Successful schools and risky behaviors among low-income adolescents.

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Wong, Mitchell D; Coller, Karen M; Dudovitz, Rebecca N; Kennedy, David P; Buddin, Richard; Shapiro, Martin F; Kataoka, Sheryl H; Brown, Arleen F; Tseng, Chi-Hong; Bergman, Peter; Chung, Paul J

2014-08-01

We examined whether exposure to high-performing schools reduces the rates of risky health behaviors among low-income minority adolescents and whether this is due to better academic performance, peer influence, or other factors. By using a natural experimental study design, we used the random admissions lottery into high-performing public charter high schools in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods to determine whether exposure to successful school environments leads to fewer risky (eg, alcohol, tobacco, drug use, unprotected sex) and very risky health behaviors (e.g., binge drinking, substance use at school, risky sex, gang participation). We surveyed 521 ninth- through twelfth-grade students who were offered admission through a random lottery (intervention group) and 409 students who were not offered admission (control group) about their health behaviors and obtained their state-standardized test scores. The intervention and control groups had similar demographic characteristics and eighth-grade test scores. Being offered admission to a high-performing school (intervention effect) led to improved math (P performance of public schools in low-income communities may be a powerful mechanism to decrease very risky health behaviors among low-income adolescents and to decrease health disparities across the life span. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Peer harassment and risky behavior among sexual minority girls and boys.

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Martin-Storey, Alexa; Crosnoe, Robert

2014-01-01

The role of peer harassment in the association between sexual minority status and adolescent risky behavior was examined for 15-year-olds in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 957). The findings, although exploratory, suggest the importance of gender. For girls, peer harassment was best viewed as a moderator of the link between sexual minority status and increased risky behavior. It intensified an existing association, reflecting the gendered nature of the impact of sexual minority status on the adolescent social context. For boys, peer harassment was primarily a mediator, such that sexual minority status was associated with more risky behavior via elevated harassment, although sexual minority status itself was associated with lower risky behavior overall. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The typological approach to the risky behavior of adolescents

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Mitrović D.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The main research problem is focused on the following question: Is it possible to identify specific patterns of interaction between precipitating and protective factors for the risky behavior among adolescents. The research was conducted on the sample of 204 adolescents of both genders (18 to 20 years old. Specific personality traits and socio-demographic characteristics are manifested as the most important precipitating and/or protective factors for the risky behavior. The frame of reference for personality assessment was the alternative five-factor model (Zuckerman, 2002, specified in the ZKPQ-50-CC questionnaire, and consisted of the five biologically determined personality traits: activity, aggressiveness/hostility, impulsive sensation seeking, neuroticism/anxiety and sociability. Latent dimensions of the risky behavior: risky activities and life - conditions, were extracted by applying the homogeneity analyses (HOMALS. The matrix of squared Euclidean distances (in the common space of factor scores on the principal components of ZKPQ questionnaire, scores on HOMALS dimensions and school grades was a subject of the Ward hierarchical cluster analysis method, extracting three clusters. According to the discriminant functions: risk proneness and pro-social activity, the clusters were identified: the group of pro-social oriented adolescents, the aloof group and the group of adolescents prone to risky behavior. The results have considerable implications for the prevention programs’ development and implementation.

Effects of combat deployment on risky and self-destructive behavior among active duty military personnel.

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Thomsen, Cynthia J; Stander, Valerie A; McWhorter, Stephanie K; Rabenhorst, Mandy M; Milner, Joel S

2011-10-01

Although research has documented negative effects of combat deployment on mental health, few studies have examined whether deployment increases risky or self-destructive behavior. The present study addressed this issue. In addition, we examined whether deployment effects on risky behavior varied depending on history of pre-deployment risky behavior, and assessed whether psychiatric conditions mediated effects of deployment on risky behavior. In an anonymous survey, active duty members of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy (N = 2116) described their deployment experiences and their participation in risky recreational activities, unprotected sex, illegal drug use, self-injurious behavior, and suicide attempts during three time frames (civilian, military pre-deployment, and military post-deployment). Respondents also reported whether they had problems with depression, anxiety, or PTSD during the same three time frames. Results revealed that risky behavior was much more common in civilian than in military life, with personnel who had not deployed, compared to those who had deployed, reporting more risky behavior and more psychiatric problems as civilians. For the current time period, in contrast, personnel who had deployed (versus never deployed) were significantly more likely to report both risky behavior and psychiatric problems. Importantly, deployment was associated with increases in risky behavior only for personnel with a pre-deployment history of engaging in risky behavior. Although psychiatric conditions were associated with higher levels of risky behavior, psychiatric problems did not mediate associations between deployment and risky behavior. Implications for understanding effects of combat deployment on active duty personnel and directions for future research are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Dating Violence and Substance Use as Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behavior

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Shorey, Ryan C.; Fite, Paula J.; Choi, HyeJeong; Cohen, Joseph R.; Stuart, Gregory L.; Temple, Jeff R.

2015-01-01

Objective To examine dating violence perpetration and victimization (physical, psychological, and sexual) and lifetime substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs) as longitudinal predictors of adolescents’ risky sexual behavior across one year, and to determine whether predictors varied across adolescents’ gender and ethnicity. Methods A sample of Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic male and female adolescents from 7 public high schools in Texas (N = 882) participated. Adolescents completed self-report measures of dating violence, lifetime substance use, and risky sexual behavior at baseline and, 1-year later, completed a second assessment of their risky sexual behavior. Results Path analysis demonstrated that greater physical dating violence victimization, lifetime alcohol use, lifetime marijuana use, and age (being older) were all significant predictors of risky sexual behavior at the 1-year follow-up. These results did not vary across gender or the three ethnic groups (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic). Conclusions Overall, substance use was a longitudinal predictor of risky sexual behavior across the three ethnic groups, with physical dating violence victimization being the only type of dating violence longitudinally predicting risky sexual behavior. Prevention efforts should consider the roles of physical dating violence and substance use in preventing risky sexual behavior. PMID:25797949

Dating Violence and Substance Use as Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescents' Risky Sexual Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Shorey, Ryan C; Fite, Paula J; Choi, HyeJeong; Cohen, Joseph R; Stuart, Gregory L; Temple, Jeff R

2015-08-01

The objectives of this study is to examine dating violence perpetration and victimization (physical, psychological, and sexual) and lifetime substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs) as longitudinal predictors of adolescents' risky sexual behavior across 1 year and to determine whether predictors varied across adolescents' gender and ethnicity. A sample of Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic male and female adolescents from seven public high schools in Texas (N = 882) participated. Adolescents completed self-report measures of dating violence, lifetime substance use, and risky sexual behavior at baseline and, 1-year later, completed a second assessment of their risky sexual behavior. Path analysis demonstrated that greater physical dating violence victimization, lifetime alcohol use, lifetime marijuana use, and age (being older) were all significant predictors of risky sexual behavior at the 1-year follow-up. These results did not vary across gender or the three ethnic groups (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic). Overall, substance use was a longitudinal predictor of risky sexual behavior across the three ethnic groups, with physical dating violence victimization being the only type of dating violence longitudinally predicting risky sexual behavior. Prevention efforts should consider the roles of physical dating violence and substance use in preventing risky sexual behavior.

Differences in Risky Sexual Behavior According to Sexual Orientation in Korean Adolescents.

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Kim, Ji-Su; Kim, Kyunghee; Kwak, Yeunhee

2017-10-13

Adolescents in sexual minority groups are known to be at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases through risky sexual behavior. However, few studies have examined associations between sexual orientation and risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases in Korean adolescents. Therefore, this cross-sectional study used raw data from the Tenth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey to explore these relationships. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between risky sexual behavior and sexual orientation in adolescents. The participants were 6,884 adolescents who provided data regarding demographic characteristics, sexual orientation, and risky sexual behavior. The proportions of homosexual and bisexual subjects who used condoms, engaged in sexual intercourse after drinking alcohol, and experienced sexually transmitted diseases were higher relative to those of heterosexual subjects. Associations between homosexuality and bisexuality and sexually transmitted diseases and engagement in sexual intercourse after drinking remained after multivariate adjustment. Interventions to prevent risky sexual behavior should target sexual orientation, to improve sexual health and prevent sexually transmitted disease in homosexual and bisexual adolescents.

Attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms and risky sexual behavior in young adult women.

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Hosain, G M Monawar; Berenson, Abbey B; Tennen, Howard; Bauer, Lance O; Wu, Z Helen

2012-04-01

This study was undertaken to assess the association between adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and high-risk sexual behavior. This cross-sectional study interviewed 462 low-income women aged 18-30 years. We used the 18-item Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) Symptom Checklist to assess ADHD symptoms. Risky sexual behaviors included sex before 15 years of age, risky sex partners in lifetime, number of sex partners in the last 12 months, condom use in the last 12 months, alcohol use before sex in the last 12 months, traded sex in lifetime, and diagnosed with sexually transmitted infection (STI) in lifetime. Mean ADHD symptom score was 19.8 (SD±12.9), and summary index of all risky sexual behavior was 1.77 (SD±1.37). Using unadjusted odds ratios (OR), women who endorsed more ADHD symptoms reported engaging in more risky sexual behaviors of all types. However, when multivariable logistic regression was applied adjusting for various sociodemographic covariates, the adjusted ORs remained significant for having risky sex partners and having ≥3 sex partners in the prior 12 months. We observed some differences in risky sexual behavior between two domains of ADHD. The ADHD symptom score appears to be associated with some risky sexual behaviors and deserves further attention. A brief ADHD screening can identify this high-risk group for timely evaluation and safe sex counseling.

Acceptance of and Engagement in Risky Driving Behaviors by Teenagers

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Sarkar, Sheila; Andreas, Marie

2004-01-01

Data gathered from 1,430 teenage student drivers and 880 teenage traffic violators were used to examine the levels of exposure to risky driving behaviors and perceptions concerning the level of danger of such behaviors. For student drivers, 55% reported exposure to risky driving by being in a car with a driver engaging in such activities as drunk…

Are Drinkers Prone to Engage in Risky Sexual Behaviors?

OpenAIRE

Ana I. Gil Lacruz; Marta Gil Lacruz; Juan Oliva

2009-01-01

Sexually transmitted diseases pose an important public health problem around the world. Although many studies have explored the link between alcohol use and risky sexual practices, the unobserved differences among individuals make it difficult to assess whether the associations are casual in nature. In order to overcome these difficulties, we have obtained data from the Spanish Health and Sexual Behavior Survey (2003) in order to analyze risky sexual behaviors using four alternative methodolo...

Measuring cervical cancer risk: development and validation of the CARE Risky Sexual Behavior Index.

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Reiter, Paul L; Katz, Mira L; Ferketich, Amy K; Ruffin, Mack T; Paskett, Electra D

2009-12-01

To develop and validate a risky sexual behavior index specific to cervical cancer research. Sexual behavior data on 428 women from the Community Awareness Resources and Education (CARE) study were utilized. A weighting scheme for eight risky sexual behaviors was generated and validated in creating the CARE Risky Sexual Behavior Index. Cutpoints were then identified to classify women as having a low, medium, or high level of risky sexual behavior. Index scores ranged from 0 to 35, with women considered to have a low level of risky sexual behavior if their score was less than six (31.3% of sample), a medium level if their score was 6–10 (30.6%), or a high level if their score was 11 or greater (38.1%). A strong association was observed between the created categories and having a previous abnormal Pap smear test (p Sexual Behavior Index provides a tool for measuring risky sexual behavior level for cervical cancer research. Future studies are needed to validate this index in varied populations and test its use in the clinical setting.

Predictors of risky sexual behavior in African American adolescent girls: implications for prevention interventions.

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Bachanas, Pamela J; Morris, Mary K; Lewis-Gess, Jennifer K; Sarett-Cuasay, Eileen J; Sirl, Kimberly; Ries, Julie K; Sawyer, Mary K

2002-09-01

To describe empirically the risky sexual behavior of an at-risk sample of adolescent girls, to assess psychosocial correlates of risky behavior, and to examine the utility of applying a risk and protective model to predicting teens' risky sexual behavior. Participants included 158 African American girls, ages 12 to 19, who were receiving medical care in an adolescent primary care clinic. Teens completed measures of depression, conduct problems, substance use, peer norms, social support, HIV knowledge, sexual self-efficacy, and sexual behavior. Teens in this sample reported high rates of risky sexual behaviors, including early sexual debuts and frequent unprotected sexual encounters with multiple partners. African American girls who reported high rates of substance use and who reported that their peers engaged in risky behaviors also reported engaging in high rates of risky sexual behaviors. Little support was obtained for protective factors (HIV knowledge, social support, sexual self-efficacy) moderating the relations between risk factors and adolescents' risky sexual behavior in this sample. Teens presenting in primary care settings in urban environments seem to be at high risk for HIV, STDs, and substance abuse, and risk reduction strategies should be introduced during the preteen years. An interdisciplinary model of care in primary care settings serving adolescents is clearly indicated, and prevention-oriented interventions aimed at reducing risky behaviors and preventing the development of more significant health, mental health, or substance abuse disorders are needed.

Gender differences in risky sexual behavior among urban adolescents exposed to violence.

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Collins Fantasia, Heidi; Sutherland, Melissa A; Kelly-Weeder, Susan

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study was to use an ecological lens to explore gender differences in risky sexual behavior among urban adolescents exposed to violence. This was a secondary analysis of data from a larger behavioral intervention trial that targeted drinking behaviors among adolescents. Data from a total of 2,560 male and female urban adolescents between the ages of 14 and 21 were analyzed for personal, interpersonal, and community exposure to violence and risky sexual behavior. Violence has an impact on sexual risk. For females, carrying a weapon (p= 0.020) and feeling safe in intimate relationships (p= 0.029) were individual correlates of risky sexual behavior, while for males, race/ethnicity (p= 0.019) and being in a physical fight (p= 0.001) were significant correlates of risky sexual behavior. Risky sexual behavior among adolescents may lead to negative reproductive health outcomes. Nurse practitioners are in an excellent position to affect change in this population through their frequent contact with adolescents in a variety of community and school-based venues. Nurse practitioners are also well-prepared to identify at-risk adolescents and provide them with individualized care, education, and support. ©2012 The Author(s) Journal compilation ©2012 American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Relationship Between Methamphetamine Use and Risky Sexual Behavior in Adolescents

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Cheng-Fang Yen

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Substance abuse and risky sexual behavior have been identified as behaviors that can endanger adolescent psychosocial development. This study examined the relationship between methamphetamine (MAMP use and risky sexual behavior in adolescents. Risky sexual behavior was compared not only between MAMP users and non-users, but also between high-frequency and low-frequency MAMP users. We compared the sexual intercourse histories of 85 adolescents formally charged as MAMP users with those of 170 gender-matched adolescents with no record of MAMP use. MAMP usage characteristics were compared between users who had and those who had not experienced sexual intercourse. Previous sexual experience was more likely in MAMP users than in non-users. MAMP users were also more likely to have had a greater total number of sexual partners and were more likely to have had unplanned sex under the influence of alcohol. High-frequency MAMP use was associated with increased tendencies to engage in unprotected sex and to use MAMP before sexual intercourse. In general, the chance of sexual intercourse increased in proportion to frequency of MAMP use. Given the clear link between MAMP use and risky sexual behavior, risk-reduction programs directed at teen MAMP users are urgently needed.

Frequent nonprescription stimulant use and risky behaviors in college students: the role of effortful control.

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Reid, Adam M; Graziano, Paulo A; Balkhi, Amanda M; McNamara, Joseph P H; Cottler, Linda B; Meneses, Evander; Geffken, Gary R

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to (a) investigate the association between nonprescription stimulant use (NPSU) and risky behaviors, including risky sex, driving, financial behaviors, and drug use and (b) collect preliminary evidence on mechanisms that may link NPSU to risky behaviors. A sample of 555 college students was collected between August 2010 and February 2012. Students completed several self-report measures assessing their drug use history, attention-deficit and hyperactivity symptoms, temperament, and risky behaviors beyond drug use. Those who reported more frequent NPSU were more likely to engage in high-risk behavior across all 4 domains studied. Further, effortful control abilities partially mediated the link between NPSU and risky behaviors. These results highlight the associated risks of frequent NPSU for college students as well as provide future directions for examining effortful control as a potentially important mechanism linking NPSU to other risky behaviors.

Your resting brain CAREs about your risky behavior.

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Christine L Cox

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Research on the neural correlates of risk-related behaviors and personality traits has provided insight into mechanisms underlying both normal and pathological decision-making. Task-based neuroimaging studies implicate a distributed network of brain regions in risky decision-making. What remains to be understood are the interactions between these regions and their relation to individual differences in personality variables associated with real-world risk-taking.We employed resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC methods to investigate differences in the brain's intrinsic functional architecture associated with beliefs about the consequences of risky behavior. We obtained an individual measure of expected benefit from engaging in risky behavior, indicating a risk seeking or risk-averse personality, for each of 21 participants from whom we also collected a series of R-fMRI scans. The expected benefit scores were entered in statistical models assessing the RSFC of brain regions consistently implicated in both the evaluation of risk and reward, and cognitive control (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, lateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate. We specifically focused on significant brain-behavior relationships that were stable across R-fMRI scans collected one year apart. Two stable expected benefit-RSFC relationships were observed: decreased expected benefit (increased risk-aversion was associated with 1 stronger positive functional connectivity between right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG and right insula, and 2 weaker negative functional connectivity between left nucleus accumbens and right parieto-occipital cortex.Task-based activation in the IFG and insula has been associated with risk-aversion, while activation in the nucleus accumbens and parietal cortex has been associated with both risk seeking and risk-averse tendencies. Our results suggest that

Passport to promiscuity or lifesaver: press coverage of HPV vaccination and risky sexual behavior.

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Forster, Alice; Wardle, Jane; Stephenson, Judith; Waller, Jo

2010-03-01

A significant minority of parents are concerned about adolescents engaging in risky sexual behavior following human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. The way the HPV vaccine is reported in the media has the potential to influence public understanding and vaccination decisions. The present study examined the content of articles published between 2003 and 2008 in British national newspapers that addressed the issue of adolescents engaging in risky sexual behavior following HPV vaccination. We used mixed methods to analyze 92 articles in which the issue was mentioned. Qualitative framework analysis highlighted three main types of discussion: news stories proposing that adolescents will engage in risky sexual behavior following HPV vaccination, counterarguments insisting that adolescents will not engage in risky sexual behavior after HPV vaccination, and parents' views of the issue of risky sexual behavior. The results indicated that newspapers provide parents with broadly positive descriptive norms about vaccination; however, the issue that adolescents will engage in risky sexual behaviors following HPV vaccination is regularly discussed in the national press and has the potential to increase parents' concerns about vaccination.

A Mixture IRT Analysis of Risky Youth Behavior

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Holmes eFinch

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The study reported in this manuscript used a mixture item response model with data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2009 (N = 16,410 to identify subtypes of adolescents at-risk for engaging in unhealthy behaviors, and to find individual survey items that were most effective at identifying such students within each subtype. The goal of the manuscript is twofold: 1 To demonstrate the utility of the mixture item response theory model for identifying subgroups in the population and for highlighting the use of group specific item response parameters and 2 To identify typologies of adolescents based on their propensity for engaging in sexually and substance use risky behaviors. Results indicate that 4 classes of youth exist in the population, with differences in risky sexual behaviors and substance use. The first group had a greater propensity to engage in risky sexual behavior, while group 2 was more likely to smoke tobacco and drink alcohol. Group 3 was the most likely to use other substances, such as marijuana, methamphetamine, and other mind altering drugs, and group 4 had the lowest propensity for engaging in any of the sexual or substance use behaviors included in the survey. Finally, individual items were identified for each group that can be most effective at identifying individuals at greatest risk. Further proposed directions of research and the contribution of this analysis to the existing literature are discussed.

Influence of Social Settings on Risky Sexual Behavior

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James B. Hittner

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the relevance of social settings as predictors of risky sexual behavior. In a young adult sample (n = 324, M age = 20.2 years, we examined the association between frequency of attendance at five different settings and frequency of engaging in four risky sexual behaviors (i.e., unprotected intercourse when not drunk or high, unprotected intercourse when drunk or high, casual sex when not drunk or high, casual sex when drunk or high. Predictive associations were examined using negative binomial regression, and all analyses controlled for frequency of recent alcohol use and age at first use of alcohol. Greater attendance at fraternity/sorority parties predicted more frequent intercourse for females in the not drunk or high and drunk or high contexts, and more frequent casual sex for males in the not drunk or high context. Greater attendance at large private parties predicted more frequent intercourse for females in the not drunk or high context. Greater attendance at bars without dance floors predicted more frequent intercourse for males in the drunk or high context. These findings highlight the importance of socializing habits in understanding risky sexual behavior.

Economic Booms and Risky Sexual Behavior: Evidence from Zambian Copper Mining Cities

OpenAIRE

Nicholas Wilson

2010-01-01

Existing studies suggest that individual and household level economic shocks affect the demand for and supply of risky sex. However, little evidence exists on the effects of an aggregate shock on equilibrium risky sexual behavior. This paper examines the effects of the early twenty-first century copper boom on risky sexual behavior in Zambian copper mining cities. The results indicate that the copper boom substantially reduced rates of transactional sex and multiple partnerships in copper min...

Effects of personality on risky driving behavior and accident involvement for Chinese drivers.

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Yang, Jiaoyan; Du, Feng; Qu, Weina; Gong, Zhun; Sun, Xianghong

2013-01-01

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury-related fatalities in China and pose the most serious threat to driving safety. Driver personality is considered as an effective predictor for risky driving behavior and accident liability. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between personality and risky driving behavior, but only a few of them have explored the effects of personality variables on accident involvement. In addition, few studies have examined the effects of personality on Chinese drivers' risky driving and accident involvement. The present study aimed to examine the effects of personality variables on Chinese drivers' unsafe driving behaviors and accident involvement. Two hundred and twenty-four Chinese drivers aged 20 to 50 were required to complete questionnaires assessing their personality traits (anger, sensation-seeking, altruism, and normlessness), risky driving behaviors (aggressive violations, ordinary violations), and accident involvement (all accidents, serious accidents, at-fault accidents). Multivariate regression analyses, adjusting for gender, age, and overall mileage, were conducted to identify the personality traits related to risky driving behaviors and accident involvement. Participants' personality traits were found to be significantly correlated with both risky driving behavior and accident involvement. Specifically, the traits of anger and normlessness were effective predictors for aggressive violations. The traits of anger, sensation-seeking, normlessness, and altruism were effective predictors for ordinary violations. Moreover, altruism and normlessness were significant predictors for the total number of accidents participants had during the past 3 years. Consistent with previous studies, the present study revealed that personality traits play an important role in predicting Chinese drivers' risky driving behaviors. In addition, Chinese drivers' personality characteristics were also associated with accident

Traditional, Cyber and Combined Bullying Roles: Differences in Risky Online and Offline Activities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wachs, Sebastian; Junger, Marianne; Sittichai, Ruthaychonee

2015-01-01

This study (1) reports frequency rates of mutually exclusive traditional, cyber and combined (both traditional and cyber) bullying roles; and (2) investigates whether adolescents belonging to particular bullying roles show higher levels of involvement in risky online activities (Compulsive Internet

Frequent Nonprescription Stimulant Use and Risky Behaviors in College Students: The Role of Effortful Control

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Adam M.; Graziano, Paulo A.; Balkhi, Amanda M.; McNamara, Joseph P. H.; Cottler, Linda B.; Meneses, Evander; Geffken, Gary R.

2015-01-01

Objective: The goal of this study was to (a) investigate the association between nonprescription stimulant use (NPSU) and risky behaviors, including risky sex, driving, financial behaviors, and drug use and (b) collect preliminary evidence on mechanisms that may link NPSU to risky behaviors. Participants: A sample of 555 college students was…

Risky business: Behaviors associated with indoor tanning in US high school students

OpenAIRE

Chapman, Stephanie; Ashack, Kurt; Bell, Eric; Sendelweck, Myra Ann; Dellavalle, Robert

2017-01-01

Background: Understanding of associations between indoor tanning and risky health related behaviors such as sexual activity and substance abuse among high school students across the United States is incomplete. Objective: To identify risky health related behaviors among high school students utilizing indoor tanning and analyze differences between state specific data. Methods: Results from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2013 in...

家長網路管教、學校投入與青少年危險網路行為之關係：家庭凝聚力之調節效果分析 Relationships Between Parental Internet Intervention, School Engagement, and Risky Online Behaviors Among Adolescents: The Moderatoring Role of Family Cohesion

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林漢唐 Han-Tang Lin

2016-12-01

Full Text Available 本研究旨在瞭解家長網路管教、家庭凝聚力、學校投入、學校不熱衷與青少年危險網路行為的關係，並探討家庭凝聚力在家長網路管教與危險網路行為之調節作用。調查對象為臺灣本島與離島地區，公私立國中七、八、九年級共1,006位學生。研究工具包括自編之「危險網路行為量表」與「家長網路管教量表」，以及編修之「家庭凝聚力量表」與「學校投入與學校不熱衷量表」。主要研究結果如下：一、在本研究樣本中，近半數青少年曾在網路上進行過一項以上的危險活動；二、年級愈高，危險網路行為比例普遍增加；三、青少年持有個人智慧型手機者，出現危險網路行為的程度高於未擁有者；四、「家長監控」、「學校行為不熱衷」和「情感不熱衷」與青少年從事危險網路活動有正相關；五、「家長限制」、「家庭凝聚力」、「學校行為投入」及「情感投入」則與青少年危險網路行為有負相關；六、「學校不熱衷」對青少年危險網路行為的預測效果最明顯，其次依序為「家長監控」、「家長限制」，以及「家庭凝聚力」；七、「家庭凝聚力」對「家長網路管教」、「學校投入」與「危險網路行為」之關係具有調節效果。具體而言，在「家庭凝聚力」非常連結的情況下，「家長限制」和「學校投入」對其「危險網路行為」具有顯著的負向解釋力。而對於知覺家庭凝聚力疏離的國中生，「家長監控」對「危險網路行為」的正向解釋力高於非常連結之國中生。針對本研究發現整理出各項 具體建議，提供教育實務及未來研究的參考。 The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between risky online behaviors, parental Internet intervention, family cohesion, school engagement among adolescents. Family cohesion was

家長網路管教、學校投入與青少年危險網路行為之關係：家庭凝聚力之調節效果分析 Relationships Between Parental Internet Intervention, School Engagement, and Risky Online Behaviors Among Adolescents: The Moderatoring Role of Family Cohesion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

林漢唐 Han-Tang Lin

2016-12-01

Full Text Available 本研究旨在瞭解家長網路管教、家庭凝聚力、學校投入、學校不熱衷與青少年危險網路行為的關係，並探討家庭凝聚力在家長網路管教與危險網路行為之調節作用。調查對象為臺灣本島與離島地區，公私立國中七、八、九年級共1,006位學生。研究工具包括自編之「危險網路行為量表」與「家長網路管教量表」，以及編修之「家庭凝聚力量表」與「學校投入與學校不熱衷量表」。主要研究結果如下：一、在本研究樣本中，近半數青少年曾在網路上進行過一項以上的危險活動；二、年級愈高，危險網路行為比例普遍增加；三、青少年持有個人智慧型手機者，出現危險網路行為的程度高於未擁有者；四、「家長監控」、「學校行為不熱衷」和「情感不熱衷」與青少年從事危險網路活動有正相關；五、「家長限制」、「家庭凝聚力」、「學校行為投入」及「情感投入」則與青少年危險網路行為有負相關；六、「學校不熱衷」對青少年危險網路行為的預測效果最明顯，其次依序為「家長監控」、「家長限制」，以及「家庭凝聚力」；七、「家庭凝聚力」對「家長網路管教」、「學校投入」與「危險網路行為」之關係具有調節效果。具體而言，在「家庭凝聚力」非常連結的情況下，「家長限制」和「學校投入」對其「危險網路行為」具有顯著的負向解釋力。而對於知覺家庭凝聚力疏離的國中生，「家長監控」對「危險網路行為」的正向解釋力高於非常連結之國中生。針對本研究發現整理出各項具體建議，提供教育實務及未來研究的參考。 The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between risky online behaviors, parental Internet intervention, family cohesion, school engagement among adolescents. Family cohesion was

HIV-related social intolerance and risky sexual behavior in a high HIV prevalence environment.

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Delavande, Adeline; Sampaio, Mafalda; Sood, Neeraj

2014-06-01

Although most countries state that fighting social intolerance against persons with HIV is part of their national HIV strategy, the impact of reducing intolerance on risky sexual behavior is largely unknown. In this paper, we estimate the effect of social intolerance against HIV+ persons on risky sexual behavior in rural Malawi using data from roughly 2000 respondents from the 2004 and 2006 waves of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). The effect of social intolerance on risky behavior is a priori ambiguous. On the one hand, higher social intolerance or stigma can lead people to disassociate from the stigmatized group and hence promote risky behavior. On the other hand, intolerance can be viewed as a social tax on being HIV+ and thus higher intolerance may reduce risky behavior. We find that a decrease in social intolerance is associated with a decrease in risky behavior, including fewer partners and a lower likelihood of having extra-marital relations. This effect is mainly driven by the impact of social intolerance on men. Overall the results suggests that reducing social intolerance might not only benefit the HIV positive but might also forestall the spread of HIV. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Child Abuse, Early Maladaptive Schemas, and Risky Sexual Behavior in College Women

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Roemmele, Melissa; Messman-Moore, Terri L.

2011-01-01

Previous research suggests that individuals abused as children are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior during adulthood. The present study examined early maladaptive schemas as mediators of the child abuse-risky sexual behavior relationship among 653 college women. Self-report surveys assessed three forms of child abuse: Sexual,…

The role of peer, parent, and culture in risky sexual behavior for Cambodian and Lao/Mien adolescents.

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Le, Thao N; Kato, Tomoko

2006-03-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of age, gender, peer, family, and culture in adolescent risky sexual behavior for Cambodian and Laotian (Lao)/Mien youth. We obtained cross-sectional, in-home interview data including measures of individualism, collectivism, acculturation, risky sexual behavior, peer delinquency, parent engagement, and parent discipline from a sample of mostly second-generation Cambodian (n = 112) and Lao/Mien (n = 67) adolescents. Data were analyzed using step-wise, hierarchical multiple regressions. Peer delinquency and age (older) were significant predictors of risky sexual behavior in both groups. Parent discipline also significantly predicted risky sexual behavior, but only for Lao/Mien adolescents. Vertical and horizontal individualism were associated positively with risky sexual behavior for Cambodian youth whereas collectivism (horizontal) was associated negatively with risky sexual behavior for Lao/Mien youth. Acculturation was nonsignificant in both groups. In addition to age, parents, and peer groups, the findings suggest that culture also matters in risky sexual behavior, particularly for Cambodian and Laotian youth.

Living with parents and risky sexual behaviors among preparatory ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Risky sexual behavior is any behavior that increases the probability of negative consequences associated with sexual contact. Family environment, peer influence, community factors and school attachment seem an important factor affecting sexual risk behavior and decision of in-school youths. Objective: To ...

Everything's better in moderation: young women's gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior.

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Leech, Tamara G J

2010-05-01

This study examines the association between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior among young women. Previous studies have posed seemingly contradictory arguments: that either traditional attitudes or egalitarian attitudes are associated with riskier behavior. Data are based on the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, representing 520 sexually active 18-19-year-old women. Propensity radius matching was used to assess differences in rates of multiple sexual partners and sex outside of a committed relationship. Relative to moderate gender role attitudes, both egalitarian gender role attitudes and traditional gender role attitudes are associated with higher rates of risky sexual behavior. Both women with egalitarian role attitudes and those with traditional role attitudes have about a 10% higher prevalence of risky behavior compared to women with more moderate gender role attitudes. Existing, seemingly contradictory contentions about the relationship between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior may be more coherent than they seem. By shifting focus from risk to protection, the results suggest that moderate gender role attitudes are protective against risky sexual behavior. Future studies should investigate the causal mechanisms and intervention implications of this protective relationship. Copyright 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predictors of Risky Behavior and Offending for Adolescents with Mild Intellectual Disability

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Savage, Melissa N.; Bouck, Emily C.

2017-01-01

Adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) engage in risky behavior and offending. However, little is known on the impact school-related predictors have on engagement in risky behaviors for adolescents with ID. This study analyzed secondary data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) to determine levels of engagement in risky…

Forward-Thinking Teens: The Effects of College Costs on Adolescent Risky Behavior

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Cowan, Benjamin W.

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes the effect of college costs on teenagers' engagement in risky behaviors before they are old enough to attend college. Individuals with brighter prospects for future schooling attainment may engage in less drug and alcohol use and risky sexual activity because they have more to lose if such behaviors have harmful effects in…

Mechanisms That Link Parenting Practices to Adolescents' Risky Sexual Behavior: A Test of Six Competing Theories.

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Simons, Leslie Gordon; Sutton, Tara E; Simons, Ronald L; Gibbons, Frederick X; Murry, Velma McBride

2016-02-01

Risky sexual behavior, particularly among adolescents, continues to be a major source of concern. In order to develop effective education and prevention programs, there is a need for research that identifies the antecedents of such behavior. This study investigated the mediators that link parenting experiences during early adolescence to subsequent risky sexual behaviors among a diverse sample of African American youth (N = 629, 55 % female). While there is ample evidence that parenting practices (e.g., supportive parenting, harsh parenting, parental management) are antecedent to risky sexual behavior, few studies have examined whether one approach to parenting is more strongly related to risky sex than others. Using a developmental approach, the current study focused on factors associated with six theories of risky sexual behavior. While past research has provided support for all of the theories, few studies have assessed the relative contribution of each while controlling for the processes proposed by the others. The current study addresses these gaps in the literature and reports results separately by gender. Longitudinal analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that the mediating mechanisms associated with social learning and attachment theories were significantly related to the risky sexual behavior of males and females. Additionally, there was support for social control and self-control theories only for females and for life history theory only for males. We did not find support for problem behavior theory, a perspective that dominates the risky sex literature, after controlling for the factors associated with the other theories. Finally, supportive parenting emerged as the parenting behavior most influential with regard to adolescents' risky sexual behavior. These results provide insight regarding efficacious approaches to education and preventative programs designed to reduce risky sexual behaviors among adolescents.

Sex-related online behaviors and adolescents' body and sexual self-perceptions.

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Doornwaard, Suzan M; Bickham, David S; Rich, Michael; Vanwesenbeeck, Ine; van den Eijnden, Regina J J M; ter Bogt, Tom F M

2014-12-01

This study investigated: (1) the prevalence and development of 2 receptive (sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM] use and sexual information seeking) and 2 interactive (cybersex and general social networking site [SNS] use) online behaviors in adolescence; (2) whether development of these behaviors predict adolescents' body and sexual self-perceptions; and (3) whether parental strategies regarding adolescents' Internet use reduce engagement in sex-related online behaviors. Four-wave longitudinal data among 1132 seventh- to 10th-grade Dutch adolescents (mean age at wave 1: 13.95 years; 52.7% boys) were collected. Developmental trajectories of sex-related online behaviors were estimated by using latent growth curve modeling. Self-perception outcomes at wave 4 and parental strategies predicting online behaviors were investigated by adding regression paths to growth models. Boys occasionally and increasingly used SEIM. Patterns for girls' SEIM use and boys' and girls' sexual information seeking and cybersex were consistently low. SNS use, however, was a common, daily activity for both. Higher initial levels and/or faster increases in sex-related online behaviors generally predicted less physical self-esteem (girls' SNS use only), more body surveillance, and less satisfaction with sexual experience. Private Internet access and less parental rule setting regarding Internet use predicted greater engagement in sex-related online behaviors. Although most sex-related online behaviors are not widespread among youth, adolescents who engage in such behaviors are at increased risk for developing negative body and sexual self-perceptions. Particular attention should be paid to adolescents' SNS use because this behavior is most popular and may, through its interactive characteristics, elicit more critical self-evaluations. Prevention efforts should focus on parents' role in reducing risky sex-related online behaviors. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Risky driving behaviors for road traffic accident among drivers in Mekele city, Northern Ethiopia

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Hassen Abrahim

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Due to its perception as a disease of development, road traffic accident and related injuries tend to be under recognized as a major health problem in developing countries. However, majority of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low income and middle income countries. Since the main cause of road traffic accident is attributed to human risky behaviors, it is important to identify significant factors for risky behaviors of drivers. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study with a sample size of 350 drivers was conducted in April 2011. The study was conducted among Taxi, Bajaj (three tire vehicles and private owned car drivers. After proportion to size allocation for Taxi (75, Baja (103 and private owned car (172 drivers, we used systematic random sampling method to identify illegible study subjects. Data was collected with face to face interview using a pretested questioner. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis was done using SPSS version 16. Results The mean age of the respondents was 28.7 (SD 9.9. Majority were 339 (96.9% males. Significant number of the study subjects 233 (66.6% had risky driving behaviors. More than a quarter 100 (28.6% had less knowledge about basic traffic signs. Majority of drivers 181 (51.7% had negative attitude towards risky driving behaviors. Significant percent of them 148 (42.3% had a habit of using mobile phone while driving vehicle and 28 (9.7% had experience of driving after drinking alcohol. All the Bajaj, 97(62.6% house car and 58(37.4% taxi unfasten their seat belt while driving. Majority 303 (86.6% followed the recommended speed limit of driving. About 66 (18.9% of them had experience of punishment or warning by traffic polices in the previous 1 year and 77 (22% ever had car accident while driving. Conclusions Drivers of secondary education and with high average monthly income were more likely to have risky driving behavior. Having supportive attitude towards risky

Peer Harassment and Risky Behavior among Sexual Minority Girls and Boys

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Martin-Storey, Alexa; Crosnoe, Robert

2014-01-01

The role of peer harassment in the association between sexual minority status and adolescent risky behavior was examined for 15 year olds in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 957). The findings, although exploratory, suggest the importance of gender. For girls, peer harassment was best viewed as a moderator of the link between sexual minority status and increased risky behavior. It intensified an existing association, reflecting the gendered nature of the impact o...

HIV-transmission knowledge, five-factor personality traits and psychopathy as determinants of risky sexual behaviors

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Hudek-Knežević, Jasna; Kardum, Igor; Krapić, Nada

2008-01-01

On a sample of 203 males and 219 females the effects of HIV-transmission knowledge, five-factor personality traits and three components of psychopathy (antisocial behavior, interpersonal manipulation and impulsive thrill seeking) on overall risky sexual behaviors as well as risky sexual behaviors during previous month were explored by using a series of hierarchical regression analyses. The main hypothesis tested in this research is that psychopathy is an important predictor of risky sexual be...

Intimate Violence as It Relates to Risky Sexual Behavior Among At-Risk Females.

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Hill, Danielle C; Stein, L A R; Rossi, Joseph S; Magill, Molly; Clarke, Jennifer G

2017-10-05

Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents are on the rise. The majority of adolescents who contract STIs do so through risky sexual behavior. Previous literature has identified multiple correlates of risky sexual behaviors among adolescents, including physical and sexual victimization, mental health concerns, and substance use. Few studies, however, have examined these relationships together in a comprehensive model. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether relationship violence was related to risky sexual behavior, and whether mental health symptoms and substance use mediated this relationship. A cross-sectional design was used, and adolescent females (N = 179), recruited from social service agencies, were 18.9 years old on average and were 37.2% White, 19.3% Black, 37.9% multiracial, and 5.6% other. Regression results revealed that females who were physically assaulted and sexually victimized by their intimate partners did engage in more sex without condoms. Mediational analyses indicated that PTSD symptoms significantly influenced the relationship between (1) physical assault and risky sexual behavior and (2) sexual victimization and risky sexual behavior. Contrary to expectations, PTSD may act to reduce risk perhaps by reducing interest in sex. It is important to address victimization, PTSD, and sexual risk in young women. More work is needed to understand these complex relationships using longitudinal designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Economic booms and risky sexual behavior: evidence from Zambian copper mining cities.

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Wilson, Nicholas

2012-12-01

Existing studies suggest that individual and household level economic shocks affect the demand for and supply of risky sex. However, little evidence exists on the effects of an aggregate shock on equilibrium risky sexual behavior. This paper examines the effects of the early twenty-first century copper boom on risky sexual behavior in Zambian copper mining cities. The results suggest that the copper boom substantially reduced rates of transactional sex and multiple partnerships in copper mining cities. These effects were partly concentrated among young adults and copper boom induced in-migration to mining cities appears to have contributed to these reductions. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The dopamine transporter gene, a spectrum of most common risky behaviors, and the legal status of the behaviors.

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Guang Guo

2010-02-01

Full Text Available This study tests the specific hypothesis that the 9R/9R genotype in the VNTR of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1 exerts a general protective effect against a spectrum of risky behaviors in comparison to the 10R/9R and 10R/10R genotypes, drawing on three-time repeated measures of risky behaviors in adolescence and young adulthood on about 822 non-Hispanic white males from the Add Health study. Our data have established two empirical findings. The first is a protective main effect in the DAT1 gene against risky behaviors. The second finding is that the protective effect varies over age, with the effect prominent at ages when a behavior is illegal and the effect largely vanished at ages when the behavior becomes legal or more socially tolerated. Both the protective main effect and the gene-lifecourse interaction effect are replicated across a spectrum of most common risky behaviors: delinquency, variety of sexual partners, binge drinking, drinking quantity, smoking quantity, smoking frequency, marijuana use, cocaine use, other illegal drug use, and seatbelt non-wearing. We also compared individuals with the protective genotype and individuals without it in terms of age, physical maturity, verbal IQ, GPA, received popularity, sent popularity, church attendance, two biological parents, and parental education. These comparisons indicate that the protective effect of DAT1*9R/9R cannot be explained away by these background characteristics. Our work demonstrates how legal/social contexts can enhance or reduce a genetic effect on risky behaviors.

The use of messages in altering risky gambling behavior in experienced gamblers.

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Jardin, Bianca F; Wulfert, Edelgard

2012-03-01

The present study was an experimental analogue that examined the relationship between gambling-related irrational beliefs and risky gambling behavior. Eighty high-frequency gamblers were randomly assigned to four conditions and played a chance-based computer game in a laboratory setting. Depending on the condition, during the game a pop-up screen repeatedly displayed either accurate or inaccurate messages concerning the game, neutral messages, or no messages. Consistent with a cognitive-behavioral model of gambling, accurate messages that correctly described the random contingencies governing the game decreased risky gambling behavior. Contrary to predictions, inaccurate messages designed to mimic gamblers' irrational beliefs about their abilities to influence chance events did not lead to more risky gambling behavior than exposure to neutral or no messages. Participants in the latter three conditions did not differ significantly from one another and all showed riskier gambling behavior than participants in the accurate message condition. The results suggest that harm minimization strategies that help individuals maintain a rational perspective while gambling may protect them from unreasonable risk-taking. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Drink driving and risky behavior among university students in southwestern Nigeria-Implications for policy development.

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Abayomi, O; Babalola, O R; Olakulehin, O A; Ighoroje, M

2016-05-18

Drink driving contributes significantly to road traffic injuries. Little is known about the relationship between drink driving and other high-risk behaviors in non-Western countries. The study aimed to assess the relationship between drink driving and other risky behaviors including making phone calls, sending text messages, nonuse of protective gear, and driving against traffic. A cross-sectional survey of risky behavior among undergraduates was conducted. A stratified random sampling method was used to identify young undergraduates who had driven a motorized vehicle in the past year. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and other tools developed by researchers were used to identify the risky behaviors. Of 431 respondents, 10.7% had engaged in drink driving in the past 12 months. The most common risky behavior was making phone calls (63.7%), followed by nonuse of helmets (54.7%), driving against traffic (49.2%), nonuse of seat belts (46.8%), and sending text messages (26.1%). Alcohol use was significantly associated with making phone calls (U = 1.148; P < .0001), sending text messages (U = 1.598; P = .021), nonuse of helmets (U = 1.147; P < .0001), driving against traffic (U = 1.234; P < .0001), and nonuse of seat belts (U = 3.233; P = .001). Drink driving was associated with all risky behaviors except nonuse of seat belts (U = 1.842; P = .065). Alcohol use and drink driving were associated with multiple risky driving behaviors. This provides useful insight for policy development and presents additional challenges for traffic injury prevention.

Knowledge for unintentional injury and risky behavior among the school-age children in Changsha city of China.

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Tian, Lingyun; Liu, Minhui; Li, Li; Fang, Zhengqing; Xiao, Hongling; Wu, Ying; Xia, Yanping

2016-07-01

To investigate the current status on knowledge for unintentional injury and risky behavior among school-age children in Changsha, China, and to provide scientific evidence for the preventive strategies.
 A cross-sectional study was conducted on 866 students who were between 6 and 12 years old in Changsha. Two primary schools were selected by stratified cluster random sampling from all primary schools of Changsha city to collect the information regarding knowledge for unintentional injury and risky behavior occurring in the 6-month period before the survey.
 The mean score for knowledge of unintentional injury was 11.83±2.38. The levels of knowledge for unintentional injury differed significantly in child's age, parents' education background and child's injury history (Pchild's knowledge level was correlated with child's age, mother's education, child's injury history. The mean score for risky behavior was 17.61±10.35. The levels of risky behavior differed significantly in child's gender, father's age to have the child, parents' marriage status, whom does/do child live with, child's injury history and medical history since the birthday (Pchild's injury history, parents' marriage status, child's gender. There was no significant correlation between knowledge and risky behavior (P>0.05).
 It is a common phenomenon in school-age children who are lack of the knowledge for unintentional injury and risky behavior. This study provides useful information on the risk factors for unintentional injury and risky behavior, which would be significant for prevention program.

DIGITAL DANGERS AND CYBER-VICTIMISATION: A STUDY OF EUROPEAN ADOLESCENT ONLINE RISKY BEHAVIOUR FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

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Jeffrey Nicholas DeMarco

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: The engagement and use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs has increased exponentially across societies worldwide with implications for social and psychological development in young people. In this context, the risk of negative sexual experience and victimisation online is known to have real world consequences for young people. This article seeks to: explore the nature of adolescent risk taking online behaviour from a group of young adults in different European countries; develop types of online risk profiles; explore the impact of help-seeking and to consider the potential real world harmful consequences. Method: A survey was administered across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy of 18 to 25 year olds in higher education, asking them about their online experiences between the ages of 12 and 16. Risky behaviour on and off-line, types of victimisation (on and offline and sexual solicitation requests online were analysed together with help-seeking behaviour. Results: Four profiles concerning adolescent risky behaviours were identified through cluster analysis. Each were distinguishable by a pattern of latent constructs linked to risk offline and online. Two were considered normative (adapted adolescents and inquisitive online and two high risk (risk-taking aggressive and sexually inquisitive online. Additionally, regression analysis demonstrated significant factors linked to predicting both likelihood of meeting an adult for sexual purposes, and help-seeking behaviour. Conclusions: The profiles developed are a useful tool for educators, police and health and social care practitioners in identifying adolescents at risk in order to undertake preventative work. Common help-seeking behaviour from peers could be used to effect interventions.

I Did What Last Night? Adolescent Risky Sexual Behaviors and Substance Abuse

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Michael Grossman; Sarah Markowitz

2005-01-01

Risky sexual behaviors by teenagers have shown to be strongly correlated with drug and alcohol consumption. The purpose of this study is to examine the question of whether alcohol and drug use increases the likelihood that teenagers will engage in four risky sexual behaviors: having sex, sex with multiple partners, sex without a condom, and sex without birth control. Two-stage least squares and a reduced form model are used to account for the potential endogeneity of substance use. The findin...

Harsh Parenting, Deviant Peers, Adolescent Risky Behavior: Understanding the Meditational Effect of Attitudes and Intentions.

