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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on February 23, 2005
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsi066
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Journal of Pediatric Psychology © Society of Pediatric Psychology 2005; all rights reserved.
Received January 11, 2004
Revised June 25, 2004
Accepted August 25, 2004

Article

Predictors of Children’s and Adolescents’ Risk Perception

Leilani Greening PhD1*, Laura Stoppelbein PhD2, C. C. Chandler PhD3, and T. David Elkin PhD2

1 University of Alabama
2 University of Mississippi Medical Center, and
3 Washington State University

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Leilani Greening, E-mail: green{at}bama.ua.edu


  Abstract

Objective To test cognitive-developmental, social-cognitive, motivational, and cognitive hypotheses about the psychological mechanisms underlying children’s risk perception. Method Youth (N = 1315) ranging from 9 to 17 years of age completed measures assessing adolescent egocentrism, personal experience with four negative health events, how much they worried about the health events, and their perceived skill for event-related activities. The measures were completed twice, 12 months apart. Results Lacking personal experience with and worrying less about health threats were significant predictors of more optimistically biased risk perception a year later. Conclusions The lack of experience with and not worrying about serious health consequences may desensitize children to potential health risks. Clinical applications for health education programs are discussed.

Keywords: risk perception; children; adolescents; unrealistic optimism; health beliefs.
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