Citation

Testa CR, Steinberg L. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2010; 40(3): 298-305.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. testac@temple.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1521/suli.2010.40.3.298

PMID

20560751

Abstract

This study investigated the relation between symptoms and a variety of health-related risk-taking behaviors during adolescence. A survey of 20,745 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health provided data for analysis. Adolescents who reported more depressive symptoms were found to wear seatbelts less often, wear bike-helmets less often, and drive while drunk more frequently. Depressive symptoms did not correlate with reported condom use. The found relations were all mediated by reported levels of hopelessness. Reported levels of anhedonia and suicidality also mediated some of the found relations. Therefore, adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms, especially those reporting hopelessness, should be considered at jeopardy for a variety of health-related risk-taking behaviors.

Language: en