Involvement In Risky Behaviors Research Articles

Changes in Restless Sleep, Self-Control, and Alcohol-Related Problems with Police from Late Adolescence to Adulthood.

Sleep quality is crucial for healthy adolescent brain development, which has downstream effects on self-control and involvement in risky behaviors, such as alcohol use. While previous studies have found that sleep and facets of self-control are associated with patterns of alcohol use, few have assessed whether these constructs are tied to alcohol-related problems with law enforcement during the transitional period from adolescence to adulthood. The current study uses self-report panel data from ages 16 to 27 from a population-based sample of U.S. youth (N = 956; 36.86% female). The goal of the current study is to assess the association between changes in restless sleep, impulsivity, sensation seeking, and problems with police during or shortly after consuming alcohol from adolescence to adulthood to begin to address this gap in the existing literature. Results from a multivariate latent growth curve model reveal that faster increases in restless sleep and slower declines in impulsivity are associated with slower declines in police contact. Correlated changes between restless sleep, impulsivity, and police contact are slightly greater from ages 16-21 than for ages 22-27, with males showing stronger associations. The reported results suggest that identifying developmental mechanisms between changes in poor sleep, impulsivity, and alcohol use behaviors during this life-course phase will be crucial moving forward to help divert youth away from alcohol-related contact with the police.

Analyzing risky behaviors among different minority and majority race in teenagers in the USA using latent classes.

Objective: This study is to ascertain any inconsistencies in the trend of co-occurrence by sex of teenage health risk behavior patterns such as smoking, behaviors contributing to deliberate and unintentional injuries, risky sexual behavior, and sedentary lifestyle. Methods: The study's purpose was accomplished using Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2013 data. A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted for the entire sample of teenagers as well as separately for each sex. Results: In this subset of youths, marijuana use was acknowledged by more than half of them, and smoking cigarettes was far more likely. More than half of the individuals in this subset engaged in risky sexual practices, like not using a condom during their most recent encounter. Males were split into three categories based on their involvement in risky behavior, while females were split into four subgroups. Conclusion: Regardless of gender, various risk behaviors among teenagers are connected. However, gender variations in the higher risk of particular trends, such as mood disorders and depression among females, underline the significance of creating treatments that take adolescent demographics into account.

Perception of Risk Behaviors and Its Relationship with Level of Religiosity among Teenagers' Mothers

Empirical evidence links parents' attitudes, perceptions, and behavior with their children's functioning and involvement in risky behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceptions of Israeli mothers towards risk behaviors and their willingness to accept risk behaviors in their children, while also looking at the connection of these behaviors to the mothers and the children’s level of religiosity. Quantitative questionnaires were given to 284 mothers of teenagers aged 13–18 – 141 secular mothers and 143 religious mothers. The findings revealed that the mothers' willingness to accept risk behaviors by their children was more rigid than their general perception of risk behaviors and was related to the assessment of their child's risk. The assessment of the child's risk level was found to be related to their level of religiosity in the mother’s eyes. In addition, religious mothers were found to demonstrate a more rigid stance towards risky behaviors than secular mothers. However, no differences were found between religious and secular mothers in the willingness to accept their children's risk behaviors. The research and applied importance of the findings is discussed.

PTSD as a Predictor of Differential Development of Dual Systems Model Constructs: A Group-Based Trajectory Modeling Approach

The dual systems model is a prominent framework for understanding how differential cognitive development of impulse control and sensation-seeking predicts peak involvement in risky behaviors during adolescence. This study examines heterogeneity in the development of dual systems constructs and examines post-traumatic stress disorder as a driver of differential development. This study utilized data from all 11 waves of the Pathways to Desistance study. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify heterogeneity in developmental patterns of impulse control and sensation-seeking. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the relevance of post-traumatic stress disorder for predicting differential development. Results indicated that three-group models provided best fit to the data for both constructs. All groups in both models were highly stable and demonstrated rank stability. Meeting criteria for a lifetime diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder predicted patterns of stable and high sensation-seeking, but did not predict development of impulse control. Findings suggest that individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder should be targeted with programming to diminish sensation-seeking; potentially through criminal justice system intervention.

