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Adolescents are known to take more risks than adults, which can be harmful to their health and well-being. Interventions aimed at reducing risk taking typically provide descriptions of the negative outcomes that may result from a risky choice, and have shown little evidence of actually preventing risk taking. This lack of efficacy may be due in part to differences between how adolescents process information about risk when it is described (e.g., in a classroom intervention) versus when it is experienced (e.g., when a teenager experiences the outcome of a risky choice). In the present work, I first summarize the Description-Experience (D-E) gap literature from the adult Judgment and Decision Making field, which makes the crucial distinction between choice behavior when information is acquired to descriptions relative to experience. Next, I relate work on the D-E gap to laboratory research on risk taking between adolescents and adults. A review of the developmental literature demonstrates that experience-based experimental paradigms are more likely to show heightened risk taking in adolescents relative to adults (Rosenbaum et al., Resubmitted), and is consistent with an affect-based explanation of risk taking. In Experiment 1, I present a novel within-subjects D-E gap paradigm, which I test in a sample of young adults, and show individual differences in the degree of bias when participants make choices from description verses experience. Subsequently, in Experiment 2, I test cohorts of adolescents and adults in the within-subjects D-E gap paradigm. In this developmental experiment, I additionally measure eye tracking to better understand decision processing and changes in heart rate variability by task (description, experience) and age group. Results show that adolescents and adults take similar risks in DFD and DFE, but unlike adults, adolescents’ choices in DFD do not adhere to prospect theory predictions. Further, in DFD, adolescents spend more time looking at probabilities than values, while adults show the opposite pattern. Conversely, in DFE, adolescents make choices consistent with underweighting rare outcomes, similar to adults. There is some evidence that adolescents show enhanced rare-outcome underweighting relative to adults, even after controlling for sampling bias. Concurrently, adolescents show a higher change in LFHRV from baseline relative to adults during DFE, but not in DFD. In sum, results are consistent with the idea that adolescents have trouble utilizing descriptive information, but are able to adapt choices readily based on information acquired through experience. Teens, relative to adults, may show enhanced biases toward risk taking when a rare outcome is unfavorable, a process that may be supported by higher affective arousal. / Psychology

The Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI) was created to measure drivers' self-reported propensity to drive dangerously (Dula & Ballard, in press). In the early stages of development, the DDDI and each of its subscales (Dangerous Driving Total, Aggressive Driving, Negative Emotional Driving, and Risky Driving) were found to have strong internal reliability (alphas from .83 to .92), and there was evidence of construct validity. In Study One, the alpha coefficient of .91 for the DDDI Total scale indicated excellent internal reliability for the measure and good internal reliability was demonstrated for its subscales with coefficient alphas equal to .81 for the DDDI Risky Driving subscale, .79 for the DDDI Negative Emotional subscale, and the DDDI Aggressive Driving subscale. Additionally, convergent and divergent validity was shown for the DDDI, but evidence was weaker for the validity of the separate subscales. Factor analysis demonstrated that the DDDI seemed to measure a unitary construct. In Study Two, coefficients of stability were generated from a four-week test-retest procedure, which were .76 for the DDDI Risky Driving subscale, .68 for the DDDI Negative Emotional subscale, .55 for the DDDI Aggressive Driving subscale, and .73 for the DDDI Total. In Study Three, the percentage of variance accounted for in criterion variables by different models ranged from 13.6% to 47.7%, where the DDDI Negative Emotional and DDDI Total scales frequently accounted for large portions of variance. In Study Four, the percent of variance accounted for in criterion variables by different models ranged from 22.0% to 65.6%, where some of the DDDI scales were regularly found to account for significant variance. Thus, it was concluded that the DDDI is a measure with high levels of internal reliability and reasonable stability across time, and that face, construct, and predictive validity was demonstrated. However, the evidence in support of the present division of subscales was weak, though present. Therefore, should further data fail to produce more substantial evidence for the validity of the DDDI subscales, a singular dangerous driving measure would be warranted, and the number of items should be shortened as guided by results from factorial analysis. / Ph. D.

