Development of Risk-Taking Tendency Tool for High School Students

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Adolescent Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Adolescence is characterized by increased sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors.
• Measuring these tendencies is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies.
• This study addresses the need for a reliable tool to assess risk-taking in Iranian youth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a questionnaire assessing risk-taking tendencies among Iranian high school students.
• To provide a measurable instrument for identifying adolescents at risk for behaviors such as drug abuse.

Main Methods:

• Cluster sampling of 551 tenth-grade students in Kerman province, Iran.
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for construct validity.
• Cronbach's alpha and corrected item-scale correlation for reliability assessment.

Main Results:

• A 13-item questionnaire was finalized after removing items with factor loading < 0.5.
• Two factors emerged: 'drug abuse tendency' (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93) and 'other risky behavior tendency' (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83).
• Male students exhibited significantly higher risk-taking tendencies than female students, confirming known-groups validity.

Conclusions:

• The developed questionnaire demonstrates acceptable validity and reliability for measuring risk-taking tendencies in students.
• This instrument can be utilized for early identification and intervention programs targeting adolescent risk behaviors.