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Neppl, Tricia K; Dhalewadikar, Jui; Lohman, Brenda J

2016-09-01

Although research supports the influence of parents and peers on adolescent risky behavior, less is known about mechanisms proposed to explain this relation. This study examined the influence of adolescent attitudes and intentions about such behaviors. Prospective, longitudinal data came from rural youth who participated throughout adolescence (n= 451). Observed harsh parenting and relationship with deviant peers was assessed in early adolescence, attitudes and intentions were measured during middle adolescence, and risky behavior was assessed in late adolescence. Results indicated that parenting and deviant peers was related to engagement in tobacco use, alcohol use, and risky sexual behaviors. Moreover, attitudes and intentions mediated this relationship even after parent use and adolescent early involvement in these behaviors were taken into account.

Impulsivity-like traits and risky driving behaviors among college students.

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Pearson, Matthew R; Murphy, Elaine M; Doane, Ashley N

2013-04-01

The present study examined the predictive effects of five impulsivity-like traits (Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Negative Urgency, and Positive Urgency) on driving outcomes (driving errors, driving lapses, driving violations, cell phone driving, traffic citations, and traffic collisions). With a convenience sample of 266 college student drivers, we found that each of the impulsivity-like traits was related to multiple risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency (tendency to act impulsively when experiencing negative affect) was the most robust predictor of risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency is a relatively newly conceptualized impulsivity-like trait that was not examined in the driving literature previously, suggesting a strong need to further examine its role as a personality trait related to risky driving. These findings generally support the multidimensional assessment of impulsivity-like traits, and they specifically support the addition of Positive Urgency to a list of risk factors for risky driving behaviors. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risky Behaviors of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs Referred to Addiction Rehabilitation Centers in Khuzestan Province in 2014

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Farkhondeh Jamshidi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Aim: In the last decade, the prevalence of injecting drugs has been increasing rapidly. Injecting drug use puts one at the risk of risky behaviors that affect the health of individual and society. The present study aims at evaluating and comparing risky behaviors of injecting and non-injecting drug users. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 4400 addicts referred to public, private and drop-in-centers (DICs in 2014 were enrolled. The addicts were divided into injecting and non-injecting drug users. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect demographic data and the pattern of drug use and risky behavior. Data were analyzed by SPSSV21, chi-square test and ANOVA. A significance level of less than 0.05 was considered. Results: Among the addicts, 4% were injecting drug users (IDUs and 96% non-injecting drug addicts (non-IDUs. The age of the first injection was 24.68 ± 6.45 years old. The age of onset of drug use in IDUs was significantly lower than in non-IDUs (P<0.001. Risky behaviors including the use of shared needles, risky sexual relations, a history of sexually transmitted infections and a history of imprisonment and suicide were significantly higher in IDUs. Addiction relapse and slip during treatment were higher in IDUs (P<0.001. Conclusion: Injecting drug addiction significantly increases the risk of relapse and risky behaviors. Priority should be given to risky behavior prevention programs.

Risky behavior in gambling tasks in individuals with ADHD--a systematic literature review.

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Yvonne Groen

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to gain insight into the relationship between Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD and risky performance in gambling tasks and to identify any potential alternate explanatory factors. METHODS: PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Knowledge were searched for relevant literature comparing individuals with ADHD to normal controls (NCs in relation to their risky performance on a gambling task. In total, fourteen studies in children/adolescents and eleven studies in adults were included in the review. RESULTS: Half of the studies looking at children/adolescents with ADHD found evidence that they run more risks on gambling tasks when compared to NCs. Only a minority of the studies on adults with ADHD reported aberrant risky behavior. The effect sizes ranged from small to large for both age groups and the outcome pattern did not differ between studies that applied an implicit or explicit gambling task. Two studies demonstrated that comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD and conduct disorder (CD increased risky behavior in ADHD. Limited and/or inconsistent evidence was found that comorbid internalizing disorders (IDs, ADHD subtype, methylphenidate use, and different forms of reward influenced the outcomes. CONCLUSION: The evidence for increased risky performance of individuals with ADHD on gambling tasks is mixed, but is stronger for children/adolescents with ADHD than for adults with ADHD, which may point to developmental changes in reward and/or penalty sensitivity or a publication bias for positive findings in children/adolescents. The literature suggests that comorbid ODD/CD is a risk factor in ADHD for increased risky behavior. Comorbid IDs, ADHD subtype, methylphenidate use, and the form of reward received may affect risky performance in gambling tasks; however, these factors need further examination. Finally, the implications of the findings for ADHD models and the ecological validity of gambling tasks

Individualism-Collectivism, Social Self-Control and Adolescent Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior.

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Pokhrel, Pallav; Bennett, Brooke L; Regmi, Sakshi; Idrisov, Bulat; Galimov, Artur; Akhmadeeva, Leila; Sussman, Steve

2018-06-07

Individualism and collectivism are cultural syndromes that have been associated with adolescent problem behavior in studies conducted in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. However, research investigating the mechanisms of how cultural orientation impacts health risk behaviors has been limited. This study tested a new model explaining the relationship between cultural orientation (i.e., individualism, collectivism) and adolescent problem behavior (i.e., substance use and risky sex) in terms of interpersonal self-regulation (i.e., social self-control). As such, the study is rooted in theories of the role of culture in developing self-regulation. Participants were high school students (N = 716) from the Bashkirtostan Republic of the Russian Federation. Adolescents from the Russian Federation tend to show high prevalence of cigarette smoking and binge drinking. People of the Russian Federation in general are traditionally collectivist in orientation, although increased globalization and post-Soviet capitalism may indicate high individualist values in younger generation Russians. Using path analysis we found that in addition to having direct effects, higher individualism indirectly affected substance use and risky sexual behavior through social self-control and negative life events. Higher collectivism was found to have a direct protective effect on risky sexual behavior and a direct effect on social self-control. However, collectivism was not found to have indirect effects on substance use or risky sexual behavior. Higher individualism appears to function as a risk factor for adolescent problem behavior and this relationship may be mediated by lower social self-control. Culturally-tailored prevention programs utilizing the individualism-collectivism framework may benefit from addressing social self-control.

The Cost of Materialism in a Collectivistic Culture: Predicting Risky Behavior Engagement in Chinese Adolescents

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Auerbach, Randy P.; McWhinnie, Chad M.; Goldfinger, Marc; Abela, John R. Z.; Zhu, Xiongzhao; Yao, Shuqiao

2010-01-01

The goals of the current study were to examine whether (a) negative events mediate the relationship between materialism and risky behavior engagement and (b) materialism moderates the relationship between stress and engagement in risky behaviors in Chinese youth. At Time 1, 406 adolescents (ages 14-19) from Yue Yang, China, completed measures…

Living with parents and risky sexual behaviors among preparatory ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

EB

Keywords: Risky sexual behavior, living with parents, family environment. African Halth ... increases the probability of negative consequences ... greater the gender imbalance in rates of HIV infection, with ... communication and family support) (22 Items with. 5-point ... students relationship and school-students relationship).

Zachowania ryzykowne młodzieży = Risky behaviors of teenagers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aneta Baranowska

2016-06-01

      Streszczenie W artykule została podjęta problematyka zachowań ryzykownych przejawianych przez współczesną młodzież. Autorka tekstu dokonała zwięzłej charakterystyki najczęściej występujących wśród młodych ludzi zachowań problemowych, takich jak: palenie papierosów, nadużywanie alkoholu, narkotyków i dopalaczy; ryzykowna aktywność seksualna; okaleczanie własnego ciała (autoagresja; nadmierne opalanie się. Następnie, odwołując się do teorii czynników ryzyka i czynników chroniących, koncepcji resilience, modelu ekologicznego Bronfenbrennera oraz Teorii Zachowań Problemowych, zwróciła uwagę na czynniki, które intensyfikują prawdopodobieństwo występowania zachowań ryzykownych u adolescentów oraz na czynniki, które wzmacniają ogólny potencjał zdrowotny człowieka i tym samym jego odporność na działanie tych pierwszych. Opracowanie kończy ilustracja zadań, jakie stoją przed osobami prowadzącymi działania profilaktyczne, w związku z rozpowszechnianiem się wśród nastolatków zachowań problemowych.   Słowa klucze: zachowanie ryzykowne, adolescenci, czynniki ryzyka, czynniki chroniące, profilaktyka.   Summary The article touches upon risky behaviors manifested by contemporary teenagers. The article characterizes the most frequent types of risky behaviors among young people, such as: smoking cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and designer drugs abuse, risky sexual contacts, self-mutilation (self-injury and excessive sunbathing. The author also appeals to the theory of risk and protective factors, notion of resilience, ecologic model of Bronfenbrenner, and the theory of problem behavior in order to point out to the factors which intensify the probability of risky behaviors of adolescents as well as the factors which enhance the overall health potential of a person and thus his resistance to such factors. The research ends with a list of tasks that people responsible for preventive actions are facing due to the

The role of personality traits and driving experience in self-reported risky driving behaviors and accident risk among Chinese drivers.

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Tao, Da; Zhang, Rui; Qu, Xingda

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of personality traits and driving experience in the prediction of risky driving behaviors and accident risk among Chinese population. A convenience sample of drivers (n=511; mean (SD) age=34.2 (8.8) years) completed a self-report questionnaire that was designed based on validated scales for measuring personality traits, risky driving behaviors and self-reported accident risk. Results from structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the data fit well with our theoretical model. While showing no direct effects on accident risk, personality traits had direct effects on risky driving behaviors, and yielded indirect effects on accident risk mediated by risky driving behaviors. Both driving experience and risky driving behaviors directly predicted accident risk and accounted for 15% of its variance. There was little gender difference in personality traits, risky driving behaviors and accident risk. The findings emphasized the importance of personality traits and driving experience in the understanding of risky driving behaviors and accident risk among Chinese drivers and provided new insight into the design of evidence-based driving education and accident prevention interventions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association between Self-Reported Academic Performance and Risky Sexual Behavior among Ugandan University Students- A Cross Sectional Study

OpenAIRE

Mehra, Devika; Kyagaba, Emmanuel; ?stergren, Per-Olof; Agardh, Anette

2014-01-01

Little is known about the association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviors and if this differs by gender, among university students. Academic performance can create psychological pressure in young students. Poor academic performance might thus potentially contribute to risky sexual behavior among university students. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviors, and whether gende...

Are online gamblers more at risk than offline gamblers?

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Kairouz, Sylvia; Paradis, Catherine; Nadeau, Louise

2012-03-01

To characterize and compare sociodemographic profiles, game-play patterns, and level of addictive behaviors among adults who gamble online and those who do not, and to examine if, at the population level, online gambling is associated with more risky behaviors than offline gambling. Respondents were 8,456 offline gamblers and 111 online gamblers who participated in a population-based survey conducted in the province of Québec, in 2009. The study sample is representative of adult general population. There is an unequal distribution of online gambling in the population. A disproportionate number of men, young people, and students say they participate in online gambling. Poker players are overrepresented among online gamblers and gambling behaviors tend to be more excessive on the Internet. Compared with offline gamblers, online gamblers report more co-occurring risky behaviors, namely alcohol and cannabis use. Those who gamble online appear to be more at risk for gambling-related problems, but the present findings alone cannot be used as evidence for that conclusion. Future research designs could combine longitudinal data collection and multilevel analyses to provide more insight into the causal mechanisms associated with online gambling.

Aggression, emotional self-regulation, attentional bias, and cognitive inhibition predict risky driving behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Sani, Susan Raouf Hadadi; Tabibi, Zahra; Fadardi, Javad Salehi; Stavrinos, Despina

2017-12-01

The present study explored whether aggression, emotional regulation, cognitive inhibition, and attentional bias towards emotional stimuli were related to risky driving behavior (driving errors, and driving violations). A total of 117 applicants for taxi driver positions (89% male, M age=36.59years, SD=9.39, age range 24-62years) participated in the study. Measures included the Ahwaz Aggression Inventory, the Difficulties in emotion regulation Questionnaire, the emotional Stroop task, the Go/No-go task, and the Driving Behavior Questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses showed that aggression and emotional regulation predicted risky driving behavior. Difficulties in emotion regulation, the obstinacy and revengeful component of aggression, attentional bias toward emotional stimuli, and cognitive inhibition predicted driving errors. Aggression was the only significant predictive factor for driving violations. In conclusion, aggression and difficulties in regulating emotions may exacerbate risky driving behaviors. Deficits in cognitive inhibition and attentional bias toward negative emotional stimuli can increase driving errors. Predisposition to aggression has strong effect on making one vulnerable to violation of traffic rules and crashes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictors of Long-Term Risky Driving Behavior in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Jessica A; Jakubovski, Ewgeni; Reed, Margot O; Bloch, Michael H

2017-10-01

This study examines predictors of later risky driving behavior in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Stepwise logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used to explore baseline predictors of risky driving behavior for adolescents who completed the 8-year follow-up assessment in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA). Stepwise logistic regression analysis explained 19% of the total variance in risky driving behavior. Increased likelihood of risky driving behavior was associated with parental history of conduct disorder, low parental monitoring and supervision, and increased age. ROC analysis identified discriminative predictors for adolescents older and younger than 16 years of age at follow-up. The most discriminative predictors of later risky driving behavior were parental stress at baseline (for children 16 years or older) and increased child-rated parental protectiveness (for children less than 16 years old). Risky driving behavior was significantly predicted by baseline characteristics for the MTA cohort. Aspects of parenting behavior (or the child's perception of them), including parental stress levels, parental protectiveness, and parental levels of monitoring and supervision, were most informative in predicting these outcomes. Our results suggest that interventions to reduce high-risk behaviors in these high-risk children with ADHD might involve targeted parenting interventions.

Is Media Multitasking Good for Cybersecurity? Exploring the Relationship Between Media Multitasking and Everyday Cognitive Failures on Self-Reported Risky Cybersecurity Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Karen

2018-01-01

Abstract The current study focused on how engaging in media multitasking (MMT) and the experience of everyday cognitive failures impact on the individual's engagement in risky cybersecurity behaviors (RCsB). In total, 144 participants (32 males, 112 females) completed an online survey. The age range for participants was 18 to 43 years (M = 20.63, SD = 4.04). Participants completed three scales which included an inventory of weekly MMT, a measure of everyday cognitive failures, and RCsB. There was a significant difference between heavy media multitaskers (HMM), average media multitaskers (AMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) in terms of RCsB, with HMM demonstrating more frequent risky behaviors than LMM or AMM. The HMM group also reported more cognitive failures in everyday life than the LMM group. A regression analysis showed that everyday cognitive failures and MMT acted as significant predictors for RCsB. These results expand our current understanding of the relationship between human factors and cybersecurity behaviors, which are useful to inform the design of training and intervention packages to mitigate RCsB. PMID:29638157

Is Media Multitasking Good for Cybersecurity? Exploring the Relationship Between Media Multitasking and Everyday Cognitive Failures on Self-Reported Risky Cybersecurity Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadlington, Lee; Murphy, Karen

2018-03-01

The current study focused on how engaging in media multitasking (MMT) and the experience of everyday cognitive failures impact on the individual's engagement in risky cybersecurity behaviors (RCsB). In total, 144 participants (32 males, 112 females) completed an online survey. The age range for participants was 18 to 43 years (M = 20.63, SD = 4.04). Participants completed three scales which included an inventory of weekly MMT, a measure of everyday cognitive failures, and RCsB. There was a significant difference between heavy media multitaskers (HMM), average media multitaskers (AMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) in terms of RCsB, with HMM demonstrating more frequent risky behaviors than LMM or AMM. The HMM group also reported more cognitive failures in everyday life than the LMM group. A regression analysis showed that everyday cognitive failures and MMT acted as significant predictors for RCsB. These results expand our current understanding of the relationship between human factors and cybersecurity behaviors, which are useful to inform the design of training and intervention packages to mitigate RCsB.

Sociocultural Determinants of Risky Sexual Behaviors among Adult Latinas: A Longitudinal Study of a Community-Based Sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas, Patria; Huang, Hui; Li, Tan; Ravelo, Gira J; Sanchez, Mariana; Dawson, Christyl; Brook, Judith; Kanamori, Mariano; De La Rosa, Mario

2016-11-23

Few studies have examined the sociocultural determinants of risky sexual behavior trajectories among adult Latinas. To longitudinally examine the link between sociocultural determinants of risky sexual behaviors, we followed a sample of adult Latina mother-daughter dyads ( n = 267) across a 10-year span through four waves of data collection. The present study investigates how risky sexual behavior (operationalized as sex under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, sex without a condom, or multiple sex partners) is affected by: (a) socioeconomic conditions; (b) mental health; (c) medical health; (d) acculturation to U.S. culture; (e) interpersonal support; (f) relationship stress; (g) mother-daughter attachment; (h) intimate partner violence; (i) religious involvement; and (j) criminal justice involvement. Results indicate the following factors are negatively associated with risky sexual behavior: drug and alcohol use, treating a physical problem with prescription drugs, religious involvement, and mother-daughter attachment. The following factors are positively associated with risky sexual behavior: higher number of mental health symptoms, being U.S.-born, and criminal justice involvement. We discuss implications for the future development of culturally relevant interventions based on the study findings.

Risky sexual behavior among patients in Turkey with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and heroin addiction.

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Hariri, Aytul Gursu; Karadag, Figen; Gokalp, Peykan; Essizoglu, Altan

2011-08-01

Risky sexual behavior associated with such sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as hepatitis B and C, herpes, Treponema pallidum, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is more frequent among psychiatric patients and parenteral drug abusers than the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate risky sexual behavior in psychiatric outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia (SCH), bipolar disorder, and heroin addiction (HA), and to compare them with those observed in healthy controls. The study group (N = 485; 234 females and 251 males) consisted of patients that consecutively presented to Bakırkoy State and Training Hospital for Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases in Istanbul and normal healthy controls. The chi-squared test was used for comparisons between groups and categorical variables. One-way analysis of variance (post-hoc Bonferroni test) was used for demographic data. A 22-item questionnaire for collecting demographic, illness history, and sexual activity data, and a structured 23-item form for collecting data on risky sexually behavior were administered to the participants. In all, 10% of the participants had a positive history for STIs. The majority of risky sexual behaviors was observed among the HA patients. The frequency of being sexually assaulted and having homosexual acts among the SCH group were higher. None of the patients had a positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test result. The frequency of positivity for hepatitis B and C markers was highest among the HA patients. The provision of information and training about all STIs and risky sexual behavior should become routine in the treatment of mentally ill patients, especially those that abuse drugs. © 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Risky Disclosures on "Facebook": The Effect of Having a Bad Experience on Online Behavior

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Christofides, Emily; Muise, Amy; Desmarais, Serge

2012-01-01

Social network websites are widely used by adolescents, but disclosing in this environment has inherent risks, as does connecting with others online. In a sample of 256 adolescent "Facebook" users, the authors explore the relationship between having a negative experience, privacy knowledge, and behavior. Their reports of bad experiences on…

Stress-related psychosocial factors at work, fatigue, and risky driving behavior in bus rapid transport (BRT) drivers.

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Useche, Sergio A; Ortiz, Viviola Gómez; Cendales, Boris E

2017-07-01

There is consistent scientific evidence that professional drivers constitute an occupational group that is highly exposed to work related stressors. Furthermore, several recent studies associate work stress and fatigue with unsafe and counterproductive work behaviors. This study examines the association between stress-related work conditions of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) drivers and risky driving behaviors; and examines whether fatigue is a mechanism that mediates the association between the two. A sample of 524 male Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operators were drawn from four transport companies in Bogotá, Colombia. The participants answered a survey which included an adapted version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) for BRT operators, as well as the Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Content Questionnaires, the Subjective Fatigue subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) and the Need for Recovery after Work Scale (NFR). Utilizing Structural Equation Models (SEM) it was found that risky driving behaviors in BRT operators could be predicted through job strain, effort-reward imbalance and social support at work. It was also found that fatigue and need for recovery fully mediate the associations between job strain and risky driving, and between social support and risky driving, but not the association between effort/reward imbalance (ERI) and risky driving. The results of this study suggest that a) stress related working conditions (Job Strain, Social Support and ERI) are relevant predictors of risky driving in BRT operators, and b) that fatigue is the mechanism which links another kind of stress related to working conditions (job strain and low social support) with risky driving. The mechanism by which ERI increases risky driving in BRT operators remains unexplained. This research suggests that in addition to the individual centered stress-reduction occupational programs, fatigue management interventions aimed to changing some working conditions may reduce

The Role of Sexual Health Professionals in Developing a Shared Concept of Risky Sexual Behavior as it Relates to HIV Transmission.

Science.gov (United States)

Brawner, Bridgette M; Alexander, Kamila A; Fannin, Ehriel F; Baker, Jillian L; Davis, Zupenda M

2016-01-01

"Risky sexual behavior" accounts for the majority of new HIV infections regardless of gender, age, geographic location, or ethnicity. The phrase, however, refers to a relatively nebulous concept that hampers development of effective sexual health communication strategies. The purpose of this paper was to propose development of a shared conceptual understanding of "risky sexual behavior." We reviewed multidisciplinary HIV/AIDS literature to identify definitions of risky sexual behavior. Both the linguistic components and the social mechanisms that contribute to the concept of risky sexual behaviors were noted. Risky sexual behavior was often defined in a subjective manner in the literature, even in the scientific research. We urge a paradigm shift to focus on explicit behaviors and the social context of those behaviors in determining HIV risk. We also propose a new definition that reduces individual biases and promotes a broader discussion of the degree of sexual risk across a diversity of behavioral contexts. Sexual health professionals can strengthen practice and research initiatives by operating from a concise working definition of risky sexual behavior that is broadly transferable and expands beyond a traditional focus on identity-based groups. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Novice drivers' risky driving behavior, risk perception, and crash risk: findings from the DRIVE study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivers, Rebecca; Senserrick, Teresa; Boufous, Soufiane; Stevenson, Mark; Chen, Huei-Yang; Woodward, Mark; Norton, Robyn

2009-09-01

We explored the risky driving behaviors and risk perceptions of a cohort of young novice drivers and sought to determine their associations with crash risk. Provisional drivers aged 17 to 24 (n = 20 822) completed a detailed questionnaire that included measures of risk perception and behaviors; 2 years following recruitment, survey data were linked to licensing and police-reported crash data. Poisson regression models that adjusted for multiple confounders were created to explore crash risk. High scores on questionnaire items for risky driving were associated with a 50% increased crash risk (adjusted relative risk = 1.51; 95% confidence interval = 1.25, 1.81). High scores for risk perception (poorer perceptions of safety) were also associated with increased crash risk in univariate and multivariate models; however, significance was not sustained after adjustment for risky driving. The overrepresentation of youths in crashes involving casualties is a significant public health issue. Risky driving behavior is strongly linked to crash risk among young drivers and overrides the importance of risk perceptions. Systemwide intervention, including licensing reform, is warranted.

Erectile dysfunction drug receipt, risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Robert L; McGinnis, Kathleen A; Samet, Jeffrey H; Fiellin, David A; Rodriguez-Barradas, Maria C; Rodriquez-Barradas, Maria C; Kraemer, Kevin L; Gibert, Cynthia L; Braithwaite, R Scott; Goulet, Joseph L; Mattocks, Kristin; Crystal, Stephen; Gordon, Adam J; Oursler, Krisann K; Justice, Amy C

2010-02-01

Health care providers may be concerned that prescribing erectile dysfunction drugs (EDD) will contribute to risky sexual behavior. To identify characteristics of men who received EDD prescriptions, determine whether EDD receipt is associated with risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and determine whether these relationships vary for certain sub-groups. Cross-sectional study. Two thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven sexually-active, HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men recruited from eight Veterans Health Affairs outpatient clinics. Data were obtained from participant surveys, electronic medical records, and administrative pharmacy data. EDD receipt was defined as two or more prescriptions for an EDD, risky sex as having unprotected sex with a partner of serodiscordant or unknown HIV status, and STDs, according to self-report. Overall, 28% of men received EDD in the previous year. Eleven percent of men reported unprotected sex with a serodiscordant/unknown partner in the past year (HIV-infected 15%, HIV-uninfected 6%, P sexual behavior (11% vs. 10%, p = 0.9) and STDs (7% vs 7%, p = 0.7). In multivariate analyses, EDD receipt was not significantly associated with risky sexual behavior or STDs in the entire sample or in subgroups of substance users or men who had sex with men. EDD receipt was common but not associated with risky sexual behavior or STDs in this sample of HIV-infected and uninfected men. However, risky sexual behaviors persist in a minority of HIV-infected men, indicating ongoing need for prevention interventions.

Online Shopping Behavior

OpenAIRE

Shahzad, Hashim

2015-01-01

Online shopping is a very much developed phenomena in Scandinavian countries. Different online factors impact online consumers’ behavior differently depending on the environment of different regions. Sweden is one of the developed and technologically advanced countries. To see the impact of different factors on consumers’ online shopping behavior, the purpose of this study is to analyse the factors that influence consumers’ online shopping behavior in Sweden’s context. One of the objectives o...

Triangular relationship among risky sexual behavior, addiction, and aggression: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadi, Khodabakhsh; Javadinia, Seyed Alireza; Saadat, Seyed Hassan; Ramezani, Mohammad Arash; Sedghijalal, Homa

2017-08-01

Risky sexual behavior (RSB), addiction, and aggression are three important personal and social factors which influence each other. To overview the potential relationship among RSB, addiction, and aggression to conduct an interactive model for the pathology and management of human behavior. This review article was carried out by searching studies in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Ebsco, IEEE, Scopus, Springer, MagIran, and IranMedex databases from the year 1993 to 2013. The search terms were violence, aggression, drug abuse, substance abuse, illicit drug, psychoactive drug, intravenous drug users, addiction and high-risk sexual relationships, unprotected sex, high risk sexual behavior, and sexual risk-taking. In this study, forty-nine studies were accepted for further screening, and met all our inclusion criteria (in English or Persian, full text, and included the search terms). Forty-nine articles were included; 17 out of 26 studies showed a significant correlation between addiction and risky sexual behavior, 15 out of 19 articles indicated a statistically significant correlation between aggression and addiction, and 9 out of 10 articles reported significant correlation between aggression and risky sexual behavior. According to the results, the triangle hypothesis of sex, addiction, and aggression led to the definition of the relationship among the variables of the hypothetical triangle based on the reviewed studies; and the proposed dual and triple relationship based on the conducted literature review was confirmed. This is not a meta-analysis, and there is no analysis of publication bias.

Subgrouping of risky behaviors among Iranian college students: a latent class analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Safiri, Saeid; Rahimi-Movaghar, Afarin; Yunesian, Masud; Sadeghi-Bazargani, Homayoun; Shamsipour, Mansour; Mansournia, Mohammad Ali; Fotouhi, Akbar

2016-01-01

Background Risky behaviors may interrupt development or cause considerable morbidity or mortality. This study’s purpose was to determine subgroups of students based on risky behaviors and assess the prevalence of risky behaviors in each of the subgroups. Participants and methods This anonymous cross-sectional study was carried out in October 2015 and November 2015, with 1,777 students from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, through multistage random sampling method. The data were analyzed by latent class analysis. Results The prevalence rates of cigarette smoking (more than or equal to ten cigarettes), hookah use (≥1 time/month), and alcohol consumption (≥1 time/month) during the last year were 12.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.9–14.0), 11.6% (95% CI: 10.0–13.1), and 4.9% (95% CI: 3.8–5.9), respectively. The prevalence rates of illicit opioids (1.8%, 95% CI: 1.2–2.5), cannabis (1.2%, 95% CI: 0.7–1.7), methamphetamine (1.1%, 95% CI: 0.6–1.6), methylphenidate (2.5%, 95% CI: 1.7–3.2), and extramarital sex (5.5%, 95% CI: 4.5–6.6) over the last year were also estimated. Three latent classes were determined: 1) low risk; 2) cigarette and hookah smoker; and 3) high risk. It is worth mentioning that 3.7% of males and 0.4% of females were in the high risk group. Conclusion Subgrouping of college students showed that a considerable percentage of them, especially males, were classified into the high risk and cigarette and hookah smoker groups. Appropriate preventive measures that consider multiple different risky behaviors simultaneously are needed for this part of the population. PMID:27524898

Gender differences in pathways from child physical and sexual abuse to adolescent risky sexual behavior among high-risk youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Susan; Voith, Laura A; Kobulsky, Julia M

2018-04-01

This study investigated gender differences in the roles of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and substance use as pathways linking child physical and sexual abuse to risky sexual behavior among youth at risk of maltreatment. Path analysis was performed with 862 adolescents drawn from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect. Four waves of data collected in the United States were used: childhood physical and sexual abuse experiences (from ages 0-12) were assessed by Child Protective Services reports, internalizing and externalizing symptoms were measured at age 14, substance use was measured at age 16, and risky sexual behavior was measured at age 18. Physical abuse was directly associated with risky sexual behavior in boys but not girls. For girls, physical abuse had a significant indirect effect on risky sexual behavior via externalizing symptoms. Gender-focused preventive intervention strategies may be effective in reducing risky sexual behavior among at-risk adolescents. Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Correlation of resistance to peer pressure and risky decision-making with adolescent health risk behaviors].

Science.gov (United States)

An, Jing; Sun, Ying; Wang, Xi; Zu, Ping; Mai, Jin-cheng; Liang, Jian-ping; Xu, Zhi-yong; Man, Xue-jun; Mao, Yan; Tao, Fang-biao

2013-03-01

To explore possible interrelationships among resistance to peer pressure, risky decision-making and health risk behaviors among young adolescents. Based on the cluster sampling method, the participants who were recruited from 5 junior middle schools in Guangzhou and 3 junior middle schools in Shenyang city on October, 2010, were administered to complete the questionnaire concerned with their experiences with drinking and smoking during the past 30 days preceding the survey, and the hours using computer daily both in weekdays and in weekend. The level of resistance to peer influence and risky decision-making were assessed by Resistance to peer influence scale (RPIS) and Youth decision-making questionnaire (YDMQ). Logistic regression was used to explore possible interrelationships among resistance to peer influence, risky decision-making and health risk behaviors among young adolescents. A total of 1985 questionnaires were valid, including 1001(50.4%) boys and 984 (49.6%) girls. About 27.1% (537/1985) junior middle school students reported having health risk behaviors, boys' (30.7%, 307/1001) was higher than girls' (23.4%, 230/984) with significant gender difference (P peer influence (low and middle level vs high level, had odds ratios of 2.97 (1.96 - 4.50) and 1.51 (1.05 - 2.16)), and also the middle and high level of risky decision-making (middle and high level vs low level, had odds ratios of 1.62 (1.19 - 2.22) and 3.43 (2.39 - 4.90)) were all the risk factors of adolescent health risk behaviors. Adolescents with poor ability of resistance to peer pressure and high risky decision-making were both the risk factors of adolescent health risk behaviors.

Understanding Risky Behavior: The Influence of Cognitive, Emotional and Hormonal Factors on Decision-Making under Risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Kusev, Petko; Purser, Harry; Heilman, Renata; Cooke, Alex J; Van Schaik, Paul; Baranova, Victoria; Martin, Rose; Ayton, Peter

2017-01-01

Financial risky decisions and evaluations pervade many human everyday activities. Scientific research in such decision-making typically explores the influence of socio-economic and cognitive factors on financial behavior. However, very little research has explored the holistic influence of contextual, emotional, and hormonal factors on preferences for risk in insurance and investment behaviors. Accordingly, the goal of this review article is to address the complexity of individual risky behavior and its underlying psychological factors, as well as to critically examine current regulations on financial behavior.

Understanding Risky Behavior: The Influence of Cognitive, Emotional and Hormonal Factors on Decision-Making under Risk

Science.gov (United States)

Kusev, Petko; Purser, Harry; Heilman, Renata; Cooke, Alex J.; Van Schaik, Paul; Baranova, Victoria; Martin, Rose; Ayton, Peter

2017-01-01

Financial risky decisions and evaluations pervade many human everyday activities. Scientific research in such decision-making typically explores the influence of socio-economic and cognitive factors on financial behavior. However, very little research has explored the holistic influence of contextual, emotional, and hormonal factors on preferences for risk in insurance and investment behaviors. Accordingly, the goal of this review article is to address the complexity of individual risky behavior and its underlying psychological factors, as well as to critically examine current regulations on financial behavior. PMID:28203215

Risky driving and lifestyles in adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bina, Manuela; Graziano, Federica; Bonino, Silvia

2006-05-01

Several studies have shown that risky driving is especially prevalent among young drivers and recent research has pointed out that driving in adolescence should be investigated in the more general context of adolescent development. The first aim of this contribution was to analyze involvement in risky driving in a normative sample of 645 Italian adolescents, boys and girls, aged 14-17, through a self-report questionnaire. A second aim was to evaluate the association between risky driving and lifestyle, defined as involvement in other health risk behaviors and leisure activities. The main results showed that many adolescents drove cars and motorcycles without the required driving license and the most frequent offences were speeding and failure to maintain a safe braking distance. Gender and age differences were also investigated. Results concerning the association between risky driving and lifestyle showed that risky driving was not an isolated behavior. Boys who displayed risky driving practices were more likely to adopt a lifestyle characterized by high involvement in antisocial behaviors, tobacco smoking, comfort eating and time spent in non-organized activities with friends. Girls involved in risky driving were more likely to be involved in other risk-taking behaviors, antisocial behaviors and drug use.

Online versus conventional shopping: consumers' risk perception and regulatory focus.

Science.gov (United States)

van Noort, Guda; Kerkhof, Peter; Fennis, Bob M

2007-10-01

In two experiments, the impact of shopping context on consumers' risk perceptions and regulatory focus was examined. We predicted that individuals perceive an online (vs. conventional) shopping environment as more risky and that an online shopping environment, by its risky nature, primes a prevention focus. The findings in Study 1 demonstrate these effects by using self-report measures for risk perception and prevention focus. In Study 2, we replicated these findings and demonstrated that the effect of an online shopping environment carries over to behavior in a domain unrelated to shopping.

Adverse childhood experiences, chronic diseases, and risky health behaviors in Saudi Arabian adults: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Almuneef, Maha; Qayad, Mohammed; Aleissa, Majid; Albuhairan, Fadia

2014-11-01

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked with risky health behaviors and the development of chronic diseases in adulthood. This study examined associations between ACEs, chronic diseases, and risky behaviors in adults living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2012 using the ACE International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). A cross-sectional design was used, and adults who were at least 18 years of age were eligible to participate. ACEs event scores were measured for neglect, household dysfunction, abuse (physical, sexual, and emotional), and peer and community violence. The ACE-IQ was supplemented with questions on risky health behaviors, chronic diseases, and mood. A total of 931 subjects completed the questionnaire (a completion rate of 88%); 57% of the sample was female, 90% was younger than 45 years, 86% had at least a college education, 80% were Saudi nationals, and 58% were married. One-third of the participants (32%) had been exposed to 4 or more ACEs, and 10%, 17%, and 23% had been exposed to 3, 2, or 1 ACEs respectively. Only 18% did not have an ACE. The prevalence of risky health behaviors ranged between 4% and 22%. The prevalence of self-reported chronic diseases ranged between 6% and 17%. Being exposed to 4 or more ACEs increased the risk of having chronic diseases by 2-11 fold, and increased risky health behaviors by 8-21 fold. The findings of this study will contribute to the planning and development of programs to prevent child maltreatment and to alleviate the burden of chronic diseases in adults. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired-driving prevalence among US high school students: associations with substance use and risky driving behaviors.

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Li, Kaigang; Simons-Morton, Bruce G; Hingson, Ralph

2013-11-01

We examined the prevalence of impaired driving among US high school students and associations with substance use and risky driving behavior. We assessed driving while alcohol or drug impaired (DWI) and riding with alcohol- or drug-impaired drivers (RWI) in a nationally representative sample of 11th-grade US high school students (n = 2431). We examined associations with drinking and binge drinking, illicit drug use, risky driving, and demographic factors using multivariate sequential logistic regression analysis. Thirteen percent of 11th-grade students reported DWI at least 1 of the past 30 days, and 24% reported RWI at least once in the past year. Risky driving was positively associated with DWI (odds ratio [OR] = 1.25; P phone calls (OR = 3.2) while driving. Our findings suggest the need for comprehensive approaches to the prevention of DWI, RWI, and other risky driving behavior.

If you drink, don't smoke: Joint associations between risky health behaviors and labor market outcomes.

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Böckerman, Petri; Hyytinen, Ari; Kaprio, Jaakko; Maczulskij, Terhi

2018-06-01

This paper examines the links between risky health behaviors and labor market success. We provide new evidence on the joint relationships between the most prominent forms of risky health behavior - alcohol consumption, smoking and physical inactivity - and long-term labor market outcomes. We use twin data for Finnish men and women linked to register-based individual information on earnings and labor market attachment. The twin data allow us to account for shared family and environmental factors and to measure risky health behaviors in 1975 and 1981. The long-term labor market outcomes were measured in adulthood as an average over the period 1990-2009. The sample sizes are 2156 and 2498 twins, for men and women, respectively. We find that being both a smoker and a heavy drinker in early adulthood is negatively related to long-term earnings and employment later in life, especially for men. We conclude that how and why risky health behaviors cluster and how that affects individual level outcomes call for more attention. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social network correlates of risky sexual behavior among adolescents in Bahir Dar and Mecha Districts, North West Ethiopia: an institution-based study.

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Asrese, Kerebih; Mekonnen, Alemtsehay

2018-04-11

Behaviors established during adolescence such as risky sexual behaviors have negative effects on future health and well-being. Extant literature indicated that individual attributes such as peer pressure and substance use have impacts on healthy development of young peoples' sexual behavior. The patterns of relationships (social network structure) and the social network content (members' norm regarding sexual practice) established by adolescents' network on adolescents' risky sexual behaviors are not well investigated. This cross-sectional study assessed the roles of social networks on sexual behavior of high school adolescents in Bahir Dar and Mecha district, North West Ethiopia. Data were collected from 806 high school adolescents using a pretested anonymously self administered questionnaire. Hierarchical logistic regression model was used for analysis. The results indicated that more than 13% had risky sexual behavior. Taking social networks into account improved the explanation of risky sexual behavior over individual attributes. Adolescents embedded within increasing sexual practice approving norm (AOR 1.61; 95%CI: 1.04 - 2.50), increasing network tie strength (AOR 1.12; 95% CI: 1.06 - 1.19), and homogeneous networks (AOR 1.58; 95% CI: .98 - 2.55) were more likely to had risky sexual behavior. Engaging within increasing number of sexuality discussion networks was found protective of risky sexual behavior (AOR .84; 95% CI: .72 - .97). Social networks better predict adolescent's risky sexual behavior than individual attributes. The findings indicated the circumstances or contexts that social networks exert risks or protective effects on adolescents' sexual behavior. Programs designed to reduce school adolescents' sexual risk behavior should consider their patterns of social relationships.

Associations between indoor tanning and risky health-related behaviors among high school students in the United States

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Chapman, Stephanie; Ashack, Kurt; Bell, Eric; Sendelweck, Myra Ann; Dellavalle, Robert

2016-01-01

Understanding of the associations between indoor tanning and risky health related behaviors such as sexual activity and substance abuse among adolescents across the United States is incomplete. The purpose of this study is to identify risky health related behaviors among high school students utilizing indoor tanning according to region. We analyzed the results from surveys of adolescents in 14 different states administered as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2013. D...

Understanding Risky Behavior: The Influence of Cognitive, Emotional and Hormonal Factors on Decision-Making under Risk

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Kusev, Petko; Purser, Harry; Heilman, Renata; Cooke, Alex J.; Van Schaik, Paul; Baranova, Victoria; Martin, Rose; Ayton, Peter

2017-01-01

Financial risky decisions and evaluations pervade many human everyday activities. Scientific research in such decision-making typically explores the influence of socio-economic and cognitive factors on financial behavior. However, very little research has explored the holistic influence of contextual, emotional, and hormonal factors on preferences for risk in insurance and investment behaviors. Accordingly, the goal of this review article is to address the complexity of individual risky behav...

Risky Behaviors of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

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Hilal Ozcebe

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study aimed to identify certain risky behavior patterns (unsafe sex, tobacco and drug use, and binge drinking and the factors affecting these behaviors among first- and third-year students in a university. Method: The study included a total of 8407 students enrolled as first- (4392 and third- (4015 year students. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. In data analysis, respecting sampling weights, models were formed by logistic regression method to determine factors that affect the risky behaviors. Results: 731 male–1114 female students from the first year and 560 male–1096 female students from the third year were interviewed. Male students were found to be engaged in risky behaviors more frequently than females. Logistic models of the study indicated that gender, place of residence, relationship with parents, and socialization with friends have profound effects on risky behaviors. Conclusion: After leaving home, young people develop their own lifestyles, and this study demonstrates that lifestyle is the main effective factor for risky behaviors in this group. Universities need to assume more responsibility to guide students’ lives and to provide the facilities and opportunities that encourage and facilitate their adoption of a healthy lifestyle.   Key Words: University students, risky behaviours Bir Üniversitede Öğrencilerin Riskli Davranışları: Kesitsel Bir Çalışma Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, bir üniversitenin birinci ve üçüncü sınıf öğrencileri arasında bazı riskli davranış modellerini (güvensiz seks, tütün ve uyuşturucu kullanımı ve aşırı alkol ve bu davranışları etkileyen faktörleri saptamaktır. Yöntem: Araştırmanın evrenini birinci (4392 ve üçüncü (4015 sınıflarda kayıtlı 8407 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Veri öğrencilerin gözlem altında doldurdukları anket aracılığı ile toplanmıştır. Riskli davranışları etkileyen fakt

Cell phone internet access, online sexual solicitation, partner seeking, and sexual risk behavior among adolescents.

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Rice, Eric; Winetrobe, Hailey; Holloway, Ian W; Montoya, Jorge; Plant, Aaron; Kordic, Timothy

2015-04-01

Online partner seeking is associated with sexual risk behavior among young adults (specifically men who have sex with men), but this association has yet to be explored among a probability sample of adolescents. Moreover, cell phone internet access and sexual risk taking online and offline have not been explored. A probability sample (N = 1,831) of Los Angeles Unified School District high school students was collected in 2011. Logistic regression models assessed relationships between specific sexual risk behaviors (online sexual solicitation, seeking partners online, sex with internet-met partners, condom use) and frequency of internet use, internet access points, and demographics. Students with cell phone internet access were more likely to report being solicited online for sex, being sexually active, and having sex with an internet-met partner. Bisexual-identifying students reported higher rates of being approached online for sex, being sexually active, and not using condoms at last sex. Gay, lesbian, and questioning (GLQ) students were more likely to report online partner seeking and unprotected sex at last sex with an internet-met partner. Additionally, having sex with an internet-met partner was associated with being male, online sexual solicitation, and online partner seeking. Internet- and school-based sexual health programs should incorporate safety messages regarding online sexual solicitation, seeking sex partners online, and engaging in safer sex practices with all partners. Programs must target adolescents of all sexual identities, as adolescents may not yet be "out," and bisexual and GLQ adolescents are more likely to engage in risky sex behaviors.

[Socioeconomic status and risky health behaviors in Croatian adult population].

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Pilić, Leta; Dzakula, Aleksandar

2013-03-01

Based on the previous research, there is strong association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and high morbidity and mortality rates. Even though association between SES and risky health behaviors as the main factors influencing health has been investigated in Croatian population, some questions are yet to be answered. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and excessive drinking in low, middle, and high socioeconomic group of adult Croatian population included in the cohort study on regionalism of cardiovascular health risk behaviors. We also investigated the association between SES measured by income, education and occupation, as well as single SES indicators, and risky health behaviors. We analyzed data on 1227 adult men and women (aged 19 and older at baseline) with complete data on health behaviors, SES and chronic diseases at baseline (2003) and 5-year follow up. Respondents were classified as being healthy or chronically ill. SES categories were derived from answers to questions on monthly household income, occupation and education by using two-step cluster analysis algorithm. At baseline, for the whole sample as well as for healthy respondents, SES was statistically significantly associated with unhealthy diet (whole sample/healthy respondents: p = 0.001), physical inactivity (whole sample/healthy respondents p = 0.44/ p = 0.007), and smoking (whole sample/healthy respondents p < 0.001/p = 0.002). The proportion of respondents with unhealthy diet was greatest in the lowest social class, smokers in the middle and physically inactive in the high social class. During the follow up, smoking and physical inactivity remained statistically significantly associated with SES. In chronically ill respondents, only smoking was statistically significantly associated with SES, at baseline and follow up (p = 0.001/p = 0.002). The highest share of smokers was in the middle social class. Results of our

Risky Sexual Behavior: A Race-Specific Social Consequence of Obesity

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Leech, Tamara G. J.; Dias, Janice Johnson

2012-01-01

Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents' sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated…

Peer influences: the impact of online and offline friendship networks on adolescent smoking and alcohol use.

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Huang, Grace C; Unger, Jennifer B; Soto, Daniel; Fujimoto, Kayo; Pentz, Mary Ann; Jordan-Marsh, Maryalice; Valente, Thomas W

2014-05-01

Online social networking sites (SNSs) have become a popular mode of communication among adolescents. However, little is known about the effects of social online activity on health behaviors. The authors examined the use of SNSs among friends and the degree to which SNS activities relate to face-to-face peer influences and adolescent risk behaviors. Longitudinal egocentric friendship network data along with adolescent social media use and risk behaviors were collected from 1,563 10th-grade students across five Southern California high schools. Measures of online and offline peer influences were computed and assessed using fixed-effects models. The frequency of adolescent SNS use and the number of their closest friends on the same SNSs were not significantly associated with risk behaviors. However, exposure to friends' online pictures of partying or drinking was significantly associated with both smoking (β = .11, p < .001) and alcohol use (β = .06, p < .05). Whereas adolescents with drinking friends had higher risk levels for drinking, adolescents without drinking friends were more likely to be affected by higher exposure to risky online pictures (β = -.10, p < .05). Myspace and Facebook had demographically distinct user characteristics and differential effects on risk behaviors. Exposure to risky online content had a direct impact on adolescents' risk behaviors and significantly interacted with risk behaviors of their friends. These results provide evidence that friends' online behaviors should be considered a viable source of peer influence and that increased efforts should focus on educating adolescents on the negative effects of risky online displays. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Maternal and Paternal Psychological Control as Moderators of the Link between Peer Attitudes and Adolescents' Risky Sexual Behavior.

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Oudekerk, Barbara A; Allen, Joseph P; Hafen, Christopher A; Hessel, Elenda T; Szwedo, David E; Spilker, Ann

2014-05-01

Maternal and paternal psychological control, peer attitudes, and the interaction of psychological control and peer attitudes at age 13 were examined as predictors of risky sexual behavior before age 16 in a community sample of 181 youth followed from age 13 to 16. Maternal psychological control moderated the link between peer attitudes and sexual behavior. Peer acceptance of early sex predicted greater risky sexual behaviors, but only for teens whose mothers engaged in high levels of psychological control. Paternal psychological control demonstrated the same moderating effect for girls; for boys, however, high levels of paternal control predicted risky sex regardless of peer attitudes. Results are consistent with the theory that peer influences do not replace parental influences with regard to adolescent sexual behavior; rather, parental practices continue to serve an important role either directly forecasting sexual behavior or moderating the link between peer attitudes and sexual behavior.

Maternal and Paternal Psychological Control as Moderators of the Link between Peer Attitudes and Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behavior

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Oudekerk, Barbara A.; Allen, Joseph P.; Hafen, Christopher A.; Hessel, Elenda T.; Szwedo, David E.; Spilker, Ann

2013-01-01

Maternal and paternal psychological control, peer attitudes, and the interaction of psychological control and peer attitudes at age 13 were examined as predictors of risky sexual behavior before age 16 in a community sample of 181 youth followed from age 13 to 16. Maternal psychological control moderated the link between peer attitudes and sexual behavior. Peer acceptance of early sex predicted greater risky sexual behaviors, but only for teens whose mothers engaged in high levels of psychological control. Paternal psychological control demonstrated the same moderating effect for girls; for boys, however, high levels of paternal control predicted risky sex regardless of peer attitudes. Results are consistent with the theory that peer influences do not replace parental influences with regard to adolescent sexual behavior; rather, parental practices continue to serve an important role either directly forecasting sexual behavior or moderating the link between peer attitudes and sexual behavior. PMID:25328265

Gender Differences in the Association between Conduct Disorder and Risky Sexual Behavior

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Brooks Holliday, Stephanie; Ewing, Brett A.; Storholm, Erik D.; Parast, Layla; D’Amico, Elizabeth J.