Does Early Adolescent Arrest Alter the Developmental Course of Offending into Young Adulthood?

Adolescent involvement in risky behavior is ubiquitous and normative. Equally pervasive is the rapid decline in risky behavior during the transition to adulthood. Yet, for many, risky behavior results in arrest. Whereas prior research finds that arrest is associated with an increased risk of experiencing a host of detrimental outcomes, less understood is the impact of an arrest on the developmental course of offending compared to what it would have looked like if no arrest had occurred-the counterfactual. This study examines the developmental implications of an arrest early in the life course. The sample (N = 1293) was 37% female, 42% non-white, with a mean age of 13.00 years (SD = 0.82, range = 12-14) at baseline and followed annually for 15 years. Analyses combine propensity score matching and multilevel modeling techniques to estimate the impact of early arrest (i.e., 14 or younger) on the development of offending from adolescence into adulthood. The results indicate that early arrest alters the developmental course of offending in two primary ways. First, early arrest heightens involvement, frequency, and severity of offending throughout adolescence and into early young adulthood even after controlling for subsequent arrests. The detrimental influence of early arrest on the developmental course of offending is found regardless of gender or race/ethnicity. Second, even among youth with an early arrest, offending wanes over time with self-reported offending among all youth nearly absent by the mid- to late-twenties. The findings advance understanding of the developmental implications of early arrest beyond typical and expected offending.

The effect of motorcyclists’ age on injury severities in single-motorcycle crashes with unobserved heterogeneity

Introduction: Due to the myriad of unique characteristics associated with motorcycle operation, motorcycle safety is a public health concern as complex as it is serious. National crash data suggest motorcyclists are 28 times more likely to be killed when compared to passenger car occupants. In the state of Florida, motorcycle crashes are 1.5 times more likely to result in the death of the rider, placing Florida among the top deadliest states for motorcyclists in the nation. Using police-reported data from 2016, this study addresses the complex and interconnected nature of the many characteristics associated with motorcycle operation by investigating the effect of age on motorcyclists’ riding behavior as it relates to injury severity for single-motorcycle crashes in the state of Florida. Method: To account for unobserved heterogeneity in the crash data, mixed logit models with heterogeneity in means and variances were estimated to model three injury severity outcomes (non-visible, severe, and fatal) for three age groups (under 30, 30–49, and 50 and above). Results: Model results indicate that age affects motorcyclists’ safety perception and ability to assess risks, thereby influencing their involvement in risky behaviors. Characteristics unique to motorcycle operation—spatial characteristics, speed, motorcycle type, time of day, helmet usage, alcohol consumption, ejection from motorcycle, passenger presence, endorsement status, and lighting—are further complicated by their dependency on the characteristics of the individual motorcyclist. Age of motorcyclist indicates a relationship between motorcyclists’ behavior and perceived safety. Conclusion: The model results indicated that statistically significant parameters constituted different models and they were not equal across the age groups of motorcyclists: aged under 30, aged 30–49, and aged 50 and above. Through advanced econometric modeling, this study fills a gap in the existing literature and assists the safety professionals, motorcycle trainers, policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and roadway designers in developing countermeasures.

Testing a Culturally Adapted Youth Substance Use Prevention Program in a Mexican Border City: Mantente REAL

Background: This article reports on a test of a youth substance use prevention program conducted in Nogales-Sonora, a Mexican city on the US border. Objective: The study tested the efficacy of a version of the keepin' it REAL curriculum for middle school students that was culturally adapted for Mexico and renamed Mantente REAL. Methods: Students in 7th grade classrooms in four public schools participated in the study (N = 1,418, 49% female, mean age = 11.9). Using a clustered randomized design, two schools received the intervention and two served as a treatment-as-usual control group. Regular classroom teachers were trained to deliver the twelve-lesson Mantente REAL manualized curriculum. Parents provided active consent and students gave written assent to collect pretest and posttest questionnaire data, 7 months apart, at the beginning and end of the 2017-2018 academic year. We assessed the Mantente REAL intervention with general linear models adjusted for baseline, attrition, non-linear distributions, and school-level clustering. Results: Students who participated in Mantente REAL reported relatively less frequent use of alcohol and illicit drugs other than marijuana, compared to students in control schools. Males alone reported desirable intervention effects for marijuana use. These desirable effects were especially strong among students who reported higher initial levels of involvement in risky behaviors. Among students more at risk, both females and males receiving the program reported relative reductions in the frequency of use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Conclusions: These promising results within the Mexico-US border context support a further dissemination of the intervention and additional youth prevention research in the region.

