Adolescent Risk-Taking and Parental Attachment

Adolescent risk-taking behaviour is a global public health and safety issue and adolescence is a turbulent period, a time when young people are particularly prone to engage in a variety of potentially risky behaviours such as drinking, smoking, illicit-drug use and sexual activity. The period of adolescence (ages 1121) is a time of multiple transitions, namely, the transition to puberty and transitions involving parent child relationships, school, peers, and cognitive and emotional abilities. This period is also characterized by an increase in risk-taking behaviours, e.g those linked to careless driving, substance use, unprotected sexual behaviour, eating disorders, delinquency, homicidal and suicidal behaviours, and dangerous sports. These behaviours are defined as risky since they are usually volitional, their outcomes are uncertain and they entail negative consequences. Several research has shown that parental attachment has a major role to play in adolescent risk-taking behaviour, for instance, adolescents who are more securely attached to their parents are less likely to get involved in various risk behaviours in comparison to adolescents who are insecurely attached to their parents. The present study aims to explore gender differences in adolescent risk-taking and association of parental attachment in terms of parental trust, communication and alienation with adolescent risk-taking. A total of 400 adolescents (males & females) age range 16 to 18 years were sampled, t-ratio and Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were computed. The results shows that no gender differences exists in adolescent risk-taking and that parental trust and communication are negatively correlated with adolescent risk-taking whereas parental alienation is positively correlated with adolescent risk-taking.