This study investigated age changes in risk perception and unrealistic optimism. Teenagers (« = 376) and parents (n = 160) evaluated the risk of experimental, occasional, and regular involvement in 14 health-related activities (e.g., getting drunk). Respondents also evaluated their comparative chances of encountering the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Compared with adults, teenagers minimized the perceived risk of experimental and occasional involvement in health-threatening activities. Notably, teenagers were less optimistic about avoiding injury and illness than were their parents, and teenagers at greatest risk for such misfortunes were the least optimistic about avoiding them. These findings do not support traditional explanations of adolescent risk taking. The implications of these findings for understanding and preventing health-damaging behavior among adolescents are discussed.

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Health care providers caring for adolescent patients are faced with problems unique to this age group due to their evolving developmental stages of growth. Serious problems with psychosocial as well as biological bases causing major morbidity and mortality are encountered. Purely biomedical approaches and quality standards are likely to be inadequate. Age and developmental stage appropriate approaches to treatment and prevention are required, with attention to environmental stresses and risk-taking behaviors. Adolescent development, current hazards, and preventive strategies are reviewed.