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Australia's adolescents: A health psychology perspective
... There are several theories regarding the factors that lead to optimism bias. These include: @BULLET ego-defense -thinking negative events won't happen reduces the worry caused by the event; @BULLET egocentrism -focusing on oneself when making likelihood ratings, and ignoring protective or risk-prone factors that apply to others; @BULLET downward comparison -comparing oneself to a population who are at a higher level of risk than oneself; and @BULLET protecting one's self-esteem (see Lee & Job, 1995). It should be noted that different styles and degrees of optimism are appropriate, and even adaptive, in different situations (Peterson, 2000). ...
... If controllability does not have the same relationship to optimism bias in OHS as in other domains, then to what factors is optimism bias related in workplace safety? There are several possibilities , including machismo (Choudry & Fang, 2008), which may be a pertinent explanation in the male-dominated construction industry; inflated estimates of one's skills; degree of confidence in the employer's safety systems and processes; or the other explanations of the origins of optimism bias (ego-defense, downwards comparison, etc., see Lee & Job, 1995). It is possible that particular industries or sectors differ in the relationship between optimism bias and controllability, and the nature and extent of optimism bias, based on the sophistication with which safety is managed, and other influences on safety, such as the degree of advocacy and activity of trade unions. ...
The importance of risk perception for workplace safety has been highlighted by the inclusion of risk appraisals in contemporary models of precautionary behavior at work. Optimism bias is the tendency to think that negative events are less likely to happen to oneself than to the average person, and is proposed to be related to the reduced use of precautions.
Building on studies of optimism bias for workplace hazards using samples with heterogenous risk profiles, the current study aimed to investigate whether optimism bias is present in a sample of workers exposed to similar workplace hazards. 175 Australian construction workers completed a brief survey that asked them to rate the likelihood of common construction industry hazards occurring to them and to the average worker of the same age doing the same job. Significant levels of optimism bias were found for many hazards (including being electrocuted, being trapped in a confined space, falling from heights, and causing someone else to have an injury).
Optimism bias was not related to perceived controllability, contrary to findings in other domains, yet consistent with findings of optimism bias for workplace hazards. Optimism bias was not found to be related to a reduction in safe work behaviors, though this may be due to difficulties in measuring safe or precautionary behavior, such as social desirability.
That most workers think that hazards are less likely to happen to them than to the average worker presents a significant problem because it may ameliorate the efficacy of safety programs, yet constitutes a largely unexplored opportunity for improving workplace safety performance.
... penalties and crashes) and the perceived (possible) benefits of the behaviour (e.g. fun, or getting somewhere quicker) is judged to be favorable (Job, 1995). We propose that the perceived riskiness of the behaviour may be considered as either a cost or a benefit, depending partly on an individual's attitude to taking risks (i.e. ...
... less likely to happen to themselves than their peers -is hypothesised to promote risk-taking and inhibit precaution-taking (Job et al., 1995;Weinstein, 1989). In support of this extension of typical health behaviour models, perceived relative risk has been shown to influence behaviour to at least as great an extent as perceived absolute personal risk (Klein, 1997;Morgan and Job, 1995). ...
Young drivers are over-represented in road injury statistics, partly because they engage in more risky driving than older people. Although it is assumed that younger people have greater risk-propensity, defined as a positive attitude to risk, relevant theory is imprecise and relevant research is clouded by inappropriate measures. 89 participants aged 16-25 and 110 participants aged over 35 were recruited outside motor registries. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires including Rohrmann's [Rohrmann, B. 2004. Risk attitude scales: concepts and questionnaires. Project report. Available at http://www.rohrmannresearch.net/pdfs/rohrmann-racreport.pdf (last accessed 12th February 2008)] measures of risk-aversion, risk-propensity, and risk-related motives for risky driving, as well as measures of risk-perception and risky driving. Compared to older drivers, younger drivers demonstrated lower risk-aversion, and higher propensity for taking accident risks, as well as stronger motives for risky driving in relation to experience-seeking, excitement, sensation-seeking, social influence, prestige-seeking, confidence/familiarity, underestimation of risk, irrelevance of risk, "letting off steam", and "getting there quicker". Further, these variables were associated with risky driving. Some evidence was observed for the possibility that risk propensity moderates the relationship between perceived risk and risky behaviour. These results suggest approaches to targeting the "young driver problem".
