Abstract
The Social Risk Hypothesis of Depression proposes that individuals who perceive themselves as low in value to their social groups are at risk of developing depression. Behaviourally, lower self-perceived social value is proposed to reduce individuals' propensity to take social risks to avoid further lowering their social worth. This is in contrast with adolescent-typical behaviour, which is characterised by heightened risk-taking in social contexts. The current study aimed to investigate how low self-perceived social value influences risk-taking in social compared to non-social contexts during adolescence. 114 adolescents (aged 12-23 years) completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in individual and social contexts. The results showed that adolescents took more risks in social compared to individual contexts. Risk-taking across social and individual contexts also varied as a function of self-perceived social value. In older-but not younger-youth, lower self-perceived social value was associated with greater risk-taking in social compared to individual contexts. These findings suggest that self-perceived social value differentially influences social risk-taking across adolescence. In later youth, the heightened social risk-taking observed in individuals with low self-perceived social value aligns with developmental theories suggesting that risk-taking at this age serves to increase social rank and avoid social exclusion by peers.