A Bivariate Latent Change Score Model of Individual Differences and Developmental Changes in Perspective-Taking in Adolescent Girls

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

Studies investigating neural correlates of mentalizing and social self-evaluation among adolescents suggest that both perspective-taking and its neural foundations are developing during adolescence (Pfeifer et al., 2007; Pfeifer et al., 2009). Studies of social self-evaluation from the last decade suggest that adolescents show spontaneous activation of perspective-taking brain regions, even when they are not asked to perspective-take (Pfeifer et al., 2009). However, these studies have not been replicated in larger samples. Understanding both individual differences and developmental changes in perspective-taking tendencies as they relate to neural activation of perspective-taking regions during social self-evaluation among adolescents may offer a novel means of understanding pathways to and individual differences in self-concept development. This project asks the following questions: 1a) Are self-reported perspective-taking tendencies positively associated with age in adolescent girls*? 1b) Is activation in mentalizing regions (dmPFC, vmPFC, rTPJ, lTPJ, and precuneus) during social self-evaluation positively associated with age in adolescent girls*? 2) Do girls* with greater self-reported perspective-taking tendencies show greater activity in mentalizing regions during social self-evaluation? 3) Do latent changes in self-report tendencies to take others’ perspectives correlate with latent changes in neural activation of mentalizing regions during social self-evaluation?

174 girls* aged 10.0-13.0 years (*at study enrollment, 171 identified as girls and 3 as non-binary) participated in a longitudinal study on social and neural development. At each of 2 waves (18 months apart), participants completed a self-report measure of perspective-taking tendencies (Interpersonal Reactivity Index-Perspective-Taking subscale; IRI-PT) and a social self-evaluation fMRI task in which they decided whether 50 social traits describe them. Detailed analytic plans have been pre-registered on OSF (link retracted for author anonymity). Perspective-taking ROIs were selected via an automated meta-analysis of the term “mentalizing” on Neuroynth and include dmPFC, vmPFC, rTPJ, lTPJ, and precuneus. Using multilevel models with random intercepts for each participant, we found that self-reported perspective-taking (IRI-PT) was positively associated with age (B = 0.112, P = 0.045*) as was activity in dmPFC (B = 0.120, P = 0.046). The relationship between self-reported perspective-taking and activity in individual ROIs were not statistically significant, which is unsurprising given that mentalizing is a complex process which recruits a network of brain regions. Thus, we used confirmatory factor analysis to create a latent variable of neural mentalizing activity which captured the shared variance across the ROIs (CFI: 0.993, RMSEA: 0.041, SRMR: 0.074). Using a bivariate latent change score model, we explored whether self-reported perspective-taking and perspective-taking brain activity displayed correlated change or whether activity in one is driving change in the other. While neural and behavioral change did not covary significantly, perspective-taking neural activity at wave 1 significantly predicted latent change in self-reported perspective-taking. Taken together, our findings suggest that 1) self-reported perspective-taking tendencies increase across adolescence, 2) in contrast to previously published reviews, dmPFC activity doesn’t decrease during early- to mid-adolescence, and 3) latent perspective-taking neural activity predicts latent changes in self-reported perspective-taking tendencies across adolescence. Implications of these findings for developmental researchers will be discussed.

Authors

• Victoria Guazzelli Williamson, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Marjolein Eva Andrea Barendse, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sam Chavez, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Theresa W Cheng, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kathryn Mills, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danielle Cosme, University of Pennsylvania
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michelle L. Byrne, Monash University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer H. Pfeifer, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author