Abundant Life Academy - Adolescents and Decision Making

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Adolescence and Decision Making

Poor or bad decisions have resulted in almost one-half of the youth in this country engaging in one or more of the following problem behaviors: substance abuse; school failure; delinquency; or early, unprotected intercourse (Bogenschneider, Small, and Riley, 1990). Adolescence is a time of increasing opportunities to make decisions about whom to be friends with, whether to go to college, who to date, whether to have sex, and whether to use alcohol or other drugs. Choices made in adolescence may have life-long consequences for an individual's health, career, psychological well-being, and social acceptance (Mann, Harmoni, and Power, 1989).

Age of Decision Makers

Children begin making decisions that have consequences when they are very young. As they mature, the number of decisions they make increases. The following graph shows how a child's control over decision making changes with age.

At about age 10, the beginning of early adolescence, the child's control is approximately equal to the adult's control. Decision making should gradually shift from almost complete control by the parents to almost complete control by the young adult, with continued monitoring, input, and support from the parent.

Youth vary in their ability to make decisions based on age and maturity. Older adolescents often make better decisions than younger adolescents do. But the decision-making skills of older adolescents are far from perfect.

Younger children tend to use only one dimension of information, while older children use a multidimensional approach, based on a number of sources of information. By age 12, some children are capable of a planned approach to making choices. This is important because this is the time in which many decision-making skills develop. By ages 13 and 14, youth can think more abstractly, so young teens are finding their own solutions to many of their problems. It is also a time to test their ideas. By ages 15-17, teens are beginning to make important long-range decisions about education and careers.

Adolescents Need Decision-Making Opportunities

Adolescents need opportunities to practice and discuss realistic decision making. One strategy to accomplish this is to provide more opportunities for adolescents to engage in role-playing and group problem solving. Another strategy is for parents to involve their adolescents in appropriate decision-making activities. One study found that adolescents are more likely to participate in family decision making when they perceive themselves as in control of what happens to them and if they feel that their input will have some bearing on the outcome of the decision-making process (Liprie, 1993).

Another way youth learn to make decisions is by observing their parents. But, sometimes, parents make impulsive or unwise decisions. If parents are going to guide their children, they need to examine how they make decisions. For example, parental life-styles and modeling can affect adolescent sexual decisions. Adult modeling of appropriate sexual attitudes and behavior can be an important way to help adolescents make decisions about sexuality (Schvaneveldt and Adams, 1983)./div>

Decision Making--Adults vs. Adolescents

Decision making depends on the decision maker's beliefs and values. If the decision-making process is applied to risky behavior, as is often the case, adolescents and adults might consider different options. For example, an adolescent may see only two options: smoking or refusing to smoke marijuana. An adult may consider three options: smoking it, only pretending to smoke it, and refusing to smoke it.

Adolescents and adults might differ in their identification of the possible consequences that might follow a decision. For example, compared to adults, adolescents may worry much more about what their peers will think if they refuse to smoke marijuana. While adults may see these consequences as trivial, in the eyes of teens, it may be very important.

Adolescents may place different value on some of the possible consequences as well as assessing the likelihood of some of the consequences. Adolescents often let emotions and their desire to fit in with peers influence their decisions, especially about risky behavior. This makes it more important that parents take into account consequences from the adult's point of view but to also consider the influences and values of the adolescent (Furby and Beyth-Marom, 1992).

Because of the growing concern that adolescents are increasingly engaging in risky behaviors, here are some suggestions for helping youth become better decision-makers.

Decision making is a learned skill, a life skill. If youth learn a step-by-step decision-making process early in life, these steps can become habit over time. If the process is logical and rational, decision making will become an integrated life skill.

Provide opportunities for youth to make decisions in families, youth organizations, social settings.

Start young. At age 13 or 14, youth can learn to make decisions that take advantage of their ability to think more complexly and abstractly. Adolescence is a critical decision-making time in a person's life.

Partner with youth in decision making. Allow them to make decisions under parental guidance. Youth have a right and responsibility to participate in decisions that affect them. Recognize that learning how to make good decisions will sometimes result in mistakes. That's part of the learning process. Parents shouldn't overreact.

Model the capacity to share in a participatory approach to decision making. Young people want to be involved in decisions that affect them. In an Iowa youth poll, more than half of the respondents felt that no opportunities existed for them to become involved in the planning of alcohol abuse programs designed to help students. Adults need to learn how to work with youth in the decision-making process (Iowa State University, 1991).

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