Depressive and socially anxious symptoms, psychosocial maturity, and risk perception: associations with risk-taking behaviour

Adam Pailing, Renate Reniers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
190 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Risk-taking behaviour and onset of mental illness peak in adolescence and young adulthood. This study evaluated the interconnectedness of the domains of risk-taking behaviour, mental health (symptoms of depression and social anxiety), psychosocial maturity, risk perception, age, and gender in a sample of 306 adolescents and young adults. Participants between the ages of 16 and 35 completed online self-report measures assessing risk-taking behaviour, depressive symptoms, socially anxious symptoms, psychosocial maturity and risk perception. Socially anxious symptoms, psychosocial maturity, and risk perception were directly associated with risk-taking behaviour. Correlations between depressive symptoms, socially anxious symptoms, and psychosocial maturity were found. Psychosocial maturity proved a better predictor of risk-taking behaviour than age in this cohort. The findings indicate that mental health impacts upon risk-taking behaviour and that consideration should be given to psychosocial maturity in attempts to reduce adolescent and young adult risk-taking behaviour.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0202423
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume13
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Aug 2018

Keywords

  • depression
  • social anxiety
  • mental health
  • risk-taking
  • psychosocial maturity
  • risk perception
  • adolescence
  • young adulthood

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