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Living in the US may increase ‘risk taking’ behaviors in teens

Among adolescents of Puerto Rican decent, those living in the United States were more likely to seek out “‘risky experiences” compared with those living in Puerto Rico, according to recently published data.

“Sensation-seeking behavior in adolescents has been shown to be a factor in health risks from suicide and frequent illegal drug use to problem gambling and unprotected sex. Our study shows that sensation-seeking behaviors don’t follow the same trajectory from childhood to adolescence in all populations: context matters,” Sylvia S. Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said in a press release.

Sylvia S. Martins

To assess the correlation between where a child grows up and sensation-seeking trajectories, Martins and colleagues analyzed data on 2,491 children and adolescents from the Boricua Youth Study. All participants were of Puerto Rican background, with nearly half living in the South Bronx, NY and half living in Puerto Rico.

Results demonstrated that among all participants, between the ages of 5 and 10 years, sensation-seeking was stable, but increased between the ages of 11 and 17 years.

Boys were more likely to have higher mean scores of sensation seeking compared with girls, regardless of where they lived.

Overall, participants living in the South Bronx had higher rates of sensation seeking compared with participants living in Puerto Rico, according to the researchers.

Martins theorized that children growing up in the Bronx may be more likely to face poverty, violence, peer delinquency and stressful life events than those living in Puerto Rico, and this may impact their sensation-seeking tendencies.

“It is important to take a developmental approach when examining sensation seeking and to consider gender and the social environment when trying to understand how sensation seeking evolves during childhood and adolescence,” Martins and colleagues concluded. – by Casey Hower

Disclosures: Martins reports serving as a consultant for Purdue Pharma. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.