Who doesn't risk anything doesn't learn anything

Adolescence is a pivotal period in human development. This is when significant changes in emotions, behaviors, and interpersonal relationships take place. It is also during this period that a person can adopt behaviors that are harmful to their health, such as the use of tobacco or the consumption of alcohol and drugs. While these behaviors can affect adolescents who are deemed to be in “good health”, this is even more the case in adolescents with cystic fibrosis. It is therefore important to be aware of the challenges that await young people and the types of risky behaviors that could have a harmful effect on their health. Risk is an integral part of the transition to adult life. All teens — whether with CF or not — and their parents need to learn to become familiar with and cope with CF.

Entering adulthood is a critical period on which a person's future psychological well-being depends. The decisions and transitions that occur during this period can have consequences throughout adult life and their effects can affect more than one area of life. It is also possible that the many major changes that young adults are experiencing are undermining their mental health. However, some experts in human development believe that not only are major life changes (including risk taking) the norm for people in this age group, but that they are socially desirable.

The difference is therefore very subtle between a decision that can represent a risk (potentially serious) and an experience that can simply equip a person with the skills and knowledge necessary to move forward in life. In our postmodern society, risk taking takes various forms among adolescents: adoption of a new lifestyle, challenges of all kinds, peer choices. In many ways, young adults are in unfamiliar territory, as the challenges they face are very different from those faced by their parents and grandparents.

The aura of “normality” that accompanies reckless behavior is another challenge. For example, a study conducted at the University of Tasmania indicates that there are different types of risky behaviors (such as alcohol consumption and underage smoking) that so-called “ordinary” adolescents engage in because they seem “normal” and prevalent. Note that the same study described approximately 30% of adolescent participants as “highly” or “very strongly” reckless. Thus, one adolescent out of three would behave recklessly: it is therefore very likely that a young person frequents one of them regularly or that he himself is one of them!

Another study reveals that risk-taking in adolescence is associated with the need for varied, new and complex sensations and experiences and with the desire to take physical and social risks in order to have these kinds of experiences. The tendency to engage in risky behavior could be explained by a “failure to reason with probabilities”, which causes adolescents to distort the perception of risk posed by a certain behavior to their advantage. This deformation, and therefore the reckless behavior, would be explained by the fact that adolescents reach biological maturity before social maturity. It is not surprising that adolescence and the first years of adulthood are the periods when the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the seat of the ability to assess and manage consequences, develops to its full capacity.

At the University of Melbourne, the reckless behaviors of adolescents were studied in connection with the practice of gambling. In a group of 8th grade students, it was discovered that 41% had played some form of game in the previous 12 months. The study indicates that young men are the most likely to play because they have a positive perception of it. The most common reasons teens cite for gambling are excitement, fun, and earning money. Other reasons include relaxation, the opportunity to escape problems, and relieve depression. The high propensity to gamble among adolescents is often explained by their desire to experiment with adult behaviors through activities that are done with peers who have similar motivations and interests.

While reckless behaviors seem to be more common among young men than young women, researchers have observed an increase in the frequency of these behaviors among adolescent girls. This increase could be explained by the narrowing of the gender role gap as well as by the impact of globalization and individualization, which encourage young women to take more risks — and, above all, more risks than their mothers took. The increasing competition experienced by young women in the academic, professional and social fields has increased their propensity for impulsive behavior, reducing the difference between men and women engaging in this type of behavior.

The risks associated with smoking are now well known to everyone, if only because of the warnings on cigarette packs. However, even today, young people are starting to smoke cigarettes or are trying them out. In many cases, they are driven to do so by peer pressure or simply by a sense of belonging or a desire to take a risk (by breaking a rule). The Australian National University has discovered that the main clue to determine whether a young person will become a smoker is that their best friend is a smoker himself. For adolescent girls, the best predictor is that one of their parents smokes, which proves the influence of the nonverbal messages that some receive
adolescents with respect to behaviours that have an impact on health.