Risky decision-making and social influence are associated with many health-risk behaviors. However, more work is necessary to understand risky decision-making and social influence. Additionally, to begin identifying ways to change individuals' engagement in health-risk behaviors, more work is necessary to understand whether and how risky decision-making and social influence can be modulated. Using computational modeling in conjunction with other techniques, this dissertation 1) explores mechanisms underlying risky decision-making under social influence (Study 1) and 2) examines how individuals could modulate risky decision-making and social influence (Studies 2 and 3). Study 1 identifies a novel social heuristic decision-making process whereby individuals who are more uncertain about risky decisions follow others and proposes dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) as a 'controller' of this heuristic. Study 2 finds that giving individuals agency in viewing social information increases the utility of that information. Study 3 finds that some individuals can modulate brain patterns associated with risky decision-making using a real-time fMRI (rt-fMRI) neurofeedback paradigm, and preliminarily shows that this leads to behavior change in risky decision-making. In sum, these studies expand on previous work elucidating mechanisms of risky decision-making under social influence and suggest two possible avenues (agency and real-time fMRI neurofeedback) by which individuals can be taught to change their behavior when making risky decisions under social influence. / Doctor of Philosophy / Risky decision-making and social influence are associated with many health-risk behaviors such as smoking and alcohol use. However, more work is necessary to understand risky decision-making and social influence. Additionally, to identify ways to change individuals' engagement in health-risk behaviors, more work is necessary to understand how risky decision-making and social influence can be changed. Here, computational modeling, a way to quantify individual's behavior, is used in a series of studies to 1) understand how individuals make risky decisions under social influence (Study 1) and 2) test ways in which individuals can be guided to change the way they respond to social influence (Study 2) and make risky decisions (Study 3). Study 1 shows that individuals who do not have strong preferences respond to social information in a different way than those who do and utilizes neuroimaging to identify a particular brain region which may be responsible for this process. Study 2 shows that individuals are more influenced by others when they ask to see their choices, as compared to passively viewing others' choices. Study 3 shows that a brain–computer interface can be used to guide individuals to change their brain activity related to risky decision-making and preliminarily demonstrates that following this training individuals change their risky decisions. Together, these studies further the field's understanding of how individuals make risky decisions under social influence and suggest avenues for behavior change in risky decision-making under social influence.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children. Many injuries to school-aged children occur during unsupervised peer activities, but peer influences on risky behavior in preadolescence remain under-investigated. We examined peer context effects on reported risk-taking, identified predictors of peer influence, and compared peer influence in high- and low-social-functioning groups. Forty-one boys aged 8-10 years listened to scenarios in which they encountered opportunities for risk-taking (e.g., swimming unsupervised, playing with matches) with their best friends, with "cool guys" (desired peers), with disliked peers, and alone. They rated the likelihood that they would engage in risky behavior in each condition for each scenario. Children also completed measures of friendship satisfaction, peer orientation, and socially desirable responding. Parents completed the CBCL and an injury history form. Children reported more risk-taking with positive peers than alone, and less with negative peers than alone. Four variables (peer orientation, friendship satisfaction, social problems, mother unmarried) accounted for 77% of the observed variance in peer influence on risk-taking. Children in the high social competence group showed larger peer influence, and indicated a preference for risk-taking with best friends over cool guys. Results are discussed in terms of improving injury prevention efforts by reconceptualizing "peer pressure" as a developmentally adaptive aspect of child functioning. / Master of Science

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relation of sexual attitudes and knowledge on risky sexual behavior (RSB), while including sex, sexual double standards (SDS), and conservative religiosity as moderators. Findings suggested that sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes, and conservative religiosity associated negatively with RSB for female participants. SDS positively associated with RSB for male participants. The interaction of sexual knowledge and SDS on RSB was significant in male participants and indicated that higher sexual knowledge is associated with higher RSB when SDS is higher. The interaction of sexual knowledge and conservative religiosity on RSB was significant in male participants and indicated that religiosity may serve as a protective factor against engagement in risky behaviors. There was a significant interaction of sexual attitudes and SDS on RSB in female participants, which indicated a negative relation between sexual attitudes and RSB when SDS was low.

The aim of this theses is to establish, with reference to relevant literature, what is the impact of selective primary prevention programs in several chosen classes from the viewpoint of the lecturers of these programs. The author lays out and describes in detail the concepts of risky behaviours, primary prevention of risky behaviours, selective primary prevention, lecturer of primary prevention programs and other concepts relevant to the subject at hand. In the research part of this theses, the author deals with a research problem formulated as follows: What is the impact of selective primary prevention programs in chosen classes from the perspective of the lecturers? The selected method is qualitative research. The specific chosen research tool is a half-structured dialogue, conducted with lecturers of programs of selective primary prevention with at least two years of experience in the field. KEYWORDS Risky behaviours; primary prevention of risky behaviours; lecturer of primary prevention programs; selective primary prevention; selective primary prevention programs.

