scholarly journals Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack L. Andrews ◽  
Lucy E. Foulkes ◽  
Jessica K. Bone ◽  
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Rejection Sensitivity ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Health Risk Behaviours ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Rate Of Decline ◽  
Development And Validation

In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an individual being excluded by their peers, such as appearing different to one’s friends. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in individuals of 11 years and over (N = 1399). Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks.

scholarly journals Amplified concern for social risk in adolescence: Development and validation of a new measure

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack L Andrews ◽  
Lucy Foulkes ◽  
Jessica Bone ◽  
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Rejection Sensitivity ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Loss Of Face ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Rate Of Decline

In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk-taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an individual being excluded by their peers, leading to a reduction in one’s social hierarchy or loss of face; such as appearing different to one’s friends or standing up for an unpopular peer. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in individuals of 11 years and over (N=1399). Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis we show that concerns for health and social risks are distinct categories. Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks.

Risk‐taking behaviour of young women in Australia: screening for health‐risk behaviours

2003 ◽  
Vol 178 (12) ◽  
pp. 601-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael RC Carr‐Gregg ◽  
Kate C Enderby ◽  
Sonia R Grover
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Health Risk Behaviours

scholarly journals Rethinking adolescent risk-taking: Perception of social risk impacts expected involvement in health-risk behaviour during adolescence

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack L Andrews ◽  
Kathryn L. Mills ◽  
John Coleman Flournoy ◽  
Jessica Flannery ◽  
Arian Mobasser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Sensation Seeking ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Health Risk Behaviour ◽  
Illicit Substance Use ◽  
Health Risk Behaviours

During adolescence the prevalence of certain health risk behaviours, such as binge drinking and illicit substance use, increases. Engagement in these behaviours has been attributed to immature self-regulation, heightened sensation seeking, and peer influence during adolescence. However, more recently, adolescence has been characterised as a time of risk sensitivity rather than universal increases in health-risk behaviour. For example, the extent to which individuals engage in health-risk behaviours may relate to their sensitivity to the social risk involved in engaging in the health-risk behaviour. In the present study we examined how individual differences in social risk perception relate to an individual’s expectation of future involvement in risky behaviour during adolescence. One hundred and twenty-two participants (ages 11-17, mean 14 years) reported their expected involvement in a number of risk behaviours and degree to which they thought a) engaging in these behaviours would make people like them more, and b) not engaging in these behaviours would make people like them less. Social risk perception was operationalised as the perceived social benefit gained from engaging in a risk behaviour, from low (people would like you less), to high (people would like you more). We used linear mixed effects modelling to assess the contribution of social risk perception in predicting individuals expected involvement in health risk behaviours. We found that adolescents who perceived the social benefit associated with engaging in a risk behaviour to be high were more likely to report higher expected involvement in said behaviour. This was true for illicit substance use, aggressive and illegal behaviours, and risky drinking, but not for risky sex. Adolescents who reported a higher degree of peer victimisation showed a stronger relationship between the perceived social benefit of engaging in, and expected involvement in, these risk behaviours. Further, perceived social benefit moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and expected involvement in risky behaviours. Taken together, these data suggest that, across a number of health risking behaviours, adolescents incorporate perceptions of social risk when making decisions regarding their expected involvement. We argue that future investigations of adolescent health risking behaviours should incorporate social risk.

scholarly journals WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: health-risk behaviours on nutrition and physical activity in 6–9-year-old schoolchildren

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3108-3124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudy MA Wijnhoven ◽  
Joop MA van Raaij ◽  
Agneta Yngve ◽  
Agneta Sjöberg ◽  
Marie Kunešová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Behavioural Health ◽  
Unhealthy Eating ◽  
Health Risk Behaviours

AbstractObjectiveTo assess to what extent eight behavioural health risks related to breakfast and food consumption and five behavioural health risks related to physical activity, screen time and sleep duration are present among schoolchildren, and to examine whether health-risk behaviours are associated with obesity.DesignCross-sectional design as part of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (school year 2007/2008). Children’s behavioural data were reported by their parents and children’s weight and height measured by trained fieldworkers. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed.SettingPrimary schools in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Portugal and Sweden; paediatric clinics in the Czech Republic.SubjectsNationally representative samples of 6–9-year-olds (n 15 643).ResultsAll thirteen risk behaviours differed statistically significantly across countries. Highest prevalence estimates of risk behaviours were observed in Bulgaria and lowest in Sweden. Not having breakfast daily and spending screen time ≥2 h/d were clearly positively associated with obesity. The same was true for eating ‘foods like pizza, French fries, hamburgers, sausages or meat pies’ >3 d/week and playing outside <1 h/d. Surprisingly, other individual unhealthy eating or less favourable physical activity behaviours showed either no or significant negative associations with obesity. A combination of multiple less favourable physical activity behaviours showed positive associations with obesity, whereas multiple unhealthy eating behaviours combined did not lead to higher odds of obesity.ConclusionsDespite a categorization based on international health recommendations, individual associations of the thirteen health-risk behaviours with obesity were not consistent, whereas presence of multiple physical activity-related risk behaviours was clearly associated with higher odds of obesity.

scholarly journals Does Prosociality Boost the Uptake of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps? Survey Evidence of Generational Differences in Japan (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiro Shoji ◽  
Asei Ito ◽  
Susumu Cato ◽  
Takashi Iida ◽  
Kenji Ishida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
National Government ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Two Factors