2017-01-01

Despite suggestions that there are gender differences in the association between conduct disorder (CD) and risky sexual behavior, limited empirical research has examined this question. Youth (N = 616) were recruited from four primary care clinics and completed questions related to risky sexual behavior, alcohol and marijuana use, and CD. Results of stratified multivariate models indicated that the association between CD and having four or more lifetime partners, having two or more partners in the last 3 months, and engaging in condomless sex was stronger among female youth. However, association between CD and alcohol and other drug use before sex was stronger in male youth. This is an important contribution to our understanding of gender-specific manifestations of conduct disorder, and has the potential to inform screening and brief intervention efforts for this population. PMID:28182979

Reducing Risky Security Behaviours: Utilising Affective Feedback to Educate Users

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Lynsay A. Shepherd

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Despite the number of tools created to help end-users reduce risky security behaviours, users are still falling victim to online attacks. This paper proposes a browser extension utilising affective feedback to provide warnings on detection of risky behaviour. The paper provides an overview of behaviour considered to be risky, explaining potential threats users may face online. Existing tools developed to reduce risky security behaviours in end-users have been compared, discussing the success rates of various methodologies. Ongoing research is described which attempts to educate users regarding the risks and consequences of poor security behaviour by providing the appropriate feedback on the automatic recognition of risky behaviour. The paper concludes that a solution utilising a browser extension is a suitable method of monitoring potentially risky security behaviour. Ultimately, future work seeks to implement an affective feedback mechanism within the browser extension with the aim of improving security awareness.

Taxi drivers' views on risky driving behavior in Tehran: a qualitative study using a social marketing approach.

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Shams, Mohsen; Shojaeizadeh, Davoud; Majdzadeh, Reza; Rashidian, Arash; Montazeri, Ali

2011-05-01

The use of the social marketing approach for public health issues is increasing. This approach uses marketing concepts borrowed from the principles of commercial marketing to promote beneficial health behaviors. In this qualitative study, four focus groups involving 42 participants were used in consumer research to explore taxi drivers' views on the driving situation and the determinants of risky driving behaviors in Tehran, as well as to gather their ideas for developing a social marketing program to reduce risky driving behaviors among taxi drivers in Tehran, Iran. Participants were asked to respond to questions that would guide the development of a marketing mix, or four Ps (product, price, place and promotion). The discussions determined that the program product should involve avoiding risky driving behaviors through increased attention to driving. They pointed out that developing and communicating with a well-designed persuasive message meant to draw their attention to driving could affect their driving behaviors. In addition, participants identified price, place and promotion strategies. They offered suggestions for marketing nonrisky driving to the target audience. The focus group discussions generated important insights into the values and the motivations that affect consumers' decisions to adopt the product. The focus group guided the development of a social marketing program to reduce risky driving behaviors in taxi drivers in Tehran, Iran. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AMONG OUT-OF-SCHOOL THAI AND NON-THAI YOUTH IN URBAN CHIANG MAI, THAILAND.

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Musumari, Patou Masika; Tangmunkongvorakul, Arunrat; Srithanaviboonchai, Kriengkrai; Manoyosa, Veruree; Tarnkehard, Surapee; Techasrivichien, Teeranee; Suguimoto, S Pilar; Ono-Kihara, Masako; Kihara, Masahiro; Chariyalertsak, Suwat

2017-01-01

Out-of-school youth in Thailand engage in risky sexual behavior that puts them at risk for contracting HIV infection and can have other negative sexual reproductive health outcomes. No study has examined risky sexual behaviors and compared them between Thai and non-Thai out-of-school youth. The current study compares sexual risk behavior and HIV testing behavior between out-of-school Thai and non-Thai youth. We conducted face-to-face interviews in this study population in urban Chiang Mai during 2014. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling from two main sources: non-formal education centers (NFECs) and social meeting places. We recruited 924 youth, aged 15-24 years, of whom 424 (45.9%) were Thai and 500 (54.1%) were non-Thai. The majority were attending NFECs (82.3%). Of the sexually experienced participants (57.7%), 75.4% did not use condoms consistently, and 50.3% had at least 2 lifetime sexual partners. Among the study participants, the Thai studied youth had significantly higher odds of ever having had sex (AOR=2.33; 95% CI: 1.56-3.49; p<0.001), having an earlier sexual debut (AOR=5.52; 95% CI: 2.71-11.25; p<0.001) and having a larger number of lifetime sexual partners (AOR=2.31; 95% CI: 1.37-3.88; p=0.002) than non-Thai participants. There was no significant difference between the Thai and non-Thai participants in terms of having HIV testing. The Thai studied youth were more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than the non-Thai youth. However, both groups displayed risky sexual behaviors. Future research should explore indepth the drivers of risky sexual behaviors among both Thai and non-Thai youth.

Effect of Chronic Lead Intoxication on Risky Behavior in Mice

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L Mohammadyar

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: With industrialization of human societies, pollutants like lead have entered in the life cycle, causing harmful effects on body organs. No sufficient studies have been done on the effects of pollutants on behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate possible effects of lead on some measurable behaviors of an animal model. Methods: Forty eight male adult mice were divided into 4 groups of 12 each. Lead acetate was added at concentrations of 0, 5, 50, or 500 ppm to the drinking water of the animals for 4 weeks (28 days. On day 29, animals were placed on an Elevated Plus maze (EPM for 5 min and the time in sec spent was measured on closed arms, open arms and the end 1/3rd of the open arms. Increased time on open arms, particularly the end 1/3rd was considered to reflect an enhanced risk-accepting behavior. Results: In this study, it was shown that lead exposure caused an increased number of entrance (P=0.006 and time spent (P=0.034 by mice on open arms of the EPM. There was a positive correlation between the concentration of lead acetate and those two effects. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that lead poisoning may decrease normal anxiety in mice and increase risky behavior in this species. Clinical studies on human subjects with risky behavior are strongly suggested in order to find a possible relation between chronic exposures to lead as well as plasma concentration of lead with the extent of this kind of behavior.

Patterns of alcohol consumption and risky sexual behavior: a cross-sectional study among Ugandan university students.

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Choudhry, Vikas; Agardh, Anette; Stafström, Martin; Östergren, Per-Olof

2014-02-06

As reflected in elevated rates of sexually transmitted infections, there is a high prevalence of risky sexual behavior among Ugandan university students. It has been assumed that alcohol contributes to risky sexual behavior. However, perhaps owing to methodological issues, this relationship has found only mixed support in empirical research. The present study analyzes the association between alcohol use and risky sexual behavior at the global, situational, and event level among Uganda university students with sexual experience. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2010 among 1954 students at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda, using a self-administered questionnaire. Alcohol use was measured as consumption over the previous 12 months, during situations related to sexual activity and on the most recent occasion of sexual intercourse. Risky sexual behavior was defined as having two or more sexual partners in the previous 12 months or inconsistent condom use with new partners. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to analyze the association between alcohol use and risky sexual behavior separately for males and females. Even after adjusting for confounders, the odds ratio (OR) of having two or more sexual partners in the past year indicated a statistically significant association with alcohol use on all levels (global, situational, and event) for both males and females. The ORs of inconsistent condom use with a new partner were significant for males who often consumed alcohol in relation to sexual activity--even after adjusting for potential confounders (OR, 1.75; confidence interval, 1.01-3.08). The risk of inconsistent condom use with a new partner was twice as high for females who often consumed alcohol in relation to sexual activity, although this association was not statistically significant. The study supports previous research that alcohol consumption is associated with having multiple sexual partners. Inconsistent

Delay Discounting Mediates Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality and Risky Sexual Behavior for Low Self-Control Adolescents

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Kahn, Rachel E.; Holmes, Christopher; Farley, Julee P.; Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen

2015-01-01

Parent-adolescent relationship quality and delay discounting may play important roles in adolescents’ sexual decision making processes, and levels of self-control during adolescence could act as a buffer within these factors. This longitudinal study included 219 adolescent (55% male; mean age = 12.66 years at Wave 1; mean age = 15.10 years at Wave 2) and primary caregiver dyads. Structural equation modeling was utilized to determine whether delay discounting mediated the association between parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescents’ risky sexual behavior and how this mediated association may differ between those with high versus low self-control. The results revealed parent-adolescent relationship quality plays a role in the development of risky sexual behavior indirectly through levels of delay discounting, but only for adolescents with low self-control. These findings could inform sex education policies and health prevention programs that address adolescent risky sexual behavior. PMID:26202153

Moving beyond the trait conceptualization of self-esteem: the prospective effect of impulsiveness, coping, and risky behavior engagement.

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Auerbach, Randy P; Gardiner, Casey K

2012-10-01

Past research has largely focused on examining self-esteem as an independent as opposed to a dependent variable. At the same time, research suggests that during adolescence, self-esteem is subject to yearly, monthly, as well as daily change, and consequently, it is important to identify underlying vulnerability factors and behaviors, which shape self-esteem lability. In the current multi-wave, longitudinal study, 142 adolescents between the ages of 12-18 completed monthly assessments across 4 months. At the initial assessment, adolescents provided self-report data pertaining to impulsiveness, maladaptive coping, risky behavior engagement, and self-esteem. At each of the follow-up assessments, adolescents provided information about risky behavior engagement and self-esteem. Results of time-lagged, idiographic multilevel mediation analyzes indicated that risky behavior engagement mediated the relationship between impulsiveness/maladaptive coping and subsequent low self-esteem. Critically, when included in the same model, impulsiveness was significant above and beyond maladaptive coping. Additionally, the reverse model with self-esteem as the predictor and risky behavior included as the dependent variable was not significant suggesting that our effect was unidirectional. As a whole, these findings suggest that impulsive youth may engage in behaviors, which ultimately precipitate negative self-evaluations and transient declines in self-esteem. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiattribute Risky Choice Behavior: The Editing of Complex Prospects

OpenAIRE

John W. Payne; Dan J. Laughhunn; Roy Crum

1984-01-01

This investigation draws upon concepts from prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky [Kahneman, D., A. Tversky. 1979. Prospect theory: an analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica 47 263--291.]) and multiattribute utility theory (Keeney and Raiffa [Keeney, R. L., H. Raiffa. 1976. Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Tradeoffs. Wiley, New York.]) in an examination of the multiattribute risky choice behavior of 128 managers. The questions of how managers edit multiattribu...

Contextual and intrapersonal predictors of adolescent risky sexual behavior and outcomes.

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Shneyderman, Yuliya; Schwartz, Seth J

2013-08-01

The present study was designed to test a model of contextual and intrapersonal predictors of adolescent risky sexual behaviors and of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses. Using Waves I and II from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors estimated a structural model in which intrapersonal factors such as adolescents' attitudes about sex, perceived parental norms, knowledge about sexual health, and birth-control self-efficacy partially mediated the effects of contextual factors such as parent-adolescent relationship quality, school connectedness, and exposure to AIDS and pregnancy education on a number of risky sexual behaviors and outcomes: early sex initiation, sex under the influence of substances, condom use at last intercourse, and having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. Different patterns of direct and mediated effects emerged for each sexual outcome. Results are discussed in terms of the complex interplay between environment and individual and in terms of how, when, and with whom to intervene in order to improve adolescent sexual health outcomes.

A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Behavioral Interventions to Reduce Risky Sexual Behavior and Decrease Sexually Transmitted Infections in Latinas Living in the United States.

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Althoff, Meghan D; Grayson, Cary T; Witt, Lucy; Holden, Julie; Reid, Daniel; Kissinger, Patricia

2015-12-01

The objective of this meta-analysis was to determine the effect of behavioral interventions in reducing risky sexual behavior and incident sexually transmitted infections (STI) among Latina women living in the United States. Studies were found by systematically searching the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychInfo databases without language restriction. Two independent reviewers screened abstracts and full texts of articles to find randomized control trials testing the effects of behavioral interventions aimed at changing risky sexual behavior among Latinas. Articles were selected using prespecified inclusion criteria. Two independent reviewers extracted data from the included trials in duplicate using a standardized data extraction form. Six randomized control trials met the inclusion criteria for a total of 2,909 participants. Using random effects models with inverse variance weighting, we found a protective effect of the behavioral intervention on reported risky sexual behavior (odds ratio = 0.52; 95% confidence interval = 0.42, 0.64) and on incident nonviral STI (odds ratio = 0.65; 95% confidence interval = 0.46, 0.93). Behavioral interventions targeted toward Latina populations are effective in reducing risky sexual behaviors and incident STI and should be considered by policymakers as a potential tool for HIV/STI prevention in this population. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Maternal Models of Risk: Links between Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior in African American Female Caregivers and Daughters

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Brakefield, Tiffany; Wilson, Helen; Donenberg, Geri

2012-01-01

African American (AA) adolescent girls are at heightened risk for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and thus knowledge of factors related to risky sexual behavior in this population is crucial. Using Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977), this paper examines pathways from female caregivers' risky sexual behavior and substance use to…

The association between problematic cellular phone use and risky behaviors and low self-esteem among Taiwanese adolescents.

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Yang, Yuan-Sheng; Yen, Ju-Yu; Ko, Chih-Hung; Cheng, Chung-Ping; Yen, Cheng-Fang

2010-04-28

Cellular phone use (CPU) is an important part of life for many adolescents. However, problematic CPU may complicate physiological and psychological problems. The aim of our study was to examine the associations between problematic CPU and a series of risky behaviors and low self-esteem in Taiwanese adolescents. A total of 11,111 adolescent students in Southern Taiwan were randomly selected into this study. We used the Problematic Cellular Phone Use Questionnaire to identify the adolescents with problematic CPU. Meanwhile, a series of risky behaviors and self-esteem were evaluated. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the associations between problematic CPU and risky behaviors and low self-esteem regarding gender and age. The results indicated that positive associations were found between problematic CPU and aggression, insomnia, smoking cigarettes, suicidal tendencies, and low self-esteem in all groups with different sexes and ages. However, gender and age differences existed in the associations between problematic CPU and suspension from school, criminal records, tattooing, short nocturnal sleep duration, unprotected sex, illicit drugs use, drinking alcohol and chewing betel nuts. There were positive associations between problematic CPU and a series of risky behaviors and low self-esteem in Taiwanese adolescents. It is worthy for parents and mental health professionals to pay attention to adolescents' problematic CPU.

Delay Discounting Mediates Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality and Risky Sexual Behavior for Low Self-Control Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahn, Rachel E; Holmes, Christopher; Farley, Julee P; Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen

2015-09-01

Parent-adolescent relationship quality and delay discounting may play important roles in adolescents' sexual decision making processes, and levels of self-control during adolescence could act as a buffer within these factors. This longitudinal study included 219 adolescent (55 % male; mean age = 12.66 years at Wave 1; mean age = 15.10 years at Wave 2) and primary caregiver dyads. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to determine whether delay discounting mediated the association between parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescents' risky sexual behavior and how this mediated association may differ between those with high versus low self-control. The results revealed parent-adolescent relationship quality plays a role in the development of risky sexual behavior indirectly through levels of delay discounting, but only for adolescents with low self-control. These findings could inform sex education policies and health prevention programs that address adolescent risky sexual behavior.

Subgrouping of risky behaviors among Iranian college students: a latent class analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safiri S

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Saeid Safiri,1,2 Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar,3 Masud Yunesian,4,5 Homayoun Sadeghi-Bazargani,6 Mansour Shamsipour,5 Mohammad Ali Mansournia,1 Akbar Fotouhi1 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 2Department of Public Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, 3Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 4Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, 5Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 6Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Department of Statistics & Epidemiology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Background: Risky behaviors may interrupt development or cause considerable morbidity or mortality. This study’s purpose was to determine subgroups of students based on risky behaviors and assess the prevalence of risky behaviors in each of the subgroups.Participants and methods: This anonymous cross-sectional study was carried out in October 2015 and November 2015, with 1,777 students from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, through multistage random sampling method. The data were analyzed by latent class analysis.Results: The prevalence rates of cigarette smoking (more than or equal to ten cigarettes, hookah use (≥1 time/month, and alcohol consumption (≥1 time/month during the last year were 12.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.9–14.0, 11.6% (95% CI: 10.0–13.1, and 4.9% (95% CI: 3.8–5.9, respectively. The prevalence rates of illicit opioids (1.8%, 95% CI: 1.2–2.5, cannabis (1.2%, 95% CI: 0.7–1.7, methamphetamine (1.1%, 95% CI: 0.6–1.6, methylphenidate (2.5%, 95% CI: 1.7–3.2, and extramarital sex (5.5%, 95% CI: 4.5–6.6 over the last year were

Impact of Self Esteem on Risky Sexual Behaviors among Nigerian Adolescents

OpenAIRE

Enejoh, Victor; Pharr, Jennifer; Mavegam, Bertille Octavie; Olutola, Ayodotun; Karick, Haruna; Ezeanolue, Echezona E.

2015-01-01

Although improved knowledge is often the first approach in HIV prevention for adolescents, studies have shown that despite being well informed, adolescents still engage in risky sexual behavior (RSB). Low self-esteem has been considered to be a psychological explanation for behavioral problems, but little is known about the impact of self-esteem on RSB among adolescents in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adolescents with high self-esteem demonstrate lower RSB compa...

Risky Decision Making in a Laboratory Driving Task Is Associated with Health Risk Behaviors during Late Adolescence but Not Adulthood

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Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen; Kahn, Rachel; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Chiu, Pearl; Steinberg, Laurence; King-Casas, Brooks

2016-01-01

Adolescence is characterized by increasing incidence of health risk behaviors, including experimentation with drugs and alcohol. To fill the gap in our understanding of the associations between risky decision-making and health risk behaviors, we investigated associations between laboratory-based risky decision-making using the Stoplight task and…

Longitudinal Associations between Sibling Relationship Qualities and Risky Behavior across Adolescence

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Solmeyer, Anna R.; McHale, Susan M.; Crouter, Ann C.

2014-01-01

This study examined the associations between sibling intimacy and conflict and youths' reports of risky behavior in a sample of adolescents ages 11-20. Participants were mothers, fathers, and sibling dyads in 393 families who were interviewed annually for 3, 4, or 5 years. Multivariate multilevel models tested longitudinal links between sibling…

The Role of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Substance Use and Risky Sex Behaviors in Hispanic Adolescents

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Lebron, Cynthia; Stoutenberg, Mark; Janowsky, Mariel; Asfour, Lila; Huang, Shi; Prado, Guillermo

2017-01-01

The purpose of our study was to investigate the potential relationships in Hispanic adolescents (n = 575) between substance use and/or risky sexual behaviors and (a) physical activity (PA) and (b) sedentary time and (c) the moderating effect of gender. PA levels and sedentary behaviors were assessed using the PA Questionnaire for Adolescents,…

Iowa Gambling Task Performance and Executive Function Predict Low-income Urban Preadolescents’ Risky Behaviors

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Ursache, Alexandra; Raver, C. Cybele

2015-01-01

This study examines preadolescents’ reports of risk-taking as predicted by two different, but related inhibitory control systems involving sensitivity to reward and loss on the one hand, and higher order processing in the context of cognitive conflict, known as executive functioning (EF), on the other. Importantly, this study examines these processes with a sample of inner-city, low-income preadolescents and as such examines the ways in which these processes may be related to risky behaviors as a function of children's levels of both concurrent and chronic exposure to household poverty. As part of a larger longitudinal study, 382 children (ages 9 -11) provided a self-report of risky behaviors and participated in the Iowa Gambling task, assessing bias for infrequent loss (preference for infrequent, high magnitude versus frequent, low magnitude loss) and the Hearts and Flowers task assessing executive functioning. Results demonstrated that a higher bias for infrequent loss was associated with higher risky behaviors for children who demonstrated lower EF. Furthermore, bias for infrequent loss was most strongly associated with higher risk-taking for children facing highest levels of poverty. Implications for early identification and prevention of risk-taking in inner-city preadolescents are discussed. PMID:26412918

Risky Decision Making in Substance Dependent Adolescents with a Disruptive Behavior Disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schutter, D.J.L.G.; Bokhoven, I. van; Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J.; Lochman, J.E.; Matthys, W.C.H.J.

2011-01-01

Of all psychiatric disorders, the disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) are the most likely to predispose to substance dependence (SD). One possible underlying mechanism for this increased vulnerability is risky decision making. The aim of this study was to examine decision making in DBD adolescents

The association between problematic cellular phone use and risky behaviors and low self-esteem among Taiwanese adolescents

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Ko Chih-Hung

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cellular phone use (CPU is an important part of life for many adolescents. However, problematic CPU may complicate physiological and psychological problems. The aim of our study was to examine the associations between problematic CPU and a series of risky behaviors and low self-esteem in Taiwanese adolescents. Methods A total of 11,111 adolescent students in Southern Taiwan were randomly selected into this study. We used the Problematic Cellular Phone Use Questionnaire to identify the adolescents with problematic CPU. Meanwhile, a series of risky behaviors and self-esteem were evaluated. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the associations between problematic CPU and risky behaviors and low self-esteem regarding gender and age. Results The results indicated that positive associations were found between problematic CPU and aggression, insomnia, smoking cigarettes, suicidal tendencies, and low self-esteem in all groups with different sexes and ages. However, gender and age differences existed in the associations between problematic CPU and suspension from school, criminal records, tattooing, short nocturnal sleep duration, unprotected sex, illicit drugs use, drinking alcohol and chewing betel nuts. Conclusions There were positive associations between problematic CPU and a series of risky behaviors and low self-esteem in Taiwanese adolescents. It is worthy for parents and mental health professionals to pay attention to adolescents' problematic CPU.

The sex disparity in risky driving: A survey of Colombian young drivers.

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Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar; Scott-Parker, Bridie

2018-01-02

The overrepresentation of young drivers in poor road safety outcomes has long been recognized as a global road safety issue. In addition, the overrepresentation of males in crash statistics has been recognized as a pervasive young driver problem. Though progress in road safety evidenced as a stabilization and/or reduction in poor road safety outcomes has been made in developed nations, less-developed nations contribute the greatest road safety trauma, and developing nations such as Colombia continue to experience increasing trends in fatality rates. The aim of the research was to explore sex differences in self-reported risky driving behaviors of young drivers, including the associations with crash involvement, in a sample of young drivers attending university in Colombia. The Spanish version of the Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS-Sp) was applied in an online survey to a sample of 392 students (225 males) aged 16-24 years attending a major university. Appropriate comparative statistics and logistic regression modeling were used when analyzing the data. Males reported consistently more risky driving behaviors, with approximately one quarter of all participants reporting risky driving exposure. Males reported greater crash involvement, with violations such as speeding associated with crash involvement for both males and females. Young drivers in Colombia appear to engage in the same risky driving behaviors as young drivers in developed nations. In addition, young male drivers in Colombia reported greater engagement in risky driving behaviors than young female drivers, a finding consistent with the behaviors of young male drivers in developed nations. As such, the research findings suggest that general interventions such as education, engineering, and enforcement should target transient rule violations such as speeding and using a handheld mobile phone while driving for young drivers in Colombia. Future research should investigate how these

Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

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Persson, Tonje J; Pfaus, James G; Ryder, Andrew G

2015-03-01

Research has found that non-monosexual women report worse mental health than their heterosexual and lesbian counterparts. The reasons for these mental health discrepancies are unclear. This study investigated whether higher levels of child abuse and risky sexual behavior, and lower levels of sexual orientation disclosure, may help explain elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety among non-monosexual women. Participants included 388 women living in Canada (Mean age = 24.40, SD = 6.40, 188 heterosexual, 53 mostly heterosexual, 64 bisexual, 32 mostly lesbian, 51 lesbian) who filled out the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories as part of an online study running from April 2011 to February 2014. Participants were collapsed into non-monosexual versus monosexual categories. Non-monosexual women reported more child abuse, risky sexual behavior, less sexual orientation disclosure, and more symptoms of depression and anxiety than monosexual women. Statistical mediation analyses, using conditional process modeling, revealed that sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior uniquely, but not sequentially, mediated the relation between sexual orientation, depression and anxiety. Sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior were both associated with depression and anxiety. Childhood abuse did not moderate depression, anxiety, or risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate that elevated levels of risky sexual behavior and deflated levels of sexual orientation disclosure may in part explain mental health disparities among non-monosexual women. Results highlight potential targets for preventive interventions aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes for non-monosexual women, such as public health campaigns targeting bisexual stigma and the development of sex education programs for vulnerable sexual minority women, such as those defining themselves as bisexual, mostly heterosexual, or mostly lesbian. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Alcohol Consumption and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Persons Attending Alcohol Consumption Venues in Gaborone, Botswana.

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Lama, Tsering Pema; Kumoji, E 'Kuor; Ketlogetswe, Ditsotlhe; Anderson, Marina; Brahmbhatt, Heena

2016-02-01

Alcohol use is a known key risk factor associated with risky sexual behavior that contributes to HIV transmission. This cross-sectional study used time location sampling to investigate alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors that occurred after ingesting alcohol among 609 patrons of alcohol venues in Gaborone, Botswana. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores were categorized as low (1-7), medium (8-15), and high (16+) for analysis. Logistic regression models stratified by gender assessed the association between alcohol use and condom use at last sex after drinking alcohol. Among females, the odds of condom use during last sex after drinking alcohol were significantly lower for high compared to low AUDIT scores (AOR = 0.17, 95% CI 0.06-0.54). Among males, factors significantly associated with condom use at last sex after alcohol use were low levels of education (primary level compared to university and above AOR = 0.13; 95% CI 0.03-0.55) and beliefs that alcohol use did not increase risky sexual behaviors (AOR = 0.26; 95% CI 0.11-0.62). HIV prevention interventions should target females and emphasize sexual risks associated with alcohol use.

Modifying Evaluations and Decisions in Risky Situations.

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Maldonado, Antonio; Serra, Sara; Catena, Andrés; Cándido, Antonio; Megías, Alberto

2016-09-20

The main aim of this research was to investigate the decision making process in risky situations. We studied how different types of feedback on risky driving behaviors modulate risk evaluation and risk-taking. For a set of risky traffic situations, participants had to make evaluative judgments (judge the situation as risky or not) and urgent decisions (brake or not). In Experiment 1, participants received feedback with and without negative emotional content when they made risky behaviors. In Experiment 2 we investigated the independent effects of feedback and negative emotional stimuli. The results showed three important findings: First, urgent decisions were faster [F(1, 92) = 6.76, p = .01] and more cautious [F(1, 92) = 17.16, p towards more cautious responses [F(1, 111) = 14.09, p emotional stimuli had an effect only when they were presented as feedback. The results of this research increase our understanding of the processes involved in risky driving behavior and suggest efficient ways to control risk taking through the use of feedback.

Gender differences in the association between conduct disorder and risky sexual behavior.

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Brooks Holliday, Stephanie; Ewing, Brett A; Storholm, Erik D; Parast, Layla; D'Amico, Elizabeth J

2017-04-01

Despite suggestions that there are gender differences in the association between conduct disorder (CD) and risky sexual behavior, limited empirical research has examined this question. Youth (N = 616) were recruited from four primary care clinics and completed questions related to risky sexual behavior, alcohol and marijuana use, and CD. Results of stratified multivariate models indicated that the association between CD and having four or more lifetime partners, having two or more partners in the last 3 months, and engaging in condomless sex was stronger among female youth. However, the association between CD and alcohol and other drug use before sex was stronger in male youth. This is an important contribution to our understanding of gender-specific manifestations of conduct disorder, and has the potential to inform screening and brief intervention efforts for this population. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unwanted online sexual solicitation and online sexual risk behavior

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Baumgartner, S.E.; Valkenburg, P.M.; Peter, J.; Yan, Z.

2012-01-01

In recent years, there have been growing concerns about online sexual solicitations and online sexual risk behaviors. Recent studies suggest that only a minority of adolescents is confronted with online sexual solicitations or engages in online sexual risk behavior. Whereas more girls encounter

Awareness and Knowledge of Child and Adolescent Risky Behaviors: A Parent's Perspective.

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Ahern, Nancy R; Kemppainen, Jeanne; Thacker, Paige

2016-04-01

Adolescence is a developmental stage marked by risk-taking and limited comprehension of dangers of risky behaviors. Previous research has focused on adolescents' perspective of risk with little evidence on parents' knowledge regarding risk. This qualitative study examined parental knowledge and perspectives of child/teen risk behaviors associated with salvia, sexting, inhalant use/abuse, and self/participant-assisted choking. A sample of 30 parents of children/teens aged 10-17 completed a self-administered survey based on Flanagan's critical incident technique. Data were analyzed according to Flanagan's guidelines. Two advanced practice nurses determined category reliability with 95% agreement. The survey yielded five categories of parental responses to potential risky behaviors in their child/teen including the following: talking to my children, setting up consequences, confronting the child, seeking help, and talking to others. Although the majority of the parents were aware of newer behaviors, less than one half of the participants reported discussing risks with their child/teen. One third reported that their child knew a friend who was thinking about/tried sexting. One quarter of parents reported that they were not monitoring their child/teen's media use. Study findings provide important implications for developing an evidence-based education intervention to improve parents' awareness, knowledge, and identification of risk behaviors in their children/teens. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Risky behaviors, e-cigarette use and susceptibility of use among college students.

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Saddleson, M L; Kozlowski, L T; Giovino, G A; Hawk, L W; Murphy, J M; MacLean, M G; Goniewicz, M L; Homish, G G; Wrotniak, B H; Mahoney, M C

2015-04-01

Since 2007, there has been a rise in the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). The present study uses cross-sectional data (2013) to examine prevalence, correlates and susceptibility to e-cigarettes among young adults. Data were collected using an Internet survey from a convenience sample of 1437, 18-23 year olds attending four colleges/universities in Upstate New York. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics; logistic regression models were analyzed to identify correlates of e-cigarette use and susceptibility to using e-cigarettes. Nearly all respondents (95.5%) reported awareness of e-cigarettes; 29.9% were ever users and 14.9% were current users. Younger students, males, non-Hispanic Whites, respondents reporting average/below average school ability, ever smokers and experimenters of tobacco cigarettes, and those with lower perceptions of harm regarding e-cigarettes demonstrated higher odds of ever use or current use. Risky behaviors (i.e., tobacco, marijuana or alcohol use) were associated with using e-cigarettes. Among never e-cigarette users, individuals involved in risky behaviors or, with lower harm perceptions for e-cigarettes, were more susceptible to future e-cigarette use. More e-cigarette users report use of another nicotine product besides e-cigarettes as the first nicotine product used; this should be considered when examining whether e-cigarette use is related to cigarette susceptibility. Involvement in risky behaviors is related to e-cigarette use and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. Among college students, e-cigarette use is more likely to occur in those who have also used other tobacco products, marijuana, and/or alcohol. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risky driving behavior and road traffic crashes among young Asian Australian drivers: findings from the DRIVE study.

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Boufous, Soufiane; Ivers, Rebecca; Senserrick, Teresa; Norton, Robyn; Stevenson, Mark; Chen, Huei-Yang; Lam, Lawrence T

2010-06-01

To examine differences in risky driving behavior and likelihood of traffic crash according to the country of birth of recently licensed young drivers. The groups examined include those born in Australia, those born in Asia, and those born in other countries. The DRIVE study is a prospective cohort study of drivers aged 17-24 years holding their first-year provisional driver license in New South Wales, Australia. Information obtained from 20,822 participants who completed a baseline questionnaire was linked to police-reported traffic crashes. Self-reported risky driving behaviors and police-reported traffic crashes in young drivers. Young drivers who were born in Asian countries were less likely to report engaging in risky driving behaviors than their Australian-born counterparts. The proportion of participants reporting a high level of risky driving was 31.5 percent (95% confidence intervale [CI], 30.8-32.1) among Australian-born drivers compared to 25.6 percent (95% CI, 23.1-28.2) among Asian-born drivers and 30.4 percent (95% CI, 28.4-32.5) among those born in other regions. Asian-born participants had half the risk of a crash as a driver than their Australian-born counterparts (relative risk [RR] 0.55; 95% CI, 0.41-0.75) after adjusting for a number of demographic factors and driving and risk-taking behaviors. The comparative risk was even lower among those aged 17 years (RR 0.29; 95% CI, 0.29-0.75). Risk estimates for people born in other regions did not differ to those for Australian-born respondents. The study highlights the lower level of risky driving and significantly reduced crash risk for Australian drivers born in Asian countries relative to those born locally. Further research is needed to examine factors underlying this reduced risk and the impact of the length of residence in the host country.

Implicit attitudes towards risky and safe driving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Sømhovd, Mikael Julius; Møller, Mette

; further, self-reports of the intention to drive safely (or not) are socially sensitive. Therefore, we examined automatic preferences towards safe and risky driving with a Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). The results suggest that (1) implicit attitudes towards driving behavior can be measured reliably...... with the GNAT; (2) implicit attitudes towards safe driving versus towards risky driving may be separable constructs. We propose that research on driving behavior may benefit from routinely including measures of implicit cognition. A practical advantage is a lesser susceptibility to social desirability biases......, compared to self-report methods. Pending replication in future research, the apparent dissociation between implicit attitudes towards safe versus risky driving that we observed may contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of the causes of unsafe and risky driving behavior....

Social inclusion facilitates risky mating behavior in men.

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Sacco, Donald F; Brown, Christina M; Young, Steven G; Bernstein, Michael J; Hugenberg, Kurt

2011-07-01

Although past research has reliably established unique effects of social exclusion on human cognition and behavior, the current research focuses on the unique effects of social inclusion. Recent evidence indicates that social inclusion leads to enhanced prioritization of reproductive interests. The current study extends these findings by showing that the pursuit of these inclusion-induced reproductive goals occurs in sex-specific ways. Across three experiments, social inclusion led men, but not women, to endorse riskier, more aggressive mating strategies compared to control and socially excluded participants. Specifically, included men were more likely to endorse sexual aggression (Experiment 1), high-risk mate poaching behaviors (Experiment 2), and high-risk mate retention tactics (Experiment 3). These results demonstrate that the experience of social inclusion can affect sex-differentiated preferences for risky mating strategies. © 2011 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc

Sexting Leads to "Risky" Sex? An Analysis of Sexting Behaviors in a Nonuniversity-Based, Older Adult Population.

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Currin, Joseph M; Hubach, Randolph D; Sanders, Carissa; Hammer, Tonya R

2017-10-03

Since few researchers have analyzed sexting behaviors in nonuniversity-based adult samples, we sought to determine if sexting is associated with negative psychological correlates and risky sexual behaviors in this population. Analysis of individuals who indicated having vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months and who identified as single (n = 377) showed that condomless sex is independent of sexting behaviors. Results for those in committed relationships (n = 374) and having had vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months also demonstrated condomless sex and sexting behaviors were not related. Furthermore, alcohol consumption and relational health were predictive of sexting behaviors in adults in committed relationships. These findings demonstrate that while risky sexual behavior and negative psychological correlates are associated with sexting and younger populations, the same might not be true for a nonuniversity-based, older adult sample.

Risky sexual behaviors, mental health, and history of childhood abuse among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsutsumi, Atsuro; Izutsu, Takashi; Matsumoto, Toshihiko

2012-03-01

Although it seems evident that attention should be paid to risky sexual behaviors and their association with mental health among young people, this topic has not been thoroughly investigated. The present study aims to explore the relationship between sexual risk behaviors and mental health among adolescents. The participants were 251 adolescents in a juvenile detention facility (221 males and 31 females) as the "delinquent" group and 367 high school students (167 males and 200 females) as the "non-delinquent" group. A questionnaire including the Kessler 10, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale was employed to measure mental health status as well as sexual risk behaviors, suicidal ideation/attempts, and abuse history. Having a history of sexual abuse or of physical abuse was associated with age when one first had sex among males with delinquent behaviors, while same tendency was observed among males without delinquent behaviors. Among the female with delinquent behaviors group, past abuse history was significantly associated with higher number of sex partners. In the non-delinquent group, better mental health among males and, contrarily, worse mental health among females were associated with having more sex partners. The results highlight the importance of addressing abuse history among females and males. Given that poor mental health status in the adolescents was associated with risky sexual behaviors, adolescents are a vulnerable group that requires attention in terms of sexual and reproductive health that integrates mental health and psychosocial components. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of Risky Health Behaviors of Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asli Kalkim

2014-08-01

Full Text Available AiM: This study was planned as a descriptive study in order to investigate risky health behaviors of immigrant and non immigrant adolescents. METHODS: The study was performed in a high school situated Izmir between the dates of October and November 2008. Sample group of this research was included 293 immigrant and 813 non immigrant adolescents. Data were collected by using Socio-demographic question form and and Health Risk Behaviors Scale. Data were collected from students with a technical pencil-paper by researcher in classroom. Frequencies, one way anova (post-hoc bonferroni and independent t test were used with Stastical Package for Social Science 13.0 program for statistical analysis of data. Written consent was taken from Izmir Directorate of Education to carry out the study. Oral consent was taken from the school manager and the students. RESULTS: Mean age of adolescents was 15.42+/-0.03. It was determined that risky health behaviors mean score (t: 2.161, p: 0.031 and physical activity (t: 2.132, p: 0.033, nutrition (t:3.030, p: 0.003, hygiene (t: 3.850, p: 0.000 sub-scales mean scores of immigrant adolescent were statistically higher than non immigrant adolescents (p<0.05. CONCLUSiONS: Consequently, this study was important to health professionals worked primary health services and school health services The study have significant data about migration affects on health behaviors of adolescent to show health professionals worked primary care and school health services and to plan health services towards adolescents. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2014; 13(4.000: 289-294

Cortisol boosts risky decision-making behavior in men but not in women.

Science.gov (United States)

Kluen, Lisa Marieke; Agorastos, Agorastos; Wiedemann, Klaus; Schwabe, Lars

2017-10-01

Acute stress may escalate risky decision-making in men, while there is no such effect in women. Although first evidence links these gender-specific effects of stress to stress-induced changes in cortisol, whether elevated cortisol is indeed sufficient to boost risk-taking, whether a potential cortisol effect depends on simultaneous noradrenergic activation, and whether cortisol and noradrenergic activation exert distinct effects on risk-taking in men and women is unknown. In this experiment, we therefore set out to elucidate the impact of cortisol and noradrenergic stimulation on risky decision-making in men and women. In a fully-crossed, placebo-controlled, double-blind design, male and female participants received orally either a placebo, hydrocortisone, yohimbine, an alpha-2-adrenoceptor-antagonist leading to increased noradrenergic stimulation, or both drugs before completing the balloon analogue risk task, a validated measure of risk-taking. Overall, participants' choice was risk-sensitive as reflected in reduced responding in high- compared to moderate- and low-risk conditions. Cortisol, however, led to a striking increase in risk-taking in men, whereas it had no effect on risk-taking behavior in women. Yohimbine had no such effect and the gender-specific effect of cortisol was not modulated by yohimbine. Our data show that cortisol boosts risk-taking behavior in men but not in women. This differential effect of cortisol on risk-taking may drive gender differences in risky decision-making under stress. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Literature review on risky driving videos on YouTube: Unknown effects and areas for concern?

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Vingilis, Evelyn; Yıldırım-Yenier, Zümrüt; Vingilis-Jaremko, Larissa; Wickens, Christine; Seeley, Jane; Fleiter, Judy; Grushka, Daniel H

2017-08-18

Entry of terms reflective of extreme risky driving behaviors into the YouTube website yields millions of videos. The majority of the top 20 highly subscribed automotive YouTube websites are focused on high-performance vehicles, high speed, and often risky driving. Moreover, young men are the heaviest users of online video sharing sites, overall streaming more videos, and watching them longer than any other group. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on YouTube videos and risky driving. A systematic search was performed using the following specialized database sources-Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar-for the years 2005-2015 for articles in the English language. Search words included "YouTube AND driving," "YouTube AND speeding," "YouTube AND racing." No published research was found on the content of risky driving videos or on the effects of these videos on viewers. This literature review presents the current state of our published knowledge on the topic, which includes a review of the effects of mass media on risky driving cognitions; attitudes and behavior; similarities and differences between mass and social media; information on the YouTube platform; psychological theories that could support YouTube's potential effects on driving behavior; and 2 examples of risky driving behaviors ("sidewalk skiing" and "ghost riding the whip") suggestive of varying levels of modeling behavior in subsequent YouTube videos. Every month about 1 billion individuals are reported to view YouTube videos (ebizMBA Guide 2015 ) and young men are the heaviest users, overall streaming more YouTube videos and watching them longer than women and other age groups (Nielsen 2011 ). This group is also the most dangerous group in traffic, engaging in more per capita violations and experiencing more per capita injuries and fatalities (e.g., Parker et al. 1995 ; Reason et al. 1990 ; Transport Canada 2015 ; World Health Organization 2015 ). YouTube also

From risky behaviour to sexy adventures: reconceptualising young people's online sexual activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Naezer, Marijke

2018-06-01

Western discourses about young people and sexuality centre around the concept of risk. Anxieties have been fuelled by the increasing popularity of social media and practices such as 'sexting' and watching 'sexually explicit' materials online. Research has shown however that such risk discourses mainly serve to moralise about, pathologise and police particular behaviours and children. In order to counter such paternalism, researchers advocated a reconceptualisation of youth not as passive victims, but as active agents who actively negotiate sexual experiences and discourses. In this paper, which is based on ethnographic fieldwork among young people in The Netherlands, I argue that we need a reconceptualisation not only of youth, but also of their sexual practices, especially their online sexual practices. Mobilising an interdisciplinary interaction between critical socio-cultural studies of risk, feminist theory and adventure studies, I propose to reconceptualise these practices as 'adventures' rather than 'risky behaviour'. This opens up possibilities for a more reasoned analysis that acknowledges: (1) the distinction between risks and outcomes of an activity; (2) the constructive potential of risk; and (3) the subjective, dynamic character of risk and pleasure.

Psychological Control Associated with Youth Adjustment and Risky Behavior in African American Single Mother Families

Science.gov (United States)

Kincaid, Carlye; Jones, Deborah J.; Cuellar, Jessica; Gonzalez, Michelle

2011-01-01

A distinction between parental behavioral control and psychological control has been elucidated in the literature, yet far less is known about the role of psychological control in youth adjustment broadly or risky behavior in particular. We examined the interrelationship of maternal psychological control, youth psychosocial adjustment, and youth…

Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents’ risky sexual behaviors

OpenAIRE

Kristen L. Eckstrand; Sophia Choukas-Bradley; Arpita Mohanty; Marissa Cross; Nicholas B. Allen; Jennifer S. Silk; Neil P. Jones; Erika E. Forbes

2017-01-01

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N = 47; 18M, 29F; 16.3 ± 1.4 years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sex...

The role of family conflict on risky sexual behavior in adolescents aged 15 to 21.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyerly, Jordan E; Brunner Huber, Larissa R

2013-04-01

Family conflict is related to numerous risky behavioral outcomes during adolescence; however, few studies have examined how family conflict is associated with risky sexual behavior during adolescence. Data from 1104 adolescents aged 15 to 21 who completed the 2008 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were analyzed. Information on family conflict (family fighting and family criticizing) and sexual behavior (number of sexual partners in past year and use of contraception at last intercourse) was self-reported. Logistic regression was used to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). After adjustment, adolescents whose family members often fought had increased odds of not using contraception at last intercourse and having two or more sexual partners in the past year (OR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.04-1.88] and OR, 1.62 [95% CI, 1.23-2.14], respectively). Adolescents whose family members often criticized each other also had increased odds of not using contraception at last intercourse and having two or more sexual partners in the past year (OR, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.12-1.90] and OR, 1.22 [95% CI, 0.96-1.55], respectively). Family conflict was associated with risky sexual behaviors in this racially/ethnically diverse sample of adolescents. If confirmed in other studies, adolescents who experience family conflict may be an important population to target with information regarding safer sex practices. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acute disinhibiting effects of alcohol as a factor in risky driving behavior

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Fillmore, Mark T.; Blackburn, Jaime S.; Harrison, Emily L. R.

2008-01-01

Automobile crash reports show that up to 40% of fatal crashes in the United States involve alcohol and that younger drivers are over-represented. Alcohol use among young drivers is associated with impulsive and risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, which could contribute to their over-representation in alcohol-related crash statistics. Recent laboratory studies show that alcohol increases impulsive behaviors by impairing the drinker’s ability to inhibit inappropriate actions and that this effect can be exacerbated in conflict situations where the expression and inhibition of behavior are equally motivating. The present study tested the hypothesis that this response conflict might also intensify the disruptive effects of alcohol on driving performance. Fourteen subjects performed a simulated driving and a cued go/no-go task that measured their inhibitory control. Conflict was motivated in these tasks by providing equal monetary incentives for slow, careful behavior (e.g., slow driving, inhibiting impulses) and for quick, abrupt behavior (fast driving, disinhibition). Subjects were tested under two alcohol doses (0.65 g/kg and a placebo) that were administered twice: when conflict was present and when conflict was absent. Alcohol interacted with conflict to impair inhibitory control and to increase risky and impaired driving behavior on the drive task. Also, individuals whose inhibitory control was most impaired by alcohol displayed the poorest driving performance under the drug. The study demonstrates potentially serious disruptions to driving performance as a function of alcohol intoxication and response conflict, and points to inhibitory control as an important underlying mechanism. PMID:18325693

The Effectiveness of the Harm Reduction Group Therapy Based on Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory on Risky Behaviors of Drug-Dependent Sex Worker Women.

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Rabani-Bavojdan, Marjan; Rabani-Bavojdan, Mozhgan; Rajabizadeh, Ghodratollah; Kaviani, Nahid; Bahramnejad, Ali; Ghaffari, Zohreh; Shafiei-Bafti, Mehdi

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the harm reduction group therapy based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory on risky behaviors of sex workers in Kerman, Iran. A quasi-experimental two-group design (a random selection with pre-test and post-test) was used. A risky behaviors questionnaire was used to collect. The sample was selected among sex workers referring to drop-in centers in Kerman. Subjects were allocated to two groups and were randomly classified into two experimental and control groups. The sample group consisted of 56 subjects. The experimental design was carried out during 12 sessions, and the post-test was performed one month and two weeks after the completion of the sessions. The results were analyzed statistically. By reducing harm based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory, the risky behaviors of the experimental group, including injection behavior, sexual behavior, violence, and damage to the skin, were significantly reduced in the pre-test compared to the post-test (P group therapy based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory can reduce the risky behaviors of sex workers.

Parental Rearing Behavior Prospectively Predicts Adolescents' Risky Decision-Making and Feedback-Related Electrical Brain Activity

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Euser, Anja S.; Evans, Brittany E.; Greaves-Lord, Kirstin; Huizink, Anja C.; Franken, Ingmar H. A.

2013-01-01

The present study examined the role of parental rearing behavior in adolescents' risky decision-making and the brain's feedback processing mechanisms. Healthy adolescent participants ("n" = 110) completed the EMBU-C, a self-report questionnaire on perceived parental rearing behaviors between 2006 and 2008 (T1). Subsequently, after an…

The relationship of self-esteem and risky sexual behaviors in young African-American women.

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Pittiglio, Laura; Jackson, Frances; Florio, Ann

2012-07-01

In the United States, African-American women are at disproportionate risk for contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and face the most profound burden of HIV infection. Reducing the risk of exposure to HIV in African-American women is a priority for health-care providers. The findings of this study add to the existing literature by examining the relationship of self-esteem and risky sexual behaviors in young African-American women. Lack of self-esteem was one of the themes that emerged from a larger study that investigated how African-American women define HIV-risky behavior. In the current study, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a convenience sample of 33 African-American women (N = 33) from three metropolitan regions within Michigan. Findings highlight the importance of understanding the relationship between self-esteem and its implications for HIV/sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention.

Trajectories of psychopathology and risky behaviors associated with childhood abuse and neglect in low-income urban African American girls.

