Ricerc@Sapienza

Risk-taking is a critical health factor as it plays a key role in several diseases and is related to a number of health risk factors. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of alexithymia in predicting risk preferences across decision domains. One hundred and thirteen participants filled out an alexithymia scale (Toronto Alexithymia Scale-TAS-20), impulsivity and venturesomeness measures (I7 scale), and-1 month later-the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE questionnaire).

Epidemiological data indicate that risk behaviors are among the leading causes of adolescent morbidity and mortality worldwide. Consistent with this, laboratory-based studies of age differences in risk behavior allude to a peak in adolescence, suggesting that adolescents demonstrate a heightened propensity, or inherent inclination, to take risks. Unlike epidemiological reports, studies of risk taking propensity have been limited to Western samples, leaving questions about the extent to which heightened risk taking propensity is an inherent or culturally constructed aspect of adolescence.

Literature on youth and risk has traditionally been dominated by psycho-dynamic
explanations of social action, studied within a set of adult discourses and searching
for single causes for risk-taking in practices like the abuse of alcohol and drugs,
unprotected sex and dangerous driving.
To overcome these limitations, we listened to young Italian people through a
survey conducted on a sample of 1,175 secondary school students and aimed at
collecting their viewpoints on and experiences of the relationship between risk and
leisure.