... We did not know the girl's age at the time of the family break up, or her age at the time of the arrival of the step parent. Others have also found an effect of family type on rates of young motherhood [10,24,40,41]. Girls are more likely to delay first sexual intercourse and use contraception at first intercourse if they had lived with both natural parents to sixteen years of age [42]. ...
Many western nations continue to have high rates of teenage pregnancies and births, which can result in adverse outcomes for both mother and child. This study identified possible antecedents of teenage pregnancy using linked data from administrative sources to create a 14-year follow-up from a cross-sectional survey.
Data were drawn from two sources - the 1993 Western Australian Child Health Survey (WACHS), a population-based representative sample of 2,736 children aged 4 to 16 years (1,374 girls); and administrative data relating to all their subsequent births and hospital admissions. We used weighted population estimates to examine differences between rates for teenage pregnancy, motherhood and abortion. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to model risk for teenage pregnancy.
There were 155 girls aged less than 20 years at the time of their first recorded pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy was significantly associated with: family type; highest school year completed by primary carer; combined carer income; whether the primary carer was a smoker; and whether the girl herself displayed aggressive and delinquent behaviours. An age-interaction analysis on the association with aggressive and delinquent behaviours found that while girls with aggressive and delinquent behaviours who were older at the time of the survey were at highest risk of teenage pregnancy, there was elevated risk for future teenage pregnancy across all ages.
Our findings suggest that interventions to reduce teenage pregnancy rates could be introduced during primary school years, including those that are focused on the prevention and management of aggressive and delinquent behaviour.
... A high incidence of smoking behaviour a m o n g pregnant adolescents has been reported in a number of Australian studies and identified as a factor in poor perinatal outcomes (Bell, Lumley, Palma & Fischer, 1987; Kenny, 1995; Stanley & Straton, 1981; Wakefield & Wilson, 1988; Zhang & Chan 1991). Smoking behaviour during pregnancy is known to be associated with preterm birth and low birth weight for the baby (Rasmussen & Adams, 1997; Ventura, 1994). ...
Amaç: Bu araştırma kapsamında ergenlerin depresif belirtilerini azaltmaya yönelik Ergen Davranışsal Aktivasyon Programı’nın (E-DAP) uyarlanması ve etkililiğinin karma araştırma yöntemi ile test edilmesi amaçlanmıştır.
Yöntem: Araştırmada karma araştırma yöntemlerinden müdahale deseni kullanılmıştır. Bu kapsamda müdahale esnasında ve sonrasında olmak üzere iki farklı nitel veri sürece dahil edilmiştir. Araştırma yarı deneysel desenlerden eşleştirilmiş desen temelinde yürütülmüştür. Araştırma üç farklı lisede yürütülmüştür. Araştırmada çalışma grubunu belirlemek amacıyla karma yöntem örnekleme stratejilerinden iç içe örnekleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. İlk olarak okullar tabakalı örnekleme aracılığıyla iki tabakaya ayrılmıştır. Ardından basit rastgele örneklemeyle üç okul belirlenmiştir. Sonrasında basit rastgele örnekleme yoluyla 705 öğrenci arasından depresif belirti düzeyi yüksek 157 öğrenci belirlenmiştir. 157 öğrenci amaçlı tabakalı örnekleme yoluyla kız ve erkek olmak üzere iki alt gruba ayrılmış ve son olarak ölçüt örneklemeyle 20 katılımcı belirlenmiştir. Nicel veriler Çocuklar için Anksiyete ve Depresyon Ölçeği-Yenilenmiş (ÇADÖ-Y) formu aracılığıyla, nitel veriler ise oturum değerlendirme formu ve yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formları aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Nitel verilerin analizinde tematik analiz yöntemi, nicel verilerin analizinde ise normallik analizleri ve tek faktörlü kovaryans analizi (ANCOVA)uygulanmıştır.
Bulgular: Araştırmada elde edilen bulgular DA temelli E-DAP uygulamasının ergen depresif belirtilerini azaltmada etkili olduğunu göstermektedir. Uygulama sürecinde dokümanlar ve uygulama sonrasında görüşmelerden elde edilen bulguların nicel yöntemlerle elde edilen bulgularla örtüştüğü ve nitel bulguların nicel bulguları yeterli düzeyde açıkladığı belirlenmiştir.
