Review by Choice Review
This book explores adolescent risk behavior that compromises health and personal fulfillment. Based on evaluations of Italian adolescents, the book considers risk for antisocial behavior and protective factors that influence risk taking. The authors explore antisocial, sexual, and eating behavior and smoking and driving; they also examine the functions and prevention of risk taking. They point out that risk taking and healthy behavior function to construct one's identity and define one's relationships. The normative sample included interviews of 14- to 19-year-olds at secondary schools in two regions in northwest Italy. Among the statistical data: more than 80 percent of the adolescents claimed to be Catholic; 88 percent reported they came from intact family units (most with four people); and 68 percent had siblings. The book presents the results of the study in relationship to categories of risky behavior and compares the young, middle, and old adolescents' patterns of these risky behaviors and the factors influencing them. Although the book concentrates on a European population, it is somewhat valuable in the US because of its cross-cultural perspective and its demonstration of the influential role the theoretical risk and protective factors play in adolescent involvement in risk behavior. ^BSumming Up: Optional. Comprehensive collections; all levels. S. M. Valente University of California, Los Angeles
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
