Teens Choice to Drink :: essays research papers

Article SummeryBeyond Invulnerability The Importance of Benefits in Adolescents Decision to Drink AlcoholIntroduction Many things affect the natural selection of an adolescent to drink alcoholic drink. It is thought that this particular age group thinks that they atomic number 18 not vulnerable to the essays involved with inebriation alcohol. Studies in this area defend resulted in mixed conclusions some support the idea of adolescent invulnerability others do not. Intervention programs seem to work better if they are aimed at reducing gamble taking appearances than helping an adolescent realize their unfeigned invulnerability (in fact vulnerability). Older adolescents seem to be more probably to participate in unsteady behavior because of positive outcomes of previous risky behavior. This experiment is to find out how adolescents perceive the upbeats of risky behavior and how the perceive benefits motivate risky behavior. Five main questions will be discussed1. How do separates perceive both the benefits and risks of drinking alcohol?2. How do risk and benefit perceptions differ across age group?3. Experience differs with age, so how do risk and benefit perceptions differ by experience?4. Do risk and benefit perceptions predict drinking and smoking 6 months later?5. What is the proportional contribution of perceived benefits (or perceived risks) in predicting risk taking behavior? This article is about a longitudinal study, but only focuses on the last two (of three) experiments which were spaced 6 months apart. Methods The sample for this experiment is taken from fifth part, seventh and one-ninth graders in Northern California. The participants were chosen by ace of two regularitys mail based or classroom based. The mail method (letters were sent to the home) recruited 89 fifth graders, 130 seventh graders and 58 ninth graders. The classroom method (information was given to students at school) resulted in 36 fifth graders, 18 seventh grade rs and 102 ninth graders. Participants were given surveys to complete (and later paying(a) with $$). The answers on the surveys were measured in a few different ways. An individuals benefit versus risk perception was measured by having the participants overindulge in a certain probability (percent) that a benefit or risk will happen as a result of a risky behavior. To measure a participants previous experience with benefits or risk they were asked yes or no questions, for example, support you ever liked the buzz you got from drinking alcohol? Or have you ever gotten sick from drinking alcohol? An individuals experience with drinking was also measured by a 5 point Likert scale, participants could chose any point on a range from none to more than 10 times to answer the questions how legion(predicate) times have they drunk alcohol and how many times have they have had six or more drinks.