Predicting High-Risk Behaviors based on Positive Youth Development and Positive Psychological Capital in Adolescents

The present research aimed to predict high-risk behaviors based on positive youth development and positive psychological capital in adolescents.

This study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of adolescents in the city of Tehran in 2020, from which 298 people were selected using the convenience sampling method. The tools used in this research included the questionnaires of Iranian adolescents' risk-taking, positive youth development, hope, resilience, self-efficacy, and optimism. Pearson's correlation and stepwise regression were used to analyze the data.

The results showed that the dimensions of positive youth development and positive psychological capital were significantly associated with high-risk behaviors and attitude towards substance use in adolescents. The results of the regression analysis also indicated that the components of positive youth development and psychological capital explained 45% of the variance of high-risk behaviors.

According to the obtained results, positive youth development and positive psychological capital (hope, resilience, self-efficacy, and optimism) play an important role in predicting high-risk behaviors in adolescents. Positive youth development and positive psychological capital can reduce the occurrence and continuation of the tendency to high-risk behaviors in adolescents. Therefore, the design of interventions based on the improvement of these characteristics is suggested as a basis for reducing high-risk behaviors in this group of people.