What is the Relationship between Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills and the Adoption of Risk Behavior in Peru?

Pablo Lavado and Magally Gonzales
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Magally Gonzales: Universidad del Pacífico

No 88, Working Papers from Peruvian Economic Association

Abstract: For many years, research has dealt with the relationship between the adoption of risk behaviors by teenagers and factors related to the family or the environment, ignoring other factors such as teenagers’ own cognitive or non-cognitive skills. This study seeks to demonstrate the relationship between these two variables and ascertain whether adolescents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills are negatively associated with the consumption of legal and illegal drugs, the early initiation of sexual activity, unprotected sex, criminal behaviors and the sedentary lifestyle. The investigation used Peru’s Young Lives database and employed a latent static factor model as a first step and two OLS models in the second stage. The results show that the relationship between risk behaviors, specifically use of legal and illegal drugs and criminal behavior, and cognitive and noncognitive skills is negative. That is, adolescents with higher levels of intelligence, self-steeem and self-efficacy are less likely to engage in risk behaviors.

Keywords: Adolescents; skills; risk behavior; intelligence; self-esteem; self-efficacy; Peru (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-neu
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Journal Article: What is the Relationship between Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills and the Adoption of Risk Behavior in Peru? (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:apc:wpaper:2016-088

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