Study: 15% of Teens Expect an Early Death
Research shows a surprising number of kids see life as hopeless
Updated 8:20 AM CST, Tue, Jun 30, 2009
So much for youthful optimism.
Newly released research indicates that 15% of teens think they'll die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior.
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.
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 appears in the July issue of Pediatrics, released Monday.
First Published: Jun 30, 2009 7:07 AM CST
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