title: Risk-taking and decision-making in youth: relationships to addiction vulnerability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Decision-making and risk-taking behavior undergo developmental changes during adolescence. Disadvantageous decision-making and increased risk-taking may lead to problematic behaviors such as substance use and abuse, pathological gambling and excessive internet use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on MEDLINE searches, this article reviews the literature on decision-making and risk-taking and their relationship to addiction vulnerability in youth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Decision-making and risk-taking behaviors involve brain areas that undergoing developmental changes during puberty and young adulthood. Individual differences and peer pressure also relate importantly to decision-making and risk-taking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Brain-based changes in emotional, motivational and cognitive processing may underlie risk-taking and decision-making propensities in adolescence, making this period a time of heightened vulnerability for engagement in additive behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, VA Connecticut Healthcare/Yale University School of Medicine, West Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Kornelia N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Balogh
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Potenza
keywords: addiction vulnerability; adolescence; behavioral addictions; decision-making; risk-taking