Adolescence is a sensitive period for the development of adaptive social behaviors and social anxiety, possibly due to aspects of brain development. However, research is needed to examine interactions among age, social anxiety, and social dynamics previously shown to influence neural responding. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examines brain function in 8–18 year-olds with varying levels of social anxiety. Interactions are examined among age, social anxiety, and two key task factors: valence and predictability of social interactions. Results demonstrate age, social anxiety severity, and each of the two key task-based factors interact to predict neural response in the caudate, middle and superior temporal gyri. In particular, among adolescents less-than 13 years of age, higher social anxiety predicted greater responding to unpredictable negative evaluations. However, in this same age group, the opposite pattern emerged during receipt of unpredictable positive evaluations, with less neural response in more anxious youth. Adolescents aged 13 and older overall showed less robust effects. We discuss these findings in terms of age- and anxiety-related differences in socioemotional processing.

青春期是适应性社会行为和社交焦虑发展的敏感时期，这可能是由于大脑发育的各个方面所致。但是，需要进行研究以检查年龄，社交焦虑和先前显示为影响神经反应的社交动力之间的相互作用。当前的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究检查了8-18岁不同社交焦虑水平的大脑功能。在年龄，社交焦虑和两个关键任务因素之间检查互动，社交互动的效价和可预测性。结果证明了年龄，社交焦虑的严重程度，以及两个基于任务的关键因素中的每一个都相互作用以预测尾状，中颞上回的神经反应。特别是，在13岁以下的青少年中，社交焦虑症的发生率较高更大的应对不可预测的负面评价。但是，在同一年龄组中，相反的模式在接受无法预测的积极评价时出现，在焦虑较严重的年轻人中神经反应较少。总体而言，年龄在13岁以上的青少年表现出较弱的效果。我们讨论与社会情感处理中与年龄和焦虑相关的差异有关的这些发现。