William Penn Life, 2004 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-05-01 / 5. szám
early sexual behavior. Paul Condrin, Liberty Mutual executive vice president, Personal Market, said," We know that parents who cultivate a family environment that includes positive, open channels of communication with their children are much more successful at influencing their children to avoid engaging in dangerous behaviors. Now we know that helping to develop a young person's positive Sense of Self can go to great lengths at improving the odds that the child will avoid alcohol and drug use." Teens Today 2003 points to important steps parents can take to positively enhance their teens' Sense of Self. • Support a wide sampling of interests, activities and age appropriate behaviors. • Encourage separation from parents and age-appropriate independence in decision-making. • Teach peer-to-peer social skills and facilitate positive peer relationships. A teen's Sense of Self also relates directly to mental health and relationships with peers. For example, teens with a low Sense of Self are more likely than teens with a high Sense of Self to report regular feelings of stress and depression, weaker relationships with parents and greater susceptibility to peer pressure. Additional findings- Teens who regularly feel stress or depression are much less inclined than other teens to avoid high-risk behaviors such as drinking, using drugs or engaging in early sexual activity.- Teens who avoid drinking and drug use are more likely to have a favorable self-image.- Regular feelings of stress and depression tend to be more common among sexually active teens than among their non-sexually active peers.- High Sense of Self teens are more resistant to pressure from peers to drink, use drugs or have sex. IffPlI HealthPage What you should know Other findings from the Teens Today 2003 study Teens’ involvement with alcohol increases steadily as they mature. Younger teens are more likely than older teens to drink because of peer pressure. Older teens are more likely than younger teens to drink to escape problems. Teens who are alcohol Repeaters and Experimenters are much more likely than teens who are alcohol Avoiders to have immediate family members who drink a lot. The most commonly used drug among teens is marijuana. Younger teens are more likely than older teens to use drugs to feel grown up. Older teens are more likely than younger teens to use drugs because of stress. Low Sense of Self teens are more likely than are high Sense of Self teens to use drugs to escape from or forget about problems. Low Sense of Self teens are more likely to have friends who use drugs. About half of teens have engaged in some sexual activity other than kissing. The most common reasons for teens to have sex are to strengthen the relationship with a partner and to have fun. Low Sense of Self teens are more likely than high Sense of Self teens to cite boredom and depression as reasons to have sex. Low Sense of Self teens are more likely than high Sense of Self teens to associate sex with negative emotional outcomes such as depression or loss of self-respect. Girls are more likely than boys to link sex with loss of self-respect and depression. The quality of parent-teen relationships is likely to play a critical role in determining teens’ mood and, thus, their susceptibility to destructive decision-making. Teens whose parents set guidelines for their behaviors are more inclined to feel positive about themselves and to avoid drinking and using drugs. High Sense of Self teens are more likely than other teens to communicate openly and honestly with their parents and to describe themselves as close to their parents. Low Sense of Self teens are particularly likely to feel that they spend an insufficient amount of time with their parents. Younger teens are significantly more likely than are older teens to say that their relationship with their parents makes them feel very good about themselves. Teens who avoid drinking and drugs are more likely to have positive relationships with parents. Willi» Pen Life, May 2004 7
