Positive and negative risk-taking behaviors in adolescents: Distinct characteristics, interrelationships, and influencing factors

Table 1 Summary of influencing factors associated with adolescents’ positive and negative risk-taking behaviors

Domain	Factors	Positive risk-taking	Negative risk-taking	Shared/distinct	Ref.
Individual	Sensation-seeking	↑	↑	Shared1	[12,15,38]
	Reward sensitivity	↑	↑	Shared1	[58]
	Impulse control	No significant association	↓	Distinct2 (negative)	[12]
	Low sensitivity to punishment	No significant association	↑	Distinct2 (negative)	[58]
	Self-regulation	↑	↓	Shared1	[59,60]
Family	Family support	↓ (context-dependent3)	↓	Shared1	[37]
	Negative paternal parenting	↑	↑	Shared1	[80]
	Positive parenting	↑ (context-dependent3)	↓	Shared1	[75,81]
Peer	Prosocial peer affiliation	↑	No significant association	Distinct2 (positive)	[37,80]
	Deviant peer affiliation	No significant association	↑	Distinct2 (negative)	[37,80]
	Peer encouragement	↑ (prosocial contexts)	↑ (antisocial contexts)	Shared1	[90,101]
School	School engagement	↑	↓	Shared1	[12,107]
	Teacher-student relationship	↑	↓	Shared1	[110,111]
	Academic performance	↑	↓	Shared1	[112]
Community	Neighborhood safety/resources	↑	↓	Shared1	[117]
	Exposure to community violence	No significant association	↑	Distinct2 (negative)	[121]
	Community cohesion/support	↑	↓	Shared1	[118,124]

¹Factors influencing both types of risk-taking.

²Factors uniquely influencing one type.

³Effects vary based on participants’ age, behavioral categories, and situational or cultural factors.

↑: Associated with increased likelihood of the behavior; ↓: Associated with decreased likelihood of the behavior.