How Teens Make Decisions

(Ivanhoe Newswire)- A new study provides some explanation as to why young teens might practice poor judgment when it comes drugs and having sex.  

Scientists at five universities, including Temple, Georgetown and UCLA, looked at more than 900 people ranging in age from 10 to 30 from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.  They questioned them all about future consequences of their decisions.

The researchers found teenagers don't always consider the consequences and prefer immediate rewards.  The study found teens are shortsighted more due to immaturity in brain systems that control “sensation seeking” rather than the systems responsible for “self control.”

“Those who wish to use research on adolescent decision-making to guide legal policies concerning teenagers’ rights and responsibilities need to be more specific about which particular capacities are being studied – sensation seeking or self-control – since they don’t all mature along the same time table,” study lead author, Laurence Steinberg, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Temple University was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: Child Development, January/February 2009

Sign up for a free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs called First to Know by clicking here.