“I missed open arms”: The need for connectedness among Black youth affected by parental drug use

Parental drug use has significant impacts on the physical, behavioral and social well-being of adolescents, particularly those from disenfranchised communities. We conducted a qualitative study to understand connectedness among Black youth affected by parental drug use in Baltimore, Maryland USA. In-depth interviews (N = 30) were conducted with three groups: parents with a history of drug use, youth (18-24yo) who had a biological parent with a history of drug use and youth providers with experience working with families affected by drug use. Data were analyzed inductively using a content analytic approach. Three salient themes emerged: (1) missing parental connections, (2) the desire for consistent, trusted adults and (3) the consequences of missed connections. All participants emphasized the limited emotional support and guidance provided to youth affected by parental drug use. However, extended family members (e.g., grandmothers, aunts, and older siblings) and community mentors stepped in to fulfill unmet needs, when possible. The consequences of missed connections were increased involvement in risky behaviors, fewer basic necessities and a missed childhood. Findings from the study deepen the understanding of how to support the well-being of youth impacted by parental drug use and highlight the value of including the voices of vulnerable families in research.

Identification of Tendency to Alcohol Misuse From the Structural Brain Networks.

The propensity to engage in risky behaviors including excessive alcohol consumption may impose increased medical, emotional, and psychosocial burdens. Personality and behavioral traits of individuals may contribute in part to the involvement in risky behaviors, and therefore the classification of one’s traits may help identify those who are at risk for future onset of the addictive disorder and related behavioral issues such as alcohol misuse. Personality and behavioral characteristics including impulsivity, anger, reward sensitivity, and avoidance were assessed in a large sample of healthy young adults (n = 475). Participants also underwent diffusion tensor imaging for the analysis of structural brain networks. A data-driven clustering using personality and behavioral traits of the participants identified four subtypes. As compared with individuals clustered into the neutral type, individuals with a high level of impulsivity (A subtype) and those with high levels of reward sensitivity, impulsivity, anger, and avoidance (B subtype) showed significant associations with problem drinking. In contrast, individuals with high levels of impulsivity, anger, and avoidance but not reward sensitivity (C subtype) showed a pattern of social drinking that was similar to those of the neutral subtype. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis with ridge estimators was applied to demonstrate the neurobiological relevance for the identified subtypes according to distinct patterns of structural brain connectivity within the addiction circuitry [neutral vs. A subtype, the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.67–0.81; neutral vs. B subtype, AUC = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.66–0.82; neutral vs. C subtype, AUC = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.70–0.84]. The current findings enable the characterization of individuals according to subtypes based on personality and behavioral traits that are also corroborated by neuroimaging data and may provide a platform to better predict individual risks for addictive disorders.

Nonmedical prescription drug use among Hispanic youths: An emerging problem

Nonmedical prescription drug (NMPD) use is a significant public health issue among Hispanic youths. Limited information on risk and protective factors for NMPD use among Hispanic youths is known. The present study examined use rates and identified factors that increase and decrease odds for use. In so doing, prevention and intervention efforts can be enhanced. A total of 946 Hispanic youths in seventh through twelfth grade participated in this study. Participants completed the PRIDE questionnaire assessing substance abuse involvement. Overall, study findings indicated that 16.4% of youths used NMPDs in their lifetime. Involvement in risky behavior increased odds for use whereas having high levels of parent protective factors and teacher/school protective factors decreased the odds for use. Peer use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana also increased the odds of NMPD use. Findings indicate NMPD use is problematic for Hispanic youths. Professionals working with Hispanic youths may benefit from study findings as risk and protective factors are identified that may prevent NMPD use.

