Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure
In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an individual being excluded by their...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/6/397 |
| _version_ | 1797564376753897472 |
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| author | Jack L. Andrews Lucy E. Foulkes Jessica K. Bone Sarah-Jayne Blakemore |
| author_facet | Jack L. Andrews Lucy E. Foulkes Jessica K. Bone Sarah-Jayne Blakemore |
| author_sort | Jack L. Andrews |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an individual being excluded by their peers, such as appearing different to one’s friends. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in individuals of 11 years and over (N = 1399). Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:57:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f75c6b7019d457e928a3b844e392d9a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:57:25Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f75c6b7019d457e928a3b844e392d9a2023-11-20T04:40:55ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252020-06-0110639710.3390/brainsci10060397Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New MeasureJack L. Andrews0Lucy E. Foulkes1Jessica K. Bone2Sarah-Jayne Blakemore3Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UKInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UKDepartment of Psychiatry, University College London, London W1T 7BN, UKInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UKIn adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an individual being excluded by their peers, such as appearing different to one’s friends. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in individuals of 11 years and over (N = 1399). Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/6/397adolescencesocial riskhealth riskdepressionrejection sensitivity |
| spellingShingle | Jack L. Andrews Lucy E. Foulkes Jessica K. Bone Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure Brain Sciences adolescence social risk health risk depression rejection sensitivity |
| title | Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure |
| title_full | Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure |
| title_fullStr | Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure |
| title_short | Amplified Concern for Social Risk in Adolescence: Development and Validation of a New Measure |
| title_sort | amplified concern for social risk in adolescence development and validation of a new measure |
| topic | adolescence social risk health risk depression rejection sensitivity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/6/397 |
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