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Wilson, Helen W; Samuelson, Sarah L; Staudenmeyer, Anna H; Widom, Cathy Spatz

2015-07-01

The current study examined patterns of psychopathology, drug and alcohol use, and sexual behavior associated with childhood abuse and neglect in a high-risk sample of low-income African American girls seeking mental health treatment. Participants (N=177) were African American girls recruited from mental health clinics serving low-income communities in Chicago, IL and followed over six waves of data collection (T1-T6) reflecting early (mean age 14) to late (mean age 17) adolescence. Child abuse and neglect history was determined from adolescent and caregiver reports. Latent curve modeling examined patterns of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, drug and alcohol use, sexual experience, and risky sexual behavior reported by girls and associations with reported child abuse and neglect. Overall, these trajectories indicated a decrease in internalizing and externalizing symptoms, stability of drug and alcohol use, and an increase in sexual experience and risky sexual behaviors over time. Child abuse and neglect was associated with increased internalizing symptoms and sexual experience at baseline and with externalizing symptoms and risky sexual behavior both at baseline and the final point. Child abuse and neglect was not significantly associated with alcohol or drug use. This study adds to the literature on the long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect by demonstrating patterns of psychopathology and risky behavior that persist over time in a high-risk group of girls with self or parent reported histories of abuse and neglect. Interventions that address externalizing problems and health risk behaviors may be of particular importance for this population. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

People with gambling disorder and risky alcohol habits benefit more from motivational interviewing than from cognitive behavioral group therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrik Josephson

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background. Effective psychological treatment, including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing (MI, is available for people with problematic gambling behaviors. To advance the development of treatment for gambling disorder, it is critical to further investigate how comorbidity impacts different types of treatments. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether screening for risky alcohol habits can provide guidance on whether people with gambling disorder should be recommended cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT or MI. Methods. The present study is a secondary analysis of a previous randomized controlled trial that compared the effects of CBGT, MI and a waitlist control group in the treatment of disordered gambling. Assessment and treatment was conducted at an outpatient dependency clinic in Stockholm, Sweden, where 53 trial participants with gambling disorder began treatment. A modified version of the National Opinion Research Centre DSM-IV Screen for gambling problems was used to assess gambling disorder. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT was used to screen for risky alcohol habits. Results. The interaction between treatment and alcohol habits was significant and suggests that patients with gambling disorder and risky alcohol habits were better helped by MI, while those without risky alcohol habits were better helped by CBGT. Conclusions. The results support a screening procedure including the AUDIT prior to starting treatment for gambling disorder because the result of the screening can provide guidance in the choice of treatment. Patients with gambling disorder and risky alcohol habits are likely to be best helped if they are referred to MI, while those without risky alcohol habits are likely to be best helped if they are referred to CBGT.

The Neuropsychology of Risky Sexual Behavior.

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Ross, J Megan; Duperrouzel, Jacqueline; Vega, Melanie; Gonzalez, Raul

2016-07-01

Engagement in risky sexual behavior (RSB) is a significant public health concern. A growing body of literature is elucidating the role of brain systems and neuropsychological constructs implicated in RSB, which may pave the way for novel insights and prevention efforts. In this article, we review studies incorporating neuropsychology into the study of RSB across the lifespan. The review of the literature on the neuropsychology of RSB is separated into three different sections by age of participants. Background is presented on research associating RSB with neurocognitive processes and the brain systems involved. Given the overlap between RSBs and substance use, studies addressing these problems in tandem are also discussed. Neurocognitive constructs are implicated in RSB, including impulsivity, decision-making, and working memory. Thus far, evidence suggest that neuropsychological factors are associated with engagement in RSB. More research on the influence of neuropsychological factors on engagement in RSB is necessary and may help inform future prevention efforts. (JINS, 2016, 22, 586-594).

The impact of sexual enhancement alcohol expectancies and risky behavior on alcohol-involved rape among college women.

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Messman-Moore, Terri L; Ward, Rose Marie; DeNardi, Kathleen A

2013-04-01

A structural equation model examined sexual enhancement alcohol expectancies, heavy episodic drinking (HED), and risky sexual behavior as correlates of alcohol-involved rape in a sample of 353 college women. Prevalence of alcohol-involved rape was 15.6%. Sexual enhancement alcohol expectancies were indirectly associated with alcohol-involved rape via increased levels of HED, greater likelihood of sex while intoxicated, and number of sex partners. All forms of risky behavior were associated with alcohol-involved rape although HED had the strongest relationship. Findings suggest continued focus on women's positive alcohol expectancies and HED as risk factors for alcohol-involved rape. Implications for intervention will be discussed.

Association between Self-Reported Academic Performance and Risky Sexual Behavior among Ugandan University Students- A Cross Sectional Study

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Mehra, Devika; Kyagaba, Emmanuel; Östergren, Per-Olof; Agardh, Anette

2014-01-01

Little is known about the association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviors and if this differs by gender, among university students. Academic performance can create psychological pressure in young students. Poor academic performance might thus potentially contribute to risky sexual behavior among university students. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviors, and whether gender affects this relationship among Ugandan university students. In 2010, 1,954 students participated in a cross-sectional survey, conducted at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in southwestern Uganda (72% response rate). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used for the analysis. 1,179 (60.3%) students in our study sample reported having debuted sexually. Of these 440 (42.2%) used condoms inconsistently with new sexual partners, and 344 (33.6%) had had multiple sexual partners. We found a statistically significant association between poor academic performance and inconsistent condom use with a new sex partner and this association remained significant even after adjusting for all the potential confounders. There was no such association detected regarding multiple sexual partners. We also found that gender modified the effect of poor academic performance on inconsistent condom use. Females, who were poor academic performers, were found to be at a higher risk of inconsistent condom use than their male counterparts. Interventions should be designed to provide extra support to poor academic performers, which may improve their performance and self-esteem, which in turn might reduce their risky sexual behaviors. PMID:24999121

Association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behavior among Ugandan university students- a cross sectional study.

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Mehra, Devika; Kyagaba, Emmanuel; Ostergren, Per-Olof; Agardh, Anette

2014-04-16

Little is known about the association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviors and if this differs by gender, among university students. Academic performance can create psychological pressure in young students. Poor academic performance might thus potentially contribute to risky sexual behavior among university students. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviors, and whether gender affects this relationship among Ugandan university students. In 2010, 1,954 students participated in a cross-sectional survey, conducted at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in southwestern Uganda (72% response rate). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used for the analysis. 1,179 (60.3%) students in our study sample reported having debuted sexually. Of these 440 (42.2%) used condoms inconsistently with new sexual partners, and 344 (33.6%) had had multiple sexual partners. We found a statistically significant association between poor academic performance and inconsistent condom use with a new sex partner and this association remained significant even after adjusting for all the potential confounders. There was no such association detected regarding multiple sexual partners. We also found that gender modified the effect of poor academic performance on inconsistent condom use. Females, who were poor academic performers, were found to be at a higher risk of inconsistent condom use than their male counterparts. Interventions should be designed to provide extra support to poor academic performers, which may improve their performance and self-esteem, which in turn might reduce their risky sexual behaviors.

[Drug use and involvement in risky driving styles in a sample of university students. The uniHcos project].

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Jiménez-Mejías, Eladio; Medina-García, Miguel Ángel; Martínez-Ruiz, Virginia; Pulido-Manzanero, José; Fernández-Villa, Tania

2015-09-01

Drug and alcohol use are known to increase the risk of traffic accidents, especially among youth. However, the association between habitual drug use and the adoption of risky driving behavior is not well known. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the association between habitual drug use and involvement in risky driving practices overall and by gender among university students. A cross sectional study was conducted. The study population was composed of 559 car drivers younger than 31 years who completed an online questionnaire during the 2011-2012 academic year. Among other factors, the questionnaire assessed the following items: habitual drug consumption (20 or more days) during the last year and involvement in other risky driving practices during the last month. A total of 27.7% of students reported they had used drugs regularly during the last year. Drug use was associated with a higher frequency of involvement in risky driving practices. In men, the factors most strongly associated with drug consumption were speeding, driving under influence of alcohol, and feeling drowsy while driving. In women, drug consumption was mainly associated with smoking while driving, drunk driving, and driving without rest. The results of our study support the hypothesis that habitual drug use is associated with an increased frequency of risky driving behavior. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Risky business: Behaviors associated with indoor tanning in US high school students.

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Chapman, Stephanie; Ashack, Kurt; Bell, Eric; Sendelweck, Myra Ann; Dellavalle, Robert

2017-09-15

Understanding of associations between indoor tanning and risky health related behaviors such as sexual activity and substance abuse among high school students across the United States is incomplete. To identify risky health related behaviors among high school students utilizing indoor tanning and analyze differences between state specific data. Results from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2013 in 14 different states were analyzed. Participants were 90,414 high school students. Responses to questions assessing indoor tanning habits, sexual activity, and use of substances were analyzed. Sexual activity was associated with indoor tanning in 10 of 14 states, with Nebraska having the strongest association (adjusted odds ratio, 3.8; 95% CI, 2.4-6.2; p<0.001). Indoor tanning was also associated with use of alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, prescription medications, and cigarettes. Only 15 states asked students about their personal history of indoor tanning use, and Minnesota was excluded from our analysis as they administered a non-YRBS questionnaire. Additionally, our study only analyzed results from the 2013 YRBS. Lastly, our data was analyzed in 14 individual data sets, giving a high likelihood of Type 1 error. High school students utilizing indoor tanning are more likely to engage in sexual activity and substance abuse as compared to students who do not utilize indoor tanning.

PTSD's risky behavior criterion: Relation with DSM-5 PTSD symptom clusters and psychopathology.

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Contractor, Ateka A; Weiss, Nicole H; Dranger, Paula; Ruggero, Camilo; Armour, Cherie

2017-06-01

A new symptom criterion of reckless and self-destructive behaviors (E2) was recently added to posttraumatic stress disorder's (PTSD) diagnostic criteria in DSM-5, which is unsurprising given the well-established relation between PTSD and risky behaviors. Researchers have questioned the significance and incremental validity of this symptom criterion within PTSD's symptomatology. Unprecedented to our knowledge, we aim to compare trauma-exposed groups differing on their endorsement status of the risky behavior symptom on several psychopathology constructs (PTSD, depression, distress tolerance, rumination, anger). The sample included 123 trauma-exposed participants seeking mental health treatment (M age=35.70; 68.30% female) who completed self-report questionnaires assessing PTSD symptoms, depression, rumination, distress tolerance, and anger. Results of independent samples t-tests indicated that participants who endorsed the E2 criterion at a clinically significant level reported significantly greater PTSD subscale severity; depression severity; rumination facets of repetitive thoughts, counterfactual thinking, and problem-focused thinking; and anger reactions; and significantly less absorption and regulation (distress tolerance facets) compared to participants who did not endorse the E2 criterion at a clinically significant level. Results indicate the utility of the E2 criterion in identifying trauma-exposed individual with greater posttraumatic distress, and emphasize the importance of targeting such behaviors in treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risk-perception and dangerous driving among adolescents: Outcome- and behavior-focused questions yield opposite results.

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O'Brien, Fearghal; Gormley, Michael

2016-10-01

While some studies have found that those who perceive a behavior to be more risky are less likely to engage in it, others have found that those who engage in more risky behaviors see themselves as being more at-risk. Using an online questionnaire we investigated whether such conflicting findings may be due to the types of risk-questions employed in past studies. We assessed risk-perception using outcome-focused questions (e.g. the likelihood of being in an accident) and a behavior-focused question (the riskiness of speeding). Participants who reported engaging in more risky driving gave higher estimates of their chances of experiencing a negative outcome. However, those same participants gave lower estimates of the general riskiness of risky driving. Drivers may think about the risks of risky driving in different ways depending on the focus of the questions. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Dual-process Accounts of Reasoning in User's Information System Risky Behavior

OpenAIRE

Li, Ying; Zhang, Nan

2016-01-01

End user of information system (IS) is the weakest point in terms of IS security. A variety of approaches are developed to convince end users to avoid IS risky behaviors. However, they do not always work. We would like to argue that one of the reasons is that previous studies focused on System 2 thinking (analytic, deliberate, rule-governed and effortful process) and overlooked the factors that can influence people who are using System 1 thinking (automatic, effortless, associa...

Evaluating the Hispanic Paradox in the Context of Adolescent Risky Sexual Behavior: The Role of Parent Monitoring.

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Karoly, Hollis C; Callahan, Tiffany; Schmiege, Sarah J; Ewing, Sarah W Feldstein

2016-05-01

In the United States, Hispanic adolescents are at elevated risk for negative outcomes related to risky sexual behavior. To evaluate potential protective factors for this group, we examined the fit of the Hispanic Paradox for sexual behavior among high-risk youth and the moderating role of parent monitoring. We enrolled 323 justice-involved Hispanic youth (73% male; mean age 16 years), and measured generational status, parent monitoring (monitoring location, who children spend time with outside of school, family dinner frequency), and sexual risk behavior. There were no main effects for generational status on sexual behavior. Parent monitoring of location moderated the relationship between generational status and sexual behavior, such that greater monitoring of location was associated with less risky sexual behavior, but only for youth second generation and above. Rather than direct evidence supporting the Hispanic Paradox, we found a more nuanced relationship for generational status in this sample. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Truth About the Internet and Online Predators

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Dingwell, Heath; Peterson, Fred L

2011-01-01

To help readers avoid and recognize risky behaviors, The Truth About the Internet and Online Predators explains many of the dangers associated with the Internet. The A-to-Z entries detail the social, legal, and personal risks of Internet use, while personal testimonies and question-and-answer sections provide readers with an inside look at common issues online. Entries include:. Bullies and cyberbullying. Characteristics of online predators. Chat rooms and instant messaging. Internet safety. Parental control. Peers and peer pressure. Phishing and pharming. Privacy issues. Social networking Web

Engagement in Risky Sexual Behavior: Adolescents' Perceptions of Self and the Parent-Child Relationship Matter

Science.gov (United States)

Kerpelman, Jennifer L.; McElwain, Alyssa D.; Pittman, Joe F.; Adler-Baeder, Francesca M.

2016-01-01

The current study examined associations among parenting practices, adolescents' self-esteem and dating identity exploration, and adolescents' sexual behaviors. Participants were 680 African American and European American sexually experienced adolescents attending public high schools in the southeast. Results indicated that risky sexual behavior…

Targeting Vulnerabilities to Risky Behavior: An Intervention for Promoting Adaptive Emotion Regulation in Adolescents

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Claro, Anthony; Boulanger, Marie-Michelle; Shaw, Steven R.

2015-01-01

The paper examined the effectiveness of an in-school intervention for adolescents designed to target emotional regulation skills related to risky behaviors. The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Intended for Youth (CERTIFY) program was delivered to at-risk adolescents in Montreal, Canada. Participants were drawn from an alternative high school and a…

Predicting the potential for risky behavior among those "too young" to drink as the result of appealing advertising.

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Austin, E W; Knaus, C

2000-01-01

A survey of 273 children in Washington state used a predrinking behavior index as a behavioral outcome to assess media effects on precursors to drinking among children for whom alcohol consumption is not yet occurring. It also examined age trends in relevant beliefs and behaviors. Perceptions of advertising desirability, the extent to which it seemed appealing, increased steadily from third to ninth grade, whereas identification with portrayals, the degree to which individuals wanted to emulate portrayals, leveled off after sixth grade. Expectancies, positive social benefits perceived to be associated with drinking alcohol, also increased with age, particularly between sixth and ninth grade. When demographics and grade level were controlled, desirability predicted identification, and both predicted expectancies, which is consistent with media decision-making theory. Expectancies correlated with alcohol predrinking behavior, and expectancies predicted risky behavior, with demographics and grade level controlled. Predrinking behavior and reported risky behavior were correlated. The results provide cross-sectional support for the view that beliefs and desires developing by third grade prime children for future decisions regarding substance use.

[Explanation of risky sexual behaviors in men who have sex with men].

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Jacques Aviñó, Constanza; García de Olalla, Patricia; Díez, Elia; Martín, Silvia; Caylà, Joan A

2015-01-01

To explore views about risky sexual behaviors and perceptions of HIV, and to propose interventions for preventing HIV infections in a group of men who have sex with men. We performed a qualitative study in a sample of 13 men who have sex with men, who were participating in an HIV-seronegative cohort, and who we contacted via saunas for the gay community in Barcelona (Spain). We performed in-depth semi-structured interviews, followed by content analysis. Risky sexual behaviors were associated with masculinity related to strong sexual needs, certain sexual exchange venues (such as saunas, private parties and clubs), drug use, and a desire to experiment with risk and one's own sexuality. HIV infection was perceived as a normalized disease, although becoming infected was still associated with shame and guilt. Proposed interventions included raising awareness of what it is like to live with HIV, generating greater social alarm, incorporating new technologies in prevention, and intensifying activity at gay venues. The concept of masculinity plays a fundamental role in sexual practices among men who have sex with men. We suggest renewed innovation in preventive programs and incorporating the perception of risk and HIV infection from a gender perspective. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Who is a dangerous driver? Socio-demographic and personal determinants of risky traffic behavior

OpenAIRE

Aleksandra Peplińska; Magdalena Wyszomirska-Góra; Piotr Połomski; Marcin Szulc

2015-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to search for comprehensive socio-demographic and personal (personality and temperamental) determinants of risky on-the-road behavior. Based on the results of previous studies, we assumed that the main predictors of dangerous traffic behavior include: internal locus of control, sensation seeking, risk seeking and risk acceptance, as well as high self-esteem, a low level of reactivity combined with a high level of endurance and activity (which together...

Thirty-day self-reported risky driving behaviors of ADHD and non-ADHD drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbloom, Tova; Wultz, Boaz

2011-01-01

The present study aims to compare differences in reported risky driving behaviors of drivers - males and females - having and not having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), by using a checklist of driving behaviors based on the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). Unlike the studies which employ the DBQ by asking the subjects to fill the questionnaire once, in this present study, the participants were asked to report their behaviors on a daily basis for 30 consequent days. The checklist included two factors of risky driving behavior: Violation and Faults. Thirty-eight drivers - 10 males and 9 females with ADHD, and 9 males and 10 females without ADHD (N-ADHD) as control groups - participated in the study. The results showed that the mean of the unsafe behaviors of ADHD was higher, i.e., less safe driving, compared to that of N-ADHD. However, a statistically significant effect was found only between male ADHD and male N-ADHD for the Faults. In order to check the effect of the length of the study, the 30 days duration of the research was divided into three consecutive periods. The reported driving habits of the female ADHD showed safer behaviors than those of the males. Unlike the findings of N-ADHD of both genders, which showed a tendency towards safer driving reports in the three periods, both genders of the ADHD showed higher rates of Faults, i.e., a decrease in safety driving reports, in the three periods. The findings suggest that ADHD drivers differ from the N-ADHD drivers in making driving mistakes, i.e., Faults, due to their lack of sustained attention, but not in making Violations. However, some of the results in the present study were not very strong. Possible explanations for this as well as methodological considerations are discussed, and further research is suggested. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risky sexual behaviors among female youth in Tiss Abay, a semi-urban area of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gojjam Tadesse

Full Text Available Little is known about sexual risks and associated factors about female youths in semi-urban areas of Ethiopia. This study aimed to describe the nature and magnitude of risky sexual behaviors, and the socio-demographic and behavioral determinants among female youths in Tiss Abay, a semi-urban area on the outskirts of Bahir Dar City of the Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia.A cross-sectional census type study was conducted among female youths who were unmarried and aged 15-29 years in September 2011.711 female youths participated in the study, with the mean age of initiation of sex of 78.6% being16.73±2.53 years. Only 52(9.3% used condom during the first sex. Within the last 12 months, 509(71.6% had sexual intercourse and 278(54.6% had two or more sex partners, and 316(62.1% did not use condom during their last sex. Sex under the influence of substances was reported by 350(68.8%, and a third of the recent sexes were against the will of participants. One or more risky sexual practices were reported by 503(70.3% participants, including: multiple sexual partnerships, inconsistently using or not using condoms, sex under the influence of alcohol and/or sex immediately after watching pornography. Age group, current marital status, drinking homemade alcohol, chewing 'khat', watching pornography and using any form of stimulant substances were the predictors of risky sexual behavior. Watching pornography before sex and sex for transaction were the predicators of not using condom during most recent sex.Risky sexual behaviors were very common among the female youths in Tiss Abay. Initiation of context-based interventions, such as raising awareness about the risks, safer sex practices, condom promotion and integration of gender issues in the programs are recommended.

Risky sexual behaviors among female youth in Tiss Abay, a semi-urban area of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tadesse, Gojjam; Yakob, Bereket

2015-01-01

Little is known about sexual risks and associated factors about female youths in semi-urban areas of Ethiopia. This study aimed to describe the nature and magnitude of risky sexual behaviors, and the socio-demographic and behavioral determinants among female youths in Tiss Abay, a semi-urban area on the outskirts of Bahir Dar City of the Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional census type study was conducted among female youths who were unmarried and aged 15-29 years in September 2011. 711 female youths participated in the study, with the mean age of initiation of sex of 78.6% being16.73±2.53 years. Only 52(9.3%) used condom during the first sex. Within the last 12 months, 509(71.6%) had sexual intercourse and 278(54.6%) had two or more sex partners, and 316(62.1%) did not use condom during their last sex. Sex under the influence of substances was reported by 350(68.8%), and a third of the recent sexes were against the will of participants. One or more risky sexual practices were reported by 503(70.3%) participants, including: multiple sexual partnerships, inconsistently using or not using condoms, sex under the influence of alcohol and/or sex immediately after watching pornography. Age group, current marital status, drinking homemade alcohol, chewing 'khat', watching pornography and using any form of stimulant substances were the predictors of risky sexual behavior. Watching pornography before sex and sex for transaction were the predicators of not using condom during most recent sex. Risky sexual behaviors were very common among the female youths in Tiss Abay. Initiation of context-based interventions, such as raising awareness about the risks, safer sex practices, condom promotion and integration of gender issues in the programs are recommended.

Risk-taking and risky decision-making in Internet gaming disorder: Implications regarding online gaming in the setting of negative consequences.

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Dong, Guangheng; Potenza, Marc N

2016-02-01

Individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) continue gaming despite adverse consequences. However, the precise mechanism underlying this behavior remains unknown. In this study, data from 20 IGD subjects and 16 otherwise comparable healthy control subjects (HCs) were recorded and compared when they were undergoing risk-taking and risky decision-making during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During risk-taking and as compared to HCs, IGD subjects selected more risk-disadvantageous trials and demonstrated less activation of the anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate and middle temporal gyrus. During risky decision-making and as compared to HCs, IGD subjects showed shorter response times and less activations of the inferior frontal and superior temporal gyri. Taken together, data suggest that IGD subjects show impaired executive control in selecting risk-disadvantageous choices, and they make risky decisions more hastily and with less recruitment of regions implicated in impulse control. These results suggest a possible neurobiological underpinning for why IGD subjects may exhibit poor control over their game-seeking behaviors even when encountering negative consequences and provide possible therapeutic targets for interventions in this population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experience of sexual coercion and risky sexual behavior among Ugandan university students

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Growing worldwide evidence shows that the experience of sexual coercion is fairly prevalent among young people and is associated with risky sexual behavior thereafter. The causal mechanisms behind this are unclear but may be dependent on specific contextual determinants. Little is known about factors that could buffer the negative effects of coercion. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the experience of sexual coercion and risky sexual behavior among university students of both sexes in Uganda. Methods In 2005, 980 (80%) out of a total of 1,220 students enrolled in Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda participated in a self-administered questionnaire covering socio-demographic and religious factors, social capital, mental health, alcohol use, and sexual behavior. A validated scale of six items was used to assess the experience of sexual coercion. Logistic regression analyses were applied to control for confounders. Potential buffering factors were analyzed by testing for effect modification. Results Fifty-nine percent of those who responded had previously had sexual intercourse. Among the male students 29.0%, and among the female students 33.1% reported having had some experience of sexual coercion. After controlling for age, gender, and educational level of household of origin, role of religion and trust in others sexual coercion was found to be statistically significantly associated with previously had sex (OR 1.6, 95% CI; 1.1-2.3), early sexual debut (OR 2.4, 95% CI; 1.5-3.7), as well as with having had a great number of sexual partners (OR 1.9, 95% CI; 1.2-3.0), but not with inconsistent condom use. Scoring low on an assessment of mental health problems, reporting high trust in others, or stating that religion played a major role in one's family of origin seemed to buffer the negative effect that the experience of sexual coercion had on the likelihood of having many sexual partners. Conclusion The findings

Experience of sexual coercion and risky sexual behavior among Ugandan university students

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Östergren Per-Olof

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Growing worldwide evidence shows that the experience of sexual coercion is fairly prevalent among young people and is associated with risky sexual behavior thereafter. The causal mechanisms behind this are unclear but may be dependent on specific contextual determinants. Little is known about factors that could buffer the negative effects of coercion. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the experience of sexual coercion and risky sexual behavior among university students of both sexes in Uganda. Methods In 2005, 980 (80% out of a total of 1,220 students enrolled in Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda participated in a self-administered questionnaire covering socio-demographic and religious factors, social capital, mental health, alcohol use, and sexual behavior. A validated scale of six items was used to assess the experience of sexual coercion. Logistic regression analyses were applied to control for confounders. Potential buffering factors were analyzed by testing for effect modification. Results Fifty-nine percent of those who responded had previously had sexual intercourse. Among the male students 29.0%, and among the female students 33.1% reported having had some experience of sexual coercion. After controlling for age, gender, and educational level of household of origin, role of religion and trust in others sexual coercion was found to be statistically significantly associated with previously had sex (OR 1.6, 95% CI; 1.1-2.3, early sexual debut (OR 2.4, 95% CI; 1.5-3.7, as well as with having had a great number of sexual partners (OR 1.9, 95% CI; 1.2-3.0, but not with inconsistent condom use. Scoring low on an assessment of mental health problems, reporting high trust in others, or stating that religion played a major role in one's family of origin seemed to buffer the negative effect that the experience of sexual coercion had on the likelihood of having many sexual partners

Experience of sexual coercion and risky sexual behavior among Ugandan university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Agardh, Anette; Odberg-Pettersson, Karen; Ostergren, Per-Olof

2011-07-04

Growing worldwide evidence shows that the experience of sexual coercion is fairly prevalent among young people and is associated with risky sexual behavior thereafter. The causal mechanisms behind this are unclear but may be dependent on specific contextual determinants. Little is known about factors that could buffer the negative effects of coercion. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the experience of sexual coercion and risky sexual behavior among university students of both sexes in Uganda. In 2005, 980 (80%) out of a total of 1,220 students enrolled in Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda participated in a self-administered questionnaire covering socio-demographic and religious factors, social capital, mental health, alcohol use, and sexual behavior. A validated scale of six items was used to assess the experience of sexual coercion. Logistic regression analyses were applied to control for confounders. Potential buffering factors were analyzed by testing for effect modification. Fifty-nine percent of those who responded had previously had sexual intercourse. Among the male students 29.0%, and among the female students 33.1% reported having had some experience of sexual coercion. After controlling for age, gender, and educational level of household of origin, role of religion and trust in others sexual coercion was found to be statistically significantly associated with previously had sex (OR 1.6, 95% CI; 1.1-2.3), early sexual debut (OR 2.4, 95% CI; 1.5-3.7), as well as with having had a great number of sexual partners (OR 1.9, 95% CI; 1.2-3.0), but not with inconsistent condom use.Scoring low on an assessment of mental health problems, reporting high trust in others, or stating that religion played a major role in one's family of origin seemed to buffer the negative effect that the experience of sexual coercion had on the likelihood of having many sexual partners. The findings of this study suggest that the

Male Rural-to-Urban Migrants and Risky Sexual Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shanghai, China

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Jun-Qing Wu

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study examined the prevalence and the determinants of risky sexual behavior (defined as having multiple sex partners and paying for sex among male rural-to-urban migrants in China. An anonymous questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior associated with increased risk of risky sexual behavior from 4,069 subjects. In total 1,132 (27.8% participants reported two or more sex partners and 802 (19.7% participants paid for sex. A considerable proportion (29.6%–41.5% did not use a condom during risky sexual behavior. Logistic regression analysis revealed that unmarried status (OR: 0.62, CI: 0.42–0.85 for married, earlier age at first sexual experience (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.31–0.91 for ≥22 years old, poor perception of risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS (OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.33–1.96 for unlikely; OR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.61–3.70 for impossible, frequent exposure to pornography (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.60–0.81 for sometimes; OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.11–0.43 for never, attitudes toward legalization of commercial sex (OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.21–0.59 for no, peer influence (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.27–0.88 for no, and not knowing someone who had/had died from HIV/AIDS (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.20–0.53 for yes were all significantly associated with having multiple sex partners. Those who paid for sex showed similar findings.

If all your friends jumped off a bridge: the effect of others' actions on engagement in and recommendation of risky behaviors.

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Helfinstein, Sarah M; Mumford, Jeanette A; Poldrack, Russell A

2015-02-01

There is a large gap between the types of risky behavior we recommend to others and those we engage in ourselves. In this study, we hypothesized that a source of this gap is greater reliance on information about others' behavior when deciding whether to take a risk oneself than when deciding whether to recommend it to others. To test this hypothesis, we asked participants either to report their willingness to engage in a series of risky behaviors themselves; their willingness to recommend those behaviors to a loved one; or, how good of an idea it would be for either them or a loved one to engage in the behaviors. We then asked them to evaluate those behaviors on criteria related to the expected utility of the risk (benefits, costs, and likelihood of costs), and on engagement in the activity by people they knew. We found that, after accounting for effects of perceived benefit, cost, and likelihood of cost, perceptions of others' behavior had a dramatically larger impact on participants' willingness to engage in a risk than on their willingness to recommend the risk or their prescriptive evaluation of the risk. These findings indicate that the influence of others' choices on risk-taking behavior is large, direct, cannot be explained by an economic utility model of risky decision-making, and goes against one's own better judgment.

Prevalence and determinants of risky sexual practice in Ethiopia: Systematic review and Meta-analysis.

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Muche, Achenef Asmamaw; Kassa, Getachew Mullu; Berhe, Abadi Kidanemariam; Fekadu, Gedefaw Abeje

2017-09-06

Risky sexual practice is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. There are various studies on the prevalence and determinants of risky sexual practice in different regions of the country but there is no study which shows the national estimate of risky sexual practices in Ethiopia. Therefore, this review was conducted to estimate the national pooled prevalence of risky sexual practice and its risk factors in Ethiopia. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline was followed to review published and unpublished studies in Ethiopia. The databases used were; PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL and African Journals Online. Search terms were; risky sexual behavior, risky sexual practice, unprotected sex, multiple sexual partner, early sexual initiation, and/or Ethiopia. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument was used for critical appraisal. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager software. Descriptive information of studies was presented in narrative form and quantitative results were presented in forest plots. The Cochran Q test and I 2 test statistics were used to test heterogeneity across studies. The pooled estimate prevalence and the odd ratios with 95% confidence intervals were computed by a random effect model. A total of 31 studies with 43,695 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of risky sexual practice was 42.80% (95% CI: 35.64%, 49.96%). Being male (OR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.21, 2.37), substance use (OR: 3.42; 95% CI: 1.41, 8.31), peer pressure (OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 1.69, 6.87) and watching pornography (OR: 3.6; 95% CI: 2.21, 5.86) were factors associated with an increase in risky sexual practices. The prevalence of risky sexual practices is high in Ethiopia. Being male, substance use, peer pressure and viewing pornographic materials were found to be associated with risky sexual practices. Therefore, life skills training is recommended to

Prediction of Risk Behaviors in HIV-infected Patients Based on Family Functioning: The Mediating Roles of Lifestyle and Risky Decision Making

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Fariba Ebrahim Babaei

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background and Objective: Risk behaviors are more common in the HIV-positive patients than that in the general population. These behaviors are affected by various factors, such as biological, familial, and social determinants, peer group, media, and lifestyle. Low family functioning is one of the important factors predicting risk behaviors. Regarding this, the present study aimed to investigate the role of family functioning in predicting risk behaviors in the HIV-infected patients based on the mediating roles of risky decision making and lifestyle. Materials and Methods: This descriptive correlational study was conducted on 147 HIV-positive patients selected through convenience sampling technique. The data were collected using the health promoting lifestyle profile-2 (HPLP-2, family adaptability and cohesion scale IV (FACES-IV, balloon analogue risk task (BART, and risk behavior assessment in social situation. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling method in LISREL 8.8 software. Results: According to the results, there was an indirect relationship between family functioning and risk behaviors. Furthermore, family functioning both directly and indirectly affected the risk behaviors through two mediators of lifestyle and risky decision making. Conclusion: As the findings indicated, family functioning directly contributed to risk behaviors. Moreover, this variable indirectly affected risk behaviors through the mediating roles of risky decision making and lifestyle. Consequently, the future studies should focus more deeply on family functioning role in the risk behaviors of the HIV-infected patients.

The Double Meaning of Online Social Space: Three-Way Interactions Among Social Anxiety, Online Social Behavior, and Offline Social Behavior.

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Koo, Hoon Jung; Woo, Sungbum; Yang, Eunjoo; Kwon, Jung Hye

2015-09-01

The present study aimed to investigate how online and offline social behavior interact with each other ultimately to affect the well-being of socially anxious adolescents. Based on previous studies, it was assumed that there might be three-way interactive effects among online social behavior, offline social behavior, and social anxiety regarding the relationship with well-being. To measure social anxiety, online and offline social behavior, and mental well-being, self-report questionnaires such as the Korean-Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, Korean version of the Relational Maintenance Behavior Questionnaire, and Korean version of Mental Health Continuum Short Form were administered to 656 Korean adolescents. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the three-way interaction of online social behavior, offline social behavior, and social anxiety was indeed significant. First, online social behavior was associated with lower well-being of adolescents with higher social anxiety under conditions of low engagement in offline social behavior. In contrast, a higher level of online social behavior predicted greater well-being for individuals with high social anxiety under conditions of more engagement in offline social behavior. Second, online social behavior was not significantly related to well-being in youths with low social anxiety under conditions of both high and low engagement in offline social behavior. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed.

Risky riding behavior on two wheels: the role of cognitive, social, and personality variables among young adolescents.

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Falco, Alessandra; Piccirelli, Alessandra; Girardi, Damiano; Dal Corso, Laura; De Carlo, Nicola A

2013-09-01

The main objective of this study was to analyze and estimate the relations between risky riding behaviors and some personality and sociocognitive variables through structural equation modeling. We focused on two-wheel riding behavior among a sample of 1,028 Italian adolescents at their first driving experience. The main findings confirmed the role of personality in influencing riding behavior directly as well as indirectly through risk perception. In particular, risk perception was a significant mediator between personality, social norm, and riding behavior. The significant relations that emerged in the general sample were further confirmed in the two specific sub-samples of males and females. In terms of social marketing and educational communication, it may consequently be advisable to proceed in an integrated and coordinated manner at both the cognitive and social level, taking into account some "dispositions to risk" related to personality. The integrated and coordinated action on different levels--cognitive, social, and personality--may therefore allow more effective and significant results in reducing those risky riding behaviors that often underlie young two-wheel riders' higher involvement in traffic accidents. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family-based processes associated with adolescent distress, substance use and risky sexual behavior in families affected by maternal HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Patricia; Stein, Judith A; Bursch, Brenda; Rice, Eric; Green, Sara; Penniman, Typhanye; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane

2010-01-01

The present study investigated how maternal HIV and mediating family processes are associated with adolescent distress, substance use, and risky sexual behavior. Mother-adolescent (ages 12-21) dyads (N = 264) were recruited from neighborhoods where the HIV-affected families resided (161 had mothers with HIV). Mediating family processes were youth aggressive conflict style, maternal bonding, maternal role reversal expectations, and overall family functioning. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that youth aggressive conflict resolution style was strongly associated with adolescent distress, substance use, and risky sexual behavior. In HIV-affected families, youth less frequently reported using an aggressive conflict resolution style and more frequently reported positive maternal bonds; their mothers reported less positive family functioning than control families. Finally, maternal distress indirectly affected adolescent distress and risk behavior via youth aggressive conflict resolution style.

Factors related to risky sexual behaviors and effective STI/HIV and pregnancy intervention programs for African American adolescents.

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Lee, Young Me; Cintron, Adanisse; Kocher, Surinder

2014-01-01

The purpose of this integrative literature review study was to investigate factors related to risky sexual behaviors among African American adolescents, to evaluate which of the factors are common across successful and effective STI/HIV and pregnancy intervention programs, and finally, to propose suggestions for future intervention programs for African American adolescents in West Englewood, Chicago. An integrative literature review was conducted. Using CINAHL, PubMed, and ProQuest database, the following terms were searched: African American, Black, adolescents, teenagers, sexual behavior, cultural factors, pregnancy, STIs/HIV/AIDS, and intervention programs. A total of 18 articles were reviewed, findings indicated there were five major contributing factors related to risky sexual behaviors: substance use, gender roles, peer influences, parental involvement, and level of knowledge and information on sex and STIs. Six successful STI/HIV and pregnancy programs that incorporated those factors to effectively reduce risky sexual behaviors were identified. After analyzing six national intervention programs proven to be effective, the findings suggest that future prevention programs should be designed with more emphasis on avoidance or limited substance use, increased parental involvement, integration of cultural teaching components such as storytelling and history as suggested from the Aban Aya Youth Project. This study also concluded that future prevention programs should consider the length of programs be longer than 1 year, as it has been shown to be more effective than shorter programs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Suicidality, psychopathology, and the internet: Online time vs. online behaviors.

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Harris, Keith M; Starcevic, Vladan; Ma, Jing; Zhang, Wei; Aboujaoude, Elias

2017-09-01

This study investigated whether several psychopathology variables, including suicidality, could predict the time people spend using the internet (hours online). Next, we examined a specific at-risk population (suicidal individuals) by their online behaviors, comparing suicidal individuals who went online for suicide-related purposes with suicidal individuals who did not go online for suicide-related purposes. An anonymous online sample of 713 (aged 18-71) reported hours online, psychiatric histories, and completed several standardized scales. After accounting for age and education, hierarchical regression modeling showed that the assessed psychopathology variables, including suicidality, did not explain significant variance in hours online. Hours online were better predicted by younger age, greater willingness to develop online relationships, higher perceived social support, higher curiosity, and lower extraversion. Suicidal participants, who did or did not go online for suicide-related purposes, did not differ on hours online. Multiple regression modeling showed that those who went online for suicide-related purposes were likely to be younger, more suicidal, and more willing to seek help from online mental health professionals. These findings revealed that hours online are not a valid indicator of psychopathology. However, studying online behaviors of specific at-risk groups could be informative and useful, including for suicide prevention efforts. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Is initiating tanning bed use as a minor associated with increased risky tanning behaviors and burning? An exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidenberg, Andrew B; Noar, Seth M; Sontag, Jennah M

2017-12-01

Tanning bed use is most common among youth and young adults, and is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer. Recently, numerous states have adopted restrictions on minors' access to tanning beds; however, little has been reported on how such policies may impact tanning behaviors and burning. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between age of indoor tanning initiation and risky tanning behaviors and burning. Female students (n=567) attending a large southeastern public university completed a questionnaire (spring of 2015) assessing tanning bed use history, including age of initiation. The analytic sample was limited to participants reporting past year indoor tanning (n=134). Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare the odds of risky tanning behaviors and burning among those initiating indoor tanning before and after their 18th birthday. Participants initiating indoor tanning as a minor had significantly (pstanning bed 10 or more times in the previous year, typically indoor tanning for ≥10min, ever indoor tanning without wearing goggles, and ever fallen asleep inside a tanning bed. Further, those that initiated as a minor had significantly greater odds of ever burning from indoor tanning (ptanning initiation as a minor was associated with several risky tanning behaviors and burning. Youth access restrictions may help reduce the harms caused by tanning beds. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Difficulties in emotion regulation and risky driving among Lithuanian drivers.

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Šeibokaitė, Laura; Endriulaitienė, Auksė; Sullman, Mark J M; Markšaitytė, Rasa; Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė, Kristina

2017-10-03

Risky driving is a common cause of traffic accidents and injuries. However, there is no clear evidence of how difficulties in emotion regulation contribute to risky driving behavior, particularly in small post-Soviet countries. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and self-reported risky driving behavior in a sample of Lithuanian drivers. A total of 246 nonprofessional Lithuanian drivers participated in a cross-sectional survey. Difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004), and risky driving behavior was assessed using the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ; Lajunen et al. 2004). Males scored higher than females in aggressive violations and ordinary violations. Females scored higher for the nonacceptance of emotional responses, whereas males had more difficulties with emotional awareness than females. More difficulties in emotion regulation were positively correlated with driving errors, lapses, aggressive violations, and ordinary violations for both males and females. Structural equation modeling showed that difficulties in emotion regulation explained aggressive and ordinary violations more clearly than lapses and errors. When controlling for interactions among the distinct regulation difficulties, difficulties with impulse control and difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior predicted risky driving. Furthermore, nonacceptance of emotional responses and limited access to emotion regulation strategies were related to less violations and more driving errors. Emotion regulation difficulties were associated with the self-reported risky driving behaviors of Lithuanian drivers. This provides useful hints for improving driver training programs in order to prevent traffic injuries.

Assessment of risky sexual behavior and practice among Aksum University students, Shire Campus, Shire Town, Tigray, Ethiopia, 2017.

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Kebede, Awoke; Molla, Bogale; Gerensea, Hadgu

2018-01-31

Having sex at early age, having multiple sexual partners, having sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and unprotected sexual behaviors are the common characteristics of risky sexual behavior which increases risk of individuals to sexuality and reproductive health problems. Risky sexual behavior is the most common problem in adolescents and young adults which may expose individuals for permanent social, economical, psychological and physical problem. So that this study focus on assessment of risk sexual behavior using institution based cross-sectional study design on 287 randomly selected subjects among Aksum University students. Almost 60% students reported to have ever had sexual activity. Of which 86 (83.5%) and 112 (64.4%) reported having inconsistent condom use and multiple sexual partners respectively. Even though more than half of first sexual intercourse (61.5%) starts due to their desire but still peer pressure and alcohol have significant effect. Similarly the study indicated that a significant segment of students have risk sexual behaviors which increase individuals' risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. Unless appropriate age and institutional targeted interventions exist, certain behaviors can place the university students at greater risk of HIV infection and sexually transmitted disease.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Depressive Symptoms and Risky Alcohol Use Behaviors Among HIV Primary Care Patients in New York City.

Science.gov (United States)

Algur, Yasemin; Elliott, Jennifer C; Aharonovich, Efrat; Hasin, Deborah S

2018-05-01

An association between problem drinking and depression among HIV-infected individuals has been previously demonstrated; however, which specific risky drinking behaviors are associated with higher levels of depression has not yet been investigated. Using an adult sample of HIV-infected primary care patients (78% male, 94% Black or Hispanic), we investigated whether depressive symptoms are associated with various risky drinking behaviors. Participants were administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II to assess depressive symptoms, and the Alcohol Use Disorders and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-IV to evaluate alcohol involvement. Participants with depressive symptoms (26%) were at higher risk for alcohol dependence [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.8; 95% CI 2.0-7.2], regular binge drinking (AOR 2.0; 95% CI 1.1-3.8), and regular daytime drinking (AOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.2-3.8), in comparison with their non-depressed counterparts. Because both depression and unhealthy drinking negatively affect medication adherence and clinical outcomes, a better understanding of the association between depression and certain risky drinking behaviors among HIV-infected individuals is vital to improving their care and prognoses.

Implicit attitudes towards risky and safe driving in a Danish sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne

; further, self-reports of the intention to drive safely (or not) are socially sensitive. Therefore, we examined automatic preferences towards safe and risky driving with a Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). The results suggest that (1) implicit attitudes towards driving behavior can be measured reliably...... with the GNAT; (2) implicit attitudes towards safe driving versus towards risky driving may be separable constructs. We propose that research on driving behavior may benefit from routinely including measures of implicit cognition. A practical advantage is a lesser susceptibility to social desirability biases......, compared to self-report methods. Pending replication in future research, the apparent dissociation between implicit attitudes towards safe versus risky driving that we observed may contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of the causes of unsafe and risky driving behavior....

Motivation of Online Buyer Behavior

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Svatošová Veronika

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Buyer behavior of consumers plays one of the key roles in fulfillment of the main goals of a company. It is influenced by many external and internal factors but the company can also influence the final process of buyer decision-making process significantly by its activities. The subject matter of this article is an analysis of the features of online buyer behavior compared to the general regularities of buyer behavior, definition of the main motives of online shopping, and description of the current trends. The article uses the basic terminology of this subject and current bibliography as well as other resources. Theoretical knowledge is based on historic directions of Maslow’s theory of motivation where it is possible to find the basis for a buyer behavior analysis. The article is also based on the formerly carried out questionnaire survey which examines the motives and experience of the respondents with online shopping. By means of the independence test it is verified whether there is a relation between the age of respondents and motivation for online shopping. Subsequently, the survey carried out in person is compared with other relevant research solutions.

Risky sexual behaviors among sexually active first-year students matriculating at a historically Black college: Is a positive self-image an instigator?

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Ellis, Walter L

2016-01-01

A sample of 498 sexually active first-year students matriculating at a historically Black college in North Carolina was used to determine correlates of risky sexual behaviors. In an Ordinary Least Squares regression, the self-esteem element "I take a positive attitude toward myself" (B = 1.12, p = .05), non-condom use because of partner issues (B = .53, p = .05) and being drunk or high (B = 1.20, p = .001), oral sex (B = 1.74, p = .001), anal sex (B = .61, p = .04), and bisexuality (B = .85, p = .03) all increased the number of these behaviors. Higher scores on the condom usage scale (B = -.38, p = .002) were found to decrease the number of risky sexual behaviors. Illicit drug use was an underpinning of the surprisingly positive relationship between positive self-image and risky sexual behaviors. It was concluded that school-based social workers, mental health care professionals, and community-based prevention providers can play a critical role in the training of peer facilitators, development, and supervision of peer-driven risk-reduction programs to address the complex interplay among self-esteem, sex, and substances.

HIV behavioral research online.

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Chiasson, Mary Ann; Parsons, Jeffrey T; Tesoriero, James M; Carballo-Dieguez, Alex; Hirshfield, Sabina; Remien, Robert H

2006-01-01

Internet access has caused a global revolution in the way people of all ages and genders interact. Many have turned to the Internet to seek love, companionship, and sex, prompting researchers to move behavioral studies online. The sexual behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) has been more closely studied than that of any other group online given the abundance of gay-oriented websites and concerns about increasing transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Not only does the Internet provide a new medium for the conduct of behavioral research and for participant recruitment into an array of research studies, it has the as yet unrealized potential to reach huge numbers of MSM with innovative harm reduction and prevention messages tailored to individualized needs, interests, and risk behavior. Internet-based research on sexual behavior has many advantages in rapidity of recruitment of diverse samples which include individuals unreachable through conventional methods (i.e., non-gay identified and geographically and socially isolated MSM, etc.). Internet-based research also presents some new methodologic challenges in study design, participant recruitment, survey implementation, and interpretation of results. In addition, there are ethical issues unique to online research including difficulties in verifying informed consent, obstacles to surveying minors, and the ability to assure anonymity. This paper presents a review of Internet-based research on sexual behavior in MSM, a general discussion of the methodologic and ethical challenges of Internet-based research, and recommendations for future interdisciplinary research.

