Many Teens Think They'll Die Young

Study: Teenagers Engage In Risky Behavior Because They Feel "Not Much Is At Stake"

(AP)  A surprising number of teenagers - nearly 15 percent - think they're going to die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior, new research suggests.

The study, based on a survey of more than 20,000 kids, challenges conventional wisdom that says teens engage in risky behavior because they think they're invulnerable to harm. Instead, a sizable number of teens may take chances "because they feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake," said study author Dr. Iris Borowsky, a researcher at the University of Minnesota.

That behavior threatens to turn their fatalism into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Over seven years, kids who thought they would die early were seven time more likely than optimistic kids to be subsequently diagnosed with AIDS. They also were more likely to attempt suicide and get in fights resulting in serious injuries.

Borowsky said the magnitude of kids with a negative outlook was eye-opening.

Adolescence is "a time of great opportunity and for such a large minority of youth to feel like they don't have a long life ahead of them was surprising," she said.

The study suggests a new way doctors could detect kids likely to engage in unsafe behavior and potentially help prevent it, said Dr. Jonathan Klein, a University of Rochester adolescent health expert who was not involved in the research.

"Asking about this sense of fatalism is probably a pretty important component of one of the ways we can figure out who those kids at greater risk are," he said.

The study appears in the July issue of Pediatrics, released Monday.

Scientists once widely believed that teenagers take risks because they underestimate bad consequences and figure "it can't happen to me," the study authors say. The new research bolsters evidence refuting that thinking.

Cornell University professor Valerie Reyna said the new study presents "an even stronger case against the invulnerability idea."

"It's extremely important to talk about how perception of risk influences risk-taking behavior," said Reyna, who has done similar research.

Fatalistic kids weren't more likely than others to die during the seven-year study; there were relatively few deaths, 94 out of more than 20,000 teens.

The researchers analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of kids in grades 7 to 12 who were interviewed three times between 1995 and 2002. Of 20,594 teens interviewed in the first round, 14.7 percent said they thought they had a good chance of dying before age 35. Subsequent interviews found these fatalistic kids engaged in more risky behavior than more optimistic kids.

The study suggests some kids overestimate their risks for harm; however, it also provides evidence that some kids may have good reason for being fatalistic.

Native Americans, blacks and low-income teens - kids who are disproportionately exposed to violence and hardship - were much more likely than whites to believe they'd die young.

[tiredofthebs]

The truest words I ever wrote. Forget this thought process. You DO NOT want to deal with the consequences if you're wrong. Trust me ....

[sjc_1]

"..suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior.."

Yeah, I would say suicide is pretty unsafe behavior. The generation after WWI was called the lost generation that led to the roaring 20s and the Great Depression. Young people have to be shown that there are alternatives to what they have seen. Not everyone has to be an exploiting capitalist or homeless. There are other better choices.

[DoubleHappiness88]

Little do the young know that they are in
SERIOUS DANGER OF LIVING TO BE 100 YEARS OLD.

Suggestion: Be prepared and enjoy it!

Best Wishes!
DoubleHappiness

[gravyboat3000]

You mean, it's tough being a teen?

LMAO

This story must have been a doozy. Good thing I didn't read it.

[stuart2021]

After reading this I had to call my son and have a sit down with him. I'm glad they ran this story. A good reminder of how sometimes we can unintentially not pay attention to the signs our kids give us.

[woeisme1]

I happen to know Stuart in his home town. He is nothing like you say. Why are you bothering him so much? And I don't like your nic. You remind me of Dick Cheney - he was evil too.

[John_Merritt]

Thank you Stuart for your compliment. And congratulations on calling your son. Everyday can be Fathers day, it starts from a word and ends with a hug. Well done.

[John_Merritt]

I think if you look at the 'psychology of the moment' a lot can be gleaned from this article and the findings herein.

1.) Children are being deluged everyday with stories of families much like themselves who are being displaced because of economy, foreclosures, job losses, etc. Many of them are friends. That leaves an indelible imprint on their beliefs.

2.) They listen to their parents and relatives bemoaning everything going on in their lives, and hear the stories of sadness and despair. This has to affect their belief system because they see everyone around them working their fingers to the bone, and now they have less to show for it. What impression is left on that childs deductive rationale.

3.) They see their own selves in the same situation because we pattern or process things based on what we see, feel and hear. If their surroundings are in a cloud of uncertainty, they will store this short term and hold it long term.

4.) We are creatures of habit. We will always go to those comfort areas that we find solace. With facebook and other social networks, they hear and see firsthand the experiences of their own friends and hear the horror stories. How do they process this if we parents do not spend the time to discuss things.

5.) Society is becoming so convoluted that all of our energies are being grossly displaced and our children are waiting in the wings to hear from us, but we do not hear there cries for help.

