My choice of the adolescent risk-taking behaviors are; Obesity attributed by eating disorders, and Illegal drugs. In the case of obesity, and more so on eating disorder has the following as the influencing factors. They are; physiological factors such as, low self esteem and depression, from interpersonal factors such as, history of either ridicule or sexual abuse, and lastly, from social factors such as cultural norms. In the case of Illegal drug use, the influencing factors are; peer pressure, teen getting thrilled to do something illegal and lastly, escape the pressure or simply aversive feeling .
The next step is setting up strategies of battling the negative risk factors. We begin with illegal drug use. Having clearly set expectations and rules in the social rules within a setting can act as the mitigating factor. The rules may be able to be, consistently enforced policies applied in schools, and also clear norms and expected standards of the behavior in a community setting. This offers the basic steps in battling most of the prevailing negative factors affecting the adolescence age group. Creation of opportunities that are geared to help the teens resist the negative peer pressure is also another viable option .
Lastly, we take a look at the most viable mitigating options in relation to eating disorder that point to obesity risk factor. One of the effective channels is the community or involved society acknowledging the failures pertinent to the illegal use of drugs. There is the need of facing the realities of illegal drug usage among teenagers and that proper rational legalisation perspective should apply. The mentioned strategy is the basic mitigating factors that can be applied in curbing this negative risk-taking behaviour .
Works Cited
Berk, Laura E. Development Through the Lifespan. Boston: Pearson Education, 2001.
Bogenschneider, K. Wisconsin Youth Futures Technical Report #10 Risk Factors For Alcohol and Drug Use/Abuse Prevention. 4 September 2010. 24 April 2014 <http://www1.cyfernet.org/prog/teen/94-youthfut10.html>.
Niekerk, DEV van. "Time to decriminalise drugs?" South African Medical Journal. Vol. 101, No. 2. (2011): 698-722.