Emerging Adults’ Risk-Taking Behaviors: Personal and Social Predictors

The purpose of the present study was to investigate associations between emerging adults’ perceptions of their peers’ involvement in risky behavior, ability to resist peer influence, self-efficacy beliefs to resist risk-taking behaviors and personal traits—sensation seeking and emotion regulation—, and frequency of involvement in risky sex, drugs, and alcohol. The 437 participants were diverse undergraduates from a large urban university. The results showed strong associations. Self-efficacy to resist risks and peer involvement in risks, each played a significant role in relations.

Youth perspectives on parents’ involvement in residential care in Israel

Summary This exploratory study deals with biological parents’ involvement in residential placement in Israel from the point of view of 79 youth who left care. It presents youth’s retrospectives on their parents’ involvement in care and the degree to which the placement staff involved parents in reality. The youth functioning while in care and after leaving were also examined according to their parents’ involvement. Findings Results show that only a quarter of the youth reported that staff involved their parents on a regular basis. T-tests and chi square tests showed significant differences in functioning between young adults with high and low parental involvement. Youth whose parents were more involved had better educational achievement in care and after and reported significantly lower involvement in risky behaviors than those with lower parental involvement. However, no group differences were found regarding outcomes in adjustment to military service and financial status. Applications The findings emphasize the gaps in parental involvement in care by staff and the potential contribution of engaging biological parents in the lives of their children while in care and toward emancipation.

Violence Victimization in Korean Adolescents: Risk Factors and Psychological Problems.

We examined the risk factors for and psychological problems associated with violence victimization in a nationwide representative sample of Korean adolescents. Data from the 2016 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey was used. Participants were asked about their experience of being a victim of violence that required medical treatment during the past 12 months, as well as their perceived health, happiness, sleep satisfaction, stress, depressed mood, and suicidality. The 12-month prevalence of violence victimization requiring medical treatment was 2.4%. The results indicated that adolescents were at an increased risk for violence victimization if they were male, older, had parents of a foreign nationality, did not reside with their family, worked part time, resided in small cities or rural areas, were high or low in socioeconomic status (SES), exhibited high or low levels of academic performance, used alcohol or tobacco, and were sexually active. In addition, while violence victimization was negatively associated with perceived health and happiness, it was positively associated with perceived stress, depressed mood, and suicidality. The results indicate that a social disadvantage, involvement in risky behavior, and psychological problems are associated with violence victimization. Effective violence prevention efforts should thus target high-risk groups, and clinical attention is needed to address the psychological costs associated with violence victimization.

Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of intertemporal choice

AbstractThere is a growing interest in studying individual differences in choices that involve trading off reward amount and delay to delivery because such choices have been linked to involvement in risky behaviors, such as substance abuse. The most ubiquitous proposal in psychology is to model these choices assuming delayed rewards lose value following a hyperbolic function, which has one free parameter, named discounting rate. Consequently, a fundamental issue is the estimation of this parameter. The traditional approach estimates each individual’s discounting rate separately, which discards individual differences during modeling and ignores the statistical structure of the population. The present work adopted a different approximation to parameter estimation: each individual’s discounting rate is estimated considering the information provided by all subjects, using state-of-the-art Bayesian inference techniques. Our goal was to evaluate whether individual discounting rates come from one or more subpopulations, using Mazur’s (1987) hyperbolic function. Twelve hundred eighty-four subjects answered the Intertemporal Choice Task developed by Kirby, Petry and Bickel (1999). The modeling techniques employed permitted the identification of subjects who produced random, careless responses, and who were discarded from further analysis. Results showed that one-mixture hierarchical distribution that uses the information provided by all subjects suffices to model individual differences in delay discounting, suggesting psychological variability resides along a continuum rather than in discrete clusters. This different approach to parameter estimation has the potential to contribute to the understanding and prediction of decision making in various real-world situations where immediacy is constantly in conflict with magnitude.

