Understanding Adolescent Health Behaviour
A Decision Making Perspective

A fresh explanation of teenage behaviour arguing that their actions are not as irrational as popular myth suggests.

Kanayo Umeh (Author)

9780521875264, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 May 2009

318 pages, 13 b/w illus. 5 tables
25.4 x 17.9 x 1.9 cm, 0.78 kg

'Umeh takes a refreshingly different approach to the question of adolescent health. He provides a detailed and accessible account of the multifaceted nature of decision making and its significance for understanding teenage health behaviour.' Dr Gillian Penny, University of Northampton

Smoking, drinking, unhealthy eating: how can we explain these actions in teenagers? Do teenagers stop to consider potential hazards or is their decision making frantic and impulsive, with little rational thought? In this intriguing book, Kanayo Umeh debunks conventional explanations of teenage behaviour (peer pressure, self-esteem issues, parent-child conflicts) and offers a fresh perspective based on the premise that teenagers, like adults, retain the power of choice. He shows that adolescents sometimes readily commit to a course of action despite being sceptical about its benefits, and reveals how decision strategies that appear ill-considered to adults are regarded as smart by adolescents, and with convincing justifications. Contrary to stereotypes, the teenager emerges as a curious individual: a multifaceted decision maker whose actions may not be quite as mindless as popular myth suggests.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Choice
3. Goals
4. Fear
5. Consistency
6. Competence
7. Avoidance
8. Impulsivity
9. Change.

Subject Areas: Health psychology [MBNH9], Psychology: emotions [JMQ], Child & developmental psychology [JMC]