The Impact of Childhood Socioeconomic Status on Adolescents’ Risk Behaviors: The Role of Physiological and Psychological Threats

Xiaowei Geng (), Jinrong Xu, Yicong Li, Feng Zhang, Xinye Sun and Hongyang Yu
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Xiaowei Geng: Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Jinrong Xu: Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Yicong Li: School of Educational Science, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
Feng Zhang: Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Xinye Sun: School of Educational Science, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
Hongyang Yu: Academy of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Southern Federal University, Taganrog 344006, Russia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: Adolescence is a period of high levels of risk behavior. The present research aims to examine the influences of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) on risk behaviors in gain or loss domains among adolescents and the roles of threats in this effect. In experiment 1, a total of 107 adolescents ( M age = 14.80; SD age = 1.15) were asked to complete the childhood socioeconomic status scale before they took part in a risk behavior task under the gain and loss situation. A total of 149 adolescents ( M age = 14.24; SD age = 1.11) in experiment 2a and 139 adolescents ( M age = 13.88; SD age = 1.09) in experiment 2b completed the childhood socioeconomic status scale before they took part in a risk behavior task under the gain and loss situation under physiological threats and psychological threats, respectively. The results showed that high-childhood-SES adolescents tend to take more risks than low-childhood-SES adolescents in the gain domain, while low-childhood-SES adolescents tend to take more risks than high-childhood-SES adolescents in the loss domain. Threats amplified the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on adolescents’ risk behaviors in the gain and loss domains. When a physiological threat or psychological threat was primed, compared to the control group, in the gain situation, the extent to which high-childhood-SES adolescents showed greater risk seeking than low-childhood-SES adolescents became larger; in the loss domain, the extent to which low-childhood-SES adolescents showed greater risk seeking than high-childhood-SES adolescents became larger.

Keywords: childhood socioeconomic status; adolescents; risk behavior; gain domain; loss domain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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