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Risk Management with Teens

Risk Management with Teens . Mark E. Crawford, Ph.D. Overview. 1 ) Why do students take more risks as they enter adolescence? 2) What are the things we need to be particularly vigilant about during these years? 3) What are some effective strategies for parents to help protect our kids?.

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Risk Management with Teens

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  1. Risk Management with Teens Mark E. Crawford, Ph.D.

  2. Overview • 1) Why do students take more risks as they enter adolescence? • 2) What are the things we need to be particularly vigilant about during these years? • 3) What are some effective strategies for parents to help protect our kids?

  3. This is NOT a “good kid” vs. “bad kid” issue…. • Good kids make BAD decisions…. • The teenage brain: • Is bad at risk assessment • Seeks novelty and stimulation • Does not anticipate consequences effectively

  4. Teen brain development from ages 5 – 20 years:

  5. Executive skills: • planning ahead • making informed judgments and weighing the potential costs, benefits, and risks of making various decisions (anticipating consequences) • Drawing on past experience in the moment of decision making • organizing tasks • prioritizing activities • deciding when to initiate or start a task in order to allow sufficient time to complete that activity

  6. Executive skills: • inhibiting impulses • controlling the expression of powerful emotions such as anger, anxiety, and frustration in order to prevent these feelings from exerting too much influence on judgment and decision making (emotional highjacking)

  7. The Three R’s Privileges RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY RISK

  8. The Three R’s RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY RISK

  9. The Third R: Risk • Substance Abuse • Sexual Behavior • Technology

  10. Percentage of students who drank at least one drink in the last 30 days: • Grade 9 31.5% • Grade 10 40.6% • Grade 11 45.7% • Grade 12 51.7% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  11. Percentage of students who had 5 or more drinks in a row within 2 hours in the last 30 days: • Grade 9 15.3% • Grade 10 22.3% • Grade 11 28.3% • Grade 12 33.5% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  12. Percentage of students who have tried marijuana at least once: • Grade 9 26.4% • Grade 10 35.5% • Grade 11 42% • Grade 12 45.6% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  13. Percentage of students who have smoked marijuana at least once in the last 30 days: • Grade 9 15.5% • Grade 10 21.1% • Grade 11 23.2% • Grade 12 24.6% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  14. Percentage of students who have abused prescription drugs (without a doctor’s prescription): • Grade 9 15.4% • Grade 10 18.2% • Grade 11 22.7% • Grade 12 25.8% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  15. Percentage of students who have tried marijuana before the age of 13 years: • Grade 9 9.1% • Grade 10 8.3% • Grade 11 6.5% • Grade 12 5.2% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  16. Percentage of students who rode in a car driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol at least once in the last 30 days: • Grade 9 27.5% • Grade 10 28% • Grade 11 29.4% • Grade 12 28.2% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  17. Percentage of students who drove a vehicle when they had been drinking alcohol at least once in the last 30 days: • Grade 9 5% • Grade 10 8.3% • Grade 11 11.4% • Grade 12 15.4% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  18. Teen vs. Adult Rats and the effects of alcohol: • Adolescent rats are less sensitive to the sedative and motor impairment effects of intoxication • Adolescent rats are more sensitive to the social disinhibition induced by alcohol use • Adolescent drunk rats perform worse on memory tasks than adult drunk rats

  19. Implications… • Teens may drink more than adults before they are sedated and have poor motor skills = potential alcohol poisoning • Teens portion of the brain that allows them to be inhibited is more sensitive = riskier behavior • In short: Teenagers can drink far more than adults before they get sleepy enough to stop, but along the way they're impairing their cognitive functions and judgment much more powerfully

  20. Anatomy of an addiction: • Immediate use of a drug increases production of Dopamine • Continued use results in the brain decreasing it’s own production of Dopamine • The brain begins to believe that the thing that produced the Dopamine has survival value • The brain begins to seek the substance • Craving occurs, use increases, dependency follows

  21. What about sex?

  22. Percentage of students who have had sexual intercourse: • Grade 9 31.6% • Grade 10 40.9% • Grade 11 53% • Grade 12 62.3% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  23. Percentage of students who had sexual intercourse for the first time before the age of 13 years: • Grade 9 7.7% • Grade 10 6.5% • Grade 11 4.3% • Grade 12 4.4% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  24. Percentage of students who are currently sexually active: • Grade 9 21.4% • Grade 10 29.1% • Grade 11 40.3% • Grade 12 49.1% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  25. Percentage of students who have had sexual intercourse with 4 or more partners: • Grade 9 8.8% • Grade 10 11.7% • Grade 11 15.2% • Grade 12 20.9% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  26. Percentage of students who used a condom during last sexual intercourse: • Grade 9 64% • Grade 10 67.8% • Grade 11 61.4% • Grade 12 55% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  27. Percentage of teens who DID NOT use a condom during last sexual intercourse: • Grade 9 36% • Grade 10 32.2% • Grade 11 38.6% • Grade 12 45% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS. Surveillance Summaries, June 4. MMWR 2010;59(No. SS-5)

  28. Concerns • Pregnancy • STD’s • Emotional consequences

  29. Technology and Teens • Posting information that is self-incriminating • “Cyber-bullying” • “Sexting” • Conversations are different when not face-to-face • Unrealistic perception of others’ lives (chronic feeling of “missing out” - FOMO) • Failure to develop and fine tune skills needed for one-to-one human interaction

  30. What can you do?? • You have influence with your teen… use it! • Have clear expectations about what your family values and expectations are around sexual activity, substance use, and the use of technology • Appreciate the value of dialogue (many conversations vs. “the talk”) • Understand the teen brain and appreciate the unique vulnerability teens have in high risk situations

  31. Have some limits and decide how you will monitor and enforce them • Identify the highest risk situations

  32. Risk taking (alone v. with friends) Gardner & Steinberg (2004)

  33. Understand and help your kids understand their unique risk factors • Family history • Ever gotten in trouble • History of blackouts • Continued use when being monitored

  34. Be the adult • Your kids need for you to be a parent – not a friend • Present and active in their lives • Providing reliable information • Teaching a value system to help them make decisions • Providing supervision and monitoring them (Don’t be the “cool parent” • Talk to other parents (share information) • Saying “no” for them when they lack the life experience and wisdom to do so for themselves

  35. Questions??

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