Adolescent reckless behavior is a major concern for society because it leads to the three most common causes of mortality for this age group. Body image and self-esteem have been proposed as constructs that have an effect on adolescents’ participation in reckless behavior. Self-esteem, however, has been garnering criticism in recent years for promoting narcissism and downward social comparison with others. Self-compassion is an alternative to self-esteem that focuses on accepting oneself and having feelings of common humanity. This report proposes a study that would measure reckless behavior in adolescents, and look at the effect self-compassion, self-esteem, and body image has on it. In addition, self-compassion will be examined to see if it moderates the effect body image has on self-esteem. / text

Les accidents routiers restent un problème important du secteur public de la santé au niveau international, national et régional. L’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé estime que plus d’un million de personnes meurent chaque année à cause d’un accident routier et entre 20 et 50 millions sont blessées ("Global status report on road safety: time for action," 2009). Parmi les conducteurs tués dans des accidents routiers, les jeunes conducteurs représentent au moins un quart (OECD, 2006). Les causes principales des accidents routiers, telles qu’elles sont mises en évidence dans le rapport de 2004 de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (Peden et al., 2004), sont : la conduite sous l’influence de l’alcool, la vitesse, la conduite en état avancé de fatigue, l’utilisation du téléphone portable, la visibilité réduite et les facteurs appartenant à la qualité de la route. A ces causes, pour les jeunes, il faut rajouter la recherche des sensations, l’excitabilité et l’influence des pairs (A. F. Williams, 2006). L’influence des pairs représente un sujet controversé dans la littérature de spécialité à cause des résultats obtenus. Une partie des chercheurs considèrent que la présence des pairs a un effet plutôt négatif (Arnett et al., 1997; Doherty et al., 1998; Moller & Gregersen, 2008), pendant que l’autre envisage plutôt un effet positif (Delhomme, 1994; Engstrom, Gregersen, Granstrom, & Nyberg, 2008; Rueda-Domingo et al., 2004; Vollrath, Meilinger, & Krager, 2002). Cette recherche analyse l’effet des pairs sur les comportements à risque des jeunes conducteurs roumains et français en utilisant la théorie du comportement planifié, mais aussi l’effet de différents types de pressions de la part des pairs sur le comportement du jeune conducteur. Les résultats ont mis en évidence que les normes subjectives et surtout les normes subjectives de la part des amis, contribuent significativement à expliquer l’intention de réaliser des comportements à risque comme le dépassement de la vitesse et la conduite sous l’influence de l’alcool. Les analyses comparatives ont montré aussi des différences entre les deux populations. Par exemple, pour la population roumaine, les normes se retrouvent plus souvent dans les resultats des analyses que dans le cas de la population française. En plus, les jeunes conducteurs français ont un point de vue plutôt instrumental envers la voiture, en tant que pour les jeunes conducteurs roumains, la voiture représente plutôt un moyen d’impressionner les autres. Un autre résultat intéressant souligne le caractère souvent situationnel de la prise de risques chez les jeunes conducteurs accompagnés par des pairs, mais aussi les implications d’un groupe d’amis à prise de risques élevée. Pour conclure, les résultats obtenus à l’égard du rôle des normes et de l’effet de la pression des pairs sur les comportements à risque des jeunes conducteurs sont encourageants. / Road crashes remain a significant public health problem at international, national and regional level. World Health Organization estimates that more than a million persons die each year in road car crashes and that 20 to 50 million other persons are injured in those crashes ("Global status report on road safety: time for action," 2009). Among the drivers that die in car crashes almost a quarter are young drivers (OECD, 2006). The main causes of car crashes identified by WHO are driving while intoxicated, speeding, driving while tired, phone use, low visibility and poor road conditions (Peden et al., 2004). To these causes, in the case of young drivers we can add sensation seeking, excitability and peer influence (A. F. Williams, 2006). Peer influence on young drivers’ behaviour is a controversial topic in the literature due to the rather contradictory conclusions of the researches on this theme. Some researchers have found a negative effect of peer presence (Arnett et al., 1997; Doherty et al., 1998; Moller & Gregersen, 2008), while others have found a protective effect (Delhomme, 1994; Engstrom, Gregersen, Granstrom, & Nyberg, 2008; Rueda-Domingo et al., 2004; Vollrath, Meilinger, & Krager, 2002). This research analyses the effect that peers can have on young drivers’ risky behaviours by using the theory of planned behaviour approach and by looking into the effect that peer pressure type can have on the young driver. The results highlight that subjective norms and especially friend’s perceived norms contribute significantly to explaining young drivers’ intention to speed or to drive while intoxicated. The comparative analysis showed some interesting differences among the two populations. For example, for the Romanian drivers norms play a much more important role in explaining risky driving behaviours that for the French population. Also, young French drivers perceive the car as having rather an instrumental role while Romanian drivers see it more like a way to impress. Another interesting result emphasizes on the situational character of young drivers risk taking but also on the implications that risk taking peers might have. Finally, the results obtained regarding the role of norms and the effects of peer pressure on young drivers’ behaviour are rather encouraging.