Philippine E-Journals

Risk-Taking among Filipino Adolescents: A Review with Implications for Research

Liane Pena Alampay | Ma. Emma Concepcion D. Liwag | Alma S. Dela Cruz

Discipline: Psychology

 

Abstract:

The paper integrates and analyzes the local data and literature on Filipino adolescent risk-taking published in the last two and a half decades (i.e., since 1981), using a developmental and ecological perspective. The authors first summarize the documented data on the incidence of risky behaviors, specifically substance use, risky sexual activity, and delinquency; second, the factors associated with the risky behaviors are presented; third, the authors analyze the prevalent themes from the literature and propose variables and mechanisms for conceptualizing and explaining adolescent risk-taking. Implications for further local research are discussed, which highlight the need for more complex research designs that attend to theprocesses and multiple contexts of risky behaviors among Filipino youth.