6.) Unless parents become more involved with their children, they will hear, read and see these stories ad infinitum and their impressions and beliefs will be shaped on the here and now, the immediacy of statements, 'This is the worst of _____ since the 1930's of ................' You complete the sentence.

If we can ever expect our children to be shaped positively. we need to be an ever present force for positive change in their life. No more, no less. It all starts at home.

[stuart2021]

Excellent post John! Good job.

[pepperwood2]

Many Teens Think They'll Die Young - Study: Teenagers Engage In Risky Behavior Because They Feel "Not Much Is At Stake".

I have to agree with them. I'm going to make a prediction that we are all going to end up like Elvis sooner or later.

[onesword]

Native Americans, blacks and low-income teens - kids who are disproportionately exposed to violence and hardship - were much more likely than whites to believe they'd die young.
******************************************************************

This statment in itself lets you know that they are terrified.

[couldcarealess]

Ok everyone - why don't all of us visit a Children's Hospital with terminally ill children and ask if they would like to die young? Better yet go to a slaughterhouse or an animal shelter where the dog is shaking because the lethal needle is heading towards it's ass - don't romanticize this crap - I have suffered from depression for years - and when the "bull ****" smoke clears - living life before the last breath is not such a bad thing.

[onesword]

People do not give them reasons to live or to make them feel that they are a valuable asset. Everything they do or will do is wrong. Today's youth feel worthless and do not see the reasons why they should live beyond their teenage life. Teenagers goes through a emotional roller coaster. If no one pays any attention to them they will crash. Because life still have surprises waiting on them around every corner.

[borg99]

Kids have always talked that line of crud. We talked the same way in the 1960s-70s during the drug scene. The young secretly believe they're immortal, and so deep down they really don't see their behavior as risky.

Most of them survive to middle age, however, and it's then that their youthful bravado comes back to haunt them. A buddy of mine, very successful, recently died at 49 from a disease picked up from needles during his druggie days. Whatever he really thought about life as a kid, he was very unhappy to leave it -- and his wife and young children -- when his adolescent indifference caught up with him.

[aChangeOfIdeas]

by darthcheney123 June 29, 2009 1:19 PM PDT
Sincere, honest, whole, dreams, ideals - in a TEENAGER???? LOL!

I was a high school teacher too. All teenagers care about is drugs, gangs, and getting pregnant. A little rap music and violent smutty TV to help them through the day.

--- well, I guess I'm glad I don't teach at your school! Most of my students are exactly that... and our school is in the bottom 10% of the state in test scores and the poverty level is high, so it's not just the demographics. I see some of their attitudes disintegrate as they approach graduation, and I agree with Pomette-2009 that they see the hypocrisy in the adults around them (and in popular culture) and eventually adult life is no longer as rosy as it had seemed for some of them.

[pomette-2009]

I am a teacher too now, and I try to "be there" for my students; most of them, have ideals and dreams; they work hard and want to succeed. But they have also been hurt, are fragile, have little self esteem and are reluctant to trust themselves and others. Telling them, like darthcheney123, that they are "lazy parasites" doesn't help! Sometimes they are afraid to accept the help offered to them and I find it heart breaking to see all that potential in peril

[cs4466]

Naw, they figure the world is populated by idiots like darthcheney and that's depressing to any sane person.

[ianlou]

Does this explain why so many teens and young adults I run into have no urge to go to college or leave the nest or get a job?

[ianlou]

"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause while the mark of the mature man is that wants to live humbly for one"

The Catcher in the Rye

[koko98-2009]

Whats new here? Mickey Mantle squandered a ton of his talent during the 1950's because he thought he wouldn't live longer than his miner Dad who died in his 40's. In the 1960's it was Jim Morrison who advised people to "live fast, die young and leave a good looking corpse."

[Turbidite]

A popular quote, originally said by the character Nick Romano, as played by John Derek in the 1949 movie Knock on Any Door

[pomette-2009]

I agree with aChangeOfIdeas's comment. I remember when I was 16, I didn't want to live past 30, could not imagine it. I was so disgusted by the behavior and action of "adults" around me, their lies, hypocrisy, concessions, lack of integrity, that I did not want to become that, which seemed to go with age ("we" were sincere, honest, whole, with dreams and ideals...)

[pomette-2009]

darthcheney123,

If you are embittered and cynical as an older man, it might be because you did have hopes, dreams and ideals as a teenager (if not then, when?), and they have been crushed... I feel sorry for you.

[dwilson59]

It is one way to clean the Gene pool.

[goffredo29]

"Many Teens Think They'll Die Young." Many adults wish they themselves had died young. So, it all evens out. Michael Jackson and Billy Mays are the lucky ones.

[jab232]

When I was a teenager I thought I would die young too. I remember having conversations about it. And I am 67.