Sero-Prevalence of Bloodborne Tumor Viruses (HCV, HBV, HTLV-I and KSHV Infections) and Related Risk Factors among Prisoners in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran, in 2008.

BackgroundPrisoners are at high risk of blood borne and sexually transmitted infections due to their high involvement in risky behaviors. In this descriptive/cross-sectional study, the prevalence, sero-prevalence, and risk factors for bloodborne tumor viruses including HTLV-I, HBV, HCV, and KSHV were evaluated among inmates of two central prisons in the northeast of Iran.MethodsBlood samples of 1114 inmates were analyzed for the presence of anti HTLV-I, KSHV, and HCV antibodies and HBsAg by ELISA. PCR tests were performed to confirm the presence of these viruses in plasma and identify the current infections.ResultsThe sero-prevalence of HCV, HBV, HTLV-I, and KSHV was 24.5%, 4.2%, 3.4%, and 3.2% and the prevalence of HCV, HBV, HTLV-I, and KSHV was 19.1%, 2.1%, 2%, and 3%, respectively. HCV infection was significantly associated with history of imprisonment, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption, intravenous drug use, length of imprisonment, and type of crime committed. Thirty one (2.8%) prisoners had HCV-KSHV co-infection, 16 (1.5%) had HCV-HTLV-I co-infection, and 14 (1.3%) had HBV-HCV co-infection. Triple co-infection was observed in seven cases and one case had four infections concomitantly.ConclusionsThis epidemiological study indicated different rates and transmission risks for these viruses. HCV was the most contagious viral infection and HTLV-I was the weakest in the prisoners. Apart from KSHV infection which its prevalence was as twice as in the general population, the prevalence of HBV and HTLV-I in prisoners was nearly in ranges of the general population.

Understanding Risk-taking Behavior in Bullies, Victims, and Bully Victims Using Cognitive- and Emotion-Focused Approaches.

Bullying and risky behavior are two common problems among adolescents and can strongly affect a youth’s overall functioning when both coexist. Some studies suggest that bullying in adolescence may promote risky behavior as a coping strategy to deal with victimization related stress. Other studies consider bullying as an outcome of high-risk behavior. Despite the association between the two is well-established, no study has examined the risk-taking patterns among bullying groups (i.e., bully, victim, and bully victim). This study attempted to elucidate the potential relationships between bullying and risk-taking by addressing the two models: a cognitive-focused model and an emotion-focused model of risk taking, and to clarify how adolescents’ characteristics in risk taking associate with bullying outcomes.Method: 136 Chinese adolescents (Mean Age = 14.5, M = 65, F = 71) were recruited and grouped according to bullying identity: Bully (n = 27), Victim (n = 20), Bully victim (n = 37) and Control (n = 52). Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE) questionnaire was used to measure participants’ expectancies about the risks, benefits and involvement associated with risky activities. Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT) was administered to capture the emotion-laden process in risk taking.Results: Cognitively, Bully was associated with an overestimation of risk while Victim was associated with an underestimation of risk and overrated benefit. Bully victim exhibited a unique pattern with an overestimation of benefit and risk. All study groups projected higher involvement in risky behavior. Behaviorally, both Bully and Bully victim were associated with high risk modulation whereas Victim was associated with impulsive decision-making. Interestingly, compared with bully, bully victim had significantly higher bullying scores, suggesting a wider range and more frequent bullying activities. In conclusion, Bully maybe a group of adolescents that is vigilant in situational deliberation and risk modulation while Victims with high impulsivity, are more likely to place themselves in risky situations. Bully victims presented the combined pattern of the two pure groups and associated with the highest risk-taking propensity. Better picture of risk taking pattern associated with different groups was illustrated, allowing better matching for future prevention and intervention program for distinct bullying individuals.

