Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Temple University and King Abdulaziz University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2018 May;47(5):1052-1072. doi: 10.1007/s10964-017-0752-y. Epub 2017 Oct 19.
Epidemiological data indicate that risk behaviors are among the leading causes of adolescent morbidity and mortality worldwide. Consistent with this, laboratory-based studies of age differences in risk behavior allude to a peak in adolescence, suggesting that adolescents demonstrate a heightened propensity, or inherent inclination, to take risks. Unlike epidemiological reports, studies of risk taking propensity have been limited to Western samples, leaving questions about the extent to which heightened risk taking propensity is an inherent or culturally constructed aspect of adolescence. In the present study, age patterns in risk-taking propensity (using two laboratory tasks: the Stoplight and the BART) and real-world risk taking (using self-reports of health and antisocial risk taking) were examined in a sample of 5227 individuals (50.7% female) ages 10-30 (M = 17.05 years, SD = 5.91) from 11 Western and non-Western countries (China, Colombia, Cyprus, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the US). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) risk taking follows an inverted-U pattern across age groups, peaking earlier on measures of risk taking propensity than on measures of real-world risk taking, and (2) age patterns in risk taking propensity are more consistent across countries than age patterns in real-world risk taking. Overall, risk taking followed the hypothesized inverted-U pattern across age groups, with health risk taking evincing the latest peak. Age patterns in risk taking propensity were more consistent across countries than age patterns in real-world risk taking. Results suggest that although the association between age and risk taking is sensitive to measurement and culture, around the world, risk taking is generally highest among late adolescents.
流行病学数据表明，风险行为是导致全球青少年发病和死亡的主要原因之一。基于实验室的研究表明，风险行为在年龄上存在差异，这表明青少年在风险行为方面表现出更高的倾向或内在倾向。与流行病学报告不同，对冒险倾向的研究仅限于西方样本，这使得人们对冒险倾向增强是青少年固有的还是文化建构的方面存在疑问。在本研究中，我们在来自 11 个西方和非西方国家（中国、哥伦比亚、塞浦路斯、印度、意大利、约旦、肯尼亚、菲律宾、瑞典、泰国和美国）的 5227 名个体（50.7%为女性）样本中，检查了冒险倾向（使用两个实验室任务：Stoplight 和 BART）和现实生活中的风险承担（使用健康和反社会风险承担的自我报告）的年龄模式。我们检验了两个假设：（1）风险承担随着年龄组呈倒 U 型模式，在风险承担倾向的测量上早于现实生活中风险承担的测量达到高峰；（2）风险承担倾向的年龄模式比现实生活中风险承担的年龄模式在各国之间更为一致。总的来说，风险承担在年龄组之间呈现出假设的倒 U 型模式，健康风险承担的高峰出现最晚。风险承担倾向的年龄模式比现实生活中风险承担的年龄模式在各国之间更为一致。结果表明，尽管年龄与风险承担之间的关系对测量和文化敏感，但在世界各地，青少年晚期的风险承担通常最高。
