Question

Discuss factors that contribute to risk-taking behaviors and situations during adolescence. What impact might stress play on this age group? Do you see any connection between stress and common adolescent risk factors?

Answer 1

Adolescents are more prone to stress than any other age group, and this distress makes them over reactive towards the situations and exhibit risky behaviors such as binge drinking, fast driving, risky sex, and others. The risk-taking behaviors change if an individual observes the others behaving in a risk-seeking fashion. This behavior shift can either make the person more prone to or avoid the risky behavior and is mediated by alteration in the neural processing of risk-taking behavior in the brain (caudate nucleus). There is a strong connection between stress and risk-taking behaviors. People cannot think of the consequences of risky behaviors when they are under stress, for example, binge drinking.

For example, a person can be more prone to use the abusive substances if he observes and like the behavior of another person who is already taking the drugs. Similarly, a person may strictly adhere to traffic rules and wearing seat belts if he/she observes accidents that occurred due to avoiding traffic rules.