Planned Versus Unplanned Risks: Evidence for Subtypes of Risk Behavior in Adolescence.

Risk behavior escalates during adolescence, contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality. This study examined whether individual differences in personality and neurocognitive function previously shown to be associated with overall frequency of risk behavior are differentially related to two proposed subtypes of adolescent risk behavior: planned and unplanned. Adolescents (N = 69, 49% male, M = 15.1 years, SD = 1.0), completed a battery of self-report measures and neurocognitive tasks. Several personality and neurocognitive variables predicted membership in the planned versus unplanned risk group: perceiving the benefits of risk behaviors to outweigh risks, more accurately identifying beneficial choices in a modified Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and performing more advantageously on the IGT and the Game of Dice Task. This study supports the hypothesis that planned versus unplanned risk behavior comprise distinct subtypes in adolescence. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these subtypes may inform prevention programs targeting specific contributors to adolescent risk behavior.