LAUSR

ABSTRACT Early life stress in the form of early institutional care has been shown to have wide‐ranging impacts on the biological and behavioral development of young children. Studies of brain structure using magnetic resonance imaging have reported decreased prefrontal volumes, and a large literature has detailed decreased executive function (EF) in post‐institutionalized (PI) youth. Little is known about how these findings relate to decision‐making, particularly in PI youth entering adolescence—a period often characterized by social transition and increased reliance upon EF skills and the still‐maturing prefrontal regions that support them. As decision‐making in risky situations can be an especially important milestone in early adolescence, a clearer knowledge of the relationship between risky decision making and prefrontal structures in post‐institutionalized youth is needed. The youth version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and a two‐deck variant of the Iowa Gambling Task were used to assess risky decision‐making in post‐institutionalized youth and a community control group (N = 74, PI = 44, Non‐adopted = 30; mean age = 12.93). Participants also completed a structural MRI scan for the assessment of group differences in brain structure. We hypothesized that participants adopted from institutions would display poorer performance on risky‐decision making tasks and smaller brain volumes compared to non‐adopted youth. Results indicated that later‐adopted participants made fewer risky decisions than those experiencing shorter periods of deprivation or no institutional rearing. Further, decreased prefrontal volumes were observed in later‐adopted youth and were significantly associated with task performance. Our results suggest that changes in risky‐decision making behavior and brain structure are associated with the duration of early institutional care. HighlightsYouth adopted internationally exhibit more impulsivity than non‐adopted youth.Lower levels of sensation seeking are found in adopted youth than non‐adopted youth.Youth adopted after 12 months made fewer advantageous choices on a gambling task.Risky decision‐making is positively associated with OFC volume in adopted youth.