Investigation of Risky Behaviors and Some Sociodemographic Factors in University Students: Sample From a State University

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Inci Arikan

2017-12-01

Conclusion: Accordingly, it is seen that in youth, risky behavior is seen more in males and affected by various socio-demographic factors.We hope that the data obtained from this work will be a guide for health education to be done. [J Contemp Med 2017; 7(4.000: 348-354

Meeting sex partners through the Internet, risky sexual behavior, and HIV testing among sexually transmitted infections clinic patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Monique J; Pugsley, River; Cohen, Steven A

2015-02-01

The Internet has now become a popular venue to meet sex partners. People who use the Internet to meet sex partners may be at a higher risk for contracting HIV and STIs. This study examined the association between meeting sex partners from the Internet, and HIV testing, STI history, and risky sexual behavior. Data were obtained from the Virginia Department of Health STD Surveillance Network. Logistic regression models were used to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios, and 95 % confidence intervals for the associations between meeting sex partners through the Internet and ever tested for HIV, HIV testing in the past 12 months, STI history, and risky sexual behavior. Logistic regression was also used to determine if gender and men who have sex with men interaction terms significantly improved the model. Women who met a sex partner from the Internet were more likely to have had an HIV test in the past 12 months than women who did not meet a partner in this way. On the other hand, men who met a sex partner through the Internet were more likely to have ever had an HIV test than other men, but this was only seen for heterosexual men. All populations who met a sex partner from the Internet were more likely to take part in risky sexual behavior. HIV prevention strategies should emphasize annual testing for all populations.

The Relationship Between Sexual Abuse and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Adolescent Boys: A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Homma, Yuko; Wang, Naren; Saewyc, Elizabeth; Kishor, Nand

2016-01-01

Purpose Childhood and adolescent sexual abuse has been shown to lead to increased odds of sexual behaviors that lead to sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancy involvement. Research, meta-analyses, and interventions, however, have focused primarily on girls and young women who have experienced abuse, yet some adolescent boys are also sexually abused. We performed a meta-analysis of the existing studies to assess the magnitudes of the link between a history of sexual abuse and each of three risky sexual behaviors among adolescent boys in North America. Methods The three outcomes were a) unprotected sexual intercourse, b) multiple sexual partners, and c) pregnancy involvement. Weighted mean effect sizes were computed from 10 independent samples, from nine studies published between 1990 and 2011. Results Sexually abused boys were significantly more likely than non-abused boys to report all three risky sexual behaviors. Weighted mean odds ratios were 1.91 for unprotected intercourse, 2.91 for multiple sexual partners, and 4.81 for pregnancy involvement. Conclusions Our results indicate that childhood and adolescent sexual abuse can substantially Influence sexual behavior in adolescence among male survivors. To improve sexual health for all adolescents, even young men, we should strengthen sexual abuse prevention initiatives, raise awareness about male sexual abuse survivors’ existence and sexual health issues, improve sexual health promotion for abused young men, and screen all people, regardless of gender, for a history of sexual abuse. PMID:22727072

Serotonin shapes risky decision making in monkeys

OpenAIRE

Long, Arwen B.; Kuhn, Cynthia M.; Platt, Michael L.

2009-01-01

Some people love taking risks, while others avoid gambles at all costs. The neural mechanisms underlying individual variation in preference for risky or certain outcomes, however, remain poorly understood. Although behavioral pathologies associated with compulsive gambling, addiction and other psychiatric disorders implicate deficient serotonin signaling in pathological decision making, there is little experimental evidence demonstrating a link between serotonin and risky decision making, in ...

Risky behaviors and depression in conjunction with--or in the absence of--lifetime history of PTSD among sexually abused adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Danielson, Carla Kmett; Macdonald, Alexandra; Amstadter, Ananda B; Hanson, Rochelle; de Arellano, Michael A; Saunders, Benjamin E; Kilpatrick, Dean G

2010-02-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often considered the primary problematic outcome of child sexual abuse (CSA). However, a number of other, relatively understudied negative sequelae appear to be prevalent as well. Data from 269 adolescents with a CSA history from the National Survey of Adolescents-Replication Study were therefore used to examine the prevalence of risky behaviors (i.e., problematic alcohol and drug use, delinquent behavior) and depression in this sample. The frequencies of these problems in youth with and without a history of PTSD also were examined. Results indicated that risky behaviors and depression were reported as or more frequently than PTSD. Among youth with a history of PTSD, depression and delinquent behavior were more common than among those without a history of PTSD. However, there were no differences between adolescents with and without a history of PTSD in reported problematic substance use. Findings highlight the need for comprehensive trauma-informed interventions for CSA-exposed adolescents.

Getting Business Insights through Clustering Online Behaviors

OpenAIRE

Jounghae Bang; Yoonho Cho; Min Sun Kim

2015-01-01

This study aimed to explore the online users’ behaviors. Since the Internet was introduced to the market, the various and frequent online activities have increased, and it becomes more important for the businesses to understand the online users. Therefore this study analyzed the online users’ behaviors and segmented the users by using K-means clustering method using actual clickstream data. There were four different research questions and, thus, four different sets of segmentations. It was fo...

PERSONALITY INFLUENCES ON ONLINE STORES CUSTOMERS BEHAVIOR

OpenAIRE

Costinel DOBRE; Anca-Maria MILOVAN-CIUTA

2015-01-01

Online customer behaviors include a wide range of processes and activities related to sensory reactions, perceptions, attitude formation, preferences, decisions, satisfaction evaluation, and loyalty formation. Online customer behaviors are influenced by exogenous and endogenous factors. Exogenous factors include attributes associated with the online retailer and the consumer’s environmental influences. Endogenous factors include characteristics attributed to consumers. Of these, personality h...

Online versus conventional shopping: Consumers' risk perception and regulatory focus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noort, G.; Kerkhof, P.; Fennis, B.M.

2007-01-01

In two experiments, the impact of shopping context on consumers' risk perceptions and regulatory focus was examined. We predicted that individuals perceive an online (vs. conventional) shopping environment as more risky and that an online shopping environment, by its risky nature, primes a

Online versus Conventional Shopping: Consumers' Risk Perception and Regulatory Focus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noort, Guda; Kerkhof, Peter; Fennis, B.M.

2007-01-01

In two experiments, the impact of shopping context on consumers' risk perceptions and regulatory focus was examined. We predicted that individuals perceive an online (vs. conventional) shopping environment as more risky and that an online shopping environment, by its risky nature, primes a

Students’ online purchasing behavior in Malaysia: Understanding online shopping attitude

OpenAIRE

Marzieh Zendehdel; Laily Hj Paim; Syuhaily Bint Osman

2015-01-01

Studies examining the factors that affect the online purchasing behavior of consumers are rare, despite the prospective advance of e-commerce in Malaysia. The present study examines particular factors that influence the attitude of potential consumers to purchase online by using the attributes from the diffusion of innovations theory of Rogers, the attribute of perception of risk, and the subjective norms toward online purchasing. Consumers’ perceived risks of online shopping have become a vi...

Self-esteem and risky decision-making: an ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Juan; Dedovic, Katarina; Zhang, Qinglin

2010-12-01

Self-esteem, a value one places on oneself, influences one's cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses across various situations. In the case of risky decision-making, high self-esteem (SE) individuals rely on their positive self-views and tend to be less defensive in response to a risky task; low SE individuals, on the contrary, tend to have fewer accessible positive resources and thus, are more prone to risk-aversion. While past studies have provided evidence for a link between self-esteem and a behaviorally-risky response, no study has explored the relation between self-esteem and the electrophysiological correlates of risky response. Therefore, the current study investigated the correlates of risky decision-making in high SE compared to low SE participants using event-related potentials (ERP) technology in 28 undergraduate students playing a blackjack game. The results showed that there was no difference between the high SE participants and the low SE participants with respect to the behavioral assessments of the risk-taking decision-making. However, for the electrophysiological data, we observed that the amplitude of P2 (150-300 ms) was more positive in the high SE participants compared to the low SE participants over the central-posterior scalp region. Dipole source analysis indicated that this positive component was generated in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). These findings suggest that the high SE participants experienced more emotional signals than the low SE participants during decision-making.

Pubertal Development and Peer Influence on Risky Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Kretsch, Natalie; Harden, Kathryn Paige

2014-01-01

Adolescents engage in more risky behavior when they are with peers and show, on average, heightened susceptibility to peer influence relative to children and adults. However, individual differences in susceptibility to peer influence are not well understood. The current study examined whether the effect of peers on adolescents' risky decision…

Risky sexual behaviors and associated factors among male and female students in Jimma Zone preparatory schools, South West Ethiopia: comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fentahun, Netsanet; Mamo, Abebe

2014-01-01

Youth engage in risk sexual behavior due to insufficient knowledge of reproductive health and family planning. Youth sexual behavior is important not only because of the possible reproductive outcomes, but also because of sexually transmitted infections. The level of risks and sexual behaviors are different between male and female youth due to sexual exposure and socio-cultural factors. The aim of this study was to compare risky sexual behaviors and associated factors among male and female preparatory school (grades 11 and 12) students in Jimma Zone. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 randomly selected preparatory schools of Jimma Zone. A total of 520 students were selected using simple random sampling technique. A structured, pretested and self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Both descriptive analysis and binary logistic regressions were performed on the data to understand risky sexual behaviors among students. Twenty-two (25.9%) of male and 25(21.6%) of female students had two or more sexual partners in the last six months. Eighty-three (32.3%), 113(43.5%) male and female students were sexually at risk in the last six months. Only 8(9.4%) of the male and 10(8.6%) of the female students used condom consistently in the last six months. Female students living away from their parents were 3 times more likely to be at risk than students living with their parents (OR 95%CI 3.0(1.48-6.34)). Female students who consumed alcohol were 7 times more likely to be at risk than those who did not consume alcohol (OR 95%CI 7.27(3.36-15.7)). Male students who consumed alcohol were 2.8 times more likely to be at risk than those who did not consumed alcohol (OR 95%CI, 2.81(1.3-6.06)). Male students who chewed khat were 4.6 times more likely to be at risk than students who did not chew khat (OR 95%CI, 4.58(1.95-10.76). Living arrangement, educational status of parents, family connectedness, alcohol consumption and khat-chewing were the major

Evaluation of an in-vehicle monitoring system (IVMS) to reduce risky driving behaviors in commercial drivers: Comparison of in-cab warning lights and supervisory coaching with videos of driving behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Jennifer L; Taylor, Matthew A; Chen, Guang-Xiang; Kirk, Rachel D; Leatherman, Erin R

2017-02-01

Roadway incidents are the leading cause of work-related death in the United States. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether two types of feedback from a commercially available in-vehicle monitoring system (IVMS) would reduce the incidence of risky driving behaviors in drivers from two companies. IVMS were installed in 315 vehicles representing the industries of local truck transportation and oil and gas support operations, and data were collected over an approximate two-year period in intervention and control groups. In one period, intervention group drivers were given feedback from in-cab warning lights from an IVMS that indicated occurrence of harsh vehicle maneuvers. In another period, intervention group drivers viewed video recordings of their risky driving behaviors with supervisors, and were coached by supervisors on safe driving practices. Risky driving behaviors declined significantly more during the period with coaching plus instant feedback with lights in comparison to the period with lights-only feedback (ORadj=0.61 95% CI 0.43-0.86; Holm-adjusted p=0.035) and the control group (ORadj=0.52 95% CI 0.33-0.82; Holm-adjusted p=0.032). Lights-only feedback was not found to be significantly different than the control group's decline from baseline (ORadj=0.86 95% CI 0.51-1.43; Holm-adjusted p>0.05). The largest decline in the rate of risky driving behaviors occurred when feedback included both supervisory coaching and lights. Supervisory coaching is an effective form of feedback to improve driving habits in the workplace. The potential advantages and limitations of this IVMS-based intervention program are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Risky sexual behavior among rural female adolescents in Malaysia: a limited role of protective factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadian, Maryam; Hamsan, Hanina H; Abdullah, Haslinda; Samah, Asnarulkhadi Abu; Noor, Amna Md

2014-03-23

This paper presents the findings of a cross-sectional survey on the risk and protective factors of premarital sexual behavior among rural female adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia. We investigated data on 770 female respondents aged 13-17 years in rural areas to identify predictive factors for premarital sexual intercourse. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate regression. Specific socio-demographic factors, psychological and family domains, peer delinquency, and knowledge and attitudes about sexuality were considered in risky sexual behaviors in rural Malay girls. The effects of other covariates for premarital sexual intercourse were controlled by logistic regression model. Of the 770 rural female students, about 3.2% of respondents reported experience of sexual intercourse in the past three months. Out of those sexually active girls, 36% were 17 years old and 20% stated having sexual intercourse with more than one partner, and 72% did not use contraception during the most recent sexual intercourse. Midnight activities, peer-sexual disorder, self-evaluation, and attitude toward sexual health were significant predictors of sexual intercourse in rural girls in Malaysia. The finding highlights the impact of psychological factors and peer group influences on the challenges of premarital sexual behavior among rural girls and the notion of school-based sexual health education for adolescents. This study triggers other researchers take into account a comprehensive view of protective factors operating in adolescents' risky sexual behaviors in Asian culture seeing that family domain variables, unexpectedly, exerted no predicting influence on sexually active female teens in rural areas in Malaysia.

Risky Sexual Behavior among Rural Female Adolescents in Malaysia: A Limited Role of Protective Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadian, Maryam; Hamsan, Hanina H.; Abdullah, Haslinda; Samah, Asnarulkhadi Abu; Noor, Amna Md

2014-01-01

Purpose: This paper presents the findings of a cross-sectional survey on the risk and protective factors of premarital sexual behavior among rural female adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia. Methods: We investigated data on 770 female respondents aged 13-17 years in rural areas to identify predictive factors for premarital sexual intercourse. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate regression. Specific socio-demographic factors, psychological and family domains, peer delinquency, and knowledge and attitudes about sexuality were considered in risky sexual behaviors in rural Malay girls. The effects of other covariates for premarital sexual intercourse were controlled by logistic regression model. Results: Of the 770 rural female students, about 3.2% of respondents reported experience of sexual intercourse in the past three months. Out of those sexually active girls, 36% were 17 years old and 20% stated having sexual intercourse with more than one partner, and 72% did not use contraception during the most recent sexual intercourse. Midnight activities, peer-sexual disorder, self-evaluation, and attitude toward sexual health were significant predictors of sexual intercourse in rural girls in Malaysia. Conclusion: The finding highlights the impact of psychological factors and peer group influences on the challenges of premarital sexual behavior among rural girls and the notion of school-based sexual health education for adolescents. This study triggers other researchers take into account a comprehensive view of protective factors operating in adolescents’ risky sexual behaviors in Asian culture seeing that family domain variables, unexpectedly, exerted no predicting influence on sexually active female teens in rural areas in Malaysia. PMID:24762359

Risky Behaviors and Social Networking Sites: How Is YouTube Influencing Our Youth?

Science.gov (United States)

Ahern, Nancy R; Sauer, Penny; Thacker, Paige

2015-10-01

Choking, cutting, and setting oneself on fire are just a few of the risky behaviors that the YouTube video sharing website has allowed youth around the world to view, emulate, and comment on. Some researchers contend that the viewing of videos may normalize these behaviors for youth. Disturbing current trends are explored to illustrate the darker side of YouTube. Psychiatric-mental health nurses (PMHNs) are in key positions to help parents and youth better understand the benefits and risks of social networking sites, including YouTube, and to encourage healthy and safe use of the Internet. Nursing implications are offered for PMHNs, educators, health care providers, and parents who have contact with this population. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

PERSONALITY INFLUENCES ON ONLINE STORES CUSTOMERS BEHAVIOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Costinel DOBRE

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Online customer behaviors include a wide range of processes and activities related to sensory reactions, perceptions, attitude formation, preferences, decisions, satisfaction evaluation, and loyalty formation. Online customer behaviors are influenced by exogenous and endogenous factors. Exogenous factors include attributes associated with the online retailer and the consumer’s environmental influences. Endogenous factors include characteristics attributed to consumers. Of these, personality has major influences on customer behavior in the online stores. In this paper we highlight the influences of personality on important decision making variables linked to the customer’s online visiting, buying and post purchase process. Thus, we intend to point out the influences of personality on the criteria used in evaluating stores, on expectations customers form towards stores, on the perception of store performance and the assessment of satisfaction. This will involve carrying out a survey, and its administration will be performed on the Internet. The sample under research will comprise respondents who own an account on the social network Facebook, assuming these respondents have time and are more likely to have purchased online at least once. The results of this study are useful both for academic researchers and practitioners engaged in online marketing, online communication and web design.

The good, the bad (and the ugly): The role of curiosity in subjective well-being and risky behaviors among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Jovanović, Veljko; Gavrilov-Jerković, Vesna

2014-02-01

Previous studies have shown that enhanced trait curiosity has positive influence on well-being. It remains an open question, however, whether curiosity has any detrimental effects on behavioral outcomes in adolescence. The main aim of this research was to investigate the role of trait curiosity in the prediction of risky behavior engagement and subjective well-being (SWB) among adolescents. A total of 371 Serbian adolescents (mean age 15.5, SD = 0.57) participated in the 5-month follow up study. The results showed that the embracing component of curiosity (but not stretching) predicted risky behavior engagement, while the stretching component of curiosity (but not embracing) predicted positive affect. In addition, neither embracing nor stretching was a significant predictor of negative affect and life satisfaction. The results of this study call into question the conceptualization of curiosity as a completely positive emotional-motivational system, and suggest that curiosity can contribute to negative outcomes in adolescence.

Risky sexual behaviors: The role of ethnic identity in HIV risk in migrant workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Shehadeh, Nancy; McCoy, H Virginia

2014-01-01

Migrant workers have been shown to be at a heightened level of risk for HIV, and ethnic identity has been posited to have an impact on engagement in risky sexual behaviors. Our longitudinal study examined associations between baseline and short-term changes in ethnic identity and high-risk sexual behaviors. Baseline (n = 431) and 6-month assessment (n = 270) data were obtained from a larger HIV prevention study conducted among African American and Hispanic migrant workers. Repeated-measures multivariate analysis of covariance and multiple linear regressions were used. Ethnic identity explore, a subscale of ethnic identity, was a significant predictor of overall sexual risk [F(8, 422) = 6.953, p AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumer behavior toward online purchasing behavior : “What factors trigger the online purchasing decision of young Swedish consumer?”

OpenAIRE

Thienmongkol, Kaorat; Thaisuntad, Pongsatorn

2009-01-01

Program: MIMA student – International Marketing Course name: Master Thesis (EFO705) Title: Consumer behavior toward online purchasing behavior Authors: Kaorat ThienmongkolPongsatorn Thaisuntad Supervisor: Daniel Tolstoy Problem: “What factors trigger the online purchasing decision of young SwedishConsumer?” Purpose: The purpose of this report is to study the insights about the factors that triggerpurchasing behavior of young Swedish consumer to shopping on the internet.The result will enable ...

Suicidal and online: how do online behaviors inform us of this high-risk population?

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Keith M; McLean, John P; Sheffield, Jeanie

2014-01-01

To assist suicide prevention we need a better understanding of how suicidal individuals act in their environment, and the online world offers an ideal opportunity to examine daily behaviors. This anonymous survey (N = 1,016) provides first-of-its-kind empirical evidence demonstrating suicide-risk people (n = 290) are unique in their online behaviors. Suicidal users reported more time online, greater likelihood of developing online personal relationships, and greater use of online forums. In addition, suicide-risk women reported more time browsing/surfing and social networking. The authors conclude that suicide prevention efforts should respond to suicide-risk users' greater demands for online interpersonal communications.

Risky behavior, personality traits and road accidents among university students Comportamiento de riesgo, rasgos de personalidad y accidentes de carretera en estudiantes universitarios.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aristides I. Ferreira

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The personality traits that mediate risky driving and accidents among university students drivers were investigated. Study 1 (N=132 tested for the relation between risky behaviors and personality (16PF-5 second order dimensions. Three factors were extracted concerning risky driving: driving errors of commission, distraction, and driving errors of omission. Individuals with low self-control and high levels of anxiety were more prone to commit distractive behavior and driving errors of omission. Low self-control and high independence levels were associated with driving errors of commission. In study 2 (N=540, we tested if the number of road accidents for which an individual has been responsible was related to risky driving behavior. Drivers who committed more accidents presented higher scores in three new risky driving factors obtained: reckless driving, impaired concentration and division of attention.

Key words: Risky driving, personality, accidents, behavior.
En este estudio se investigaron los rasgos de personalidad relacionados con la conducción de riesgo y los accidentes en estudiantes universitarios. El primer estudio (N=132 evaluó la relación entre los comportamientos de riesgo y la personalidad (16PF-5 dimensiones de segundo orden. Tres factores fueron extraídos en relación con la conducción de riesgo: cometer errores de conducción, distracción, errores de omisión en la conducción. Los individuos con bajo autocontrol y altos niveles de ansiedad eran más propensos a tener comportamientos distractores y cometer errores de omisión en la conducción. Mientras que sujetos con bajo autocontrol y altos niveles de independencia se asociaron con el factor cometer errores de conducción. En el segundo estudio (N=540 evaluamos si el número de accidentes de tráfico, de los que una persona ha sido responsable, está relacionado con el comportamiento de riesgo en la conducción. Los resultados muestran que los conductores

The effects of emotional states and traits on risky decision-making.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernard, Michael Lewis; Smith, Bruce W., 1959- (,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM-)

2006-12-01

Understanding the role of emotional states is critical for predicting the kind of decisions people will make in risky situations. Currently, there is little understanding as to how emotion influences decision-making in situations such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, pandemics, and combat. To help address this, we used behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine how emotion states and traits influence decisions. Specifically, this study used a wheel of fortune behavioral task and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effects of emotional states and traits on decision-making pertaining to the degree of risk people are willing to make in specific situations. The behavioral results are reported here. The neural data requires additional time to analyze and will be reported at a future date. Biases caused by emotion states and traits were found regarding the likelihood of making risky decisions. The behavioral results will help provide a solid empirical foundation for modeling the effects of emotion on decision in risky situations.

Heightened Activity in Social Reward Networks is Associated with Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Eckstrand, Kristen L.; Choukas-Bradley, Sophia; Mohanty, Arpita; Cross, Marissa; Allen, Nicholas B.; Silk, Jennifer S.; Jones, Neil P.; Forbes, Erika E.

2018-01-01

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N=47; 18M, 29F; 16.3±1.4 years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior. PMID:28755632

Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents’ risky sexual behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristen L. Eckstrand

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N = 47; 18M, 29F; 16.3 ± 1.4 years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS. Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior.

Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents' risky sexual behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckstrand, Kristen L; Choukas-Bradley, Sophia; Mohanty, Arpita; Cross, Marissa; Allen, Nicholas B; Silk, Jennifer S; Jones, Neil P; Forbes, Erika E

2017-10-01

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N=47; 18M, 29F; 16.3±1.4years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Linking Self-Regulation and Risk Proneness to Risky Sexual Behavior: Pathways through Peer Pressure and Early Substance Use

Science.gov (United States)

Crockett, Lisa J.; Raffaelli, Marcela; Shen, Yuh-Ling

2006-01-01

The linkages between self-regulation in childhood, risk proneness in early adolescence, and risky sexual behavior in mid-adolescence were examined in a cohort of children (N=518) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The possible mediating role of two early adolescent variables (substance use and negative peer pressure) was also…

Shall I Tell You Where I Live and Who I Am? Factors Influencing the Behavioral Intention to Disclose Personal Data for Online Government Transactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beldad, Ardion Daroca; van der Geest, Thea; de Jong, Menno D.T.; Steehouder, M.F.

2012-01-01

The success of an online transaction with a government organization depends on citizen's willingness to share personal data relevant for the transaction. However, disclosing personal data online is oftentimes considered risky. It has been substantiated in a number of empirical studies that

The Effects of Early Sexual Abuse on Adult Risky Sexual Behaviors among Persons with Severe Mental Illness

Science.gov (United States)

Van Dorn, Richard A.; Mustillo, Sarah; Elbogen, Eric B.; Dorsey, Shannon; Swanson, Jeffrey W.; Swartz, Marvin S.

2005-01-01

Objective: There were two aims: first, to examine the relationship between prior sexual abuse and three types of adult risky sexual behaviors [(1) ever traded sex for drugs or money, (2) had unprotected sex in the past 6 months, and (3) frequency of unprotected sex in the past 6 months] among persons with severe mental illness (SMI), and second,…

Students’ online purchasing behavior in Malaysia: Understanding online shopping attitude

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marzieh Zendehdel

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Studies examining the factors that affect the online purchasing behavior of consumers are rare, despite the prospective advance of e-commerce in Malaysia. The present study examines particular factors that influence the attitude of potential consumers to purchase online by using the attributes from the diffusion of innovations theory of Rogers, the attribute of perception of risk, and the subjective norms toward online purchasing. Consumers’ perceived risks of online shopping have become a vital subject in research because they directly influence users’ attitude toward online purchasing. The structural equation modeling method was used to analyze the data gathered on students using e-commerce, and, thus, to validate the model. According to the results, consumers’ attitude toward online purchasing affects the intention toward online purchasing. The other influential factors are compatibility, relative advantage, and subjective norm.

Maternal and Paternal Psychological Control as Moderators of the Link between Peer Attitudes and Adolescents' Risky Sexual Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Oudekerk, Barbara A.; Allen, Joseph P.; Hafen, Christopher A.; Hessel, Elenda T.; Szwedo, David E.; Spilker, Ann

2014-01-01

Maternal and paternal psychological control, peer attitudes, and the interaction of psychological control and peer attitudes at age 13 were examined as predictors of risky sexual behavior before age 16 in a community sample of 181 youth followed from age 13 to 16. Maternal psychological control moderated the link between peer attitudes and sexual…

The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem: The Effects of Social Support and Subjective Well-Being on Adolescents' Risky Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Savi Çakar, Firdevs; Tagay, Özlem

2017-01-01

This research is a descriptive study based on the testing of a structural model developed by considering the effects of perceived social support and subjective well-being on adolescents' risky behaviors, and the possible mediating role of self-esteem. Participants consisted of 676 high school students attending formal education institutions,…

Divorce as risky behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Light, Audrey; Ahn, Taehyun

2010-11-01

Given that divorce often represents a high-stakes income gamble, we ask how individual levels of risk tolerance affect the decision to divorce. We extend the orthodox divorce model by assuming that individuals are risk averse, that marriage is risky, and that divorce is even riskier. The model predicts that conditional on the expected gains to marriage and divorce, the probability of divorce increases with relative risk tolerance because risk averse individuals require compensation for the additional risk that is inherent in divorce. To implement the model empirically, we use data for first-married women and men from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate a probit model of divorce in which a measure of risk tolerance is among the covariates. The estimates reveal that a 1-point increase in risk tolerance raises the predicted probability of divorce by 4.3% for a representative man and by 11.4% for a representative woman. These findings are consistent with the notion that divorce entails a greater income gamble for women than for men.

Risky Sexual Behaviour Associated with Alcohol Consumption among

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Zamzar

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The consumption of alcoholic beverages has been known to be responsible for several negative forms, of behavior, actions, attitudes and social ills. The link between alcohol consumption and risky sexual behavior has also been established. As the scorge of HIV ravages the population, the ...

Exploring Online Auction Behaviors and Motivations

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Sua; Crutsinger, Christy; Kim, Haejung

2008-01-01

The availability and convenience of the Internet, combined with the variety of products available at any given time, have contributed to the success of online auctions.This exploratory study examined online auction behaviors among college students in an attempt to identify underlying dimensions of auction motivations. Questionnaires completed by…

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING

OpenAIRE

Lakshmi. S

2016-01-01

With the increasing internet literacy, the prospect of online marketing is increasing. There are millions of people online any time and they all are a potential consumer in the online market. Since there are so many providers, the most important thing for organizations is to understand what are consumer wants and needs in this competitive business environment. Customer buying behaviors are influenced by different factors such as culture, social class, references group relation, family, salary...

The development of adolescents’ online sexual risk behavior and its relationship to negative online experiences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baumgartner, S.; Sumter, S.; Valkenburg, P.; Peter, J.

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate developmental pathways of online sexual risk behavior from early to late adolescence. Moreover, this study examined how these trajectories are related to negative online experiences, such as online sexual solicitation, online harassment, and online

Comparing the effects of entertainment and educational television programming on risky sexual behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Moyer-Gusé, Emily; Nabi, Robin L

2011-01-01

Entertainment-education (E-E) may offer an effective way to reduce risky behavior by modeling healthy behaviors. Although there is some empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of the E-E strategy, much of this research has been conducted in countries with different media landscapes than that of the United States and controlled experiments in this context are rare. Moreover, empirical tests of the relative effectiveness of E-E messages and other message formats are needed. In this study, 437 undergraduates participated in a three-wave panel experiment in which they viewed one of three programs (E-E, education, or entertainment). Safer sex intentions and behaviors were measured several days before, immediately following, and 2 weeks after exposure. Results demonstrate that effects of exposure to this E-E program vary depending on gender and past experience with sexual intercourse. In particular, females and those who had not initiated sexual intercourse showed the strongest effects. Discussion of theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are provided. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Affinity for risky behaviors following prenatal and early childhood exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE-contaminated drinking water: a retrospective cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aschengrau Ann

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many studies of adults with acute and chronic solvent exposure have shown adverse effects on cognition, behavior and mood. No prior study has investigated the long-term impact of prenatal and early childhood exposure to the solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE on the affinity for risky behaviors, defined as smoking, drinking or drug use as a teen or adult. Objectives This retrospective cohort study examined whether early life exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water influenced the occurrence of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and drug use among adults from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Methods Eight hundred and thirty-one subjects with prenatal and early childhood PCE exposure and 547 unexposed subjects were studied. Participants completed questionnaires to gather information on risky behaviors as a teenager and young adult, demographic characteristics, other sources of solvent exposure, and residences from birth through 1990. PCE exposure was estimated using the U.S. EPA's water distribution system modeling software (EPANET that was modified to incorporate a leaching and transport model to estimate PCE exposures from pipe linings. Results Individuals who were highly exposed to PCE-contaminated drinking water during gestation and early childhood experienced 50-60% increases in the risk of using two or more major illicit drugs as a teenager or as an adult (Relative Risk (RR for teen use = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.2; and RR for adult use = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.2-1.9. Specific drugs for which increased risks were observed included crack/cocaine, psychedelics/hallucinogens, club/designer drugs, Ritalin without a prescription, and heroin (RRs:1.4-2.1. Thirty to 60% increases in the risk of certain smoking and drinking behaviors were also seen among highly exposed subjects. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that risky behaviors, particularly drug use, are more frequent among adults with high PCE exposure levels during gestation

Online consumer behavior among Norwegian business students

OpenAIRE

Møller-Hansen, Tor Ragnar

2013-01-01

Masteroppgave i økonomi og administrasjon - Universitetet i Agder 2013 E-commerce is an ever growing phenomenon which merits further research. This study conducts a literature review in the field of online consumer behavior, focusing on online consumer purchase intention and online consumer loyalty in the context of Norwegian business students. We also conduct a survey with 196 business students in Norway, and go on to identify three important variables impacting online consumer purchase i...

Value-based decision-making battery: A Bayesian adaptive approach to assess impulsive and risky behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Pooseh, Shakoor; Bernhardt, Nadine; Guevara, Alvaro; Huys, Quentin J M; Smolka, Michael N

2018-02-01

Using simple mathematical models of choice behavior, we present a Bayesian adaptive algorithm to assess measures of impulsive and risky decision making. Practically, these measures are characterized by discounting rates and are used to classify individuals or population groups, to distinguish unhealthy behavior, and to predict developmental courses. However, a constant demand for improved tools to assess these constructs remains unanswered. The algorithm is based on trial-by-trial observations. At each step, a choice is made between immediate (certain) and delayed (risky) options. Then the current parameter estimates are updated by the likelihood of observing the choice, and the next offers are provided from the indifference point, so that they will acquire the most informative data based on the current parameter estimates. The procedure continues for a certain number of trials in order to reach a stable estimation. The algorithm is discussed in detail for the delay discounting case, and results from decision making under risk for gains, losses, and mixed prospects are also provided. Simulated experiments using prescribed parameter values were performed to justify the algorithm in terms of the reproducibility of its parameters for individual assessments, and to test the reliability of the estimation procedure in a group-level analysis. The algorithm was implemented as an experimental battery to measure temporal and probability discounting rates together with loss aversion, and was tested on a healthy participant sample.

Self-reported and observed risky driving behaviors among frequent and infrequent cell phone users.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Nan; Reimer, Bryan; Mehler, Bruce; D'Ambrosio, Lisa A; Coughlin, Joseph F

2013-12-01

The apparently higher crash risk among individuals who use cell phones while driving may be due both to the direct interference of cell phone use with the driving task and tendencies to engage in risky driving behaviors independent of cell phone use. Measurements of actual highway driving performance, self-reported aberrant driving behaviors as measured by the Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), and attitudes toward speeding, passing behaviors and relative concern about being involved in a crash were assessed. Individuals who reported frequently using cell phones while driving were found to drive faster, change lanes more frequently, spend more time in the left lane, and engage in more instances of hard braking and high acceleration events. They also scored higher in self-reported driving violations on the DBQ and reported more positive attitudes toward speeding and passing than drivers who did not report using a cell phone regularly while driving. These results indicate that a greater reported frequency of cell phone use while driving is associated with a broader pattern of behaviors that are likely to increase the overall risk of crash involvement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online Behavioral Advertising: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boerman, S.C.; Kruikemeier, S.; Zuiderveen Borgesius, F.J.

2017-01-01

Advertisers are increasingly monitoring people's online behavior and using the information collected to show people individually targeted advertisements. This phenomenon is called online behavioral advertising (OBA). Although advertisers can benefit from OBA, the practice also raises concerns about

Physiological correlates of neurobehavioral disinhibition that relate to drug use and risky sexual behavior in adolescents with prenatal substance exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Conradt, Elisabeth; Lagasse, Linda L; Shankaran, Seetha; Bada, Henrietta; Bauer, Charles R; Whitaker, Toni M; Hammond, Jane A; Lester, Barry M

2014-01-01

Physiological correlates of behavioral and emotional problems, substance use onset and initiation of risky sexual behavior have not been studied in adolescents with prenatal drug exposure. We studied the concordance between baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) at age 3 and baseline cortisol levels at age 11. We hypothesized that children who showed concordance between RSA and cortisol would have lower neurobehavioral disinhibition scores which would in turn predict age of substance use onset and first sexual intercourse. The sample included 860 children aged 16 years participating in the Maternal Lifestyle Study, a multisite longitudinal study of children with prenatal exposure to cocaine and other substances. Structural equation modeling was used to test pathways between prenatal substance exposure, early adversity, baseline RSA, baseline cortisol, neurobehavioral disinhibition, drug use, and sexual behavior outcomes. Concordance was studied by examining separate male and female models in which there were statistically significant interactions between baseline RSA and cortisol. Prenatal substance exposure was operationalized as the number of substances to which the child was exposed. An adversity score was computed based on caregiver postnatal substance use, depression and psychological distress, number of caregiver changes, socioeconomic and poverty status, quality of the home environment, and child history of protective service involvement, abuse and neglect. RSA and cortisol were measured during a baseline period prior to the beginning of a task. Neurobehavioral disinhibition, based on composite scores of behavioral dysregulation and executive dysfunction, substance use and sexual behavior were derived from questionnaires and cognitive tests administered to the child. Findings were sex specific. In females, those with discordance between RSA and cortisol (high RSA and low cortisol or low RSA and high cortisol) had the most executive dysfunction which, in

Risky business: rhesus monkeys exhibit persistent preferences for risky options.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Eric R; Kralik, Jerald D

2014-01-01

Rhesus monkeys have been shown to prefer risky over safe options in experiential decision-making tasks. These findings might be due, however, to specific contextual factors, such as small amounts of fluid reward and minimal costs for risk-taking. To better understand the factors affecting decision-making under risk in rhesus monkeys, we tested multiple factors designed to increase the stakes including larger reward amounts, distinct food items rather than fluid reward, a smaller number of trials per session, and risky options with greater variation that also included non-rewarded outcomes. We found a consistent preference for risky options, except when the expected value of the safe option was greater than the risky option. Thus, with equivalent mean utilities between the safe and risky options, rhesus monkeys appear to have a robust preference for the risky options in a broad range of circumstances, akin to the preferences found in human children and some adults in similar tasks. One account for this result is that monkeys make their choices based on the salience of the largest payoff, without integrating likelihood and value across trials. A related idea is that they fail to override an impulsive tendency to select the option with the potential to obtain the highest possible outcome. Our results rule out strict versions of both accounts and contribute to an understanding of the diversity of risky decision-making among primates.

An Exploratory Analysis of Online Shopping Behavior in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnan Veysel Ertemel

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Alongside the technologic developments, transformation in user behavior and business models has been observed. New areas and models are emerged in a lot of grounds like the communication of people or daily activities. So a new face put for shopping behavior by the e-commerce, which is one of the novelties. This study tries to research online shopping behavior in Turkey. With a quantitative research, device usage, the reasons behind to shop or not to shop online, online shopping category and e-commerce site preferences, payment methods, international e-commerce and online marketplace usage is investigated. As implications of the research, “saving time“ is found to be the foremost reason for shopping online in Turkey and “travel and bookings” category is found as the most shopped category among the results of the survey.

From Racial Discrimination to Risky Sex: Prospective Relations Involving Peers and Parents

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Megan E.; Gibbons, Frederick X.; Gerrard, Meg; Weng, Chih-Yuan; Murry, Velma M.; Simons, Leslie G.; Simons, Ronald L.; Lorenz, Frederick O.

2012-01-01

This study investigated how early experience with racial discrimination affected the subsequent risky sexual behaviors of a diverse sample of African American youths (N = 745). The analyses focused on 3 risk-promoting factors thought to mediate the hypothesized discrimination--risky sex relation: negative affect, affiliation with deviant peers,…

Correlates of risky sexual behaviors in recently traditionally circumcised men from initiation lodges in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyembezi, Anam; Sifunda, Sibusiso; Funani, Itumeleng; Ruiter, Robert A C; Van Den Borne, Bart; Reddy, Priscilla S

This exploratory quantitative study examines past risky sexual behaviors among young men who were circumcised as part of a rite of passage to adulthood embedded within a cultural and traditional belief system in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Following permission from the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders (ECHOTL), individual face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire were conducted among 114 initiates. The mean age of the participants was 18.9 years, ranging from 15 to 32 years old. About 79.8% reported already having had sex with a woman prior to initiation. Of those, 89% reported that they ever used condoms when having sex, and 61% reported consistent use. Logistic regression analysis showed that consistent condom use increased with higher educational levels. Those involved in other risky health behaviors (specifically, smoking) were also more likely to report inconsistent condom use. Most participants had positive beliefs about male circumcision and STI/HIV transmission. This study provides a first look at the sexual behaviors of young men at the time of their initiation in adulthood, a process that is intended to make it socially acceptable to initiate sexual relations and highlights a major public health challenge in integrating the protective health benefits of circumcision with indigenous cultural practices.

Serotonin shapes risky decision making in monkeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Arwen B; Kuhn, Cynthia M; Platt, Michael L

2009-12-01

Some people love taking risks, while others avoid gambles at all costs. The neural mechanisms underlying individual variation in preference for risky or certain outcomes, however, remain poorly understood. Although behavioral pathologies associated with compulsive gambling, addiction and other psychiatric disorders implicate deficient serotonin signaling in pathological decision making, there is little experimental evidence demonstrating a link between serotonin and risky decision making, in part due to the lack of a good animal model. We used dietary rapid tryptophan depletion (RTD) to acutely lower brain serotonin in three macaques performing a simple gambling task for fluid rewards. To confirm the efficacy of RTD experiments, we measured total plasma tryptophan using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. Reducing brain serotonin synthesis decreased preference for the safe option in a gambling task. Moreover, lowering brain serotonin function significantly decreased the premium required for monkeys to switch their preference to the risky option, suggesting that diminished serotonin signaling enhances the relative subjective value of the risky option. These results implicate serotonin in risk-sensitive decision making and, further, suggest pharmacological therapies for treating pathological risk preferences in disorders such as problem gambling and addiction.

Getting Business Insights through Clustering Online Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jounghae Bang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to explore the online users’ behaviors. Since the Internet was introduced to the market, the various and frequent online activities have increased, and it becomes more important for the businesses to understand the online users. Therefore this study analyzed the online users’ behaviors and segmented the users by using K-means clustering method using actual clickstream data. There were four different research questions and, thus, four different sets of segmentations. It was found that many people find much of entertaining from online using SNS, games, and so on. In addition, some people only have access to a few specific websites. Some use the online service regularly every day while others use it in a very irregular pattern. People were divided into two groups, weekday group and weekend group. People are likely to be using the Internet either on weekdays or at weekend. Teenagers and people in their 50s are more likely to use it during weekend. In addition, teenagers also show different time zone (e.g., overnight to use the Internet from other age groups. These results can shed light on understanding what consumers do online and what they are interested in currently and on decision making in marketing strategy.

When Sharing Is a Bad Idea: The Effects of Online Social Network Engagement and Sharing Passwords with Friends on Cyberbullying Involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Meter, Diana J; Bauman, Sheri

2015-08-01

Every day, children and adolescents communicate online via social networking sites (SNSs). They also report sharing passwords with peers and friends, a potentially risky behavior in regard to cyber safety. This longitudinal study tested the hypotheses that social network engagement in multiple settings would predict more cyberbullying involvement over time, and that youth who reported sharing passwords would also experience an increase in cyberbullying involvement. Data were collected at two time points one year apart from 1,272 third through eighth grade students. In line with the first study hypothesis, participating in more online SNSs was associated with increased cyberbullying involvement over time, as well as sharing passwords over time. Cyberbullying involvement at T1 predicted decreases in sharing passwords over time, suggesting that youth become aware of the dangers of sharing passwords as a result of their experience. Sharing passwords at T1 was unrelated to cyberbullying involvement at T2. Although it seems that youth may be learning from their previous mistakes, due to the widespread use of social media and normality of sharing passwords among young people, it is important to continue to educate youth about cyber safety and risky online behavior.

Characteristics of adolescents who intervene to stop the risky and dangerous behavior of their friends.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley, Lisa; Chapman, Rebekah L

2016-03-01

Adolescents value protecting friends from harm and report that they do intervene as bystanders in friends' risky and dangerous behavior. Moreover intervention can be effective in reducing such behaviors. The Protection-Risk Framework was used to explain bystander intervention. There were 962 students from 13 Australian high schools (mean age at time 1=13.44 years) surveyed in their 9th grade and again 1-year later when students were in 10th grade. We found that protective factors of self-efficacy, support, prosocial models, social control, and ease of opportunity related to greater intervening behavior after 12-months. Among those who reported that they had intervened in a 3-month period, a cumulative measure of protective factors was associated with their reports of intervening. Risk factors were non-significant predictors after accounting for earlier, time 1, bystander intervening behavior and demographic factors. The findings highlight potential mechanisms to promote adolescents' looking out for their friends and provide an assessment over time of bystander behavior. The theory-guided inquiry into such behavior provides a foundation on which to better develop our understanding of benefits to adolescent friendship in the injury field. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Safe and Responsible Online Behaviors for Children

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Shu-Hsien L. Chen

2003-06-01

Full Text Available The Internet makes new learning opportunities possible for children by offering vast amount of resources and powerful communication means Oftentimes, the Internet is the first resource children choose for information seeking. Other than schoolwork related resources,the Internet. contains unlimited interesting and entertaining information for children. As going online becomes a favorite pastime for millions of children,teachers and parents need to caution children about the negative side of the Internet. They need to teach children online safety and responsibility, and further,monitor their online behaviors. The article, first, discusses the possible threats to childrens online safety, including potential sex offenders, pornographic materials,and unethical marketing tactics aimed at children. Then, it addresses unethical and irresponsible behaviors, such as plagiarism, spamming, and hacking, which are committed or may be committed by children. Finally, the article explains how teachers and parents can help children become responsible and ethical Internet users.

Consumer behavior towards Online shopping of electronics in pakistan

OpenAIRE

BASHIR, ADIL

2013-01-01

E-commerce has made life simple and innovative of individuals and groups; consumer Behavior in online shopping is different from the physical market where he has access to see the product. The purpose of the research was to study the consumer behavior in online shopping of electronics especially in Pakistan. The main research question in thesis is how consumers behave while shopping online. Primary data was collected through the questionnaire survey and by emails from personal contacts in...

How Living in the ‘Hood Affects Risky Behaviors Among Latino and African American Youth

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Anna Maria Santiago

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Using data from a natural experiment in Denver, we investigate whether the initiation of running away from home, aggressive or violent behavior, and marijuana use during adolescence are statistically related to the neighborhood contexts in which low-income Latino and African American youth were raised. Our analysis is based on retrospective child, caregiver, household, and neighborhood data for a sample of approximately 850 Latino and African American youth whose families were quasi-randomly assigned to public housing operated by the Denver (CO Housing Authority during part of their childhood. We used Cox PH models and accelerated failure time models to estimate ethnic differentials in the hazards and timing of initiation of these risky behaviors during adolescence. We found that multiple dimensions of neighborhood context—especially safety, ethnic and nativity composition, and socioeconomic status—strongly and robustly predicted initiation of running away, aggressive or violence behavior, and marijuana use during adolescence.

Sexual health, risky sexual behavior and condom use among adolescents young adults and older adults in Chiang Mai, Thailand: findings from a population based survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinyopornpanish, Kanokporn; Thanamee, Sanhapan; Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda; Thaikla, Kanittha; McDonald, Jessica; Aramrattana, Apinun; Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri

2017-12-04

Sexual health is one of the key dimensions of health across all ages. Understanding risky sexual behaviors remains an important area of public health research. This study aimed to explore sexual health, risky sexual behaviors and factors associated with recent condom use as condom use is considered a main intervention proven to reduce negative health consequences of risky sexual behaviors, specifically related to sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling technique survey was conducted in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Information was obtained about age of first sexual intercourse, sexual activity, condom use, number of partners and history of drug/alcohol use prior to sexual activities within the past 3 months. A weighted analysis was performed to account for data clustering. It is estimated that most men (93%) and women (86%) in Chiang Mai have engaged in sexual intercourse. More than 70% of the people in Chiang Mai over age 30 remained sexually active in the past 3 months, even for populations over age 50. Eight percent of male teenagers reported having more than one sexual partner in the past 3 months. Regular condom use was reported in less than 5% of the population (6.6% men and 3.1% women). Our study demonstrated that sexual health is an important public health issue across all age groups. Condom use has been promoted as one way to minimize and prevent unintended consequences of sexual behavior but overall use remains low.

In Risky Environments, Emotional Children Have More Behavioral Problems but Lower Allostatic Load

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dich, Nadya; Doan, Stacey N.; Evans, Gary W.

2017-01-01

Objective: Developmental models of temperament by environment interactions predict that children’s negative emotionality exacerbates the detrimental effects of risky environments, increasing the risk for pathology. However, negative emotions may have an adaptive function. Accordingly, the present...... study explores an alternative hypothesis that in the context of high adversity, negative emotionality may be a manifestation of an adaptive coping style and thus be protective against the harmful effects of a stressful environment. Method: Prospective combined effects of negative emotionality...... assessed at baseline. Internalizing and externalizing behaviors were measured at 4- and 8-year follow-ups. Allostatic load was measured at baseline and both follow-ups using neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and metabolic parameters. Linear mixed-effect models were used to analyze the prospective...

The Effect of Adolescent Training Program on Risky Health Behaviours and Health Perception

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Meltem KÜRTÜNCÜ

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the risky health behaviors and to raise the awareness of adolescents (attending high school education about prevention of risky behaviors and solutions by the effect of module-based training courses (about reproductive health and birth control, sexually transmitted infections, harmful habits, psychosocial behavior. Being planned as cross-sectional, this study was performed between September 2013-June 2014 in three states and a private high school in Zonguldak and conducted with a group of students aged between 14 and 19.926 students have participated before the training and 534 students have participated after training. It was seen that the mean scores of ‘The Adolescent Risk-Taking Questionnaire', ‘The Adolescent's Attitudes Towards Violence Scale' and ‘taking risk about social status', ‘traffic', ‘subtance use' subscales have decreased after the risk prevention trainings. The means scores of ‘Adolescent Coping with Problems Scale', ‘Nutrition Behaviour Scale' and ‘Nutrition Attitude Scale' have raised. Hence, the scores of domains reflecting adolescent health perception such as hygiene, sleep and exercise have raised while the scores of somatic symptoms domain, such as abdominal pain, headache, and fatigue have been failed. Consequently, it was determined that the training courses about risky health behaviours were effective in preventing risky health behaviors and creating positive health perceptions of adolescents.

