Teens Take Good Risks, Too: An Exploratory Study of Positive Risk Taking in Adolescence

• In Event: 3-138 - Beyond Sex, Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll: The Adaptive Functions of Adolescent Risk-Taking

Integrative Statement

Most research on adolescent risk taking has focused on negative (illegal and potentially harmful) risk behaviors. However, adolescents also take positive (socially acceptable and constructive) risks. Recent news headlines have highlighted examples of positive risk taking among adolescents, with stories about teens winning Olympic medals for landing remarkable snowboard tricks and high school students holding demonstrations on a national platform. What is the nature of positive risk taking and to what extent does it benefit adolescents? The present study explored positive risk taking in a sample of 164 American adolescents (45% female) ages 16-20 (M = 17.9; SD = .72) using a novel self-report scale of positive risk taking. The study had three aims: (1) examine associations among self-reported positive and negative risk taking, and risk taking on experimental risk tasks; (2) explore the relation between positive risk taking and two common correlates of negative risk taking: sensation seeking and self-regulation; (3) determine whether positive risk taking is associated with indicators of positive functioning, such as perseverance (“grit”), school engagement, and mental health.

Self-reported positive risk taking was measured with 10 items (e.g., Taken a class in a subject that seemed challenging; Started a friendship with someone new) that were entered into an exploratory factor analysis and loaded onto a single factor, yielding strong reliability (alpha = .746). Negative risk taking was measured with a composite of 15 items, including items from the Benthin Risk Perception scale (alpha = .779). Behavioral risk taking was measured with the Stoplight (a computerized driving task in which subjects choose whether or not to drive through various intersections and risk crashing), and the BART (a computerized task in which subjects choose how much air to pump into a balloon, with more pumps indicating greater risk taking). Sensation seeking, self-regulation, perseverance, and school engagement were measured using self-report scales (alpha range = .663-.737). Internalizing symptoms were measured with mothers’ and fathers’ reports from the anxious/depressed, somatic complaints, and withdrawn subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (alpha = .898 for mothers; alpha = .967 for fathers).

All analyses adjusted for parental education, intellectual functioning (WASI matrix reasoning), race, and gender. Using a series of linear regressions, results indicated that positive risk taking was associated with greater self-reported negative risk taking and greater behavioral risk taking. Positive risk taking was associated with greater sensation seeking, but was not associated with self-regulation. Regarding indicators of positive functioning, positive risk taking was associated with higher school engagement, but was not associated with perseverance or internalizing symptoms. Findings indicate that adolescents who take negative risks also take positive risks, and that capitalizing on youths’ interests in novel, rewarding sensations may be one way to encourage engagement in positive risks. Furthermore, positive risk taking appears to have positive implications for adolescents’ school engagement. Future directions and applications to positive youth development programs are discussed.

Authors

• Natasha Duell, UNC Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Jason Chein, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Thomas M Olino, Temple University, Department of Psychology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laurence D. Steinberg, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author