Experience of the threat of war among Finnish adolescents: effects on thinking about the future, and comparison of methods.

Abstract

In the first of the three studies presented here, 148 Finnish adolescents of 11, 15 and 18 years of age were interviewed in 1982 about their fears for the future. For the second study, 296 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 20 wrote an essay in 1984 about the future. In the third study, the procedure of the first study was repeated in 1987 on 11‐and 15‐year‐old adolescents. In all the studies, about half of the adolescents expressed a fear of war and the percentage did not change between 1982 and 1987. The mass media were the most important source of information about the issue of nuclear war, and personal communication with teachers and parents had only a marginal role. Adolescents experiencing the threat of war were more interested in their personal future compared with adolescents expressing no fear. The differences between the methods used and their influence on the results are discussed.