Implicit Measures of Risky Behaviors in Adolescence

A special issue of Adolescents (ISSN 2673-7051). This special issue belongs to the section "Adolescent Health Behaviors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2025) | Viewed by 7528

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: communication psychology; cognitive interfaces; psychometrics; data analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy
Interests: developmental psychopathology; eating disorders; parent-child interactions; trauma; psychoanalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The exploration of adolescence as a pivotal developmental stage reveals a complex interplay of psychological, social, and biological transformations. This period is marked by a heightened inclination towards risk-taking behaviors, which bear significant consequences for adolescents’ future health and well-being. Traditionally, the understanding of these behaviors has been largely based on explicit measures and self-reporting techniques. However, a shift in research paradigms has come to emphasize the substantial influence of implicit processes on adolescent behavior.

Implicit processes operate beneath the conscious level of awareness, influencing decision-making and actions without deliberate intention or control, and these unconscious mechanisms have been increasingly recognized for their role in guiding risk-related behaviors among adolescents beyond the consolidated notion of the imbalance between the maturation of prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making and impulse control, and the limbic system, which regulates emotion and reward processing.

Research on the implicit theories of adolescents, such as beliefs about the malleability of personal traits, revealed that these cognitive frameworks can predict responses to peer conflicts and desires for vengeance, thereby influencing risk-related behaviors. Additionally, the role of implicit processes in the context of substance use has been explored, with studies indicating that automatic behavioral tendencies toward alcohol-related stimuli and weak inhibition skills are associated with higher levels of alcohol use among adolescents. This highlights the interplay between implicit processes and individual differences in response inhibition, further elucidating the mechanisms underlying risk-taking behaviors in adolescence.

Dr. Ileana Di Pomponio
Dr. Luca Cerniglia
Dr. Silvia Cimino
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • adolescence
  • risk factors
  • risky behaviors
  • risk-taking
  • implicit measure
  • IAT

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 180 KiB  
Editorial
Decoding Adolescent Decision Making: Neurocognitive Processes, Risk Perception, and the Influence of Peers
by Luca Cerniglia and Ileana Di Pomponio
Adolescents 2024, 4(2), 222-225; https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents4020015 - 30 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6461
Abstract
Investigating the neurocognitive mechanisms behind implicit risk assessment and decision making in adolescents is crucial for understanding the intricate array of behaviors typical of this developmental phase [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Implicit Measures of Risky Behaviors in Adolescence)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 565 KiB  
Article
Psychometric Properties of the Emotional Exhaustion Scale for Children and Adolescents (EES-CA)
by Jonathan Martínez-Líbano, Catalina Coronado Reyno, Roberto Iturra Lara and Guillermo Barahona-Fuentes
Adolescents 2025, 5(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents5020020 - 13 May 2025
Viewed by 234
Abstract
Emotional exhaustion in children and adolescents has become a significant concern in post-pandemic educational settings, with increased risks of anxiety, depression, and academic disengagement. Despite the growing prevalence of burnout symptoms in school-aged populations, few psychometrically validated tools exist to assess this construct [...] Read more.
Emotional exhaustion in children and adolescents has become a significant concern in post-pandemic educational settings, with increased risks of anxiety, depression, and academic disengagement. Despite the growing prevalence of burnout symptoms in school-aged populations, few psychometrically validated tools exist to assess this construct in younger cohorts. This study aimed to validate the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the Emotional Exhaustion Scale (EES-CA) for use in children and adolescents, focusing on reliability, internal structure, and convergent validity. An instrumental, cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 543 Chilean students aged 10 to 18 (M = 13.00, SD = 1.77). The EES-CA, adapted from the university-level Emotional Exhaustion Scale, was administered along with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Data were analyzed in the following four phases: descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and convergent validity. Reliability was estimated via Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega. EFA supported the following two-factor solution: Scholar Stress and Emotional Fatigue, explaining 58.49% of the total variance. CFA confirmed the superiority of the bifactorial model (χ2 = 91.74, df = 34; CFI = 0.960; RMSEA = 0.072) over the unifactorial model (χ2 = 133.20, df = 35; CFI = 0.932; RMSEA = 0.093). The internal consistency was strong (α = 0.888; ω = 0.883). The convergent validity for the EES-CA showed low correlations with wellbeing (PWI) and non-significant correlations with emotional intelligence (TMMS-24), supporting discriminant validity. The EES-CA exhibits a robust bifactorial structure with high reliability and valid associations with psychological distress measures. This scale is an appropriate and psychometrically sound instrument for assessing emotional exhaustion in school-aged populations, providing a valuable tool for early detection and intervention in educational and mental health contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Implicit Measures of Risky Behaviors in Adolescence)
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