Adolescent perceptions of their risk-taking behavior.

Gonzalez, Jeanette ; Field, Tiffany ; Yando, Regina 等

Biological, psychological, and social stresses during adolescence often lead to "problem" and health-endangering behaviors as adolescents try to cope with these stresses (Ingersoll & Orr, 1989). According to Alexander et al., the health-compromising behaviors that initially occur during the adolescent years have long-term health and social consequences. These include the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs as well as "problem" behaviors that are either criminal or deviate from social norms (Lipsitt & Mitnick, 1991). However, another set of more positive risk-taking behaviors are sports related, which are more socially acceptable. Definitions of socially acceptable behaviors are usually based on adult norms. Behaviors defined by adults as "risky" are not necessarily interpreted by adolescents in the same way (Alexander et al., 1990; Tonkins, 1987). For example, driving behaviors labeled risky by adults (driving fast, close to the vehicle in front of them, running yellow lights) are often labeled "good" by young drivers. Differences in interpretation may not, however, explain why adolescents engage in risk-taking behaviors. In their study, Alexander et al. (1990) found that adolescents described both physically daring activities and rule breaking as risky behaviors, as did adults. These findings suggest that although their perceptions may differ from those of adults, adolescents can discriminate risky behaviors.

Many studies have tried to determine why adolescents engage in risk-taking behaviors. If, as Wilde and Murdock (1982) have suggested, adolescents are aware of the risks, they must be either purposely seeking them out or prevented from perceiving their severity by what Elkind (1967) and Elkind and Bowen (1979) describe as a "personal fable" (belief in one's immunity from negative consequences). According to Jessor and Jessor (1977), adolescents purposely seek out risks. They suggest that such behaviors permit adolescents to: (1) take control of their lives; (2) express opposition to adult authority and conventional society; (3) deal with anxiety, frustration, inadequacy, and failure; (4) gain admission to peer groups and demonstrate identification with a youth subculture; (5) confirm personal identity; and (6) affirm maturity and mark a developmental transition into young adulthood. Based on Farley (1971) and Zuckerman's (1964) theory of stimulus adjustment, labeled "sensation seeking," Jessor and Jessor (1977) also explain the need for risk taking as a function of pleasure-or fun-seeking behaviors. The need for change, variety, and intensity of stimulation manifests itself in sensory, social, and thrill-seeking behaviors. The assumption that adolescents seek out new and exciting experiences has generated considerable research. In general, results indicate that adolescents who engage in one high-risk behavior are likely to engage in other such behaviors (Donovan & Jessor, 1985; Ingersoll & Orr, 1989; Lipsitt & Mitnick, 1991). In a series of longitudinal studies, Jessor and Jessor (1977) demonstrated that substance abuse, precocious sexual intercourse, minor delinquency, aggressiveness, and a trait which they labeled unconventionality (social risk taking) were consistently interrelated.

The purpose of the present study was to examine students' perceptions of their risk-taking behaviors (sports and danger) and how those relate to other risk and protective factors of adolescence including their relationships with parents and peers, social support, family responsibilities, self-esteem, depression, and drug use. In addition, we were interested in whether adolescents' desire to engage in high-risk sports activities is related to their involvement in other more traditionally defined risk-taking behaviors. Contrary to traditionally defined categories of risk, sports represent a socially acceptable outlet for the need to engage in sensation seeking. Thus we would expect a low positive relationship between the two types of risk taking. In addition, adolescents who were high danger risk takers were expected to also score high on sports risks, drug taking, and depression, and have less than optimal relationships and self-esteem.

METHOD

Subjects

Four hundred and forty students (54% female, M age = 18.4) were included in the study. The students were 32% white non-Hispanic, 12% black, and 47% Hispanic, and their self-perceived socioeconomic status (SES) was: 14% low to low-middle; 59% middle; 27% upper-middle to high.

Procedure

A risk-taking scale was developed for this study (Field & Yando, 1991), which divided into two sub-scales of sports-related and danger-related risk questions. In addition, participants completed scales on family and peer intimacy (relationships), social support, family responsibility-taking, self-esteem, and depression. The questionnaire was administered during the students' English class near the end of the academic year. Answers were collected on computer scan sheets. The questionnaire was administered anonymously to ensure confidentiality and foster honest responses, and required an average of 45 minutes to complete.

Measures

The individual scales assessed the following: Background and Lifestyle (Field & Yando, 1991). This questionnaire included demographic questions (gender, ethnicity, and self-perceived socioeconomic status), relationship questions (number of close friends, gender of friends, important person and the relationship of that person), and lifestyle questions (use of illegal substances, suicidal ideation, violent/angry thoughts, and eating concerns).

