Cognitive development and the dynamics of decision-making among adolescents

Cognitive development was examined in relation to the amount of time students would deliberate before making a decision, the effect of perceived emotional stress on decision making, and identification of all possible decisions that would have to be made. Subjects were 94 eighth-11th grade students in New Mexico and Montana. Results indicated abstract thinkers had a better decision-making process than concrete thinkers and made more health promoting decisions. Health educators are challenged to create educational strategies that enhance abstract development and teach classic steps of decision-making, thus improving the decision-making ability of youth.