Citation

Keating DP. J. Adolesc. Health 2024; 74(3): 397-399.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.12.008

PMID

38309840

Abstract

In their analysis of two decades of data drawn from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, Tervo-Clemmens and colleagues [[1]] establish that mid-to late adolescence is the peak developmental period for risk-taking. This has been a longstanding finding, but they expand that body of evidence in three important ways: by extending the risk-taking propensity curves into late adulthood; by using a data set that is representative of the United States. population, thus not subject to the vagaries of small, convenience samples; and by analyzing multiple subpopulations to explore variability in risk taking associated with personal and contextual factors. They argue persuasively that inter-individual variability needs to be taken into account in the design of intervention, prevention, and policy approaches capable of reducing the health burdens, including morbidity and mortality, associated with adolescent health risk behavior [[2],[3]].

Identifying the sources of adolescent health risk behavior is essential for addressing this significant public health burden. This interdisciplinary research agenda will need to include research that “drills down” into the underlying mechanisms, including psychosocial, cognitive, neurodevelopmental, genetic, and epigenetic [4, 5, 6], and also “ramps up” to evaluate the subpopulation differences that arise from varying developmental exposures and experiences at multiple levels. Beyond providing robust empirical evidence that health risk-taking propensity and related behaviors are major factors in adolescent health, Trevor-Clemmens and colleagues [[1]] identify important opportunities and challenges to pursuing a productive research agenda. Drawing on these analyses, key features in a road map for future research are briefly elucidated, with a particular emphasis on validity issues and on the potential for intervention, prevention, and policy.

Language: en