Human factors in cybersecurity; examining the link between Internet addiction, impulsivity, attitudes towards cybersecurity, and risky cybersecurity behaviours

OpenAIRE

Lee Hadlington

2017-01-01

The present study explored the relationship between risky cybersecurity behaviours, attitudes towards cybersecurity in a business environment, Internet addiction, and impulsivity. 538 participants in part-time or full-time employment in the UK completed an online questionnaire, with responses from 515 being used in the data analysis. The survey included an attitude towards cybercrime and cybersecurity in business scale, a measure of impulsivity, Internet addiction and a ?risky? cybersecurity ...

School-Based HIV/AIDS Education Is Associated with Reduced Risky Sexual Behaviors and Better Grades with Gender and Race/Ethnicity Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhen-qiang; Fisher, Monica A.; Kuller, Lewis H.

2014-01-01

Although studies indicate school-based HIV/AIDS education programs effectively reduce risky behaviors, only 33 states and the District of Columbia in US mandate HIV/AIDS education. Ideally, school-based HIV/AIDS education should begin before puberty, or at the latest before first sexual intercourse. In 2011, 20% US states had fewer schools…

Children's proneness to shame and guilt predict risky and illegal behaviors in young adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June P; Kendall, Stephanie; Folk, Johanna B; Meyer, Candace Reinsmith; Dearing, Ronda L

2015-04-01

Do shame and guilt help people avoid doing wrong? Although some research suggests that guilt-proneness is a protective factor while shame-proneness puts individuals at risk, most research is either cross-sectional or short-term. In this longitudinal study, 380 5th graders (ages 10-12) completed measures of proneness to shame and guilt. We re-interviewed 68 % of participants after they turned 18 years old (range 18-21). Guilt-proneness assessed in childhood predicted fewer sexual partners, less use of illegal drugs and alcohol, and less involvement with the criminal justice system. Shame-proneness, in contrast, was a risk factor for later deviant behavior. Shame-prone children were more likely to have unprotected sex and use illegal drugs in young adulthood. These results held when controlling for childhood SES and teachers' ratings of aggression. Children's moral emotional styles appear to be well established by at least middle childhood, with distinct downstream implications for risky behavior in early adulthood.

Teoría del comportamiento planificado y conducta sexual de riesgo en hombres homosexuales Theory of planned behavior and risky sexual behavior in homosexual men

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María Jesús Martín

2011-06-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Explorar la adecuación de modelo de la teoría del comportamiento planificado (TCP para el análisis de la conducta sexual de riesgo en el colectivo "hombres que tienen sexo con hombres" (HSH con el objetivo de proponer un modelo alternativo que mejore su comprensión. MÉTODOS: Análisis cualitativo de entrevistas semiestructuradas individuales y de grupos nominales realizadas con 45 HSH que durante los últimos 12 meses mantuvieron relaciones sexuales de riesgo (penetración anal insertiva o receptiva sin utilizar preservativo. Para el manejo de los datos se realizó un análisis del discurso mediante el "método comparativo constante" realizado en dos fases: a identificación de variables de la TCP y de inadecuaciones entre esta teoría y las declaraciones de los informadores, y b propuesta de un modelo psicosocial alternativo coherente con los resultados. RESULTADOS: Se confirmó una adecuación general de la TCP, su modificación en aspectos puntuales y la incorporación de nuevas variables que, en posteriores investigaciones, podrían ser incluidas para verificar cuantitativamente su potencial incremento de la capacidad predictiva y/o explicativa del modelo para la conducta sexual de riesgo en HSH. CONCLUSIONES: Los resultados obtenidos parecen indicar la importancia de poner a prueba los postulados matemáticos del modelo TCP. Se estableció un equilibrio estable entre la validación de la TCP, sugiriéndose posibles modificaciones en aspectos puntuales que, en posteriores investigaciones, podrían ser incluidas para verificar su potencial incremento de la capacidad explicativa del modelo para la conducta sexual de riesgo en HSH.OBJECTIVE: Explore the appropriateness of the theory of planned behavior (TPB model for analyzing risky sexual behavior in men who have sex with other men (MSM, with the object of proposing an alternative model that improves understanding. METHODS: Qualitative analysis of semi-structured individual and

Influencing the online consumer's behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Constantinides, Efthymios

2004-01-01

Addresses one of the fundamental issues of e-marketing: how to attract and win over the consumer in the highly competitive Internet marketplace. Analyses the factors affecting the online consumer's behavior and examines how e-marketers can influence the outcome of the virtual interaction and buying

Human factors in cybersecurity; examining the link between Internet addiction, impulsivity, attitudes towards cybersecurity, and risky cybersecurity behaviours.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadlington, Lee

2017-07-01

The present study explored the relationship between risky cybersecurity behaviours, attitudes towards cybersecurity in a business environment, Internet addiction, and impulsivity. 538 participants in part-time or full-time employment in the UK completed an online questionnaire, with responses from 515 being used in the data analysis. The survey included an attitude towards cybercrime and cybersecurity in business scale, a measure of impulsivity, Internet addiction and a 'risky' cybersecurity behaviours scale. The results demonstrated that Internet addiction was a significant predictor for risky cybersecurity behaviours. A positive attitude towards cybersecurity in business was negatively related to risky cybersecurity behaviours. Finally, the measure of impulsivity revealed that both attentional and motor impulsivity were both significant positive predictors of risky cybersecurity behaviours, with non-planning being a significant negative predictor. The results present a further step in understanding the individual differences that may govern good cybersecurity practices, highlighting the need to focus directly on more effective training and awareness mechanisms.

Early childhood parenting and child impulsivity as precursors to aggression, substance use, and risky sexual behavior in adolescence and early adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Hentges, Rochelle F; Shaw, Daniel S; Wang, Ming-Te

2017-11-20

The current study utilized a longitudinal design to explore the effect of early child impulsivity and rejecting parenting on the development of problematic behaviors in adolescence and early adulthood. Using a low-income sample of 310 mothers and their sons, we examined the direct and interactive effects of child impulsivity and rejecting parenting at age 2 on aggression and substance use at ages 12, 15, and 22, as well as risky sexual behavior at ages 15 and 22. Results revealed that rejecting parenting at age 2 predicted greater aggression at age 12 and risky sexual behavior at ages 15 and 22. Early impulsivity had few direct effects on later outcomes, with the exception of greater substance use at age 22. Instead, impulsivity emerged as a significant moderator in the link between rejecting parenting and aggression at all three ages and substance use at age 15. Specifically, early rejecting parenting predicted greater aggression and substance use only for children high in impulsivity. Findings highlight the potential for early child and parenting risk factors to have long-term implications for adjustment, with the combination of high impulsivity and rejecting parenting being particularly deleterious for problems of aggression throughout adolescence and into early adulthood.

The Dow is Killing Me: Risky Health Behaviors and the Stock Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotti, Chad; Dunn, Richard A; Tefft, Nathan

2015-07-01

We investigate how risky health behaviors and self-reported health vary with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and during stock market crashes. Because stock market indices are leading indicators of economic performance, this research contributes to our understanding of the macroeconomic determinants of health. Existing studies typically rely on the unemployment rate to proxy for economic performance, but this measure captures only one of many channels through which the economic environment may influence individual health decisions. We find that large, negative monthly DJIA returns, decreases in the level of the DJIA, and stock market crashes are widely associated with worsening self-reported mental health and more cigarette smoking, binge drinking, and fatal car accidents involving alcohol. These results are consistent with predictions from rational addiction models and have implications for research on the association between consumption and stock prices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Negative online word-of-mouth: Behavioral indicator or emotional release?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhagen, T.; Nauta, A.; Feldberg, J.F.M.

2013-01-01

The influence of negative online word-of-mouth on the behavior of those receiving it has been addressed extensively in the academic literature. Remarkably, the question whether negative online word-of-mouth should also be seen as a behavioral indicator of its sender remains unaddressed. Answering

Risky behaviours among university students in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Poscia

2015-06-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The use of psychoactive substances is one of the most important public health issues. Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs are among the top risk factors for ill-health defined by World Health Organisation. The risky behaviours acquired in teenage can be magnified or decreased during university when a person starts having more awareness about the importance of own wellness. This paper describes the results of the project "Sportello Salute Giovani" ("Youth Health Information Desk" with respect to risky behaviours in a large sample of Italian university students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 18 questions of the survey "Sportello Salute Giovani" dealing with risky behaviors, the use of psychoactive substances such as tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs were included. Absolute and relative frequencies were calculated. Besides, chi square test were used to test the differences in sex, age class and socio-economic status. RESULTS: About 24% of the interviewed students currently smokes. 89% and 42.2% respectively drinks at least rarely or weekly beer, wine or spirits. About 40% of students smoked at least a joint and about 2% used other drugs (mostly cocaine. CONCLUSION: The "Sportello Salute Giovani" survey suggests that the frequency of risky behaviours in Italian university students is not reassuring, although they should be aware about the negative consequences on their and others health because of their educational level.

Buying Imported Products Online : A quantitative study about Chinese Online consumer behavior towards imported products

OpenAIRE

Chen, Qianqian; Wang, Yuren

2015-01-01

With the fast growing Chinese online marketplace and the increasing popularity of shopping imported products online in China, more and more practitioners and researchers are interested in understanding the cues that Chinese consumers use to evaluate imported products consumption online. Our quantitative study aims to identify what factors affect the behavior of Chinese online consumers towards imported products and the relationships between the identified factors and purchase intention, and t...

Third party internet seals: reviewing the effects on online consumer trust

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kerkhof, P.; van Noort, G.; Lee, I.

2010-01-01

Buying online is still perceived as risky. A key strategy of online marketers to increase consumer trust in online ordering is to display privacy and security seals on their web sites. Although research indicates that these Internet seals do not necessarily mean better safety for online consumers,

Technology and Community Behavior in Online Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, Anita L.; Markus, M. Lynne

The literature on virtual or online communities contains two largely disjoint bodies of scholarship. One, which we call the “communities” literature, is concerned primarily with the social and psychological processes observable within groups of people that interact regularly in online environments. The other, concerned primarily with the effects of technological environments on individual and group behavior, we call the “environments” literature.

Online Behavioral Advertising: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

OpenAIRE

Boerman, S.C.; Kruikemeier, S.; Zuiderveen Borgesius, F.J.

2017-01-01

Advertisers are increasingly monitoring people's online behavior and using the information collected to show people individually targeted advertisements. This phenomenon is called online behavioral advertising (OBA). Although advertisers can benefit from OBA, the practice also raises concerns about privacy. Therefore, OBA has received much attention from advertisers, consumers, policymakers, and scholars. Despite this attention, there is neither a strong definition of OBA nor a clear accumula...

Internet Gambling Behavior in a Sample of Online Gamblers

Science.gov (United States)

McBride, Jessica; Derevensky, Jeffrey

2009-01-01

The present study examined Internet gambling behavior in a sample of online gamblers. Participants (N = 563; 382 male; ages 18-over 65) were recruited from a banner placed in an online newsletter. Questionnaires were completed online and assessed demographic information, game-play patterns (e.g., frequency, duration, wagering), preferred type of…

Predicting Risky Sexual Behavior: the Unique and Interactive Roles of Childhood Conduct Disorder Symptoms and Callous-Unemotional Traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Sarah L; Zheng, Yao; McMahon, Robert J

2017-08-01

Conduct disorder (CD) symptoms and callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been shown to be uniquely associated with risky sexual behavior (RSB) in adolescence and early adulthood, yet their interactive role in predicting RSB remains largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the predictive value of CD symptoms and CU traits, as well as their interaction, on several RSB outcomes in adolescence and early adulthood. A total of 683 participants (41.7 % female, 47.4 % African American) were followed annually and self-reported age of first sexual intercourse, frequency of condom use, pregnancy, contraction of sexually transmitted infections, and engagement in sexual solicitation from grade 7 to 2-years post-high school. CD symptoms predicted age of first sexual intercourse, condom use, and sexual solicitation. CU traits predicted age of first sexual intercourse and pregnancy. Their interaction predicted a composite score of these RSBs such that CD symptoms positively predicted the composite score among those with high levels of CU traits but not among those with low levels of CU traits. The current findings provide information regarding the importance of both CD symptoms and CU traits in understanding adolescent and early adulthood RSB, as well as the benefits of examining multiple RSB outcomes during this developmental period. These findings have implications for the development and implementation of preventive efforts to target these risky behaviors among adolescents and young adults.

Categorizing behavior in online communities: a look into the world of cake bakers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ganley, D.; Moser, C.; Groenewegen, P.

2012-01-01

In this article, we examine the patterns of behavior of online community members. We develop a list of measurable markers of behavior, drawing on online behavior and social network literature, and show how to construct the markers from the hidden relationship data in online communities. We then

THE STUDY OF COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR IN ONLINE SHOPPING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoleta Cristache

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Despite the prevalence of Internet in our everyday life, little is known about consumer buying behavior in on-line purchases. Moreover, consumer buying disorder (CBD, one of the new addictions of the era, is poorly researched in the Romanian literature. This study aimed at identifying whether this disorder is present among Romanian students that purchase on-line through a questionnaire applied to 100 students attending the University „Dunarea de Jos” of Galati. An analysis of the responses yields that a 13% of the studied sample indeed presents characteristics of this disorder and confirms previous global studies that the compulsive buyers are majoritarian women. This work increases our understanding of on-line consumer buying behavior and will contribute to future research on similar topics.

Young novice drivers and the risky behaviours of parents and friends during the provisional (intermediate) licence phase: a brief report.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott-Parker, Bridie; Watson, Barry; King, Mark J; Hyde, Melissa K

2014-08-01

While there is research indicating that many factors influence the young novice driver's increased risk of road crash injury during the earliest stages of their independent driving, there is a need to further understand the relationship between the perceived risky driving behaviour of parents and friends and the risky behaviour of drivers with a Provisional (intermediate) licence. As part of a larger research project, 378 drivers aged 17-25 years (M=18.22, SD=1.59, 113 males) with a Provisional licence completed an online survey exploring the perceived riskiness of their parents' and friends' driving, and the extent to which they pattern (i.e. base) their driving behaviour on the driving of their parents and friends. Young drivers who reported patterning their driving on their friends, and who reported they perceived their friends to be risky drivers, reported more risky driving. The risky driving behaviour of young male drivers was associated with the perceived riskiness of their fathers' driving, whilst for female drivers the perceived riskiness of their mothers' driving approached significance. The development and application of countermeasures targeting the risky behaviour of same-sex parents appears warranted by the robust research findings. In addition, countermeasures need to encourage young people in general to be non-risky drivers; targeting the negative influence of risky peer groups specifically. Social norms interventions may minimise the influence of potentially-overestimated riskiness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Response inhibition moderates the association between drug use and risky sexual behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Nydegger, Liesl A; Ames, Susan L; Stacy, Alan W; Grenard, Jerry L

2014-09-01

HIV infection is problematic among all drug users, not only injection drug users. Drug users are at risk for contracting HIV by engaging in risky sexual behaviors. The present study sought to determine whether inhibitory processes moderate the relationship between problematic drug use and HIV-risk behaviors (unprotected sex and multiple sex partners). One hundred ninety-six drug offenders enrolled in drug education programs were administered a battery of computer-based assessments. Measures included a cued go/no-go assessment of inhibitory processes, the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) assessment of problematic drug use, and self-report assessment of condom use and multiple sex partners. Findings revealed that response inhibition assessed by the proportion of false alarms on the cued go/no-go moderated the relationship between problematic drug use and an important measure of HIV risk (condom nonuse) among drug offenders. However, response inhibition did not moderate the relationship between problematic drug use and another measure of HIV risk: multiple sex partners. Among this sample of drug offenders, we have found a relationship between problematic drug use and condom nonuse, which is exacerbated by poor control of inhibition. These findings have implications for the development of HIV intervention components among high-risk populations.

Validation of the Chinese-language brief sensation seeking scale: implications for risky riding behaviors of parental motorcyclists and their child passengers.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Hsiu-Ping; Lin, Mau-Roung; Bai, Chyi-Huey; Huang, Ping-Wen; Chiang, Yung-Hsiao; Chiu, Wen-Ta

2014-12-01

Motorcycles are the leading cause of road traffic deaths in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly used language. Sensation seeking (SS) is reported to correlate with many risky motor vehicle behaviors, and therefore a culture-adapted Chinese instrument is needed to assess this personality trait in Chinese-speaking motorcycling populations. The standard front and blinded-backward process was carried out to formulate the Chinese-language Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (C-BSSS). 193 parental motorcyclists who rode with their young children were interviewed concerning their SS levels, demographics, riding behaviors, and the driving/riding experiences. A random sample of 30 subjects was re-interviewed 1-2 weeks later to examine the test-retest reliability. Psychometric analyses revealed satisfactory item characteristics, internal consistency, intraobserver reliability, and interobserver reliability. Additionally, parental motorcyclists who had the following characteristics were more likely to be the high sensation seekers (SSers), including male, younger age, presenting risky motor vehicle behaviors of themselves (e.g., higher riding speeds, operating after drinking, using a mobile phone while operating, and receiving a traffic ticket), and carrying child passengers who demonstrated dangerous motorcycling behaviors (e.g., a younger age, non-helmeted, and overloaded). We conclude that the C-BSSS is a useful and reliable measure of SS for ethnic Chinese populations. This instrument may be helpful to develop the future prevention strategy of motorcycle injuries in Chinese parental motorcyclists and their young child passengers. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Affective and cognitive mechanisms of risky decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimp, Kristy G; Mitchell, Marci R; Beas, B Sofia; Bizon, Jennifer L; Setlow, Barry

2015-01-01

The ability to make advantageous decisions under circumstances in which there is a risk of adverse consequences is an important component of adaptive behavior; however, extremes in risk taking (either high or low) can be maladaptive and are characteristic of a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. To better understand the contributions of various affective and cognitive factors to risky decision making, cohorts of male Long-Evans rats were trained in a "Risky Decision making Task" (RDT), in which they made discrete trial choices between a small, "safe" food reward and a large, "risky" food reward accompanied by varying probabilities of footshock. Experiment 1 evaluated the relative contributions of the affective stimuli (i.e., punishment vs. reward) to RDT performance by parametrically varying the magnitudes of the footshock and large reward. Varying the shock magnitude had a significant impact on choice of the large, "risky" reward, such that greater magnitudes were associated with reduced choice of the large reward. In contrast, varying the large, "risky" reward magnitude had minimal influence on reward choice. Experiment 2 compared individual variability in RDT performance with performance in an attentional set shifting task (assessing cognitive flexibility), a delayed response task (assessing working memory), and a delay discounting task (assessing impulsive choice). Rats characterized as risk averse in the RDT made more perseverative errors on the set shifting task than did their risk taking counterparts, whereas RDT performance was not related to working memory abilities or impulsive choice. In addition, rats that showed greater delay discounting (greater impulsive choice) showed corresponding poorer performance in the working memory task. Together, these results suggest that reward-related decision making under risk of punishment is more strongly influenced by the punishment than by the reward, and that risky and impulsive decision making are associated with

Determinants of risky sexual behavior among women in Ukraine: condom use at first sexual intercourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barska, Julia

2012-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections (STI create a great hazard to public health. STIs occur mostly as a result of different types of risky sexual behavior, such as early sexual debut, unprotected sexual intercourses, alcohol use during sex, multiple partnership etc. Condoms are known to provide the best protection against negative consequences of risky sexual behavior. In this study we aimed to determine factors associated with condom use at first sexual intercourses by women in Ukraine.METHODS: Secondary analysis of data of the 2007 Ukraine Demographic and Health Survey was conducted. Responses of 883 sexually experienced women aged 15–24 were included in the analysis. Associations between condom use at first sex and independent variables were assessed using multivariate binary logistic regression.RESULTS: Light (less than 3,5 drinks per week and heavy (3,5 drinks per week or more drinkers were more likely to use condoms at first sexual intercourse compared to abstainers or occasional drinkers (OR 1,83 (CI 1,32-2,53 and 2,21 (CI 1,43-3,42, respectively. Besides that, women from households with above average income had 1,65 (CI 1,17-2,33 higher odds to use condoms at sexual debut in comparison to women from households with lower income. Women who read printed media at least once a week had twice (CI 1,36-2,94 as high odds of using condoms at first intercourse as women who read newspapers or magazines rare. Non-Western region of residence and sexual partner of about the same age were positively associated with condom use as well.CONCLUSIONS: Wealthy young adults from industrially developed regions are active users of condoms during sexual debut, which is to be accounted for in determining target groups for social policy in Ukraine.

Alcohol Use and Related Behaviors among Late-Adolescent Urban Youths: Peer and Parent Influences

Science.gov (United States)

Schwinn, Traci M.; Schinke, Steven P.

2014-01-01

Peer and parent influences on alcohol use and related risky behaviors were examined in a sample of late-adolescent (M = 17.3 years; SD = 1.11 years) urban youths. Participants (N = 400) completed an online measure assessing peer influences of alcohol use and alcohol offers and also parental influences of rules against alcohol use and perceived…

EFL Students' "Yahoo!" Online Bilingual Dictionary Use Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Fan-ping

2009-01-01

This study examined 38 EFL senior high school students' "Yahoo!" online dictionary look-up behavior. In a language laboratory, the participants read an article on a reading sheet, underlined any words they did not know, looked up their unknown words in "Yahoo!" online bilingual dictionary, and wrote down the definitions of…

Decreasing Risky Behavior on Social Network Sites: The Impact of Parental Involvement in Secondary Education Interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderhoven, Ellen; Schellens, Tammy; Valcke, Martin

2016-06-01

Teenagers face significant risks when using increasingly popular social network sites. Prevention and intervention efforts to raise awareness about these risks and to change risky behavior (so-called "e-safety" interventions) are essential for the wellbeing of these minors. However, several studies have revealed that while school interventions often affect awareness, they have only a limited impact on pupils' unsafe behavior. Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior and theories about parental involvement, we hypothesized that involving parents in an e-safety intervention would positively influence pupils' intentions and behavior. In a quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-test measures involving 207 pupils in secondary education, we compared the impact of an intervention without parental involvement with one that included active parental involvement by means of a homework task. We found that whereas parental involvement was not necessary to improve the intervention's impact on risk awareness, it did change intentions to engage in certain unsafe behavior, such as posting personal and sexual information on the profile page of a social network site, and in reducing existing problematic behavior. This beneficial impact was particularly evident for boys. These findings suggest that developing prevention campaigns with active parental involvement is well worth the effort. Researchers and developers should therefore focus on other efficient strategies to involve parents.

Locus of control and investment in risky assets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salamanca, N.; de Grip, A.; Fouarge, D.; Montizaan, R.M.

2013-01-01

Using representative household panel data, we show that the investment behavior of households is related to the economic locus of control of household heads. A household's internal locus of control in economic issues is positively related to its decision to hold risky assets as well as its share of

Scaling behavior of online human activity

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhi-Dan; Cai, Shi-Min; Huang, Junming; Fu, Yan; Zhou, Tao

2012-11-01

The rapid development of the Internet technology enables humans to explore the web and record the traces of online activities. From the analysis of these large-scale data sets (i.e., traces), we can get insights about the dynamic behavior of human activity. In this letter, the scaling behavior and complexity of human activity in the e-commerce, such as music, books, and movies rating, are comprehensively investigated by using the detrended fluctuation analysis technique and the multiscale entropy method. Firstly, the interevent time series of rating behaviors of these three types of media show similar scaling properties with exponents ranging from 0.53 to 0.58, which implies that the collective behaviors of rating media follow a process embodying self-similarity and long-range correlation. Meanwhile, by dividing the users into three groups based on their activities (i.e., rating per unit time), we find that the scaling exponents of the interevent time series in the three groups are different. Hence, these results suggest that a stronger long-range correlations exist in these collective behaviors. Furthermore, their information complexities vary in the three groups. To explain the differences of the collective behaviors restricted to the three groups, we study the dynamic behavior of human activity at the individual level, and find that the dynamic behaviors of a few users have extremely small scaling exponents associated with long-range anticorrelations. By comparing the interevent time distributions of four representative users, we can find that the bimodal distributions may bring forth the extraordinary scaling behaviors. These results of the analysis of the online human activity in the e-commerce may not only provide insight into its dynamic behaviors but may also be applied to acquire potential economic interest.

Essays on Online Reviews: Reviewers' Strategic Behaviors and Contributions over Time

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Wenqi

2010-01-01

Online reviews play an important role in consumers' purchasing decisions. Researchers are increasingly interested in studying the dynamic impact of online reviews on product sales. However, the antecedent of online reviews, online reviewers' behaviors, has not been fully explored. Understanding how online reviewers make review decisions can assist…

Children’s Proneness to Shame and Guilt Predict Risky and Illegal Behaviors in Young Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June P.; Kendall, Stephanie; Folk, Johanna B.; Meyer, Candace Reinsmith; Dearing, Ronda L.

2014-01-01

Do shame and guilt help people avoid doing wrong? Although some research suggests that guilt-proneness is a protective factor while shame-proneness puts individuals at risk, most research is either cross-sectional or short-term. In this longitudinal study, 380 5th graders (ages 10–12) completed measures of proneness to shame and guilt. We re-interviewed 68% of participants after they turned 18 years old (range 18–21). Guilt-proneness assessed in childhood predicted fewer sexual partners, less use of illegal drugs and alcohol, and less involvement with the criminal justice system. Shame-proneness, in contrast, was a risk factor for later deviant behavior. Shame-prone children were more likely to have unprotected sex and use illegal drugs in young adulthood. These results held when controlling for childhood SES and teachers’ ratings of aggression. Children’s moral emotional styles appear to be well established by at least middle childhood, with distinct downstream implications for risky behavior in early adulthood. PMID:24842762

The impact of online brand community type on consumer's community engagement behaviors: consumer-created vs. marketer-created online brand community in online social-networking web sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Doohwang; Kim, Hyuk Soo; Kim, Jung Kyu

2011-01-01

The current study proposed and tested a theoretical model of consumers' online brand community engagement behaviors, with particular attention given to online brand community type (consumer vs. marketer-created). By integrating attribution and social identity theories, this study investigated the causal linkages between intrinsic motives of altruism, social identification motivations, and online brand community engagement behaviors. The results showed that consumers' online brand community engagement intentions were indirectly influenced by the different types of communities through different levels of consumers' attributions to intrinsic motives of altruism. This study also found that, in the attribution processes, consumers' intrinsic motives of altruism motivated them to identify themselves socially with the online communities they join. Finally, this study demonstrated that the intrinsic motives of altruism and social identification motivations provided strong social incentives to motivate consumers to engage in subsequent online brand community behaviors.

Identifying Differences in Cultural Behavior in Online Groups

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gregory, Michelle L.; Engel, David W.; Bell, Eric B.; Mcgrath, Liam R.

2012-07-23

We have developed methods to identify online communities, or groups, using a combination of structural information variables and content information variables from weblog posts and their comments to build a characteristic footprint for groups. We have worked with both explicitly connected groups and 'abstract' groups, in which the connection between individuals is in interest (as determined by content based features) and behavior (metadata based features) as opposed to explicit links. We find that these variables do a good job at identifying groups, placing members within a group, and helping determine the appropriate granularity for group boundaries. The group footprint can then be used to identify differences between the online groups. In the work described here we are interested in determining how an individual's online behavior is influenced by their membership in more than one group. For example, individuals belong to a certain culture; they may belong as well to a demographic group, and other 'chosen' groups such as churches or clubs. There is a plethora of evidence surrounding the culturally sensitive adoption, use, and behavior on the Internet. In this work we begin to investigate how culturally defined internet behaviors may influence behaviors of subgroups. We do this through a series of experiments in which we analyze the interaction between culturally defined behaviors and the behaviors of the subgroups. Our goal is to (a) identify if our features can capture cultural distinctions in internet use, and (b) determine what kinds of interaction there are between levels and types of groups.

Collective iteration behavior for online social networks

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jian-Guo; Li, Ren-De; Guo, Qiang; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2018-06-01

Understanding the patterns of collective behavior in online social network (OSNs) is critical to expanding the knowledge of human behavior and tie relationship. In this paper, we investigate a specific pattern called social signature in Facebook and Wiki users' online communication behaviors, capturing the distribution of frequency of interactions between different alters over time in the ego network. The empirical results show that there are robust social signatures of interactions no matter how friends change over time, which indicates that a stable commutation pattern exists in online communication. By comparing a random null model, we find the that commutation pattern is heterogeneous between ego and alters. Furthermore, in order to regenerate the pattern of the social signature, we present a preferential interaction model, which assumes that new users intend to look for the old users with strong ties while old users have tendency to interact with new friends. The experimental results show that the presented model can reproduce the heterogeneity of social signature by adjusting 2 parameters, the number of communicating targets m and the max number of interactions n, for Facebook users, m = n = 5, for Wiki users, m = 2 and n = 8. This work helps in deeply understanding the regularity of social signature.

Conducting online focus groups on Facebook to inform health behavior change interventions: Two case studies and lessons learned.

Science.gov (United States)

Thrul, Johannes; Belohlavek, Alina; Hambrick, D'Arius; Kaur, Manpreet; Ramo, Danielle E

2017-09-01

Online social media offer great potential for research participant recruitment and data collection. We conducted synchronous (real-time) online focus groups (OFGs) through Facebook with the target population of young adult substance users to inform development of Facebook health behavior change interventions. In this paper we report methods and lessons learned for future studies. In the context of two research studies participants were recruited through Facebook and assigned to one of five 90-minute private Facebook OFGs. Study 1 recruited for two OFGs with young adult sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) smokers (range: 9 to 18 participants per group); Study 2 recruited for three groups of young adult smokers who also engage in risky drinking (range: 5 to 11 participants per group). Over a period of 11 (Study 1) and 22 days (Study 2), respectively, we recruited, assessed eligibility, collected baseline data, and assigned a diverse sample of participants from all over the US to Facebook groups. For Study 1, 27 of 35 (77%) participants invited attended the OFGs, and 25 of 32 (78%) for Study 2. Participants in Study 1 contributed an average of 30.9 (SD=8.9) comments with an average word count of 20.1 (SD=21.7) words, and 36.0 (SD=12.3) comments with 11.9 (SD=13.5) words on average in Study 2. Participants generally provided positive feedback on the study procedures. Facebook can be a feasible and efficient medium to conduct synchronous OFGs with young adults. This data collection strategy has the potential to inform health behavior change intervention development.

Risky Decisions Despite Counter Evidence: Modeling a Culture of Safer Sexual Practices

OpenAIRE

Patel, Vimla L.; Yoskowitz, Nicole A.; Kaufman, David R.; Gutnik, Lily A.; Shortliffe, Edward H.

2005-01-01

To create a culture of safe practices, we need to understand how and under what conditions the public makes risky decisions about their health. Because risky sexual behaviors are known to be common in young adults, we investigated their decision making regarding sexual activities that could incur a high risk of HIV infection. Sixty young urban adults maintained journals for two weeks and were interviewed regarding condom use and sexual history. We characterized four patterns...

Self-control in Online Discussions: Disinhibited Online Behavior as a Failure to Recognize Social Cues.

Science.gov (United States)

Voggeser, Birgit J; Singh, Ranjit K; Göritz, Anja S

2017-01-01

In an online experiment we examined the role of self-control in recognizing social cues in the context of disinhibited online behavior (e.g., flaming and trolling). We temporarily lowered participants' self-control capacity with an ego depletion paradigm (i.e., color Stroop task). Next, we measured participants' sensitivity to social cues with an emotional Stroop task containing neutral, negative, and taboo words. Sensitivity to social cues is represented by the increase in reaction time to negative and especially taboo words compared to neutral words. As expected, undepleted participants were slower to process the color of negative and taboo words. By contrast, depleted participants (i.e., those with lowered self-control capacity) did not react differently to taboo or negative words than they did to neutral words. The experiment illustrates that self-control failure may manifest itself in a failure to recognize social cues. The finding underlines the importance of self-control in understanding disinhibited online behavior: Many instances of disinhibited online behavior may occur not because people are unable to control themselves, but because they do not realize that a situation calls for self-control in the first place.

Self-control in Online Discussions: Disinhibited Online Behavior as a Failure to Recognize Social Cues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birgit J. Voggeser

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In an online experiment we examined the role of self-control in recognizing social cues in the context of disinhibited online behavior (e.g., flaming and trolling. We temporarily lowered participants' self-control capacity with an ego depletion paradigm (i.e., color Stroop task. Next, we measured participants' sensitivity to social cues with an emotional Stroop task containing neutral, negative, and taboo words. Sensitivity to social cues is represented by the increase in reaction time to negative and especially taboo words compared to neutral words. As expected, undepleted participants were slower to process the color of negative and taboo words. By contrast, depleted participants (i.e., those with lowered self-control capacity did not react differently to taboo or negative words than they did to neutral words. The experiment illustrates that self-control failure may manifest itself in a failure to recognize social cues. The finding underlines the importance of self-control in understanding disinhibited online behavior: Many instances of disinhibited online behavior may occur not because people are unable to control themselves, but because they do not realize that a situation calls for self-control in the first place.

School-based HIV/AIDS education is associated with reduced risky sexual behaviors and better grades with gender and race/ethnicity differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhen-qiang; Fisher, Monica A; Kuller, Lewis H

2014-04-01

Although studies indicate school-based HIV/AIDS education programs effectively reduce risky behaviors, only 33 states and the District of Columbia in US mandate HIV/AIDS education. Ideally, school-based HIV/AIDS education should begin before puberty, or at the latest before first sexual intercourse. In 2011, 20% US states had fewer schools teaching HIV/AIDS prevention than during 2008; this is worrisome, especially for more vulnerable minorities. A nationally representative sample of 16 410 US high-school students participating in 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey was analyzed. Multiple regression models assessed the association between HIV/AIDS education and risky sexual behaviors, and academic grades. HIV/AIDS education was associated with delayed age at first sexual intercourse, reduced number of sex partners, reduced likelihood to have forced sexual intercourse and better academic grades, for sexually active male students, but not for female students. Both male and female students who had HIV/AIDS education were less likely to inject drugs, drink alcohol or use drugs before last sexual intercourse, and more likely to use condoms. Minority ethnic female students were more likely to have HIV testing. The positive effect of HIV/AIDS education and different gender and race/ethnicity effects support scaling up HIV/AIDS education and further research on the effectiveness of gender-race/ethnicity-specific HIV/AIDS curriculum.

Locus of control and investment in risky assets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salamanca Acosta, N.; de Grip, A.; Fouarge, D.; Montizaan, R.M.

2013-01-01

Using representative household panel data, we show that the investment behavior of households is related to the economic locus of control of household heads. A household’s internal locus of control in economic issues is positively related to its decision to hold risky assets as well as its share of

Statistical Models for Predicting Threat Detection From Human Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Timothy; Amon, Mary J.; Bertenthal, Bennett I.

2018-01-01

Users must regularly distinguish between secure and insecure cyber platforms in order to preserve their privacy and safety. Mouse tracking is an accessible, high-resolution measure that can be leveraged to understand the dynamics of perception, categorization, and decision-making in threat detection. Researchers have begun to utilize measures like mouse tracking in cyber security research, including in the study of risky online behavior. However, it remains an empirical question to what extent real-time information about user behavior is predictive of user outcomes and demonstrates added value compared to traditional self-report questionnaires. Participants navigated through six simulated websites, which resembled either secure “non-spoof” or insecure “spoof” versions of popular websites. Websites also varied in terms of authentication level (i.e., extended validation, standard validation, or partial encryption). Spoof websites had modified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and authentication level. Participants chose to “login” to or “back” out of each website based on perceived website security. Mouse tracking information was recorded throughout the task, along with task performance. After completing the website identification task, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their security knowledge and degree of familiarity with the websites simulated during the experiment. Despite being primed to the possibility of website phishing attacks, participants generally showed a bias for logging in to websites versus backing out of potentially dangerous sites. Along these lines, participant ability to identify spoof websites was around the level of chance. Hierarchical Bayesian logistic models were used to compare the accuracy of two-factor (i.e., website security and encryption level), survey-based (i.e., security knowledge and website familiarity), and real-time measures (i.e., mouse tracking) in predicting risky online behavior during phishing

Statistical Models for Predicting Threat Detection From Human Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy Kelley

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Users must regularly distinguish between secure and insecure cyber platforms in order to preserve their privacy and safety. Mouse tracking is an accessible, high-resolution measure that can be leveraged to understand the dynamics of perception, categorization, and decision-making in threat detection. Researchers have begun to utilize measures like mouse tracking in cyber security research, including in the study of risky online behavior. However, it remains an empirical question to what extent real-time information about user behavior is predictive of user outcomes and demonstrates added value compared to traditional self-report questionnaires. Participants navigated through six simulated websites, which resembled either secure “non-spoof” or insecure “spoof” versions of popular websites. Websites also varied in terms of authentication level (i.e., extended validation, standard validation, or partial encryption. Spoof websites had modified Uniform Resource Locator (URL and authentication level. Participants chose to “login” to or “back” out of each website based on perceived website security. Mouse tracking information was recorded throughout the task, along with task performance. After completing the website identification task, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their security knowledge and degree of familiarity with the websites simulated during the experiment. Despite being primed to the possibility of website phishing attacks, participants generally showed a bias for logging in to websites versus backing out of potentially dangerous sites. Along these lines, participant ability to identify spoof websites was around the level of chance. Hierarchical Bayesian logistic models were used to compare the accuracy of two-factor (i.e., website security and encryption level, survey-based (i.e., security knowledge and website familiarity, and real-time measures (i.e., mouse tracking in predicting risky online behavior

Statistical Models for Predicting Threat Detection From Human Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Timothy; Amon, Mary J; Bertenthal, Bennett I

2018-01-01

Users must regularly distinguish between secure and insecure cyber platforms in order to preserve their privacy and safety. Mouse tracking is an accessible, high-resolution measure that can be leveraged to understand the dynamics of perception, categorization, and decision-making in threat detection. Researchers have begun to utilize measures like mouse tracking in cyber security research, including in the study of risky online behavior. However, it remains an empirical question to what extent real-time information about user behavior is predictive of user outcomes and demonstrates added value compared to traditional self-report questionnaires. Participants navigated through six simulated websites, which resembled either secure "non-spoof" or insecure "spoof" versions of popular websites. Websites also varied in terms of authentication level (i.e., extended validation, standard validation, or partial encryption). Spoof websites had modified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and authentication level. Participants chose to "login" to or "back" out of each website based on perceived website security. Mouse tracking information was recorded throughout the task, along with task performance. After completing the website identification task, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their security knowledge and degree of familiarity with the websites simulated during the experiment. Despite being primed to the possibility of website phishing attacks, participants generally showed a bias for logging in to websites versus backing out of potentially dangerous sites. Along these lines, participant ability to identify spoof websites was around the level of chance. Hierarchical Bayesian logistic models were used to compare the accuracy of two-factor (i.e., website security and encryption level), survey-based (i.e., security knowledge and website familiarity), and real-time measures (i.e., mouse tracking) in predicting risky online behavior during phishing attacks

Thrill and adventure seeking in risky driving at work: The moderating role of safety climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Wishart, Darren; Somoray, Klaire; Evenhuis, Amanda

2017-12-01

Introduction Within many industrialized countries, the leading cause of worker fatalities and serious injuries can be attributed to road trauma. In non-occupational research, high levels of sensation seeking personality, and specifically thrill and adventure seeking, have been associated with risky driving behaviors. In work driving literature, high organizational safety climate has been associated with reduced risky driving in work drivers. However, the extent that factors such as safety climate and thrill seeking interact in regard to work driving safety remains unclear, and the current research examined this interaction. Methods A total of 1,011 work drivers from four organizations participated in the research. Surveys were distributed online and hardcopies were sent via mail. The survey included measures of thrill and adventure seeking, safety climate and work-related driving behaviors, as well as questions relating to participant demographics and information about their work driving. Results The results demonstrated that safety climate significantly moderated the effect of thrill and adventure seeking trait on driving errors, driving violations, and driving while fatigued. Conclusion These results suggest that the development of a strong safety climate has the potential to improve work driving safety outcomes by reducing the impact of particular personality traits such as thrill seeking within an organizational context. Practical application To improve work driving safety, organizations and management need to develop strategies to encourage and foster positive work driving safety climate, particularly within work settings that may attract thrill and adventure seeking employees. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Determinants of risky sexual behavior and condom use among college students in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xinying; Liu, Xiaona; Shi, Yuhui; Wang, Yanling; Wang, Peiyu; Chang, Chun

2013-01-01

The purposes of this study were to assess sexual behavior and condom use among Chinese college students, and to explore social-environmental and social-cognitive determinants associated with risky sexual behaviors within this population. A survey was conducted among 19,123 Chinese college students recruited through stratified cluster sampling. About 9% of the students reported having had sex (male=13.3%, female=5.0%, OR=2.918), 3.6% had multiple sexual partners (male=5.7%, female=1.6%, OR=3.624), and 0.9% had commercialized sex (male=1.6%, female=0.3%, OR=6.169). Only 24.8% of sexually active students had used a condom for every sexual encounter, and there was no significant difference in condom use between male students and female students. Logistic regression showed that sex (female, OR=0.769), age (older, OR=1.263), exposure to pornographic information (higher, OR=1.751), drinking (intoxication, OR=1.437), and smoking (OR=2.123-5.112) were all determinants of sexual behaviors. Path analysis showed that exposure to pornographic information, level of consumption, and sex education were important social-environmental factors of condom use. Condom use was more common among those who had greater HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes toward high-risk behavior, self-efficacy, and intent to use a condom. Intentions were the most important and direct factor influencing condom use. The study concluded that college students are vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases - including HIV/AIDS infection - through sexual contact. Therefore, future HIV/AIDS prevention and safer sex interventions should focus on self-protection skills and target behavior change.

Male migration and risky sexual behavior in rural India: is the place of origin critical for HIV prevention programs?

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Saggurti Niranjan

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent studies of male migrants in India indicate that those who are infected with HIV are spreading the epidemic from high risk populations in high prevalence areas to populations in low prevalence areas. In this context, migrant men are believed to initiate and have risky sexual behaviors in places of destination and not in places of origin. The paucity of information on men's risky sexual behaviors in places of origin limits the decision to initiate HIV prevention interventions among populations in high out-migration areas in India. Methods A cross-sectional behavioral survey was conducted among non-migrants, returned migrants (with a history of migration, and active (current migrants in rural areas across two districts with high levels of male out-migration: Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh and Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. Surveys assessed participant demographics, migration status, migration history, and sexual behavior along the migration routes, place of initiation of sex. District-stratified regression models were used to understand the associations between migration and risky sexual behaviors (number of partners, condom use at last sex and descriptive analyses of migrants' place of sexual initiation and continuation along migration routes. Results The average age at migration of our study sample was 19 years. Adjusted regression analyses revealed that active migrants were more likely to engage in sex with sex workers in the past 12 months (Prakasam: 15 percent vs. 8 percent; adjusted odds ratio (aOR=2.1, 95% CI 1.2-3.4; Azamgarh: 19 percent vs.7 percent; aOR=4.0, 95% CI 2.4-6.6 as well as have multiple (3+ sex partners (Prakasam: 18 percent vs. 9 percent; aOR=2.0, 95% CI 1.3-3.2; Azamgarh: 28 percent vs. 21 percent; aOR=1.9, 95% CI 1.2-3.0 than non-migrants. Contrary to popular belief, a high proportion of active and returned migrants (almost 75 percent of those who had sex initiated sex at the place of

Brand Resonance Behavior among Online Brand Community

OpenAIRE

Shaari, Hasnizam; Ahmad, Intan Shafinaz

2017-01-01

Brand commitment studies had gained considerable attention in today’s marketing practices. Sustaining the brand competitive advantages become challenging especially in the context of digital marketing. Development of Web 2.0 that enables interactive communication had offered a new mechanism for owner of the brand to strengthen the bond among their admirers and users via online brand community. Attitude and behavior of online brand community members can be crucial to overall brand competitive...

Alcohol Dependence and Altered Engagement of Neural Networks in Risky Decisions

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Xi eZhu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Alcohol dependence is associated with heightened risk tolerance and altered decision- making. This raises the question as to whether alcohol dependent patients (ADP are incapable of proper risk assessment. We investigated how healthy controls (HC and ADP engage neural networks to cope with the increased cognitive demands of risky decisions. We collected fMRI data while 34 HC and 16 ADP played a game that included safe and risky trials. In safe trials, participants accrued money at no risk of a penalty. In risky trials, reward and risk simultaneously increased as participants were instructed to decide when to stop a reward accrual period. If the participant failed to stop before an undisclosed time, the trial would bust and participants would not earn the money from that trial. Independent Component Analysis was used to identify networks engaged during the anticipation and the decision execution of risky compared with safe trials. Like HC, ADP demonstrated distinct network engagement for safe and risky trials at anticipation. However, at decision execution, ADP exhibited severely reduced discrimination in network engagement between safe and risky trials. Although ADP behaviorally responded to risk they failed to appropriately modify network engagement as the decision continued, leading ADP to assume similar network engagement regardless of risk prospects. This may reflect disorganized network switching and a facile response strategy uniformly adopted by ADP across risk conditions. We propose that aberrant salience network (SN engagement in ADP might contribute to ineffective network switching and that the role of the SN in risky decisions warrants further investigation.

Brief report: Risky sexual behavior of adolescents in Belgrade: association with socioeconomic status and family structure.

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Vukovic, Dejana S; Bjegovic, Vesna M

2007-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between socioeconomic status and family structure with risky sexual behaviors in adolescents. A total of 1782 15-year-old Belgrade schoolchildren (47.5% boys and 52.5% girls) completed a questionnaire from the WHO study, "Health behavior of schoolchildren". Adolescents with a higher weekly disposable income, those who perceived their family as wealthy, and those with difficulties in communication with their mothers were more likely to have had been sexually active (odds ratios (OR)=2.497, 1.876, and 1.253, respectively). Adolescents with a higher weekly disposable income were more likely to use contraception (OR=0.233), but those who perceived their families as better-off and those living with only one parent were more likely not to use contraception (OR=4.794, 22.295 [living with father], and 6.169 [living with mother], respectively). The perceived family wealth was significantly associated with having sexual intercourse and having sexual intercourse without using contraception. Family structure had a limited independent association with sexual behavior.

Culture and context: buffering the relationship between stressful life events and risky behaviors in American Indian youth.

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Baldwin, Julie A; Brown, Betty G; Wayment, Heidi A; Nez, Ramona Antone; Brelsford, Kathleen M

2011-01-01

The Sacred Mountain Youth Project was conducted to investigate risk and protective factors related to alcohol and drug use among American Indian youth. Findings indicated that stressful life events were positively associated with depressed mood, substance use, and risky behavior; cultural identity had no direct effects, but a secondary model showed that social support and protective family and peer influences were related to cultural identity. These findings suggest that the relationships between stressors and their negative sequelae are complex. Emphasis on protective processes that are culturally specific to American Indian youth may lead to effective alcohol and drug use prevention programs.