Health risk behaviors can also occur in the form of disturbances in eating habits that, in extreme cases, result in eating disorders such as bulimia. Researchers at Deakin University recently discovered that eating disorders are linked to negative affect (the experience of negative emotions) in adolescents of both sexes. Likewise, a strong dissatisfaction with their body image seems to be an important factor in several subjects. Based in particular on the comparison between overweight adolescents and adolescents at a healthy weight, the study reveals, in addition to the evidence of the need of overweight adolescents to adopt strategies to achieve a healthy weight, that adolescents with the highest degree of negative affect are more likely to engage in risky activities that have negative consequences for their health. There is a wealth of literature on body image and CF, especially in relation to young women.

Personality traits can also play a role in decision making and risk assessment. It has been discovered that young adults with a tendency to impulsivity (who lack good self-control) are more likely to engage in reckless behaviors than those who are less impulsive.

To live a full life and deal with stress well, it is imperative to learn how to manage problems effectively. This faculty is largely based on individual characteristics such as life experience and personality. However, it is possible to maximize this ability to overcome the difficulties that arise during physical, intellectual and social changes by focusing on a state of emotional well-being from the beginning of adolescence.

For teens, it's not easy to make their way through life. The task is no easier for parents: they must guide their teens by respecting the fine line between what helps them stay on the right path and what could send them mixed messages. Another study conducted in Australia reveals that some parents, in the hope of “preserving” their underage children from excessive alcohol consumption, were complicit in this crime by providing them with a small quantity of alcoholic drinks, by driving them back to the holidays and bringing them home, or by providing them with a mobile phone. Although well-intentioned, these actions can also be interpreted as implicit consent on the part of parents and can send messages
contradictory, even if they aim to help young people acquire the social skills necessary to manage risky behaviors.

The challenge for both parents and those responsible for education and health programs is to help adolescents make informed, responsible, and realistic decisions among the many options available to them in our postmodern society. This could best encourage young people to acquire the necessary social skills and to distinguish between “good” and “bad” risks. Times are changing and the challenges that adolescents face today are in many ways very different from those faced by their parents. It is therefore important to understand the current challenges faced by adolescents, whether from adolescents themselves or from the world around them, in order to adapt to changing morals and new realities. All the more so, communication must be open, continuous and devoid of value judgments.

Kylie McGirr

Cystic Fibrosis Victoria
Melbourne, Australia

Bibliographical references

Abbott-Chapman, J. Denholm, C., C., & Wyld, C. (2008), Gender Differences in Adolescent Risk Taking: Are They Diminishing? An Australian Intergenerational Study. Youth and Society, 40, 131-154.

Carroll, A. Hemingway, F., Bower, J., Bower, J., Ashman, A. Stephen, H., H. & Durkin, K. (2006). Impulsivity in Juvenile Delinquency: Differences Among Early-Onset, Late-Onset, and Non-Offenders. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 519-529.

Frydenberg, E., Care E., Care E., Freeman, E., & Chan, C. (2009). Interrelationships Between Coping, School Connectedness and Wellbeing. Australian Journal of Education, 53, 261-276.

Jackson, A. Dowling, N., Thomas, S., Thomas, S., S.,, Bond, L. & Patton, G. (2008). Adolescent Gambling Behaviour and Attitudes: A Prevalence Study and Correlates in an Australian Population. International Journal of Mental Health Addition, 6, 325-352. Lee, C. & Gramotnev, H. (2007). Life Transitions and Mental Health in a National Cohort of Young Australian Women. Developmental Psychology, 43, 877-888.

Mazanov, J. & Byrne, D. (2008). Modeling Change in Adolescence Smoking Behaviour: Stability of Predictors Across Analytic Models. British Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 361-379.

McCabe, M. & Ricciardelli, L. (2009). Extreme Weight Change Behaviours: Are Overweight and Normal Weight Adolescents Different, and Does This Vary Over Time? European Eating Disorders Review, 17, 301-314.

Patton, G., Bond, L., Carlin, Carlin, J. Thomas, L., Carlin, J. Thomas, L., L., L., Carlin, J. Thomas, L., L., Carlin, J. Thomas, L., L., L., Butler, H. Glover, S. Catalano, R. & Bowes, G. (2006). Promoting Social Inclusion in Schools: A Group-randomized Trial of Effects on Student Health Risk Behaviour and Well-Being. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1582-1587.

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