Risk-Taking in Adolescent Girls: Multi-Level Interactive Mechanisms

描述（由申请人提供）：许多危险行为在青春期比在生命的任何其他阶段发生的频率更高——青少年比儿童或成人更容易酗酒、有随意性伴侣、从事暴力行为、犯罪和卷入严重的汽车事故。显然，青少年危险行为的激增是一个重要的公共卫生问题。此外，一些先前的风险因素和后果对女孩来说是独特的。例如，女孩的青春期成熟比男孩早，女孩和男孩在青春期的具体荷尔蒙变化不同，一些导致药物滥用和性冒险的心理和社会压力因素似乎不同，一些负面后果（如意外怀孕）是女性独有的。因此，拟议的研究计划旨在澄清个人和环境因素相互作用的方式，以预测青春期女孩的冒险行为。基于青少年冒险行为的社会神经科学视角，本多层次项目的具体目的是：(1)探讨感觉寻求在解释女孩青春期成熟与冒险行为之间关系中的作用；(2)了解青春期成熟对女孩社会环境敏感性和由此产生的冒险行为的影响；(3)在社会背景下考察感觉寻求对女孩冒险行为的影响。一个实验设计将被用来在一个更大的跨学科项目的背景下检查研究问题。长期目标包括检查性别差异，纵向调查多个领域的冒险轨迹，探索荷尔蒙和社会情感机制，以及发展行为方法论来理解复杂的因果过程。这一研究项目对预防药物滥用、性冒险和其他有害的危险行为具有重要意义。对导致冒险行为的生物、行为和社会环境相互作用之间的相互作用进行更深入、更机械的理解，可以为早期干预项目提供目标，特别是针对处于特定成熟阶段的女孩。拟议的研究方案将通过以下课程得到充实：青少年健康、认知发展、药物滥用、先进统计方法、负责任的研究行为，以及多学科磋商和会议发言。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many risky behaviors occur with higher frequency in adolescence than in any other stage of life--teens are more likely to binge drink, have casual sex partners, engage in violent behavior, commit crimes, and be involved in serious automobile accidents than either children or adults. Clearly, this adolescent surge in risky dangerous behavior is an important public health concern. Moreover, some antecedent risk factors and consequences are unique to girls. For example, pubertal maturation begins earlier in girls than boys, the specific hormonal changes at puberty differ for girls and boys, some of the psychological and social stressors that contribute to substance abuse and sexual risk-taking appear different, and some negative consequences (such as unplanned pregnancy) are unique to females. Thus, the proposed program of research seeks to clarify the ways in which individual and contextual factors interact to predict risk-taking in adolescent girls. Based on a social neuroscience perspective of adolescent risk-taking, the specific aims of this multi-level project are to (1) investigate the role of sensation seeking in explaining the relationship between pubertal maturation and risk-taking behavior in girls; (2) understand the role of pubertal maturation in influencing girls' sensitivity to social context and resulting risk-taking behavior; nd (3) examine the influence of sensation seeking on girls' risk-taking behavior given the social context. An experimental design will be utilized to examine the research questions within the context of a larger interdisciplinary project. Long-term goals include examining sex differences, longitudinally investigating risk-taking trajectories in multiple domains, exploring hormonal and socio-emotional mechanisms, and developing behavioral methodology to understand complex causal processes. This program of research has major implications for the prevention of substance abuse, sexual risk-taking, and other harmful risky behaviors. A deeper more mechanistic understanding of the interactions between biological, behavioral, and social context interactions leading to risk-taking could provide targets for early intervention programs aimed specifically at girls at particular windows of maturation. The proposed program of research will be enriched through courses in adolescent health, cognitive development, substance abuse, advanced statistical methods, and the responsible conduct of research, as well as multidisciplinary consultations and conference presentations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Many types of risky behaviors occur with higher frequency in adolescence than in any other stage of life, and teens are more likely to binge drink, have casual sex partners, engage in violent behavior, commit crimes, and be involved in serious automobile accidents than either children or adults. This program of research seeks to clarify the ways in which individual and contextual factors interact to predict risk-taking in adolescent girls, who may face unique types of vulnerabilities to the negative effects of risk-taking such as addiction and unplanned teen pregnancy. This program of research has significant implications for the prevention of substance abuse, sexual risk-taking, and other harmful risky behaviors.