Intimacy Scales (Blyth, Hill & Thiel, 1982). These scales assess the degree of intimacy people perceive they have with their mother, father, and best friend. Twenty-four items are answered on a 5-point Likert type scale. Total scores on the scales range from 8 to 40 with the answers varying from "Not at All" to "Very Much." Higher scores signify more intimacy.

Family Responsibility-Taking (Field & Yando, 1991). This 10-item scale (Cronbach's alpha = .65) was developed to assess students' family responsibility-taking. Examples of the questions include doing housework, making mother/father (to whomever the student feels closest) feel better when she/he is "down," and having more responsibilities than their peers. Likert-type answers with four choices range from "Rarely" to "Very Often."

Self-Esteem (Field & Yando, 1991). Students were asked to compare themselves to their peers on the following 20 descriptors: confident, anxious, happy, fearful, competitive, ambitious, hard-working, good-looking, good in sports, creative, independent, angry, honest, generous, caring, expressive, outgoing, sentimental, good at school work, and moody (Cronbach's alpha = .66). The questions were asked as follows: Compared to my peers, I would say I am generally (e.g., confident: (a) Less; (b) The Same; (c)) More.

Depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, CES-D; Radloff, 1977). This 20-item scale was included to assess depression. The items on this scale represent the primary symptoms of the depression syndrome as identified by clinical judgment, their frequency, and other questionnaires for depression and factor analytic studies. When completing the instrument the subject is asked to report his/her feelings during the preceding week. Responses are on a 4-point Likert-scale: "Rarely or none of the time" to "Most or all of the time." Each item has a possible value of 0 to 3; thus, the total score has a range of 0 to 60, with higher scores signifying greater depression. The scale has been standardized for high school populations (Radloff, 1991) and has adequate test/retest reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent validity (Schoenbach, Kaplan, Wagner, Grimson, & Miller, 1983; Wells, Klerman, & Deykin, 1987).

Risk taking (Field & Yando, 1991). The risk-taking scale was designed to assess sports-related and danger-related risk-taking behavior (Cronbach's alpha = .69). Thirteen items comprise a "sports-related" risk-taking subscale. Students were asked if they would participate in the following sports: rock climbing, water skiing, mountain climbing, scuba diving, sky diving, downhill skiing, wind surfing, horseback jumping, white water rafting, flying an airplane, parasailing, surf boarding, and long-distance sailing. Questions were formulated as follows: Answer the following questions regarding activities in which you think you would like to participate or actually have participated (e.g., rock climbing: (a) Would never try; (b) Would like to try; (c) Have tried; (d) Sometimes do; (e) Often do). Nine items comprise the "danger-related" risk-taking subscale. Students were asked if they would do the following things (a) Alone, (b) Only with friends, or (c) Never: ride a roller

coaster, try marijuana, drive over the speed limit, try crack or cocaine, drink alcohol, ride a motorcycle, and hitchhike across the country. In addition, the scale included two "gambling" risk-taking items: Students were asked if they would bet a dollar on a 50/50 chance of winning two dollars and whether they would buy a book of lottery tickets.

Drug Use (Field & Yando, 1991). Four items taken from the background questionnaire included questions on smoking and the use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. The answers to these four-choice Likert-type questions ranged from "Regularly" to "Never," with higher scores signifying greater drug use. These questions were asked in the past tense so that students, even though the scale was anonymous, would not feel incriminated by their answers.

RESULTS

Adolescents were divided into high and low sports and high and low danger-related risk-taking categories based on median splits. A chi-square was performed to determine whether the sports- and danger-related risk-taking groups were different. The chi-square analysis suggested that high sports risk takers were distributed evenly across high and low danger risk takers, and high danger risk takers were also distributed evenly across high and low sports risk takers, suggesting that high sports risk takers are not necessarily high danger risk takers and vice versa.

Analyses of variance were then performed with high/low risk takers on each of the subscales as the between groups measures and the relationship and personality scales as dependent measures. High sports risk takers as opposed to low risk takers engaged in more danger-related risk taking and drug use, indicating some co-occurrence of risky behaviors. They also had higher self-esteem scores than did low risk takers. In contrast, the high danger risk takers differed from low risk takers on several of the measures. High danger risk takers engaged in high sports risk taking as well as greater drug use, again suggesting some co-occurrence of risk-taking behaviors. The high danger risk takers also reported less intimacy with their mothers and less family responsibility-taking behaviors but less depression than did their low risk-taking peers.

Table 1. Distribution of subjects in risk-taking groupings.