Sonuç: Araştırma sonucunda uygulanmış olan E-DAP müdahalesinin ergenlerin depresif belirtilerini azaltmada etkili bir müdahale programı olduğu ve bu sonucun nitel bulgularla desteklendiği söylenebilir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Davranışsal aktivasyon terapisi, ergen depresyonu, ebeveyn katılımı, karma müdahale deseni
Young drivers show high levels of risky driving and are over-represented in motor vehicle crash statistics world-wide. As well as personality and attitudinal factors, high rates of risk taking during adolescence may be due to poorly developed executive functions, a result of the slow maturation of the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. This study was undertaken to investigate the roles of executive function, personality, attitudes to risk in relation to self-reported driving behaviour. Adolescent (n = 46, age 16–18 years) and adult (n = 32, 25 years and over) male drivers completed a battery of neuropsychological tests to assess general cognitive ability and executive function, and questionnaires to assess driving history, personality, attitudes to physical and psychological risk as well as questionnaires of self-reported driving behaviour (Driver risk taking and Driver Attitude Questionnaire, DAQ). The adolescent drivers showed poorer executive function, higher levels of impulsivity and risk-taking, lower levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness compared to adult drivers. Regression analyses revealed that attitudes to risk, agreeableness and working memory made unique significant contributions in explaining self-reported driving behaviour. Interestingly though, better working memory was associated with higher levels of self-reported risky driving and more accepting attitudes to risky driving. Together the findings suggest that some aspects of executive function, personality, and attitudes to risk may help to explain self-reported driving behaviour. Whether these findings are relevant to female drivers and apply to on-road driving behaviour should be the focus of future studies.
The study aim was to investigate Australian Year 12 students' sense of connectedness to their schools, families, and peers, and examine associations between connectedness and emotional wellbeing. Year 12 students (492 male, 449 female) from 10 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia participated in Phase 1 of the study. of these, 204 participants (82 male, 122 female) returned surveys 1 year later; 175 of these were attending tertiary education institutions. The study found high levels of depression, anxiety and stress among Year 12 students, with higher negative affect associated with lower levels of family, peer and school connectedness. Negative affect 1 year after leaving school was predicted by negative affect and peer connectedness at Year 12. Results suggest there are significant numbers of at-risk young people in their final year of school, who feel lonely and disconnected from peers, and who maintain concerning levels of depression, anxiety and stress in first year of university.
Optimism bias is the tendency to think that negative events are less likely to happen to oneself than to one's peers. Optimism bias concerning occupational health and safety (OHS) hazards was assessed in 105 postgraduate students and university employees. Significant levels of optimism bias were found for several events (e.g., suffering/causing injury). Though optimism bias was not related to perceived controllability, administration of OHS by management may explain why this observation differs from findings in other domains. While further study is required, the present study demonstrates that people tend to think hazardous events at work are less likely to happen to themselves compared to others doing the same job, which has important implications for management of safety at work.
Optimism bias regarding environmental degradation may inhibit pro-environmental behaviour. Two studies established that optimism bias regarding environmental events exists and its determinants were investigated. In study 1 (n=86) optimism bias was observed regarding some aspects of environmental degradation (e.g. air pollution affecting the local area), but not others. These results are consistent with the egocentrism account of optimism bias; egocentric focus on personal precautions may not contribute to optimism bias if others are also perceived to benefit from one's own personal precautions. Study 2 (n=121) assessed this hypothesis employing a manipulation of the perceived range of impact of risk-relevant behaviours. Subjects judged the likelihood that they and their average peer would be affected by environmental hazards, phrased in either general terms (e.g. air pollution) or specific terms (e.g. respiratory problems due to air pollution). Control subjects made estimates about the specific outcomes not explicitly related to the environment (e.g. respiratory problems). Subjects identified behaviours which influence the likelihood of being affected by each hazard. As predicted, subjects asked about general environmental hazards nominated behaviours likely to benefit many people (e.g. reduced use of ozone-damaging chemicals) and demonstrated less optimism bias than subjects asked about specific consequences of the same hazards. Optimism bias was negatively correlated with range of impact of precautions. Thus, optimism bias regarding environmental degradation may be limited by a tendency to focus on pro-environmental behaviours with a wide range of impact.
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