Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27720399›Full record

ReviewDevelopmental cognitive neuroscience2017

Becoming a sexual being: The 'elephant in the room' of adolescent brain development.

Ahna Ballonoff Suleiman, Adriana Galván, K Paige Harden, Ronald E Dahl

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 35 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed
5.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Mesocorticolimbic connectivity and motivational sensitivity: sex-specific effects of puberty in early adolescence.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Development of the Nervous System During Adolescence.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Socio-cultural factors perceived to influence sexual behaviours of adolescents in Ethiopia.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2023
    Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Ahna Ballonoff SuleimanUniversity of California Berkeley-Institute for Human Development, 1121 Tolman Hall #1690, Berkeley, CA 94720-1690, USA. Electronic address: asuleiman@berkeley.edu.
Adriana GalvánUniversity of California Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
K Paige HardenUniversity of Austin, Texas, Population Research Center, 305 E. 23rd St., Stop G1800, Austin, TX 78712-1699, USA.
Ronald E DahlUniversity of California Berkeley-Institute for Human Development, 1121 Tolman Hall #1690, Berkeley, CA 94720-1690, USA.
University of California, Berkeley · USThe University of Texas at Austin · USUniversity of California, Los Angeles · US

Funding

Scientific & Technical CoreP2CHD042849 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI MARK D. HAYWARD · 2017 to 2026
$5.2M
NICHD NIH HHS P2C HD042849
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The onset of adolescence is a time of profound changes in motivation, cognition, behavior, and social relationships. Existing neurodevelopmental models have integrated our current understanding of adolescent brain development; however, there has been surprisingly little focus on the importance of adolescence as a sensitive period for romantic and sexual development. As young people enter adolescence, one of their primary tasks is to gain knowledge and experience that will allow them to take on the social roles of adults, including engaging in romantic and sexual relationships. By reviewing the relevant human and animal neurodevelopmental literature, this paper highlights how we should move beyond thinking of puberty as simply a set of somatic changes that are critical for physical reproductive maturation. Rather, puberty also involves a set of neurobiological changes that are critical for the social, emotional, and cognitive maturation necessary for reproductive success. The primary goal of this paper is to broaden the research base and dialogue about adolescent romantic and sexual development, in hopes of advancing understanding of sex and romance as important developmental dimensions of health and well-being in adolescence.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdolescent DevelopmentAnimalsBrainFemaleHumansSexual BehaviorSexual MaturationAdolescenceDevelopmental neurosciencePubertyRomantic developmentSexual development

Identifiers

PMID27720399
PMCPMC6987766
OpenAlexW2526824878

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.