Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Author Spotlight: Understanding Adolescent Social Adversity Effects on Neurodevelopment in Mice
Published on: March 15, 2024
Learned Helplessness and Sexual Risk Taking in Adolescent and Young Adult African American Females
1School of Nursing, Oakland University , Rochester, Michigan.
Abstract:
Research involving adolescent and young African American (AA) females has demonstrated that they face uncontrollable obstacles which can interfere with the negotiation of safer sexual behaviors. If these obstacles are perceived as uncontrollable, then these females may be at risk for the development of Learned Helplessness (LH). As the LH model predicts, if these obstacles are believed not to be in their control, it may lead to deficits in motivational or cognitive decision-making, deficits that could certainly influence their sexual risk taking behaviors. Therefore, the primary objective for this pilot study was to trial the Learned Helplessness Scale (LHS) to examine the perceptions of LH in this population. A convenience sample of 50 adolescent and young AA females between the ages of 16 and 21 were recruited from two clinics in Southeast Michigan. Scores on the LHS ranged from 20 to 57, with a mean score of 39.1 (standard deviation = 10.49). The higher range of scores in the sample demonstrates a continuum of LH among the participants in the study.
Related Concept Videos
Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Fundamental Attribution Error

