Highlighting negative risk factors may be a less effective way to warn teens about harmful behavior like smoking, according to a new study from researchers at The University College of London.
Researchers examined data collected in a study on participants between the ages of 9 and 26. The test subjects were surveyed on questions including how likely they thought they were to experience negative life events like a car accident of getting lung cancer.
They found that even when confronted with statistical data about the likelihood of these occurrences, young people still believed they were not at a high risk.
"The findings could help to explain the limited impact of campaigns targeted at young people to highlight the dangers of careless driving, unprotected sex, alcohol and drug abuse, and other risky behaviors," the researchers said.
"Our findings show that if you want to get young people to better learn about the risks associated with their choices, you might want to focus on the benefits that a positive change would bring rather than hounding them with horror stories."
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