Sibling relationship quality and Mexican-origin adolescents’ and young adults’ familism values and adjustment

We examined profiles of sibling relationship qualities in 246 Mexican-origin families living in the United States using latent profile analyses. Three profiles were identified: Positive, Negative, and Affect-Intense. Links between profiles and youths’ familism values and adjustment were assessed using longitudinal data. Siblings in the Positive profile reported the highest familism values, followed by siblings in the Affect-Intense profile and, finally, siblings in the Negative profile. Older siblings in the Positive and Affect-Intense profiles reported fewer depressive symptoms than siblings in the Negative profile. Further, in the Positive and Negative profiles, older siblings reported less involvement in risky behaviors than younger siblings. In the Negative profile, younger siblings reported greater sexual risk behaviors in late adolescence than older siblings; siblings in opposite-sex dyads, as compared to same-sex dyads, engaged in riskier sexual behaviors. Our findings highlight sibling relationship quality as promotive and risky, depending on sibling characteristics and adjustment outcomes.

Sex Differences in the Health Risk Behavior Outcomes of Childhood Bullying Victimization

ABSTRACTShort- and long-term health consequences of bullying victimization are well documented and include physical and mental health issues as well as increased involvement in risky behavior, but research exploring sex differences in victimization outcomes is still limited. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth—1997 to examine the consequences of victimization by sex and, more specifically, relationships between bullying victimization and later health risk behaviors—including risky sexual activity, smoking, alcohol use, and drug use. Multivariate analyses identified sex differences for specific health risk indicators, and a substantial difference was evident for overall risk.

Risky behaviors, e-cigarette use and susceptibility of use among college students

BackgroundSince 2007, there has been a rise in the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). The present study uses cross-sectional data (2013) to examine prevalence, correlates and susceptibility to e-cigarettes among young adults. MethodsData were collected using an Internet survey from a convenience sample of 1437, 18–23 year olds attending four colleges/universities in Upstate New York. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics; logistic regression models were analyzed to identify correlates of e-cigarette use and susceptibility to using e-cigarettes. ResultsNearly all respondents (95.5%) reported awareness of e-cigarettes; 29.9% were ever users and 14.9% were current users. Younger students, males, non-Hispanic Whites, respondents reporting average/below average school ability, ever smokers and experimenters of tobacco cigarettes, and those with lower perceptions of harm regarding e-cigarettes demonstrated higher odds of ever use or current use. Risky behaviors (i.e., tobacco, marijuana or alcohol use) were associated with using e-cigarettes. Among never e-cigarette users, individuals involved in risky behaviors or, with lower harm perceptions for e-cigarettes, were more susceptible to future e-cigarette use. ConclusionsMore e-cigarette users report use of another nicotine product besides e-cigarettes as the first nicotine product used; this should be considered when examining whether e-cigarette use is related to cigarette susceptibility. Involvement in risky behaviors is related to e-cigarette use and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. Among college students, e-cigarette use is more likely to occur in those who have also used other tobacco products, marijuana, and/or alcohol.

Seroprevalence of Hepatitits B, Hepatitits C, HIV and Syphilis infections among non-injecting drug users

Objective: While injection drug use is clearly a significant risk factor for the acquisition of certain infectious diseases, non-injection drug users (NIDUs) may also have higher risk than the general population, due to their involvement in risky behaviors. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of anti-HIV, anti-HCV, and HBsAg and VDRL seropositivity among a sample of non-injecting drug users. Methods: Medical records of the drug users who attended to our psychiatry clinics between April 2010 and April 2011 were reviewed and 55 non-injecting drug users without a previous history of intravenous drug use were identified. Anti-HIV, anti-HCV, HBs-Ag and VDRL assay results have been extracted and seroprevalence rates were calculated. Results: All but one NIDUs were male (n=54; 98. 2%); 28 (50.9%) were between 15 and 25 years of age. Serologically, only one patient (a heroin user) was tested positive for HBsAg (1.81%) and one patient (a heroin user) was anti-HCV positive. None of the patients screened for anti-HIV or VDRL were tested positive. Conclusions: This study found low seropositivity rates for HBV, HBC, HIV and VDRL among a group of NIDUs, which might be related to the cultural characteristics of the region.