BACKGROUND To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to trace and contain infection chains, and therefore, policymakers have endorsed the usage of contact tracing apps. To date, over 50 countries have released such apps officially or semi-officially, but those which rely on citizens’ voluntary uptake decisions suffer from low adoption rates, aggravating the effectiveness of the apps. Earlier studies suggest that the low uptake is driven by citizens’ concerns about security and privacy, low perceived infection risk, and low perceived benefit from the usage. However, the association between individuals’ prosociality and uptake decision is largely unexplored. OBJECTIVE The objective of our study is to examine the role of prosociality in encouraging the usage of contact tracing apps and its generational differences in Japan. METHODS An online survey was conducted in Japan six months after the release of a government-sponsored contact tracing app. Participants were recruited from those aged between 20 and 69. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to measure prosociality, risk perception, and trust in government. A logistic regression was conducted to examine the association between these factors and uptake. RESULTS A total of 7,084 respondents participated in the survey, and 5,402 observations were used for analysis, of which 791 (14.6%) had ever used the app. Two factors of prosociality were retained: agreeableness and attachment to the community. In the full sample analysis, the uptake was determined by agreeableness, attachment to the community, concern about health risks, concern about social risks, and trust in the national government. However, generational differences existed. The uptake decision of those aged between 20 and 39 was attributed to their attachment to the community (OR 1.28, CI 1.11 – 1.48). Agreeable personality (OR 1.18, CI 1.02 – 1.35), concern about social risk (OR 1.17, CI 1.02 – 1.35), and trust in national government (OR 1.16, CI 1.05 – 1.28) were key determinants for those aged between 40 and 59. For those aged over 60, concerns about health risks determined the uptake decision (OR 1.49, CI 1.24 – 1.80). CONCLUSIONS Policymakers should implement different interventions for each generation to increase the adoption rate of the apps. For seniors, it may be effective to inform them about the health benefits from the apps. For the middle-aged, it is important to mitigate their concerns about security and privacy issues. For younger generations, it is necessary to boost their attachment to their community, which is challenging given the requirement of social-distancing during the pandemic. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable.

scholarly journals Social Perception of Risk-Taking Willingness as a Function of Expressions of Emotions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Hareli ◽  
Shimon Elkabetz ◽  
Yaniv Hanoch ◽  
Ursula Hess
Keyword(s):  
Social Perception ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Risky Behavior ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Social Emotion ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Anger Expressions

Two studies showed that emotion expressions serve as cues to the expresser’s willingness to take risks in general, as well as in five risk domains (ethical, financial, health and safety, recreational, and social). Emotion expressions did not have a uniform effect on risk estimates across risk domains. Rather, these effects fit behavioral intentions associated with each emotion. Thus, anger expressions were related to ethical and social risks. Sadness reduced perceived willingness to take financial (Study 1 only), recreational, and social risks. Happiness reduced perceived willingness to take ethical and health/safety risks relative to neutrality. Disgust expressions increased the perceived likelihood of taking a social risk. Finally, neutrality increased the perceived willingness to engage in risky behavior in general. Overall, these results suggest that observers use their naïve understanding of the meaning of emotions to infer how likely an expresser is to engage in risky behavior.

The importance of belonging and the avoidance of social risk taking in adolescence

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 100981
Author(s):  
Livia Tomova ◽  
Jack L. Andrews ◽  
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Social Risk

scholarly journals The Associations between Health Risk Behaviours and Suicidal Ideation and Attempts in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adolescents

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 666-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracie O Afifi ◽  
Brian J Cox ◽  
Laurence Y Katz
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Sexual Intercourse ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Female Adolescents ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Young Adolescents ◽  
Adolescent Boys ◽  
Health Risk Behaviours ◽  
Nationally Representative

Objective: To examine associations between health risk behaviours and suicidal ideation and attempts in Canadian adolescents aged 12 to 13 years. Young adolescents think about and attempt suicide. However, most existing research on suicide has been conducted on individuals aged 15 years and older. Method: The present study examined a nationally representative Canadian sample of adolescents aged 12 to 13 years ( n = 2090). Health risk behaviours included disruptive (shoplifting, physical fighting, damaging property, fighting with a weapon, carrying a knife, and gambling), sexual (petting below the waist and sexual intercourse), and substance use behaviours (smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, marijuana or hash, and glue or solvents). Unadjusted and adjusted (for all significant health risk behaviour and psychiatric symptoms) models were tested. Results: All health risk behaviours were common among male and female adolescents. In unadjusted models, almost all health risk behaviours were associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among adolescent boys. In adjusted models, only damaging property, sexual intercourse, and smoking cigarettes remained statistically associated with suicidal ideation, while smoking cigarettes and using marijuana or hash remained statistically associated with suicide attempts among adolescent boys. All health risk behaviours were statistically associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among female adolescents in unadjusted models. In adjusted models, only carrying a knife remained statistically associated with suicidal ideation, while shoplifting and gambling remained statistically associated with suicide attempts among adolescent girls. Conclusions: Health risk behaviours among young adolescents are associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among young adolescents. Recognizing health risk behaviours among young adolescents may be one means of understanding who among them is at increased risk of suicidality.

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