A tale of two cities: residential context and risky behavior among adolescents in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Reanne; Bjornstrom, Eileen

2011-01-01

This article evaluates whether the at-risk behavior of adolescents is differentially influenced by community context across two metropolitan areas. Our focus is on Latino youth in particular. The data come from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS) and the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Multi-level models are employed to estimate the effects of community-level influences on adolescent risky behavior in Los Angeles and Chicago. Neighborhood-level influences on the at-risk behavior of youth are found to operate similarly across the two cities, such that native-born children of Latino immigrants are at greatest risk of problem behavior in co-ethnic highly segregated neighborhoods in both Los Angeles and Chicago. Similar patterns are observed for African-Americans, particularly in Chicago and Non-Latino Whites in both cities. We argue that the findings are best interpreted through a segregation framework. Members of each racial/ethnic group appear to exhibit negative health risk behaviors when they reside in areas that are disproportionately populated with their co-ethnic peers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Household and community income, economic shocks and risky sexual behavior of young adults: evidence from the Cape Area Panel Study 2002 and 2005.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinkelman, Taryn; Lam, David; Leibbrandt, Murray

2007-11-01

To describe recent trends in adolescent sexual behavior in Cape Town, South Africa, and to determine whether household and community poverty and negative economic shocks predict risky sexual behavior. Matched survey data on 2993 African and coloured youth from the Cape Area Panel Study 2002 and 2005. Sexual debut, multiple sexual partners in past year, condom use at last sex, measured in 2002 and 2005. We tested for changes over time in reported sexual behavior and estimate multivariate probit models to measure the association between 2002 individual, household and community characteristics and 2005 sexual behavior. There was a statistically significant increase in condom use and a decrease in the incidence of multiple sexual partners between 2002 and 2005 for young women aged 17-22 years. Young women in households with 10% higher income were 0.53% less likely to debut sexually by 2005; young men in communities with a 10% higher poverty rate were 5% less likely to report condom use at last sex. Negative economic shocks are associated with a 0.04% increase in the probability of multiple partnerships for young women. Education is positively correlated with sexual debut for young women and with multiple partnerships for both sexes. Trends in sexual behavior between 2002 and 2005 indicate significant shifts towards safer practices. There is little evidence of a relationship between negative economic shocks, household and community poverty, and risky behavior. We hypothesize that the unexpected positive relationship between education and sexual debut may be driven by peer effects in schools with substantial age mixing.

[Analysis of the risky behaviors among HIV positive female sex workers].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jue; Jia, Manhong; Luo, Hongbing; Li, Youfang; Song, Lijun; Mei, Jingyuan; Ma, Yanling; Yang, Yanling; Lu, Ran; Wang, Ling; Zhang, Renzhong; Pan, Songfeng; Li, Zhiqing; Lu, Lin

2015-11-01

To analyze the characteristics of risky behaviors among different age groups of HIV positive female sex workers, and to explore the strengthening of their management. From January to June 2014, 22 814 female sex workers were investigated and tested HIV in 117 sentinel surveillance sites in Yunnan Province, and 181 were confirmed to be HIV antibody positive, who accepted questionnaire surveys. According to the age, the participants were divided into the HIV/AIDS and related risk behaviors characteristics of the two groups were obtained via questionnaire surveys among 181 HIV positive female sex workers, and in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted from among 12 HIV positive sex workers. HIV antibody positive rate was 0.8% (181), the age of the 181 subjects were (35.83 ± 9.17) years old, 76 cases (42.0%) were HIV, the proportion of AIDS awareness was 95.6% (173); the proportion of drug use among ≥ 35 years old age group was 51.4% (54), which was higher than that in HIV counseling and testing in the past year. The proportion of continuing to engage in sexual services over 5 years after HIV infection was 48.5% (51/105) and the proportion of receiving antiretroviral treatment was 69.5% (73/105) in ≥ 35 years old age group, which were higher than those in the HIV positive female sex workers found that regular clients, not consistent use of condoms were the main cause of no condom use. Economic and livelihood factors are important reasons for continuing to engage in sexual services among HIV positive sex workers. HIV positive sex workers still have high risk behaviors including continuing to engage in commercial sexual service and no condom use after knowing their HIV infection status, and the proportion of using drugs in the ≥ 35 years old group was higher than that in < 35 years old group.

Risky Behaviors among HIV-Positive Female Sex Workers in Northern Karnataka, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Apoorva Jadhav

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Little is known about the risky sexual behaviors of HIV-positive female sex workers (FSWs in the developing world, which is critical for programmatic purposes. This study aims to shed light on their condom use with regular clients as well as husband/cohabiting partner, a first in India. Methods. Multivariate logistic regression analyses for consistent condom use with regular clients and husband/cohabiting partner are conducted for the sample of 606 HIV-positive FSWs. Results. Older FSWs are 90% less likely and nonmobile FSWs are 70% less likely to consistently use condoms. FSWs on ART are 3.84 times more likely to use condoms. Additionally, FSWs who changed their occupation after HIV diagnosis are 70% less likely to use condoms. FSWs who are currently cohabiting are more likely to consistently use condoms with repeat clients and are 3.22 times more likely to do so if they have felt stigma associated with being HIV-positive. FSWs who have multiple repeat clients, and who do not know the sexual behavior of these clients, are more likely to use condoms consistently. Conclusion. This study would help inform programs to target the following particularly vulnerable HIV-positive FSWs: those who are older, those who changed their occupation post-HIV diagnosis, and those who are nonmobile.

Human factors in cybersecurity; examining the link between Internet addiction, impulsivity, attitudes towards cybersecurity, and risky cybersecurity behaviours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Hadlington

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The present study explored the relationship between risky cybersecurity behaviours, attitudes towards cybersecurity in a business environment, Internet addiction, and impulsivity. 538 participants in part-time or full-time employment in the UK completed an online questionnaire, with responses from 515 being used in the data analysis. The survey included an attitude towards cybercrime and cybersecurity in business scale, a measure of impulsivity, Internet addiction and a ‘risky’ cybersecurity behaviours scale. The results demonstrated that Internet addiction was a significant predictor for risky cybersecurity behaviours. A positive attitude towards cybersecurity in business was negatively related to risky cybersecurity behaviours. Finally, the measure of impulsivity revealed that both attentional and motor impulsivity were both significant positive predictors of risky cybersecurity behaviours, with non-planning being a significant negative predictor. The results present a further step in understanding the individual differences that may govern good cybersecurity practices, highlighting the need to focus directly on more effective training and awareness mechanisms.

How Mental Health Interviews Conducted Alone, in the Presence of an Adult, a Child or Both Affects Adolescents' Reporting of Psychological Symptoms and Risky Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrera, Aubrey V; Benjet, Corina; Méndez, Enrique; Casanova, Leticia; Medina-Mora, Maria Elena

2017-02-01

The normative process of autonomy development in adolescence involves changes in adolescents' information management typically characterized by decreasing disclosure and increasing concealment. These changes may have an important impact on the early detection and timely treatment of mental health conditions and risky behavior. Therefore, the objective was to extend our understanding of how these developmental changes in adolescent disclosure might impact adolescent mental health interviews. Specifically, we estimated the effects of third party presence and type of third party presence (adult, child, or both) on adolescents' reports of psychiatric symptoms, substance use, suicidal behavior, and childhood adversity. In this representative sample of 3005 adolescents from Mexico City (52.1 % female), administered the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI-A), adult presence influenced reporting the most; in their presence, adolescents reported more ADHD, parental mental illness and economic adversity, but less panic disorder, PTSD, drug use and disorder, and suicidal behavior. The presence of children was associated with increased odds of reporting conduct disorder, opportunity for drug use, parental criminal behavior, neglect, and the death of a parent. While adolescent information management strategies are normative and even desirable as a means of gaining emotional autonomy, they may also interfere with timely detection and treatment or intervention for mental health conditions and risky behaviors. Research and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

On the linear discrepancy model and risky shifts in group behavior: a nonlinear Fokker-Planck perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, T D

2009-01-01

Using a nonlinear Fokker-Planck perspective we re-formulate the linear discrepancy model proposed by Boster and colleagues that describes the emergence of risky shifts during group decision making. Analytical expressions for the stationary case are derived and risky shifts are obtained by Monte Carlo simulations. Striking similarities with the Kuramoto model for group synchronization are pointed out

Impact of self esteem on risky sexual behaviors among Nigerian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Enejoh, Victor; Pharr, Jennifer; Mavegam, Bertille Octavie; Olutola, Ayodotun; Karick, Haruna; Ezeanolue, Echezona E

2016-01-01

Although improved knowledge is often the first approach in HIV prevention for adolescents, studies have shown that despite being well informed, adolescents still engage in risky sexual behavior (RSB). Low self-esteem has been considered to be a psychological explanation for behavioral problems, but little is known about the impact of self-esteem on RSB among adolescents in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adolescents with high self-esteem demonstrate lower RSB compared to those with low self-esteem. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 361 adolescents in 9 secondary schools in Jos Plateau, Nigeria. The Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale was used to measure self-esteem and the Brief HIV Screener (BHS) was used to measure RSB. All data were analyzed using SPSS 21. Chi square and odds ratios were calculated to determine differences in BHS questions based on predetermined low or high self-esteem categories. Independent t-test were utilized to determine difference in mean BHS scores based on self-esteem categories. Participants were 169 male (46.8%) and 192 female (53.2%) with a mean age of 16.9. Mean self-esteem score was 27.6 with no significant difference in self-esteem scores by gender. Adolescents with low self-esteem were 1.7 times more likely to be sexually active and had a higher mean BHS scores compared to adolescents with high self-esteem. Programs aimed at reducing RSB and in-turn HIV/AIDS should consider interventions to raise adolescents' self-esteem.

I’ll Show You the Way: Risky Driver Behavior When “Following a Friend”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaimie McNabb

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Previous research examining social influences on driving behavior has primarily focused on the effects of passengers and surrounding vehicles (e.g., speed contagion. Of current interest was the interaction between drivers that occurs in a “following a friend” scenario, i.e., the driver of one vehicle (the leader knows how to get to the desired destination while the driver of a second vehicle (the follower does not. Sixteen participants drove through a simulated city in a driving simulator under three conditions: (i a baseline condition in which they could choose their own route, (ii a navigation system condition in which they were given audible route instructions, and (iii a “follow a friend” condition in which they required to follow a simulated vehicle. In the follow a friend condition, drivers engaged in significantly more risky behaviors (in comparison to the other conditions such as making more erratic and higher speed turns and lane changes, maintaining overall higher speed, as well as maintaining a shorter time headway when following a lead vehicle. These effects suggest a relationship to time pressure caused by a fear of getting lost.

Adolescents risky MP3-player listening and its psychosocial correlates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vogel, I.; Brug, J.; Ploeg, C.P.B. van der; Raat, H.

2011-01-01

Analogue to occupational noise-induced hearing loss, MP3-induced hearing loss may be evolving into a significant social and public health problem. To inform prevention strategies and interventions, this study investigated correlates of adolescents' risky MP3-player listening behavior primarily

DNA-Inspired Online Behavioral Modeling and Its Application to Spambot Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cresci, Stefano; Di Pietro, Roberto; Petrocchi, Marinella

2016-01-01

A novel, simple, and effective approach to modeling online user behavior extracts and analyzes digital DNA sequences from user online actions and uses Twitter as a benchmark to test the proposal. Specifically, the model obtains an incisive and compact DNA-inspired characterization of user actions...... methodology is platform and technology agnostic, paving the way for diverse behavioral characterization tasks....

Anyone Can Become a Troll: Causes of Trolling Behavior in Online Discussions

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Justin; Bernstein, Michael; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Cristian; Leskovec, Jure

2017-01-01

In online communities, antisocial behavior such as trolling disrupts constructive discussion. While prior work suggests that trolling behavior is confined to a vocal and antisocial minority, we demonstrate that ordinary people can engage in such behavior as well. We propose two primary trigger mechanisms: the individual's mood, and the surrounding context of a discussion (e.g., exposure to prior trolling behavior). Through an experiment simulating an online discussion, we find that both negat...

Helping others in online games: prosocial behavior in cyberspace.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chih-Chien; Wang, Chia-Hsin

2008-06-01

This study examined the reasons players help others in the virtual space of online games. Results of an online empirical survey indicated that both altruism and reciprocity influence prosocial behavior simultaneously. Additionally, the study found that male players are more likely than female players to seek friendship of opposite sex.

College students with Internet addiction decrease fewer Behavior Inhibition Scale and Behavior Approach Scale when getting online.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Chih-Hung; Wang, Peng-Wei; Liu, Tai-Ling; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Yen, Ju-Yu

2015-09-01

The aim of the study is to compare the reinforcement sensitivity between online and offline interaction. The effect of gender, Internet addiction, depression, and online gaming on the difference of reinforcement sensitivity between online and offline were also evaluated. The subjects were 2,258 college students (1,066 men and 1,192 women). They completed the Behavior Inhibition Scale and Behavior Approach Scale (BIS/BAS) according to their experience online or offline. Internet addiction, depression, and Internet activity type were evaluated simultaneously. The results showed that reinforcement sensitivity was lower when interacting online than when interacting offline. College students with Internet addiction decrease fewer score on BIS and BAS after getting online than did others. The higher reward and aversion sensitivity are associated with the risk of Internet addiction. The fun seeking online might contribute to the maintenance of Internet addiction. This suggests that reinforcement sensitivity would change after getting online and would contribute to the risk and maintenance of Internet addiction. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Young men’s shame about their desire for other men predicts risky sex and moderates the knowledge - self-efficacy link.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mina ePark

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Recent findings suggest that a strong negative social emotion (i.e., shame increases YMSM’s sexual risk-taking. Unchangeable shame (e.g., desire for other men might undermine (moderate the link between knowledge and self-efficacy or between self-efficacy and unprotected anal intercourse (UAI: This may be less likely for changeable shame (e.g., shame about risky sexual behavior.Aim: To test the hypotheses that shame (i.e., sexual desire shame, but not shame about behavior (i.e., sexual behavior shame, will be positively related to UAI and will moderate the relationship between knowledge and self-efficacy and/or self-efficacy and UAI among YMSM.Method: In an online national study, 1177 young adult (18-24 year old MSM reported one or more acts of UAI in the past 90 days with a casual partner. Eligible MSM filled out a survey in which they provided information about their knowledge of safer sex, self-efficacy for safer sex, reported levels of shame, and reported past 90-day UAI. Results: Sexual desire shame was negatively correlated with knowledge and self-efficacy and positively correlated with UAI: The pattern reversed for sexual behavior shame. Sexual desire shame significantly lowered the knowledge to self-efficacy and the self-efficacy to UAI links. Sexual behavior shame also reduced the link from knowledge to self-efficacy, but not the self-efficacy to UAI link. Conclusion: The present study shows that there are different types of shame that may produce different effects with different implications for health behavior. Sexual desire shame may better reflect an emotion that is activated prior to risky behavior (e.g., when men reflect upon or feel desire for another man. Sexual behavior shame, on the other hand, better reflects what has already happened: Thus, those higher in knowledge, efficacy, and therefore safer sex are least likely to experience shame behavior.

Individual- and Family-Level Determinants of Risky Sexual Behavior Among Swedish- and Foreign-Born Young Adults 18-30 Years of Age, Residing in Skåne, Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Asamoah, Benedict Oppong; Agardh, Anette

2018-02-01

In Sweden, various public health interventions have been performed to reduce risky sexual behaviors among young people and promote safer and positive approaches to sexuality, while attempting to bridge the gap between the less privileged or more vulnerable young people and their more privileged peers. This study aimed to compare the individual- and familial-level determinants of risky sexual behavior among foreign-born and Swedish-born young adults 18-30 years of age residing in Skåne, the south of Sweden. This was a cross-sectional study that used a questionnaire to collect data from 2968 randomly selected respondents between 18 and 30 years between January and March 2013. The associations were analyzed using chi-square tests, and simple and multiple logistic regression analyses. Younger age, i.e., individual-level factor, and living with only one parent or another person while growing up, i.e., familial-level factor, increased the risk of engaging in sexual risk taking for both Swedish- and foreign-born youth. Male gender was related to a higher risk of engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors among foreign-born youth but was not as important as influence on sexual risk taking among Swedish-born youth. Parental education level, on the other hand, was significantly associated with sexual intercourse on the "first night" and early sexual debut solely among Swedish-born youth. Condom use was not associated with any family-level factor among both Swedish-born and foreign-born youth. The design of sexual reproductive health and rights messages and interventions to target risky sexual behavior among Swedish youth should take into consideration immigration status (for example, being Swedish-born or foreign-born), individual- and family-level characteristics, as well as the type of behavioral change or outcome desired.

Smoking cessation and the Internet: a qualitative method examining online consumer behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Frisby, Genevieve; Bessell, Tracey L; Borland, Ron; Anderson, Jeremy N

2002-01-01

Smoking is a major preventable cause of disease and disability around the world. Smoking cessation support-including information, discussion groups, cognitive behavioral treatment, and self-help materials-can be delivered via the Internet. There is limited information about the reasons and methods consumers access smoking cessation information on the Internet. This study aims to determine the feasibility of a method to examine the online behavior of consumers seeking smoking cessation resources. In particular, we sought to identify the reasons and methods consumers use to access and assess the quality of these resources. Thirteen participants were recruited via the state-based Quit smoking cessation campaign, operated by the Victorian Cancer Council, in December 2001. Online behavior was evaluated using semi-structured interviews and Internet simulations where participants sought smoking cessation information and addressed set-case scenarios. Online interaction was tracked through pervasive logging with specialist software. Thirteen semi-structured interviews and 4 Internet simulations were conducted in January 2002. Participants sought online smoking cessation resources for reasons of convenience, timeliness, and anonymity-and because their current information needs were unmet. They employed simple search strategies and could not always find information in an efficient manner. Participants employed several different strategies to assess the quality of online health resources. Consumer online behavior can be studied using a combination of survey, observation, and online surveillance. However, further qualitative and observational research is required to harness the full potential of the Internet to deliver public health resources.

Influencing the online consumer's behavior

OpenAIRE

Constantinides, Efthymios

2004-01-01

Addresses one of the fundamental issues of e-marketing: how to attract and win over the consumer in the highly competitive Internet marketplace. Analyses the factors affecting the online consumer's behavior and examines how e-marketers can influence the outcome of the virtual interaction and buying process by focusing their marketing efforts on elements shaping the customer's virtual experience, the Web experience. Identifying the Web experience components and understanding their role as inpu...

psiTurk: An open-source framework for conducting replicable behavioral experiments online.

Science.gov (United States)

Gureckis, Todd M; Martin, Jay; McDonnell, John; Rich, Alexander S; Markant, Doug; Coenen, Anna; Halpern, David; Hamrick, Jessica B; Chan, Patricia

2016-09-01

Online data collection has begun to revolutionize the behavioral sciences. However, conducting carefully controlled behavioral experiments online introduces a number of new of technical and scientific challenges. The project described in this paper, psiTurk, is an open-source platform which helps researchers develop experiment designs which can be conducted over the Internet. The tool primarily interfaces with Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a popular crowd-sourcing labor market. This paper describes the basic architecture of the system and introduces new users to the overall goals. psiTurk aims to reduce the technical hurdles for researchers developing online experiments while improving the transparency and collaborative nature of the behavioral sciences.

An Exploratory Study of Factors Affecting Consumer International Online Shopping Behavior

OpenAIRE

Pingjun Jiang; David B. Jones

2014-01-01

Few studies in the literature on electronic commerce provide empirical investigation of consumer behavior in the international online shopping context. This study identifies and discusses factors that influence international online purchases and profile the characteristics of those who purchase and those who do not purchase from online stores overseas in three main categories: the online shopping experiential factors, the international shopping motivational factors, and the international trus...

Risk eDecisions: Online Behaviour and Decision Making from the iGeneration to the Silver Surfer

OpenAIRE

White, Claire May

2017-01-01

Since the inception of the Internet there has been immense growth in the number of internet users worldwide, and the integration of social media in our daily lives has become commonplace for many. Yet, alongside the many benefits of this global connectivity come numerous risks. Research shows that individuals of all ages are exposed to, and engage in, risky activities online, despite numerous campaigns to highlight the perils of risky online behaviour. Although the rates of victimisation incr...

E-herding : patterns of online mass-behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Langley, D.J.; Hoeve, M.; Ortt, J.R.; Pals, N.

2012-01-01

Herding is convergent social behavior driven by inter-personal interaction, without centralized coordination. Herding in the online setting, which we call e-herding, is important for marketing scholars and practitioners because of its potential impact on product adoption and brand image and because

The combined contribution of personality, family traits, and reckless driving intentions to young men's risky driving: What role does anger play?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taubman – Ben-Ari, Orit; Kaplan, Sigal; Lotan, Tsippy

2016-01-01

of 163 young male drivers, who also completed self-report instruments tapping traits and perceptions. Personality traits were assessed near in time to receipt of the driving license, and actual risky driving and driving-related variables were measured 9–12 months after licensure to examine relatively......The study investigated the relation between the risky driving behavior of young male drivers and their personality traits, familial attitudes and conduct in respect to road safety, intentions to drive recklessly, and driving anger. In-vehicle data recorders were used to measure the actual driving...... stable driving behavior and attitudes. Findings indicate that (a) young male drivers’ personality traits and tendencies play a major role in predicting risky behavior; (b) intentions to drive recklessly are translated into actual behavior; and (c) the parental role is extremely relevant and counteracts...

Sex-Related Online Behaviors, Perceived Peer Norms and Adolescents’ Experience with Sexual Behavior: Testing an Integrative Model

Science.gov (United States)

Doornwaard, Suzan M.; ter Bogt, Tom F. M.; Reitz, Ellen; van den Eijnden, Regina J. J. M.

2015-01-01

Research on the role of sex-related Internet use in adolescents’ sexual development has often isolated the Internet and online behaviors from other, offline influencing factors in adolescents’ lives, such as processes in the peer domain. The aim of this study was to test an integrative model explaining how receptive (i.e., use of sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM]) and interactive (i.e., use of social networking sites [SNS]) sex-related online behaviors interrelate with perceived peer norms in predicting adolescents’ experience with sexual behavior. Structural equation modeling on longitudinal data from 1,132 Dutch adolescents (Mage T1 = 13.95; range 11-17; 52.7% boys) demonstrated concurrent, direct, and indirect effects between sex-related online behaviors, perceived peer norms, and experience with sexual behavior. SEIM use (among boys) and SNS use (among boys and girls) predicted increases in adolescents’ perceptions of peer approval of sexual behavior and/or in their estimates of the numbers of sexually active peers. These perceptions, in turn, predicted increases in adolescents’ level of experience with sexual behavior at the end of the study. Boys’ SNS use also directly predicted increased levels of experience with sexual behavior. These findings highlight the need for multisystemic research and intervention development to promote adolescents’ sexual health. PMID:26086606

Adolescents Risky MP3-Player Listening and Its Psychosocial Correlates

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Vogel, Ineke; Brug, Johannes; Van Der Ploeg, Catharina P. B.; Raat, Hein

2011-01-01

Analogue to occupational noise-induced hearing loss, MP3-induced hearing loss may be evolving into a significant social and public health problem. To inform prevention strategies and interventions, this study investigated correlates of adolescents' risky MP3-player listening behavior primarily informed by protection motivation theory. We invited…

Optogenetic Inhibition Reveals Distinct Roles for Basolateral Amygdala Activity at Discrete Time Points during Risky Decision Making.

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Orsini, Caitlin A; Hernandez, Caesar M; Singhal, Sarthak; Kelly, Kyle B; Frazier, Charles J; Bizon, Jennifer L; Setlow, Barry

2017-11-29

Decision making is a multifaceted process, consisting of several distinct phases that likely require different cognitive operations. Previous work showed that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is a critical substrate for decision making involving risk of punishment; however, it is unclear how the BLA is recruited at different stages of the decision process. To this end, the current study used optogenetics to inhibit the BLA during specific task phases in a model of risky decision making (risky decision-making task) in which rats choose between a small, "safe" reward and a large reward accompanied by varying probabilities of footshock punishment. Male Long-Evans rats received intra-BLA microinjections of viral vectors carrying either halorhodopsin (eNpHR3.0-mCherry) or mCherry alone (control) followed by optic fiber implants and were trained in the risky decision-making task. Laser delivery during the task occurred during intertrial interval, deliberation, or reward outcome phases, the latter of which was further divided into the three possible outcomes (small, safe; large, unpunished; large, punished). Inhibition of the BLA selectively during the deliberation phase decreased choice of the large, risky outcome (decreased risky choice). In contrast, BLA inhibition selectively during delivery of the large, punished outcome increased risky choice. Inhibition had no effect during the other phases, nor did laser delivery affect performance in control rats. Collectively, these data indicate that the BLA can either inhibit or promote choice of risky options, depending on the phase of the decision process in which it is active. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To date, most behavioral neuroscience research on neural mechanisms of decision making has used techniques that preclude assessment of distinct phases of the decision process. Here we show that optogenetic inhibition of the BLA has opposite effects on choice behavior in a rat model of risky decision making, depending on the phase

Higher Trait Psychopathy Is Associated with Increased Risky Decision-Making and Less Coincident Insula and Striatal Activity

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Matthew T. Sutherland

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Higher trait levels of psychopathy have been associated with both a tendency to maintain disadvantageous decision-making strategies and aberrant cortico-limbic neural activity. To explore the neural mechanisms associated with the psychopathy-related propensity to continue selecting risky choices, a non-forensic sample of participants completed a self-report psychopathy questionnaire and two runs of a risky decision-making task during H215O positron emission tomography (PET scanning. In this secondary data analysis study, we leveraged data previously collected to examine the impact of previous drug use on risky decision-making to explore the relations between self-reported psychopathy and behavioral and brain metrics during performance of the Cambridge Decision-Making Task (CDMT, in which volunteers chose between small/likely or large/unlikely potential reward outcomes. Behaviorally, we observed that psychopathy scores were differentially correlated with the percent of risky decisions made in run 1 vs. run 2 of the task. Specifically, higher levels of psychopathy, above and beyond that attributable to drug use or sex, were associated with greater tendencies to make risky selections only in the second half (run 2 of the task. In parallel, psychopathy scores negatively correlated with regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF in the right insula and right ventral striatum during run 2 of the CDMT. These exploratory outcomes suggest that greater levels of psychopathy may be associated with an inability to translate experience with negative outcomes into behavioral adaptations possibly due to decreased neural efficiency in regions related to somatic and/or reward feedback processes.

Perceived Usefulness and Trust towards Consumer Behaviors: A Perspective of Consumer Online Shopping

OpenAIRE

Lim Yi Jin; Abdullah Bin Osman; Mohd Suberi Bin AB.Halim

2014-01-01

In this globalization era, the Internet has become an important tool for web browsing, social networking and even making online purchases. In Malaysia, few studies have examined the influence of perceived usefulness and trust on the online shopping behavior of consumers. Thus, the current study intends to investigate whether perceived usefulness and trust influence the online shopping behavior of consumers in northern Malaysia which comprises Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak. The relationship ...

The prevalence of risky behaviors related to violence in high school students in a southern city, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozcan, Sevgi; Ergin, Ahmet; Saatci, Esra; Bozdemir, Nafiz; Kurdak, Hatice; Akpinar, Ersin

2008-12-01

Injuries are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in adolescents and can be grouped as unintentional (such as motor vehicle crashes and fires) and intentional (violence and suicide). The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of high risk behaviors related to violence in high school students. The population comprised 2,480 randomly selected students from 10 schools among 46,271 students from 72 high schools in 1999-2000 in Adana and 2,352 (94.8%) were reached. They completed a Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire (YRBSQ). The mean age was 16.5 +/- 1 (14-21) years. 275 (11.7%) students stated that they carried a knife or a sharp weapon during the last 30 days, 151 (6.4%) carried a gun, 710 (30.2%) participated in a physical fight, 68 (2.9%) were threatened or injured by a weapon, 73 (3.1%) could not attend school because of threats from other students, 96 (4.1%) were forced into sexual intercourse. Male students were significantly more likely than female students to report all types of high risk behaviors except forced sexual intercourse. The rate of risky behaviors increased with higher grade. Violence towards and by adolescents is a severe problem. Families, teachers, and health care professionals should be aware of risk factors and be active in prevention of high risk behaviors in youth.

Anyone Can Become a Troll: Causes of Trolling Behavior in Online Discussions.

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Cheng, Justin; Bernstein, Michael; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Cristian; Leskovec, Jure

2017-01-01

In online communities, antisocial behavior such as trolling disrupts constructive discussion. While prior work suggests that trolling behavior is confined to a vocal and antisocial minority, we demonstrate that ordinary people can engage in such behavior as well. We propose two primary trigger mechanisms: the individual's mood, and the surrounding context of a discussion (e.g., exposure to prior trolling behavior). Through an experiment simulating an online discussion, we find that both negative mood and seeing troll posts by others significantly increases the probability of a user trolling, and together double this probability. To support and extend these results, we study how these same mechanisms play out in the wild via a data-driven, longitudinal analysis of a large online news discussion community. This analysis reveals temporal mood effects, and explores long range patterns of repeated exposure to trolling. A predictive model of trolling behavior shows that mood and discussion context together can explain trolling behavior better than an individual's history of trolling. These results combine to suggest that ordinary people can, under the right circumstances, behave like trolls.

Who is a dangerous driver? Socio-demographic and personal determinants of risky traffic behavior

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Aleksandra Peplińska

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background The aim of this study was to search for comprehensive socio-demographic and personal (personality and temperamental determinants of risky on-the-road behavior. Based on the results of previous studies, we assumed that the main predictors of dangerous traffic behavior include: internal locus of control, sensation seeking, risk seeking and risk acceptance, as well as high self-esteem, a low level of reactivity combined with a high level of endurance and activity (which together determine a strong need for stimulation and a preference for hedonistic values; and among socio-demographic variables – age, gender, education and duration of having a driving license. Participants and procedure The study included a group of 380 participants, aged between 19 and 61 years (Me = 24. In order to verify the hypothesis, a battery of research tools measuring personality and temperamental variables was adopted, namely: the Formal Characteristics of Behavior – Temperament Questionnaire, Rotter I-E Scale, Risk Acceptance Scale, Stimulating-Instrumental Risk Inventory, Scheler Value Scale, Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results The dangerous driver syndrome was found to be promoted by high levels of experience and sensation seeking, low levels of tolerance to boredom and monotony, high need for stimulating risk and high risk acceptance, high self-esteem, a preference for hedonistic values coupled with aversion towards moral values, as well as low sensory sensitivity, and was especially visible among older men with short driving experience. Conclusions It can be concluded that both socio-demographic and psychological variables, such as temperament and personality, are significant predictors of dangerous traffic behavior.

Children's risky play from an evolutionary perspective: the anti-phobic effects of thrilling experiences.

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Sandseter, Ellen Beate Hansen; Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen

2011-06-21

This theoretical article views children's risky play from an evolutionary perspective, addressing specific evolutionary functions and especially the anti-phobic effects of risky play. According to the non-associative theory, a contemporary approach to the etiology of anxiety, children develop fears of certain stimuli (e.g., heights and strangers) that protect them from situations they are not mature enough to cope with, naturally through infancy. Risky play is a set of motivated behaviors that both provide the child with an exhilarating positive emotion and expose the child to the stimuli they previously have feared. As the child's coping skills improve, these situations and stimuli may be mastered and no longer be feared. Thus fear caused by maturational and age relevant natural inhibition is reduced as the child experiences a motivating thrilling activation, while learning to master age adequate challenges. It is concluded that risky play may have evolved due to this anti-phobic effect in normal child development, and it is suggested that we may observe an increased neuroticism or psychopathology in society if children are hindered from partaking in age adequate risky play.

Children's Risky Play from an Evolutionary Perspective: The Anti-Phobic Effects of Thrilling Experiences

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Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This theoretical article views children's risky play from an evolutionary perspective, addressing specific evolutionary functions and especially the anti-phobic effects of risky play. According to the non-associative theory, a contemporary approach to the etiology of anxiety, children develop fears of certain stimuli (e.g., heights and strangers that protect them from situations they are not mature enough to cope with, naturally through infancy. Risky play is a set of motivated behaviors that both provide the child with an exhilarating positive emotion and expose the child to the stimuli they previously have feared. As the child's coping skills improve, these situations and stimuli may be mastered and no longer be feared. Thus fear caused by maturational and age relevant natural inhibition is reduced as the child experiences a motivating thrilling activation, while learning to master age adequate challenges. It is concluded that risky play may have evolved due to this anti-phobic effect in normal child development, and it is suggested that we may observe an increased neuroticism or psychopathology in society if children are hindered from partaking in age adequate risky play.

Risky drinking patterns are being continued into pregnancy: a prospective cohort study.

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Anderson, Amy E; Hure, Alexis J; Forder, Peta M; Powers, Jennifer; Kay-Lambkin, Frances J; Loxton, Deborah J

2014-01-01

Risky patterns of alcohol use prior to pregnancy increase the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies and subsequent adverse outcomes. It is important to understand how consumption changes once women become pregnant. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of women that partake in risky drinking patterns before pregnancy and to examine how these patterns change once they become pregnant. A sample of 1577 women from the 1973-78 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were included if they first reported being pregnant in 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009 and reported risky drinking patterns prior to that pregnancy. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine which risky drinking patterns were most likely to continue into pregnancy. When reporting risky drinking patterns prior to pregnancy only 6% of women reported weekly drinking only, whereas 46% reported binge drinking only and 48% reported both. Women in both binge categories were more likely to have experienced financial stress, not been partnered, smoked, used drugs, been nulliparous, experienced a violent relationship, and were less educated. Most women (46%) continued these risky drinking patterns into pregnancy, with 40% reducing these behaviors, and 14% completely ceasing alcohol consumption. Once pregnant, women who binged only prior to pregnancy were more likely to continue (55%) rather than reduce drinking (29%). Of the combined drinking group 61% continued to binge and 47% continued weekly drinking. Compared with the combined drinking group, binge only drinkers prior to pregnancy were less likely to reduce rather than continue their drinking once pregnant (OR = 0.37, 95% CI  =  0.29, 0.47). Over a third of women continued risky drinking into pregnancy, especially binge drinking, suggesting a need to address alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy.

Risky drinking patterns are being continued into pregnancy: a prospective cohort study.

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Amy E Anderson

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Risky patterns of alcohol use prior to pregnancy increase the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies and subsequent adverse outcomes. It is important to understand how consumption changes once women become pregnant. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of women that partake in risky drinking patterns before pregnancy and to examine how these patterns change once they become pregnant. METHODS: A sample of 1577 women from the 1973-78 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were included if they first reported being pregnant in 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009 and reported risky drinking patterns prior to that pregnancy. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine which risky drinking patterns were most likely to continue into pregnancy. RESULTS: When reporting risky drinking patterns prior to pregnancy only 6% of women reported weekly drinking only, whereas 46% reported binge drinking only and 48% reported both. Women in both binge categories were more likely to have experienced financial stress, not been partnered, smoked, used drugs, been nulliparous, experienced a violent relationship, and were less educated. Most women (46% continued these risky drinking patterns into pregnancy, with 40% reducing these behaviors, and 14% completely ceasing alcohol consumption. Once pregnant, women who binged only prior to pregnancy were more likely to continue (55% rather than reduce drinking (29%. Of the combined drinking group 61% continued to binge and 47% continued weekly drinking. Compared with the combined drinking group, binge only drinkers prior to pregnancy were less likely to reduce rather than continue their drinking once pregnant (OR = 0.37, 95% CI  =  0.29, 0.47. CONCLUSIONS: Over a third of women continued risky drinking into pregnancy, especially binge drinking, suggesting a need to address alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy.

Balancing risk and reward: a rat model of risky decision making.

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Simon, Nicholas W; Gilbert, Ryan J; Mayse, Jeffrey D; Bizon, Jennifer L; Setlow, Barry

2009-09-01

We developed a behavioral task in rats to assess the influence of risk of punishment on decision making. Male Long-Evans rats were given choices between pressing a lever to obtain a small, 'safe' food reward and a large food reward associated with risk of punishment (footshock). Each test session consisted of 5 blocks of 10 choice trials, with punishment risk increasing with each consecutive block (0, 25, 50, 75, 100%). Preference for the large, 'risky' reward declined with both increased probability and increased magnitude of punishment, and reward choice was not affected by the level of satiation or the order of risk presentation. Performance in this risky decision-making task was correlated with the degree to which the rats discounted the value of probabilistic rewards, but not delayed rewards. Finally, the acute effects of different doses of amphetamine and cocaine on risky decision making were assessed. Systemic amphetamine administration caused a dose-dependent decrease in choice of the large risky reward (ie, it made rats more risk averse). Cocaine did not cause a shift in reward choice, but instead impaired the rats' sensitivity to changes in punishment risk. These results should prove useful for investigating neuropsychiatric disorders in which risk taking is a prominent feature, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and addiction.

Effects of Website Interactivity on Online Retail Shopping Behavior

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Islam, Hafizul

Motivations to engage in retail online shopping can include both utilitarian and hedonic shopping dimensions. To cater to these consumers, online retailers can create a cognitively and esthetically rich shopping environment, through sophisticated levels of interactive web utilities and features, offering not only utilitarian benefits and attributes but also providing hedonic benefits of enjoyment. Since the effect of interactive websites has proven to stimulate online consumer’s perceptions, this study presumes that websites with multimedia rich interactive utilities and features can influence online consumers’ shopping motivations and entice them to modify or even transform their original shopping predispositions by providing them with attractive and enhanced interactive features and controls, thus generating a positive attitude towards products and services offered by the retailer. This study seeks to explore the effects of Web interactivity on online consumer behavior through an attitudinal model of technology acceptance.

Risky decision making in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A meta-regression analysis.

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Dekkers, Tycho J; Popma, Arne; Agelink van Rentergem, Joost A; Bexkens, Anika; Huizenga, Hilde M

2016-04-01

ADHD has been associated with various forms of risky real life decision making, for example risky driving, unsafe sex and substance abuse. However, results from laboratory studies on decision making deficits in ADHD have been inconsistent, probably because of between study differences. We therefore performed a meta-regression analysis in which 37 studies (n ADHD=1175; n Control=1222) were included, containing 52 effect sizes. The overall analysis yielded a small to medium effect size (standardized mean difference=.36, pdecision making than control groups. There was a trend for a moderating influence of co-morbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD): studies including more participants with co-morbid DBD had larger effect sizes. No moderating influence of co-morbid internalizing disorders, age or task explicitness was found. These results indicate that ADHD is related to increased risky decision making in laboratory settings, which tended to be more pronounced if ADHD is accompanied by DBD. We therefore argue that risky decision making should have a more prominent role in research on the neuropsychological and -biological mechanisms of ADHD, which can be useful in ADHD assessment and intervention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effectiveness of online cognitive behavioral treatment in routine clinical practice

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Ruwaard, Jeroen; Lange, Alfred; Schrieken, Bart; Dolan, Conor V; Emmelkamp, Paul

2012-01-01

CONTEXT: Randomized controlled trails have identified online cognitive behavioral therapy as an efficacious intervention in the management of common mental health disorders. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of online CBT for different mental disorders in routine clinical practice. DESIGN: An

The effectiveness of online cognitive behavioral treatment in routine clinical practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruwaard, J.; Lange, A.; Schrieken, B.; Dolan, C.V.; Emmelkamp, P.

2012-01-01

Context Randomized controlled trails have identified online cognitive behavioral therapy as an efficacious intervention in the management of common mental health disorders. Objective To assess the effectiveness of online CBT for different mental disorders in routine clinical practice. Design An

Let’s Talk About Sex: Parental Communication and Sexual Behavior of Male Filipino Youth

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Goldilyn D. Gumban

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Understanding the sexual behavior of young people is important in pursuing health development in our society. In the Philippines, current data shows that there is a drastic increase in sex related activities concerning our youths. According to past studies, strong familial relationship and parent-child connectedness decrease the likelihood of a child to engage in risky sex. Furthermore, families with strong communication and are open to sexual topics became closer, and more comfortable with each other. This quantitative, correlational study was designed to describe the level of parental communication in terms of sexual health issues and its relationship to the sexual behaviorsof male Filipino youths in Metro Manila. A total of 143 male respondents ages 18-25 from Metro Manila participated in the study through an online survey. Results suggest that that majority of the respondents reported low level of parental communication in terms of sexual health issues and a large number reported risky sexual behaviors. The results of this study suggested no significant relationship between the respondent‟s level of parental communication and their sexual behavior.

Online-offline activities and game-playing behaviors of avatars in a massive multiplayer online role-playing game

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Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Zhou, Wei-Xing; Tan, Qun-Zhao

2009-11-01

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are very popular in China, which provides a potential platform for scientific research. We study the online-offline activities of avatars in an MMORPG to understand their game-playing behavior. The statistical analysis unveils that the active avatars can be classified into three types. The avatars of the first type are owned by game cheaters who go online and offline in preset time intervals with the online duration distributions dominated by pulses. The second type of avatars is characterized by a Weibull distribution in the online durations, which is confirmed by statistical tests. The distributions of online durations of the remaining individual avatars differ from the above two types and cannot be described by a simple form. These findings have potential applications in the game industry.

The effect of family climate on risky driving of young novices: the moderating role of attitude and locus of control.

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Carpentier, Aline; Brijs, Kris; Declercq, Katrien; Brijs, Tom; Daniels, Stijn; Wets, Geert

2014-12-01

The aim of the study was to examine the relative importance of young novice drivers' family climate on their driving behavior. A sample of young novice drivers (N=171) between the age of 17 and 24, who held their permanent (or temporary) driver's license for no longer than one year, participated. The questionnaire included items related to the participants' family climate, 3 socio-cognitive determinants (i.e., attitude, locus of control and social norm), and risky driving behaviors. We expected both family climate and the socio-cognitive determinants to exert a direct effect on risky driving. Furthermore we hypothesized that the socio-cognitive determinants would moderate the impact of family climate on risky driving. The results showed that the effect of family climate on risky driving only originated from one single factor (i.e., noncommitment). Besides that, the results confirmed the importance of the three socio-cognitive determinants to the degree that attitude, locus of control, and social norm significantly predicted the self-reported risky driving. In line of what we hypothesized, attitude moderated the relationship between noncommitment and risky driving. Lastly, we found an unexpected three-way interaction which indicated that locus of control moderated the relation between noncommitment and risky driving only when young drivers' attitude was risk-supportive. We recommend scholars and practitioners to take into account the interaction between external sources of influence (such as an individual's family climate) and more personally oriented dispositions (such as an individual's attitude, social norm and locus of control) when trying to explain and change young novices' risky driving. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online consumer behavior: The tablet shopper – A new kind of customer?

OpenAIRE

Grohmann, Christopher

2014-01-01

Tablet computers are on the rise and are increasingly superseding stationary computers in terms of modern online shopping. This paper therefore aims on understanding how tablet and website characteristics might impact online consumer behavior. The collected data resulted from focus groups and in-depth interviews conducted with a technology affine audience. It has shown that tablets indeed may have shifted shopping behavior from utilitarian towards rather recreational attributes. Discuss...

Online Gaming Traffic Generator for Reproducing Gamer Behavior

OpenAIRE

Shin , Kwangsik; Kim , Jinhyuk; Sohn , Kangmin; Park , Changjoon; Choi , Sangbang

2010-01-01

International audience; In this paper, we proposed an online gaming traffic generator reflecting user behavior patterns. We analyzed the packet size and inter departure time distributions of a popular FPS game (Left4Dead) and MMORPG (World of Warcraft) for regenerating gaming traffic. The proposed traffic generator generates an inter departure time and gaming packetbased on analytical model of the gamer behaviors, then transmits the packet according to the inter departure time. Packet generat...

The Influence of Social Comparison and Peer Group Size on Risky Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dawei; Zhu, Liping; Maguire, Phil; Liu, Yixin; Pang, Kaiyuan; Li, Zhenying; Hu, Yixin

2016-01-01

This study explores the influence of different social reference points and different comparison group sizes on risky decision-making. Participants were presented with a scenario describing an exam, and presented with the opportunity of making a risky decision in the context of different information provided about the performance of their peers. We found that behavior was influenced, not only by comparison with peers, but also by the size of the comparison group. Specifically, the larger the reference group, the more polarized the behavior it prompted. In situations describing social loss, participants were led to make riskier decisions after comparing themselves against larger groups, while in situations describing social gain, they become more risk averse. These results indicate that decision making is influenced both by social comparison and the number of people making up the social reference group.

Is Utilitarianism Risky? How the Same Antecedents and Mechanism Produce Both Utilitarian and Risky Choices.

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Lucas, Brian J; Galinsky, Adam D

2015-07-01

Philosophers and psychologists have long been interested in identifying factors that influence moral judgment. In the current analysis, we compare the literatures on moral psychology and decision making under uncertainty to propose that utilitarian choices are driven by the same forces that lead to risky choices. Spanning from neurocognitive to hormonal to interpersonal levels of analysis, we identify six antecedents that increase both utilitarian and risky choices (ventromedial prefrontal cortex brain lesions, psychopathology, testosterone, incidental positive affect, power, and social connection) and one antecedent that reduces these choices (serotonin activity). We identify the regulation of negative affect as a common mechanism through which the effects of each antecedent on utilitarian and risky choices are explained. By demonstrating that the same forces and the same underlying mechanism that produce risky choices also promote utilitarian choices, we offer a deeper understanding of how basic psychological systems underlie moral judgment. © The Author(s) 2015.

The association between kinematic risky driving among parents and their teenage children: moderation by shared personality characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehsani, Johnathon P; Simons-Morton, Bruce; Xie, Yunlong; Klauer, Sheila G; Albert, Paul S

2014-08-01

This study examined the driving behavior of 42 parent-teenager dyads for 18 months, under naturalistic driving conditions. At baseline participants' personality characteristics were assessed. Objective risky driving measures (kinematic risky driving) were captured by accelerometers for the duration of the study. To estimate teenage and parent correlations in kinematic risky driving, separate Poisson regression models were fit for teenagers and parents. Standardized residuals were computed for each trip for each individual. Correlations were obtained by estimating the Spearman rank correlations of the individual average residuals across teenagers and parents. The bootstrap technique was used to estimate the standard errors associated with the parent-teenager correlations. The overall correlation between teenage and parent kinematic risky driving for the 18-month study period was positive, but weak (r=0.18). When the association between parent and teenagers' risky driving was adjusted for shared personality characteristics, the correlation reduced to 0.09. Although interesting, the 95% confidence intervals on the difference between these two estimates overlapped zero. We conclude that the weak similarity in parent-teen kinematic risky driving was partly explained by shared personality characteristics. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Efficacy and effectiveness of online cognitive behavioral treatment : a decade of interapy research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruwaard, Jeroen; Lange, Alfred; Schrieken, Bart; Emmelkamp, Paul

2011-01-01

Since 1996, researchers of the Interapy research group of the University of Amsterdam have been examining the effects of online cognitive behavioral treatment (online CBT). Over the years, the group conducted nine controlled trials of online CBT for a variety of mental health disorders, among a

Are health behavior change interventions that use online social networks effective? A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Maher, Carol A; Lewis, Lucy K; Ferrar, Katia; Marshall, Simon; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2014-02-14

The dramatic growth of Web 2.0 technologies and online social networks offers immense potential for the delivery of health behavior change campaigns. However, it is currently unclear how online social networks may best be harnessed to achieve health behavior change. The intent of the study was to systematically review the current level of evidence regarding the effectiveness of online social network health behavior interventions. Eight databases (Scopus, CINAHL, Medline, ProQuest, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Web of Science and Communication & Mass Media Complete) were searched from 2000 to present using a comprehensive search strategy. Study eligibility criteria were based on the PICOS format, where "population" included child or adult populations, including healthy and disease populations; "intervention" involved behavior change interventions targeting key modifiable health behaviors (tobacco and alcohol consumption, dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior) delivered either wholly or in part using online social networks; "comparator" was either a control group or within subject in the case of pre-post study designs; "outcomes" included health behavior change and closely related variables (such as theorized mediators of health behavior change, eg, self-efficacy); and "study design" included experimental studies reported in full-length peer-reviewed sources. Reports of intervention effectiveness were summarized and effect sizes (Cohen's d and 95% confidence intervals) were calculated wherever possible. Attrition (percentage of people who completed the study), engagement (actual usage), and fidelity (actual usage/intended usage) with the social networking component of the interventions were scrutinized. A total of 2040 studies were identified from the database searches following removal of duplicates, of which 10 met inclusion criteria. The studies involved a total of 113,988 participants (ranging from n=10 to n=107,907). Interventions included

The associations between aggressive behaviors and internet addiction and online activities in adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Chih-Hung; Yen, Ju-Yu; Liu, Shu-Chun; Huang, Chi-Fen; Yen, Cheng-Fang

2009-06-01

To evaluate (a) the association between Internet addiction and aggressive behaviors, as well as the moderating effects of gender, school, and depression on this association; and (b) to evaluate the association between Internet activities and aggressive behaviors. A total of 9405 adolescents were recruited into this study and completed the questionnaires. Their aggressive behaviors, with or without Internet addiction, Internet activities, demographic data, with or without depression, self-esteem, family function, and the watching of violent TV were assessed. The results demonstrated that after controlling for the effects of shared associated factors and watching violent TV programs, adolescents with Internet addiction were more likely to have aggressive behaviors during the previous year. The association was more significant among adolescents in junior high schools than in senior high/vocational schools. Online chatting, adult sex Web viewing, online gaming, online gambling, and Bulletin Board System were all associated with aggressive behaviors. The results suggest that preventive programs for aggressive behaviors should pay attention to Internet addiction among adolescents. Also, intervention to prevent the effects of Internet addiction on aggressive behaviors should be conducted as early as possible.

