Risk-taking in adolescence is frequently addressed by telling young people that things are dangerous, and research suggests they already know.
The knowledge question
Studies asking adolescents to estimate risks find they generally do so accurately, and in some cases overestimate.
Which means the deficit model — that risky behaviour follows from not knowing — is not supported.
Information-only campaigns have consistently shown limited effects on behaviour, which follows.
What is actually different
Adolescents weigh the benefits differently rather than misjudging the risks.
Which means the social reward — status, belonging, excitement — is valued more highly at that age.
Experimental work finds adolescents take more risks in the presence of peers and no more than adults when alone, which supports the social explanation.
Hot and cold decisions
Reasoning about a hypothetical situation, calmly, differs from deciding in the moment under emotional arousal and social pressure.
Which means the plan a young person makes in a classroom does not predict what they do at a party.
Interventions that rehearse specific situations and responses have better evidence than those that provide information.
What works
Skills-based approaches, teaching refusal and decision-making in realistic scenarios.
Normative correction, since adolescents systematically overestimate how much their peers engage in risky behaviour, and correcting the estimate reduces behaviour in several studies.
Structural measures — access restrictions, pricing, availability — which have stronger evidence than education for substances specifically.
And relationships with adults, which appear consistently in the protective factors literature.
What does not
Scare tactics, which have been evaluated and found ineffective and in some cases counterproductive.
Programmes bringing young people into contact with the consequences of crime, which have been evaluated in trials and found to increase offending.
Which is a well-known example of an intuitively appealing intervention that evidence found harmful, and it continues to be used.
Parental monitoring
Knowing where a young person is and who they are with is associated with lower risk behaviour.
Which research has refined — the association is driven substantially by young people disclosing voluntarily rather than by parental surveillance.
Disclosure depends on the relationship, which means the effective route to monitoring is being someone a young person will tell.
Sensation seeking
Varies between individuals and peaks in adolescence.
Which means some young people are constitutionally more drawn to risk, and providing outlets — sport, adventure activities, performance — is associated with less harmful expression.
When to be concerned
Escalating behaviour, withdrawal from previous activities and relationships, changes in mood or functioning, and any indication of self-harm warrant professional advice.
Which should go to a doctor, and services for young people exist including confidential ones they can access directly.
Any immediate risk to safety requires emergency help.
Substances
Rates of alcohol and tobacco use among young people have declined substantially in many countries over recent decades.
Which is a genuine public health success attributed to a combination of pricing, availability restrictions, marketing bans and changing norms.
Cannabis and vaping patterns have differed, with vaping rising in several countries and prompting regulatory responses.
Driving
Crash risk for newly licensed drivers is highest immediately after licensing and falls with experience.
Graduated licensing systems, restricting passengers and night driving initially, have consistently reduced crashes where implemented.
Which is one of the better-evidenced interventions affecting adolescents.
Online risk
Includes contact risks, content risks and conduct risks, which are addressed differently.
Which means the useful conversation covers what to do if something goes wrong rather than only prohibition.
Making clear that a young person will not lose access for reporting something is what determines whether they report.
Sexual health
Comprehensive education has better evidence than abstinence-only approaches for delaying initiation and increasing protection use.
Which has been reviewed repeatedly with consistent findings.
Confidential services for young people exist in most countries, and knowing they are confidential is what determines whether they are used.
Mental health and risk
Risk behaviour can be a manifestation of underlying distress rather than a separate issue.
Which means escalating behaviour warrants exploring what is going on rather than only responding to the behaviour.
Talking about it
Research on parent-adolescent communication finds that conversations happening before rather than after decisions are more useful.
Which means raising topics early, briefly and repeatedly works better than a single conversation at a perceived crisis point.
Rules and enforcement
Rules that are explained, consistently applied and reviewed as a young person demonstrates capability work better than either rigid or absent ones.
Which is the pattern the research on parenting style supports, and it requires negotiating rather than only imposing.
Involving a young person in setting the rule increases adherence measurably.
Getting it wrong
Young people will make poor decisions, which is part of the developmental process.
Which means the response to a mistake determines whether they tell you about the next one.
Consequences that are proportionate and explained maintain the relationship that provides the protection.