Interesting report of a study that appea…

Interesting report of a study that appeared in the journal Pediatrics (Vol 124, No 1) led by researcher Dr. Iris Bowrowsky. Found that 1 in 7 teens thinks he or she is going to die before age 35 and this behavior leads many to engage in risky behaviors. They analyzed data from nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 youth in grades 7-12. They found that adolescents who thought they had a good chance of dying earlier were more likely to engage in illicit drug use, suicide attempts, fighting and unsafe sexual activity that those who didn’t feel that way. The study suggests that in some cases teens take risks because they “feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake.”