Abstract
The term “risk-taking” in the field of prevention typically refers to negative behaviors youth engage in that have a high likelihood of resulting in harm to their future development (DiClemente, Hansen, & Ponton, 1996). These risks often involve behaviors that break societal norms for their age group—behaviors such as underage drinking or driving or precocious sexual activity. From the perspective of youth, many of these behaviors are highly reinforcing, often because of the physical thrill they provide or because they are behaviors youth expect to engage in as adults. For these reasons, and others, primary prevention efforts that try to curtail risk-taking behavior all together can fall short of their goals.
This work was supported in part by a cooperative agreement (#U81/CCU309966) and a center gram (#R49/CCR318597-01) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The research and inierpretations reported are the sole responsibility of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by CDC or represent the views, opinions. or policies of the CDC or their staff.
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Meyer, A.L. (2003). Risk-Taking, Adolescence. In: Gullotta, T.P., et al. Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0195-4_130
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0195-4_130
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