Times of regret: How does the development of regret influence risky decision making in childhood and adolescence?

Adolescence is frequently described as a period of heightened involvement in risky behaviors that leads to a sudden increase in mortality and morbidity rates compared to childhood. And yet, this increase is not the result of being vulnerable to diseases or infections that can affect adults. This review aims to understand this specificity and to determine how the integration of complex negative emotions—such as regret—can improve our understanding of adolescents’ decision making. We will first present recent neurodevelopmental models that postulate the existence of two distinct systems affecting decision making—an emotional system and a cognitive control system. Then, we will review a series of studies describing the influence of regret in decision making and the development of this counterfactual emotion from childhood to adolescence.