One in seven adolescents believe think they're going to die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior, a new research has suggested.
One in seven adolescents believe think they're going to die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior, a new research has suggested.
University of Minnesota Medical School researcher Iris Borowsky, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues analyzed data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 youth in grades 7 through 12 during three separate study years. In the first set of interviews, nearly 15 percent of adolescents predicted they had a 50/50 chance or less of living to age 35.The researchers found that those who engaged in risky behaviors such as illicit drug use, suicide attempts, fighting, or unsafe sexual activity in the first year were more likely in subsequent years to believe they would die at a young age.
Vice versa, those who predicted that they'd die young during the first interview were more likely in later years to begin engaging in these same risky behaviors and have poor health outcomes, the researchers found.
Notably, these teens were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS just six years later, regardless of their sexual preference.
"While conventional wisdom says that teens engage in risky behaviors because they feel invulnerable to harm, this study suggests that in some cases, teens take risks because they overestimate their vulnerability, specifically their risk of dying," Borowsky said.
"These youth may take risks because they feel hopeless and figure that not
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Nearly 25 percent of youth living in households that receive public assistance and more than 29 percent of American-Indian, 26 percent of African-American, 21 percent of Hispanic, and 15 percent of Asian youth reported believing they would die young-compared to just 10 percent of their Caucasian peers.
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There was no significant relationship between perceived risk of dying before age 35 and actual death from all causes during the six-year study period.
Source-ANI
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