 Danger Risk-Taking

 High Low

 High 22% 21%

Sports

Risk-Taking

 Low 18% 39%
Table 2. Means and Standard Deviations for high and low sports-related
risk-takers.

Variables High Low p

 Mean (SD) Mean (SD)

Intimacy w/
Mother (8-40) 25.6 (7.4) 26.1 (7.0) ns

Intimacy w/
Father (8-40) 23.0 (7.9) 21.7 (7.9) ns

Intimacy w/ Best
Friend (8-40) 31.1 (6.1) 31.0 (6.5) ns

Family Responsibility
Taking (10-40) 21.5 (4.7) 21.2 (4.9) ns

Self Esteem
(20-60) 45.2 (4.8) 43.4 (5.2) .001

Depression [CES-D]
(0-60) 20.1 (11.9) 21.6 (12.2) ns

Danger-Related
Risk (9-27) 17.6 (3.1) 16.1 (2.8) .001

Drugs [smoking,
alcohol, marijuana,
cocaine] (4-16) 4.9 (1.7) 4.2 (1.4) .001

DISCUSSION

Adolescents who engage in one type of risk-taking behavior may also engage in other risk-taking behaviors (Donovan & Jessor, 1985; Jessor & Jessor, 1974). Results of the present study support the co-occurrence of sports-related and danger-related risk taking for approximately half of the groups that were high on either of these types of risk-taking behaviors. Farley and Zuckerman's (1971) theory that adolescents engage in "sensation-seeking" behaviors because of their need for change and a variety of intensity stimulation fits with the apparent combination of risk-taking behaviors in this study. Alternatively, adolescents' reports of multiple risks could be attributed to "bravado." The high sports risk takers may simply not have time for danger risk-taking behaviors, but to give the impression of bravado are claiming to engage in both types of risks.

Table 3. Means and Standard Deviations for high and low danger-related
risk-takers.

Variables High Low P-Level

 Mean (SD) Mean (SD)

Intimacy w/
Mother (8-40) 24.3 (6.6) 27.1 (7.2) .001

Intimacy w/
Father (8-40) 22.5 (7.4) 22.2 (8.2) ns

Intimacy w/ Best
Friend (8-40) 30.4 (6.2) 31.4 (6.3) ns

Family Responsibility
Taking (10-40) 20.6 (4.9) 21.8 (4.7) .01

Self Esteem
(20-60) 44.0 (5.3) 44.2 (5.0) ns

Depression [CES-D]
(0-60) 19.4 (11.6) 22.3 (12.5) .05

Sports-Related
Risk (13-65) 27.6 (5.9) 25.4 (5.8) .001

Drugs [smoking,
alcohol, marijuana,
cocaine] (4-16) 5.1 (1.6) 4.1 (1.3) .001

Still another possibility is that high sports risk takers and high danger risk takers are different groups. The chi-square analysis suggested that high sports risk takers can be either high or low on danger risk taking, and likewise, the high danger risk takers can be either high or low on sports risk taking. Also, the profiles of the sports and danger risk-taking groups were quite different from each other in this data base. The high sports risk takers had higher self-esteem than did the low risk takers, while the high danger risk takers as compared to their low risk-taking counterparts had less intimacy and assumed less responsibility with their families but were less depressed. High danger-related risk taking is typically considered irresponsible behavior and could contribute to less intimacy with mother. Increased stimulation from risk-taking behavior and grandiose feelings about rebelling against social norms could reduce depressed feelings. Less depression could also be related to denial or sociopathic tendencies. Thus the high danger risk-taking group may have more socioemotional problems than do the high sports risk-taking group.

Risk-taking behavior is so commonly identified with adolescence that it is often considered the norm, not the exception. Nonetheless, very little is known about the antecedents for engaging in risk-taking behavior. Adolescents' risk-taking behavior may be caused by exaggerated beliefs about their own indestructibility derived from adolescent egocentrism (Dolcini et al., 1989). Although, contrary to prediction, the Dolcini et al. study showed that adolescents who displayed the greatest self-involvement and reflection were most likely to acknowledge the dangers associated with activities such as smoking cigarettes and marijuana. The sense of indestructibility and seeming lack of awareness of negative consequences may simply relate to bravado or a grandiose show of courage. Jessor and Jessor (1977) suggested several functions for risky behavior including asserting one's opposition to adult authority and conventional society and dealing with anxiety and frustration. As mentioned previously, for Farley (1971) and Zuckerman (1964), risk-taking behaviors are a form of "sensation seeking." Future studies should investigate levels of sensory activation in high versus low risk takers as well as other possible functions of risk-taking behaviors.

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