Addressing common risk and protective factors can prevent a wide range of adolescent risk behaviors.

摘要

Adolescence and early adulthood are peak periods for engagement in a variety of risk behaviors, including delinquency, substance use, and sexual risk behavior. In recent US data, approximately 38% of sexually active high school students reported not using a condom at last intercourse, 36% of high school students reported being in a physical fight in the past year, 23% of 12th graders reported past-month heavy drinking, and 45% of 12th graders reported lifetime illicit drug use, including marijuana [1,2]. Readers of the Journal are likely well aware of the many negative consequences that can accompany these risk behaviors, including trouble with the law, school failure and dropout, substance abuse and dependence, unintended pregnancy, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or sexually transmitted infection (STI) acquisition. The prevalence of adolescent and young adult risk behavior and the seriousness of the potential consequences speak loudly to the need for effective prevention programs that can be implemented universally to reduce the prevalence of these risk behaviors among adolescents and young adults. School-based programs are particularly useful, as they allow preventionists to reach nearly all children, they can be implemented before the onset of risk behavior, and they leverage a primary socializing environment in the lives of children [3,4].