Need for Approval and Antisocial Behavior Moderate the Effect of Socioemotional Cues on Adolescent Girls' Cognitive Control

To examine whether need for approval (NFA) and antisocial behavior (ASB) moderate the effects of socioemotional stimuli on cognitive control, 88 girls (M[subscript age] = 16.31 years; SD = 0.84; 65.9% White) completed a socioemotional Go/No-go and questionnaires. At high approach NFA, girls responded more slowly during appetitive than control (b = -8.80, p < 0.01) and aversive (b = -5.58, p = 0.01) trials. At high ASB, girls responded more slowly (b = -6.12, p = 0.02) and less accurately (OR = 1.11, p = 0.03) during appetitive than aversive trials; at low ASB, girls responded more slowly during aversive than control trials (b = -4.42, p = 0.04). Thus, both context and individual differences influence adolescents' cognitive control.