Online gaming addiction? Motives predict addictive play behavior in massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuss, Daria J; Louws, Jorik; Wiers, Reinout W

2012-09-01

Recently, there have been growing concerns about excessive online gaming. Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) appears to be particularly problematic, because these games require a high degree of commitment and time investment from the players to the detriment of occupational, social, and other recreational activities and relations. A number of gaming motives have been linked to excessive online gaming in adolescents and young adults. We assessed 175 current MMORPG players and 90 nonplayers using a Web-based questionnaire regarding their gaming behavior, problems as consequences of gaming, and game motivations and tested their statistical associations. Results indicated that (a) MMORPG players are significantly more likely to experience gaming-related problems relative to nonplayers, and that (b) the gaming motivations escapism and mechanics significantly predicted excessive gaming and appeared as stronger predictors than time investment in game. The findings support the necessity of using measures that distinguish between different types of online games. In addition, this study proves useful regarding the current discussion on establishing (online) gaming addiction as a diagnosis in future categorizations of psychopathology.

RELATIONSHIP AMONG E-SERVICE QUALITY, CULTURE, ATTITUDE, TRUST, RISK OF ONLINE SHOPPING

OpenAIRE

Mohammad Al-Nasser; Rushami Zien Yusoff; Rabiul Islam; Abdullah Al-Nasser

2014-01-01

Purchasing is considered a risky business specifically in the online purchasing environment. The research was designed to fill the gap in the existing body of knowledge regarding attitudes and differences in electronic service quality perception between two different geographical and cultural countries-Malaysia and Saudi Arabia-regarding online shopping. Specifically, this research extended previous effort done in an online shopping context by providing evidence that high service quality incr...

Risky decisions despite counter evidence: modeling a culture of safer sexual practices.

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Patel, Vimla L; Yoskowitz, Nicole A; Kaufman, David R; Gutnik, Lily A; Shortliffe, Edward H

2005-01-01

To create a culture of safe practices, we need to understand how and under what conditions the public makes risky decisions about their health. Because risky sexual behaviors are known to be common in young adults, we investigated their decision making regarding sexual activities that could incur a high risk of HIV infection. Sixty young urban adults maintained journals for two weeks and were interviewed regarding condom use and sexual history. We characterized four patterns of condom use behavior: consistent (35.0%), inconsistent (16.7%), consistent to inconsistent (35.0%), and inconsistent to consistent (13.3%). Directionality of reasoning was analyzed in the explanations provided for condom use decisions. The consistent and inconsistent patterns were associated with data-driven heuristic reasoning, where behavior becomes automated and is associated with a high level of confidence in one's judgment. In the other two patterns, the shift in behavior was due to a significant event that influenced a change in directionality to explanation-based reasoning. We discuss these results within the framework of identifying potentially high-risk groups for whom customized intervention strategies (such as computer-based educational programs) can be used to reduce risk, thereby creating a culture of safer sexual practices.

Incorrect, fake, and false: Journalists' perceived online source credibility and verification behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vergeer, M.R.M.

2018-01-01

This study focuses on the extent journalists verify information provided by online sources, and tests to what extent this verification behavior can be explained by journalists' perceived credibility of online information and other factors, such as journalism education of journalists, work and

Study on Major Factors Influencing University Students’ Behavior of Consumption on Online Tourism in Shijiazhuang

OpenAIRE

Xiao-Feng Xu

2015-01-01

In this study, we have a study of the major factors influencing university students’ behavior of consumption on online tourism in Shijiazhuang. The major factors influencing university students’ behavior of consumption on online tourism in Shijiazhuang include personal motivation, attitude, sense of security and satisfaction. The external factors include price, brand and reputation of the online tourism and tourism websites. Some suggestions for network marketing can be drawn from the feature...

The Comparison of Risky Decision Making in Opium Abuser and Healthy Matched Individuals

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Vahid Nejati

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Objective: Risky decision making is one of the most basic mechanisms of impulsive and addictive behaviors. The purpose of present study was the comparison of risky decision making in opium abuser and healthy matched individuals. Method: In present cross sectional study, 50 opium abusers compared to 50 healthy who were matched on age and gender. Balloon Analogue Risk Taking Task was used for evaluation of risk taking in participant of both groups. Results: The results showed that opium abusers have had higher scores on number of plumbing balloon and exploded balloon in BART task than normal individuals. Conclusion: Opium abusers have higher risk taking than normal individuals.

Sleep duration moderates the association between insula activation and risky decisions under stress in adolescents and adults.

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Uy, Jessica Phuong; Galván, Adriana

2017-01-27

Insufficient sleep has been associated with increased risk-taking and poor decision-making, enhanced physiological responses to stress, and attenuated anterior insula (AI) activity to risk. The AI has also been linked to risky decision-making under acute stress. However, it is yet unknown how naturalistic sleep habits affect risky decision-making and AI activity when individuals feel stressed. In the current study, a daily diary approach was used to document participants' daily stress. Adolescents and adults reported their recent sleep duration and completed two fMRI visits during which they performed a risky decision-making task: once each when they endorsed a high and low level of stress. Results revealed that, regardless of age, individuals who reported receiving more sleep took fewer non-advantageous risks during high stress relative to those who reported receiving fewer hours of sleep per night while sleep duration was not associated with risky behavior under low stress. Among individuals who reported less sleep, those who exhibited reduced AI activation during risk-taking under high stress also took more disadvantageous risks whereas this effect was attenuated for those who reported longer sleep duration. Moreover, longer sleep duration was associated with greater functional coupling between the AI and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) under high stress whereas sleep duration was not associated with AI-DLPFC functional coupling under low stress. These findings suggest that naturalistic sleep duration may amplify the effects of daily stress and alter risky decision-making behavior through interactions with the AI. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Impaired conditional reasoning in alcoholics: a negative impact on social interactions and risky behaviors?

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Kornreich, Charles; Delle-Vigne, Dyna; Knittel, Julian; Nerincx, Aurore; Campanella, Salvatore; Noel, Xavier; Hanak, Catherine; Verbanck, Paul; Ermer, Elsa

2011-05-01

To study the 'social brain' in alcoholics by investigating social contract reasoning, theory of mind and emotional intelligence. A behavioral study comparing recently detoxified alcoholics with normal, healthy controls. Emotional intelligence and decoding of emotional non-verbal cues have been shown to be impaired in alcoholics. This study explores whether these deficits extend to conditional reasoning about social contracts. Twenty-five recently detoxified alcoholics (17 men and eight women) were compared with 25 normal controls (17 men and eight women) matched for sex, age and education level. Wason selection task investigating conditional reasoning on three different rule types (social contract, precautionary and descriptive), revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (modified version) and additional control measures. Conditional reasoning was impaired in alcoholics. Performance on descriptive rules was not above chance. Reasoning performance was markedly better on social contract and precautionary rules, but this performance was still significantly lower than in controls. Several emotional intelligence measures were lower in alcoholics compared to controls, but these were not correlated with reasoning performance. Conditional reasoning, including reasoning about social contracts and emotional intelligence appear to be impaired in alcoholics. Impairment seems to be particularly severe on descriptive rules. Impairment in social contract reasoning might lead to misunderstandings and frustration in social interactions, and reasoning difficulties about precautionary rules might contribute to risky behaviors in this population. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Online Behavior Analysis-Based Student Profile for Intelligent E-Learning

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Kun Liang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the development of mobile platform, such as smart cellphone and pad, the E-Learning model has been rapidly developed. However, due to the low completion rate for E-Learning platform, it is very necessary to analyze the behavior characteristics of online learners to intelligently adjust online education strategy and enhance the quality of learning. In this paper, we analyzed the relation indicators of E-Learning to build the student profile and gave countermeasures. Adopting the similarity computation and Jaccard coefficient algorithm, we designed a system model to clean and dig into the educational data and also the students’ learning attitude and the duration of learning behavior to establish student profile. According to the E-Learning resources and learner behaviors, we also present the intelligent guide model to guide both E-Learning platform and learners to improve learning things. The study on student profile can help the E-Learning platform to meet and guide the students’ learning behavior deeply and also to provide personalized learning situation and promote the optimization of the E-Learning.

AdChoices? Compliance with Online Behavioral Advertising Notice and Choice Requirements. Revised Version

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-07

further information and a means of opting out. Revised October 7, 2011. Keywords: Online behavioral advertising ; privacy; consumer choice; notice... consumers ’ activities online to target advertising .”1 The FTC has been examining ways to reduce the privacy concerns associated with OBA for over a decade...behavioral advertising practices that would foster transparency, knowledge and choice for consumers . As the FTC determines what to do next, it is

Decreases in tanning behaviors following a short online survey: Potential for prevention?

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Rodgers, Rachel F; Franko, Debra L; Gottlieb, Mark; Daynard, Richard

2015-01-01

To date, tanning prevention programs have led to limited success. The aim of the present study was to investigate potential unexpected prevention effects of completing an online survey focused on tanning attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge among female college tanners. A sample of 92 female undergraduate students from the USA, mean age = 20.09, SD = 1.41 years, who engaged in indoor tanning completed an online survey assessing awareness of tanning-related health risks, appearance-based motivations to tan and not to tan, media literacy related to tanning marketing, and tanning behaviors in 2013. Four months later, participants were invited to complete a follow-up survey assessing tanning intentions and behaviors since completing the initial survey. Fifty-one participants (55%) completed the follow-up questions, of whom 43 (84.3%) reported having decreased or ceased engaging in indoor tanning. In addition participants provided comments indicating that completing the survey had lead to decreases in their tanning behaviors. Our study presents novel and compelling support for using brief online surveys for decreasing health-risk behaviors such as sunbed use. Such measures are extremely cost-effective and easy to disseminate and implement. Replication and extension of these findings are warranted.

Hurried driving: Relationship to distress tolerance, driver anger, aggressive and risky driving in college students.

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Beck, Kenneth H; Daughters, Stacey B; Ali, Bina

2013-03-01

Being a hurried driver is associated with a variety of risky driving behaviors, yet the mechanisms underlying this behavior remain unknown. Distress tolerance, defined as an individual's capability to experience and endure negative emotional states, was examined as a predictor of hurried driving among 769 college students. Results indicate that after controlling for age, gender, race, ethnicity, the student's year in school, their grade point average, driving frequency, angry driving, aggressive driving as well as other forms of self-reported risky driving; hurried driving was significantly associated with lower levels of distress tolerance. Hurried drivers also reported greater levels of frustration and impatience with other drivers, suggesting that they have difficulty in withstanding or coping with negative psychological states when driving. Traditional traffic safety campaigns that emphasize enforcement may be less successful with these drivers. The need to develop campaigns that address the affective coping abilities that contribute to this behavioral pattern is discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interactions between risky decisions, impulsiveness and smoking in young tattooed women

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background According to previous studies, one of the common problems of everyday life of persons with tattoos is risky behavior. However, direct examination of the decision making process, as well as factors which determine women’s risk-taking decisions to get tattoos, have not been conducted. This study investigates whether risk taking decision-making is associated with the self-assessment impulsiveness in tattooed women. Methods Young women (aged 18–35 years) with (N = 60) and without (N = 60) tattoos, performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), as a measure of decision-making processes, as well as completing the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11). Results Tattooed women showed significantly higher scores in the BIS-11 and preference for disadvantageous decks on the IGT compared to non-tattooed women. There was no significant correlation between risky decision-making in the IGT and BIS-11 impulsivity measures. A significantly higher rate of smoking was observed in the tattooed women. However, the analysis did not reveal a group effect after adjustment for smoking in the IGT and the BIS-11 measures. Conclusions The present study was specifically designed to resolve questions regarding associations between impulsiveness and risky decision-making in tattooed women. It shows that in tattooed women, risky decisions are not a direct result of their self-reported impulsiveness. Smoking does not explain the psychometric differences between tattooed women and controls. PMID:24180254

Predictors of Retention in an Alcohol and Risky Sex Prevention Program for Homeless Young Adults.

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Pedersen, Eric R; Ewing, Brett A; D'Amico, Elizabeth J; Miles, Jeremy N V; Haas, Ann C; Tucker, Joan S

2018-05-01

Homeless young adults are at risk for alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and risky sexual behavior. Interventions are needed to help these young people reduce their risky behavior, but this population is often difficult to engage and retain in services. We offered a four-session AOD and risky sex reduction program to 100 participants and examined if retention in the program was predicted by a number of factors: demographics, homelessness severity, other service use, AOD behaviors, mental health symptoms, sexual risk behaviors, and readiness to change AOD and condom use. Nearly half (48%) of participants completed all sessions. In bivariate analyses, participants were significantly less likely to be retained in the program if they had slept outdoors in the past month, engaged in more alcohol and marijuana use, experienced more alcohol-related consequences, and received the program in an urban drop-in center (as opposed to a drop-in center near the beach). When controlling for all significant bivariate relationships, only sleeping outdoors and receipt of the program in the urban setting predicted fewer sessions completed. The most endorsed reasons for program non-completion were being too busy to attend and inconvenient day/time of the program. Findings can help outreach staff and researchers better prepare methods to engage higher risk homeless youth and retain them in services. Finding unique ways to help youth overcome barriers related to location of services appears especially necessary, perhaps by bringing services to youth where they temporarily reside or offering meaningful incentives for program attendance.

Effects of Group Awareness and Self-Regulation Level on Online Learning Behaviors

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Lin, Jian-Wei; Szu, Yu-Chin; Lai, Ching-Neng

2016-01-01

Group awareness can affect student online learning while self-regulation also can substantially influence student online learning. Although some studies identify that these two variables may partially determine learning behavior, few empirical studies or thorough analyses elucidate the simultaneous impact of these two variables (group awareness…

INSTRUMENTS OF HIGH RISK SEXUAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirzaei, Mojtaba; Ahmadi, Khodabakhsh; Saadat, Seyed-Hassan; Ramezani, Mohammad Arash

2016-02-01

Sexual behavior is a complex activity affecting all aspects of human's life. Risky sexual behaviors impose negative outcomes on family, relationships and health. Unsafe sex is the second most leading cause of disability adjusted life years worldwide. Valid and reliable tools for assessment of risky sexual behaviors are necessary for implementing preventive measures. we searched Medline and the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, with the keywords of "risky sexual behavior assessment", "sexual risk assessment", "high risk sexual behavior", "sexual risk taking". By reviewing references of the articles, some complementary studies were added. Assessment can be performed by questionnaire or non-questionnaire instruments. Questionnaires vary depending on their target population, evaluation of risky sexual behavior as a whole or focusing on an associated risk factor. In order to avoid usual biases in self reports, objective biomarker assessment of unprotected sex are employed. These markers include prostate specific antigen, chromosome Y DNA and Seminogelin. Risky sexual behavior can be assessed by various subjective and objective methods. While self-reports are more feasible, objective methods offer a higher degree of reliability. Further studies for finding more feasible methods of using biomarkers are recommended.

Risky Driving Behaviours among Medical Students in Erbil, Iraq

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Nazar P. Shabila

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to assess risky driving behaviours among medical students in Erbil, Iraq, and to explore the relationship between risky driving behaviours and perceptions of risky driving. Methods: This self-administered questionnaire-based survey was conducted from January to May 2014 among a random sample of 400 medical students at Hawler Medical University in Erbil. The questionnaire was designed to assess the frequency of engagement in 21 risky driving behaviours, the perceived risk of each behaviour and the preference for each behaviour as ranked on a 5-point scale. Results: A total of 386 students responded to the survey (response rate: 96.5%. Of these, 211 reported that they currently drove a vehicle (54.7%. Drivers most frequently engaged in the following behaviours: playing loud music (35.9%, speeding (30.4%, allowing front seat passengers to not wear seat belts (27.9% and using mobile phones (27.7%. Least frequent driving behaviours included not stopping at a red light (3.9%, driving while sleepy (4.4%, driving after a mild to moderate intake of alcohol (4.5% and drunk driving (6.4%. Mean risky driving behaviour scores were significantly higher among males (P 20-year-olds (P = 0.028. There was a significant positive relationship between the preference for risky behaviours and risky driving behaviours (beta = 0.44; P <0.001. Conclusion: Medical students in Erbil reported high frequencies of several serious risky driving behaviours. The preference for risky behaviours was found to be an important predictor of risky driving behaviours among medical students in Erbil.

Dissecting "Peer Presence" and "Decisions" to Deepen Understanding of Peer Influence on Adolescent Risky Choice.

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Somerville, Leah H; Haddara, Nadia; Sasse, Stephanie F; Skwara, Alea C; Moran, Joseph M; Figner, Bernd

2018-04-27

This study evaluated the aspects of complex decisions influenced by peers, and components of peer involvement influential to adolescents' risky decisions. Participants (N = 140) aged 13-25 completed the Columbia Card Task (CCT), a risky choice task, isolating deliberation-reliant and affect-reliant decisions while alone, while a friend monitors choices, and while a friend is merely present. There is no condition in which a nonfriend peer is present. Results demonstrated the risk-increasing peer effect occurred in the youngest participants in the cold CCT and middle-late adolescents in the hot CCT, whereas other ages and contexts showed a risk-decreasing peer effect. Mere presence was not sufficient to influence risky behavior. These boundaries in age, decision, and peer involvement constrain prevailing models of adolescent peer influence. © 2018 Society for Research in Child Development.

Patterns of behavior in an online community

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Gallos, Lazaros; Rybski, Diego; Liljeros, Fredrik; Havlin, Shlomo; Makse, Hernan

2009-03-01

Human behavior can be seen as the expression of inherent motives. Despite the diverse range of these motives, social theorists have long identified a small number of distinct underlying mechanisms, where, consciously or unconsciously, every individual tries to exploit a different aspect of social interactions and/or optimize the efficiency of certain procedures for the benefit of the society or for personal gain. Here we show that users in an online community follow certain behavioral patterns and the choice of their favorite members is far from a random process. More importantly, these patterns are systematically modified with time as a member becomes more involved in such a community. We are able to identify a crossover in the average behavior of the members when their favorites list exceeds roughly 10 favorites. Additionally, this process allows us to identify individuals with a markedly different behavior than the average person. This study can help us understand the process of establishing friendships and the motives behind this process.

Mixed Frames and Risky Decision-Making.

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Peng, Jiaxi; Zhang, Jiaxi; Sun, Hao; Zeng, Zhicong; Mai, Yuexia; Miao, Danmin

2017-01-01

By applying unitive vocabulary, "die" or "save," to respective frames of the Asian disease problem, Tversky and Kahneman were able to define framing effect. In this study, we preliminarily explored the effect of mixed frames, which are characterized by the use of different vocabulary in one frame. In study 1, we found that only the sure option description had significant effect on decision-making, while the effects of risky option descriptions were not significant, nor were interactions between descriptions. In study 2, the results suggested that after controlling the effects of the hedonic tone of the sure options, risky option description did not significantly predict decision-making. In study 3, we found that neither the sure-to-risky option presentation order nor presentation order within risky options had significant effect on decision-making. We thus concluded that sure option description can serve as the decision-making foundation (reference point) for decision-makers in mixed frames.

Relationship between Drugs Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Senior High School Students

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Yola Yuniaarti Herijanto

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Drugs use and risky sexual behavior among teenager are some of crucial problems arising in Indonesia. Statistic showed that there is an increasing prevalence in drugs use and risky sexual behavior among teenagers. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between drugs use and risky sexual behaviors among high school students. Methods: An analytic study involving 432 students in 5 state high schools located in Kerees region Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, was carried out in 2013. The region was chosen due the high prevalence of substance abuse. The inclusion criteria were every high school students in the Karees region. The exclusion criteria were the students who refused to participate in the study, did not come when the sample was taken, and did not fill the questionnaire completely. The instruments used for the study were questionnaires with cross-sectional technique. Furthermore, the questionnaire used for analyzing drugs use was Addiction Severity Index-Lite Version (ASI-lite questionnaire; with additional questionnaire to analyze risky sexual behaviors. Results: Out of 432 students, 23.8% students already engaged to one or more risky sexual behavior. Among all respondents, the prevalence of students who had already done kissing was 22.7%, necking 9.3%, petting 7.2% and sexual intercourse 1.2%. Illegal drugs had been used at least once by 21.8% students. According to Chi-square test, drugs use and risky sexual behavior were related. Conclusions:The prevalence of both drugs use and risky sexual behaviors are high and students who use drugs are more prone to do risky sexual behavior.

Undergrad and Overweight: An Online Behavioral Weight Management Program for College Students

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Harvey-Berino, Jean; Pope, Lizzy; Gold, Beth Casey; Leonard, Heather; Belliveau, Cynthia

2012-01-01

Objective: Explore the feasibility of an online behavioral weight management program for college students. Methods: The program focused on behavioral strategies to modify eating and exercise behaviors of students interested in losing weight and/or developing a healthy lifestyle. Specific tools included weekly chat meetings with a facilitator,…

Online Behavior Analysis-Based Student Profile for Intelligent E-Learning

OpenAIRE

Liang, Kun; Zhang, Yiying; He, Yeshen; Zhou, Yilin; Tan, Wei; Li, Xiaoxia

2017-01-01

With the development of mobile platform, such as smart cellphone and pad, the E-Learning model has been rapidly developed. However, due to the low completion rate for E-Learning platform, it is very necessary to analyze the behavior characteristics of online learners to intelligently adjust online education strategy and enhance the quality of learning. In this paper, we analyzed the relation indicators of E-Learning to build the student profile and gave countermeasures. Adopting the similarit...

A qualitative study of college students' perceptions of risky driving and social influences.

Science.gov (United States)

Watters, Samantha E; Beck, Kenneth H

2016-01-01

Young adults and teens are documented as the riskiest drivers on the road, and newer issues such as texting and driving are a growing concern. This study sought to determine the risk perceptions of young adults regarding various driving behaviors, their past experiences, how their social circles are structured, and how this might affect their driving. This study conducted qualitative research with 25 college undergraduate students to determine their peer and social influences regarding distracted driving. Data were analyzed and related to the health belief model and past research on social influence. Though most participants felt that their behaviors were set after learning to drive, they were, in fact, quite susceptible to the influence of those in their social circles (e.g., fear of judgment and accountability) and, more broadly, to social norms. Texting and driving was the largest and most topical distracted driving issue and was also identified as very difficult to stop due to perceived barriers and the idea that intervening is rude. Participants identified low perceived susceptibility and severity (perceived threat) for a number of risky driving behaviors, including texting and driving. Training is needed to encourage people to intervene and speak up regarding behaviors other than drinking and driving, and cues to action and campaigns should target intervention to increase self-efficacy, as well as norms, susceptibility, and common rationalizations for risky behavior.

A cognitive-behavioral model of problematic online gaming in adolescents aged 12-22 years

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haagsma, M.C.; Caplan, S.E.; Peters, O.; Pieterse, M.E.

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to apply the cognitive behavioral model of problematic Internet use to the context of online game use to obtain a better understanding of problematic use of online games and its negative consequences. In total, 597 online game playing adolescents aged 12-22 years

Solving the collective-risk social dilemma with risky assets in well-mixed and structured populations

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Chen, Xiaojie; Zhang, Yanling; Huang, Ting-Zhu; Perc, Matjaž

2014-11-01

In the collective-risk social dilemma, players lose their personal endowments if contributions to the common pool are too small. This fact alone, however, does not always deter selfish individuals from defecting. The temptations to free ride on the prosocial efforts of others are strong because we are hardwired to maximize our own fitness regardless of the consequences which might have for the public good. Here we show that the addition of risky assets to the personal endowments, both of which are lost if the collective target is not reached, can contribute to solving the collective-risk social dilemma. In infinite well-mixed populations, risky assets introduce new stable and unstable mixed steady states, whereby the stable mixed steady state converges to full cooperation as either the risk of collective failure or the amount of risky assets increases. Similarly, in finite well-mixed populations, the introduction of risky assets enforces configurations where cooperative behavior thrives. In structured populations cooperation is promoted as well, but the distribution of assets among the groups is crucial. Surprisingly, we find that the completely rational allocation of assets only to the most successful groups is not optimal, and this regardless of whether the risk of collective failure is high or low. Instead, in low-risk situations bounded rational allocation of assets works best, while in high-risk situations the simplest uniform distribution of assets among all the groups is optimal. These results indicate that prosocial behavior depends sensitively on the potential losses individuals are likely to endure if they fail to cooperate.

Posttraumatic Stress, Coping Flexibility, and Risky Drinking Among Trauma-Exposed Male and Female College Students: The Mediating Effect of Delay of Gratification.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyraz, Güler; Cherry, Megan L; Cherry, Marcus A; Aarstad-Martin, Samantha; Cloud, Cody; Shamp, Lindsey M

2018-02-23

The co-occurence of posttraumatic stress (PTS) and risky drinking has been demonstrated in diverse populations, including college students. However, the mechanisms underlying this co-occurrence, as well as the protective factors that may reduce risky drinking among trauma-exposed college students have yet to be fully understood in the literature. The present study builds upon self-regulation theories and previous empirical work to determine whether the effects of PTS and coping flexibility on risky drinking were mediated by delay of gratification among trauma-exposed college students. In addition, the potential moderating effect of gender on these relationships was examined. Participants included 624 trauma-exposed college students (68.4% female) attending a public university in the southeast region of the United States. Data were collected through an online survey. The hypothesized model was examined using a multigroup structural equation modeling approach. As hypothesized, PTS had a significant, positive indirect effect on risky drinking through delay of gratification; however, the effect of PTS on delay of gratification was stronger for males than for females. Results also indicated that the indirect effect of coping flexibility on risky drinking through delay of gratification was significant and negative for males and females. Conclusions/Importance: The findings of this study suggest that delay of gratification might be an important mechanism underlying the co-occurrence of PTS and risky drinking. In addition, our results highlight the potential benefits of coping flexibility for college students coping with PTS.

Risky sexual behaviors among Malay adolescents: a comparison with Chinese adolescents in Singapore.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Junice Y S; Wong, Mee-Lian

2017-07-01

Malays, with majority of the individuals being Muslim, form the largest ethnic group in Southeast Asia. This region is experiencing a rising incidence of HIV infections. Due to circumcision and prohibition of sex outside marriage, being Muslim was argued to be a protective factor against sexually transmitted infections (STI) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). However, Malay adolescents were found to be more likely to contract chlamydia and gonorrhea than non-Malay adolescents in Singapore. Using a cross-sectional survey, we examined and compared safer sex knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy, and sexual behaviors of 248 sexually active Malay adolescents with 384 Chinese adolescents aged 16-19 years in Singapore. Poisson regression, adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, was used for modeling each dependent variable. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained. On multivariate analysis, Malay adolescents were more likely to report marginally unfavorable attitude towards condom use (aPR 1.21 CI 1.00-1.48) and significantly lower confidence in using condoms correctly (aPR 1.24 CI 1.05-1.47) than Chinese adolescents. They were also more likely to report significantly younger first sex age (aPR 0.98 CI 0.96-1.00), never use of condoms for vaginal sex (aPR 1.32 CI 1.16-1.49) and anal sex (aPR 1.75 CI 1.11-2.76) and non-use of contraceptives at last sex (aPR 1.30 CI 1.17-1.45) than Chinese respondents. Malay males were less likely to buy sex (aPR 0.56 CI 0.37-0.85), but they reported higher likelihood of inconsistent condom use with female sex workers (aPR 2.24 CI 1.30-3.87). Malay ethnicity was associated with unfavorable condom use attitude and lower self-efficacy in using condoms, which was consistent with risky sexual behaviors such as non-use of condoms. Future research should use mixed methods to explore and identify cultural influences to these behaviors.

Pain is associated with risky drinking over time among HIV-infected persons in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Tsui, Judith I; Cheng, Debbie M; Coleman, Sharon M; Lira, Marlene C; Blokhina, Elena; Bridden, Carly; Krupitsky, Evgeny; Samet, Jeffrey H

2014-11-01

Pain is highly prevalent among persons with HIV. Alcohol may be used to "self-medicate" pain. This study examined the association between pain and risky alcohol use over time in a cohort of HIV-infected Russian drinkers. This secondary analysis utilized longitudinal data from a randomized trial of a behavioral intervention. Subjects included HIV-infected adults who reported past 6-month risky drinking and unprotected sex and were recruited from HIV and addiction treatment sites in St. Petersburg, Russia. The main independent variable was pain that at least moderately interfered with daily living. The primary outcome was past month risky drinking amounts based on NIAAA guidelines. General estimating equations (GEE) logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between pain and risky drinking over time (i.e., baseline, 6 and 12 months), adjusting for potential confounders. Baseline characteristics of participants (n=699) were mean age of 30 (SD ±5) years, 41% female, and 22% time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-Negative Tensor Factorization for Human Behavioral Pattern Mining in Online Games

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Anna Sapienza

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Multiplayer online battle arena is a genre of online games that has become extremely popular. Due to their success, these games also drew the attention of our research community, because they provide a wealth of information about human online interactions and behaviors. A crucial problem is the extraction of activity patterns that characterize this type of data, in an interpretable way. Here, we leverage the Non-negative Tensor Factorization to detect hidden correlated behaviors of playing in a well-known game: League of Legends. To this aim, we collect the entire gaming history of a group of about 1000 players, which accounts for roughly 100K matches. By applying our framework we are able to separate players into different groups. We show that each group exhibits similar features and playing strategies, as well as similar temporal trajectories, i.e., behavioral progressions over the course of their gaming history. We surprisingly discover that playing strategies are stable over time and we provide an explanation for this observation.

Exploring the effect of monetary incentives on user behavior in Online Sharing Platforms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, Yixin; Ou, Carol; Angelopoulos, Spyros

2018-01-01

We examine the impact of monetary incentives on user onboarding in online sharing platforms. Specifically, drawing upon the literature of monetary incentives, privacy, and consumer behavior, we conduct a randomized field experiment to explore users’ initial engagement and interaction with an online

Impaired conditional reasoning in alcoholics: A negative impact on social interactions and risky behaviors?

Science.gov (United States)

Kornreich, C; Delle-Vigne, D; Knittel, J; Nerincx, A; Campanella, S; Noel, X; Hanak, C; Verbanck, P; Ermer, E

2011-01-01

Aims To study the “social brain” in alcoholics by investigating social contract reasoning, theory of mind, and emotional intelligence. Design A behavioral study comparing recently detoxified alcoholics with normal, healthy controls. Setting Emotional intelligence and decoding of emotional non-verbal cues have been shown to be impaired in alcoholics. This study explores whether these deficits extend to conditional reasoning about social contracts. Participants 25 recently detoxified alcoholics (17 men and 8 women) were compared with 25 normal controls (17 men and 8 women) matched for sex, age, and education level. Measurements Wason Selection Task investigating conditional reasoning on three different rule types (social contract, precautionary, and descriptive), Revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (modified version), and additional control measures. Findings Conditional reasoning was impaired in alcoholics. Performance on descriptive rules was not above chance. Reasoning performance was markedly better on social contract and precautionary rules, but this performance was still significantly lower than in controls. Several emotional intelligence measures were lower in alcoholics compared to controls, but these were not correlated with reasoning performance. Conclusions Conditional reasoning and emotional intelligence appear impaired in alcoholics. Impairment was particularly severe on descriptive rules. Though alcoholics' performance was better on social contract and precautionary rules, overall reasoning performance was still low. Differential performance is consistent with distinct neurocognitive reasoning mechanisms and partial resilience of evolutionarily-relevant functions. Impairment in social contract reasoning might lead to misunderstandings and frustration in social interactions, and reasoning difficulties about precautionary rules might contribute to risky behaviors in this population. PMID:21205056

Men's harassment behavior in online video games: Personality traits and game factors.

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Tang, Wai Yen; Fox, Jesse

2016-11-01

Online video games afford co-play and social interaction, often anonymous, among players from around the world. As predicted by the social identity model of deindividuation effects, undesirable behavior is not uncommon in online gaming environments, and online harassment has become a pervasive issue in the gaming community. In this study, we sought to determine what personality traits and game-related variables predicted two types of online aggression in video games: general harassment (e.g., skill-based taunting, insulting others' intelligence) and sexual harassment (e.g., sexist comments, rape threats). Men who play online video games (N = 425) participated in an anonymous online survey. Social dominance orientation and hostile sexism predicted higher levels of both sexual harassment and general harassment in online games. Game involvement and hours of weekly gameplay were additional predictors of general harassment. We discuss implications of online social aggression and online sexual harassment for online gaming. We also apply our findings to the broader understanding of online harassment, cyberaggression, cyberbullying, and other forms of online hostility in computer-mediated communication contexts. Aggr. Behav. 42:513-521, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Adolescents’ comments in social media: why do adolescents receive negative feedback and who is most at risk?

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Koutamanis, M.; Vossen, H.G.M.; Valkenburg, P.M.

2015-01-01

Receiving negative peer feedback in social media may have negative consequences for adolescents’ psychosocial development and well-being. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to investigate online behavior (i.e., online social exploration, risky online self-presentation) that predicts

Essays on external ideation : exploring innovative online consumer behavior

OpenAIRE

Vossen, Alexander

2013-01-01

This thesis investigates the motivation of consumers to engage in creative online behavior, such as developing ideas for new products or services that fit their individual needs and preferences. Due to the rise of the Internet, consumers who previously mostly used their workbench or garage as a setting to develop such ideas have been granted a wider range of tools and possibilities to individually and collectively engage in creative behavior. Firms have begun to benefit from this by holding s...

The developmental progression of age 14 behavioral disinhibition, early age of sexual initiation, and subsequent sexual risk-taking behavior.

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Samek, Diana R; Iacono, William G; Keyes, Margaret A; Epstein, Marina; Bornovalova, Marina A; McGue, Matt

2014-07-01

Research has demonstrated a consistent relationship between early sexual experience and subsequent sexual risk-taking behaviors. We hypothesized that this relationship is due to a general predisposition toward behavioral disinhibition (BD), and that relationships among BD, early sex, and subsequent risky sexual behavior may be influenced by common genetic influences for males and common environmental influences for females. A prospective sample of 1,512 same-sex adolescent twins (50.2% female) was used. Adolescent BD was measured by clinical symptom counts of conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and self-reported delinquent behavior (age 14). Age of sexual initiation was defined as first age of consensual oral or penetrative sex (mean age ~17). Adult risky sexual behavior was defined by sexual behaviors under the influence of drugs and alcohol and number of casual sexual partners in the past year (age 24). Multivariate analyses showed evidence for substantial common genetic variance among age 14 BD, age at sexual initiation, and adult risky sexual behavior for males, but not females. There was no significant difference in the degree of common environmental influence on these variables for females compared to males. Notably, age of sexual initiation was not significantly correlated with age 24 risky sexual behavior for females. The relationship between early sex and later risky sex can be better understood through a general liability toward BD, which is influenced primarily by genetic factors for males. The association between age 14 BD and age of sexual initiation was influenced through a combination of genetic and environmental factors for females; however, age of sexual initiation does not appear to be a salient predictor of adult women’s sexual risk-taking behavior. Findings suggest that prevention programs aimed at reducing sexual risk behavior might target youth exhibiting BD by age 14, particularly males. More research is needed on what predicts

Cluster randomized controlled trial of a consumer behavior intervention to improve healthy food purchases from online canteens.

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Delaney, Tessa; Wyse, Rebecca; Yoong, Sze Lin; Sutherland, Rachel; Wiggers, John; Ball, Kylie; Campbell, Karen; Rissel, Chris; Lecathelinais, Christophe; Wolfenden, Luke

2017-11-01

Background: School canteens represent an opportune setting in which to deliver public health nutrition strategies because of their wide reach and frequent use by children. Online school-canteen ordering systems, where students order and pay for their lunch online, provide an avenue to improve healthy canteen purchases through the application of consumer-behavior strategies that have an impact on purchasing decisions. Objective: We assessed the efficacy of a consumer-behavior intervention implemented in an online school-canteen ordering system in reducing the energy, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium contents of primary student lunch orders. Design: A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted that involved 2714 students (aged 5-12 y) from 10 primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, who were currently using an online canteen ordering system. Schools were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the intervention (enhanced system) or the control (standard online ordering only). The intervention included consumer-behavior strategies that were integrated into the online ordering system (targeting menu labeling, healthy food availability, placement, and prompting). Results: Mean energy (difference: -567.25 kJ; 95% CI: -697.95, -436.55 kJ; P consumer-behavior intervention using an existing online canteen infrastructure to improve purchasing behavior from primary school canteens. Such an intervention may represent an appealing policy option as part of a broader government strategy to improve child public health nutrition. This trial was registered at www.anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12616000499482. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

On a Modeling of Online User Behavior Using Function Representation

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Pavel Pesout

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding the online user system requirements has become very crucial for online services providers. The existence of many users and services leads to different users’ needs. The objective of this presented piece of work is to explore the algorithms of how to optimize providers supply with proposing a new way to represent user requirements as continuous functions depending on time. We address the problems of the prediction the of system requirements and reducing model complexity by creating the typical user behavior profiles.

Adolescents' comments in social media : Why do adolescents receive negative feedback and who is most at risk?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koutamanis, Maria; Vossen, Helen G M; Valkenburg, Patti M.

2015-01-01

Abstract Receiving negative peer feedback in social media may have negative consequences for adolescents' psychosocial development and well-being. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to investigate online behavior (i.e., online social exploration, risky online self-presentation) that predicts

DEVELOPMENTS AND CLASSIFICATIONS OF ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR IN GERMANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Brusch

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In the field of online shopping, new developments can be identified; e.g. the allowance of product returns (management of product returns and the ordering and delivery of products from an Internet retailer in the same day (same-day delivery. Our contribution provides a brief overview of these developments (i.e. major trends and of the advanced e-commerce market (in Germany. Additionally, an empirical investigation of German online shoppers will be used to describe these shoppers as a whole and to classify them into groups with similar purchasing behavior. Our paper will support the selection and addressing of proper target groups.

External Costs of Risky Health Behaviors Associated with Leading Actual Causes of Death in the U.S.: A Review of the Evidence and Implications for Future Research

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Armineh Zohrabian

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the evidence on external costs of risky behaviors in the U.S. and provides a framework for estimating them. External costs arise when a person does not bear all the costs of his or her behavior. They provide one of the strongest rationales for government interventions. Although the earlier estimates of external costs no longer have policy relevance, they demonstrated that the existence of external costs was an empirical question. We recommend that the estimates of external costs be updated as insurance structures, environments, and knowledge about these behaviors change. The general aspects of external costs may apply to countries other than the U.S. after taking into account differences in institutional, policy and epidemiological characteristics.

Modeling Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior in China: The Roles of Source Characteristics, Reward Assessment, and Internet Self-Efficacy.

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Cao, Weidan; Zhang, Xinyao; Xu, Kaibin; Wang, Yuanxin

2016-09-01

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 marked the explosion of health information seeking online in China and the increasing emergence of Chinese health websites. There are both benefits and potential hazards of people's online health information seeking. This article intended to test part of Wilson's second model of information behavior, including source characteristics and activating mechanisms, and to identify the relationships among perceived access, perceived expertise credibility, reward assessment, Internet self-efficacy, and online health information-seeking behavior. Data were drawn from face-to-face surveys and an online survey of health information seekers (N = 393) in China. The results showed that source characteristics predicted activating mechanisms, which in turn predicted online health information-seeking behavior. Activating mechanisms, that is, reward assessment and Internet self-efficacy, mediated the relationship between source characteristics (i.e., access and credibility) and online health information-seeking behavior. Strategies for improving information access, expertise credibility, and Internet self-efficacy are discussed in order to maximize the benefits of online health information seeking and to minimize the potential harm.

Portrait of an Online Shopper: Understanding and Predicting Consumer Behavior

OpenAIRE

Kooti, Farshad; Lerman, Kristina; Aiello, Luca Maria; Grbovic, Mihajlo; Djuric, Nemanja; Radosavljevic, Vladan

2015-01-01

Consumer spending accounts for a large fraction of the US economic activity. Increasingly, consumer activity is moving to the web, where digital traces of shopping and purchases provide valuable data about consumer behavior. We analyze these data extracted from emails and combine them with demographic information to characterize, model, and predict consumer behavior. Breaking down purchasing by age and gender, we find that the amount of money spent on online purchases grows sharply with age, ...

A cognitive-behavioral model of problematic online gaming in adolescents aged 12–22 years

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Haagsma, M.C.; Caplan, S.E.; Peters, O.; Pieterse, Marcel E.

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to apply the cognitive behavioral model of problematic Internet use to the context of online game use to obtain a better understanding of problematic use of online games and its negative consequences. In total, 597 online game playing adolescents aged 12–22 years

Young people in Bogota, Colombia develop their own strategies to prevent risky sexual behavior.

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Saavedra, M

1996-01-01

Although the government of Colombia moved in 1993 to mandate sexuality education in primary and secondary schools, nongovernmental organizations have worked in this area for more than two decades. Notable has been the work of one such organization, the Colombian Human and Social Development Foundation, among youth from a marginal, underserved area of Bogota that houses approximately 27,000 adolescents. The project uses a peer approach to relate the values of responsibility, tolerance, and self-determination to the prevention of risky sexual behaviors. At the onset, 15 youth leaders from the local school identified strategies for raising the topic of sexuality to their peers: suggestion boxes, school radio programs, educational materials such as murals and pamphlets, workshops, board games with sexuality-related themes, and community involvement. Suggestion box submissions revealed that sixth and seventh graders wanted to know about puberty-related events, while older students were interested in the effects of masturbation on health and appearance and the association between premarital sexual activity and one's reputation. In an 18-month period, close to 9000 community residents were reached with program materials and 1798 adolescents participated in group meetings. Among the gains observed have been correction of misinformation, a broader view of sexuality, the capacity for independent thought, and self-pride.

On-line social decision making and antisocial behavior: some essential but neglected issues.

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Fontaine, Reid Griffith

2008-01-01

The last quarter century has witnessed considerable progress in the scientific study of social information processing (SIP) and aggressive behavior in children. SIP research has shown that social decision making in youth is particularly predictive of antisocial behavior, especially as children enter and progress through adolescence. In furtherance of this research, more sophisticated, elaborate models of on-line social decision making have been developed, by which various domains of evaluative judgment are hypothesized to account for both responsive decision making and behavior, as well as self-initiated, instrumental functioning. However, discussions of these models have neglected a number of key issues. In particular, the roles of nonconscious cognitive factors, learning and development, impulsivity and behavioral disinhibition, emotion, and other internal and external factors (e.g., pharmacological influences and audience effects) have been largely absent from scholarly writings. In response, this article introduces discussion of these factors and reviews their possible roles in on-line social decision making and antisocial behavior in youth.

Randomized Clinical Trial of Online Parent Training for Behavior Problems After Early Brain Injury.

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Wade, Shari L; Cassedy, Amy E; Shultz, Emily L; Zang, Huaiyu; Zhang, Nanhua; Kirkwood, Michael W; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith O; Taylor, H Gerry

2017-11-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of Internet-based Interacting Together Everyday: Recovery After Childhood TBI (I-InTERACT) versus abbreviated parent training (Express) or access to online resources (internet resources comparison [IRC]) in improving parenting skills and decreasing behavior problems after early traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this randomized, controlled, clinical trial, 113 children 3 to 9 years old previously hospitalized for moderate to severe TBI were randomly assigned to receive Express (n = 36), I-InTERACT (n = 39), or IRC (n = 38). Express included 7 online parent skills sessions, and I-InTERACT delivered 10 to 14 sessions addressing parenting skills, TBI education, stress, and anger management. The 2 interventions coupled online modules with therapist coaching through a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant Skype link. The IRC group received access to online TBI and parent skills resources. Co-primary outcomes were blinded ratings of parenting skills and parent report of behavior problems and problem intensity on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI). Outcomes were assessed before treatment and 3 and 6 months after treatment, with the latter constituting the primary endpoint. The Express and I-InTERACT groups displayed higher levels of positive parenting at follow-up. Only the I-InTERACT group had lower levels of negative parenting at 6 months. The Express group had lower ECBI intensity scores than the IRC group. Baseline symptom levels moderated improvements; children in the Express and I-InTERACT groups with higher baseline symptoms demonstrated greater improvements than those in the IRC group. Changes in parenting skills mediated improvements in behavior in those with higher baseline symptoms. Brief online parent skills training can effectively decrease behavior problems after early TBI in children with existing behavioral symptoms. Clinical trial registration information-Internet-based Interacting Together

Telecommunications Network Measurements of Online Gambling Behavior in Switzerland: A Feasibility Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bitar, Raoul; Nordt, Carlos; Grosshans, Martin; Herdener, Marcus; Seifritz, Erich; Mutschler, Jochen

2017-01-01

Methodological shortcomings of gambling studies relying on self-report or on data sets derived from gambling operators tend to result in biased conclusions. The aim of this study was to analyze online gambling behavior using a novel network database approach. From October 13 to October 26, 2014, telecommunications network data from a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland were analyzed. Netflows between mobile devices and a poker operator were quantified to measure the gambling duration and session number. Time spent gambling during night and working hours was compared between devices with longest (red group), intermediate (orange group), and shortest gambling time (green group). Online gambling behavior differed depending on overall gambling time, F (2, 3,143). Night and working hours gambling was the highest in the red group (53%), compared to the orange (50.1%) and the green groups (41.5%). Post hoc analyses indicated significant differences between the orange and green groups (p social media use, and online pornography. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Self - care strategies among risky profession workers

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Katarína Vasková

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Taking care of oneself is crucial for maintaining one´s psychical and physical health. In the context of risky profession this topic can play an even more important role, because it can be the source of necessary information for improvement of coping capacity when one is confronted with crisis situations. The aim of the present study is to identify the most common forms of self-care among selected risky professions. In the second part is the attention focused on the comparison of the specificities of risky to non-risky professions in self-care. Methods: For data collection Self-regulation Self-care Questionnaire by authors Hricová and Lovaš (in press is used. The sample consists of two groups. In the first one participated 156 respondents, who worked in risky professions - namely police officers (60 at the age between 22 to 55 years (average age is 36.88, SD=9.49, fire fighters (46 at the age between 22 to 62 years (average age is 35.13, SD=8.31 and paramedics (50 at the age between 25 to 55 years (average age is 40.3, SD=6.62. 76.2% of the sample are men, 19.0% are women and 4,8% didn´t state their gender. The second sample consists of 161 participants who work in administrative, industry production or IT sphere. They were at the age between 23 to 61 years (average age is 38.01, SD=10.45. 74% of the sample are men and 21.7% are women. Results and discussion: Results confirmed the dominance of psychological self-care above physical among risky professions. To the forefront gets the need to live meaningful life, to fully use one´s skills and to be satisfied with one´s life and decisions. All this needs can be assigned to the necessity of sense, which could be seen as a result of everyday contact with critical and life threaten situations. Equally important sphere of self-care is the necessity of high-quality relationships, which doesn´t mean only relationships with family or friends. It is important to highlight also relationships with