an opportunity for us. Adolescents learn things very quickly. We've done research using fMRI that shows when we give a group of adolescents and a group of adults something to learn while we scan their brain, not only are the adolescents learning it more quickly and more effectively, but the learning systems in their brain are more active than they are in the adult brain.
Other labs across the world have shown similar findings. This is just one example of how the learning process is more rapid. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's because adolescents are learning so much during this time. I think it also explains why young people are better at learning new motor skills—for example, dancing. Adolescents are very good at learning new dances. If you try to teach adults, they're not as great unless they’re particularly versed in dancing. Adolescents are better at learning new languages. It's why we teach them during this time in life. Adolescents are really good at adopting new technology. It's not simply that they're more interested in technology. It's that they're actually better at it and can learn new things more quickly.
Wallace: How can out-of-school-time programs be designed to support healthy adolescent development? What kinds of program features or experiences are most effective at engaging young people?
AG: I'll start by saying that the ones that are most effective are, maybe quite obviously, the ones that are responsive to what adolescents want to be doing. In other words, the adolescent brain is really good at tuning in when it's interested and tuning out when it's not. The afterschool programs that are responsive to those interests are the ones that are best. They're the ones that are run by adults or older adolescents who genuinely care to get to know the adolescents in their group. They are those that share power with adolescents. They engage them in the decision-making process of the activities that they will do.
Research that involves young people is most effective when they have a seat at the table in making decisions in the research design, for example. Also, the out-of-school-time programs that are most effective are the ones that let adolescents lead and give adolescents space to be in community with their peers. In other words, the adult isn't always the one running the show.
As young people transition into adolescence, their world is starting to expand. It's our job as caring adults to provide them with expanded possibilities and opportunities.
Wallace: If you could give one piece of advice to adults who work with adolescents—educators, youth workers, community leaders—about how to best support this stage of development, what would it be?
AG: I have two pieces of advice. The first is to spend time with adolescents doing what they want to do. If your adolescent is interested in video games and you’re not, show interest in why that’s interesting to them. If they play sports, attend their sports meets, competitions, etc. If they’re having a challenge with a friend, dig a little bit deeper. In other words, ask questions that go beyond surface-level check-ins. I have adolescents myself, so I know that challenge. I find that our most enriching time together is not when it's just transactional. It's not when we're just talking about scheduling or a quick, "How was your day?" but spending unfiltered or distraction-free time.
The second one is to ask them about their sleep. When our kids are babies, we spend a lot of time optimizing their sleep, in part because we want to get sleep as well. As young people become adolescents, their sleep is equally important for all the things we've talked about—for relationship-building, for learning in the classroom, for the activities they do outside of the classroom and after school.
