Health, risks, and risk-taking behaviors in adolescents. Considerations on current priorities

Although most adolescents are healthy, they are prone to risk-taking behaviors, of which most are related to medicosocial or educational factors. Adolescence is a period of accelerated development characterized by extraordinarily tight interactions between the family, living conditions, life style, behaviors, physical health, and mental health. Adolescents who have lived for years in fragile, precarious, or violent environments are at a marked disadvantage. Deprivation and other problems at home become increasingly distressing as the child enters adolescence. Recent studies of youths have demonstrated marked inequalities in opportunities and exposure to risks. As compared with controls, adolescents who were cut off from the social network exhibited clear-cut differences regarding their history, their current health problems, and most notably their psychological and behavioral characteristics. "Breaking away" from society is not only the most dangerous consequence of these difficulties, but also amplifies them to a substantial extent. These situations should be identified and if at all possible, anticipated. Professionals should work together both within and outside conventional health care structures.