CHILD'S POOR DECISION MAKING SKILLS CAN PREDICT LATER BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
Children who show poor
decision-making skills at age 10 or 11 may be more likely to experience
interpersonal and behavioral difficulties that have the potential to lead to
high-risk health behavior in their teen years, according to a new study from
Oregon State University psychology professor.
These findings suggest
that less-refined decision skills early in life could potentially be a harbinger
for problem behavior in the future," said Joshua Weller, an assistant
professor in the School of Psychological Science in OSU's College of Liberal
Arts.
However, if poor
decision-making patterns can be identified while children are still young,
parents, educators and health professionals may have an opportunity to
intervene and help those children enhance these skills, said Weller, who
studies individual differences in decision-making.
"This research
underscores that decision-making is a skill and it can be taught," he
said. "The earlier you teach these skills, the potential for improving
outcomes increases."
His findings were
published recently in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.
Co-authors are Maxwell Moholy of Idaho State University and Elaine Bossard and
Irwin P. Levin of the University of Iowa. The research was supported by a grant
from the National Science Foundation.
The researchers wanted
to better understand how pre-adolescent children's decision-making skills
predicted later behavior. To do so, they conducted follow-up assessments with
children who had participated in a previous decision-making study.
About 100 children,
ages 10 and 11, participated in the original study, where they answered
questions that helped assess their decision-making skills. They were evaluated
based on how they perceived the risks of a decision, their ability to use
appropriate decision-making rules and whether their confidence about a decision
matched their actual knowledge on a subject.
For the new study,
researchers invited the original study participants -- now 12 and 13 years old
-- and their parents back for a follow-up. In all, 76 children ages
participated in the second study, which included a behavior assessment that was
completed by both the parent and the child.
The behavior
assessment included questions about emotional difficulties, conduct issues such
as fighting or lying and problems with peers. Those kinds of behavioral issues
are often linked to risky health behavior for teens, including substance abuse
or high-risk sexual activity, Weller said.
Researchers compared
each child's scores from the initial decision-making assessment to the child's
and their parent's behavioral reports. They found that children who scored
worse on the initial decision-making assessment were more likely to have
behavioral problems two years later.
"Previous studies
of decision-making were retrospective," Weller said. "To our
knowledge, this is the first research to suggest how decision-making competence
is associated with future outcomes."
The research provides
new understanding about the possible links between decision-making and
high-risk behavior, Weller said. It also underscores the value of teaching decision-making
and related skills such as goal-setting to youths. Some interventions have
demonstrated promise in helping children learn to make better decisions, he
said.
In another recent
study, Weller and colleagues studied the decision-making tendencies of at-risk
adolescent girls who had participated in an intervention program designed to
reduce substance abuse and other risky behavior. The program emphasized
self-regulation, goal-setting and anger management.
The study found that
girls who received the intervention in fifth-grade demonstrated better
decision-making skills when they were in high school than their at-risk peers
who did not participate in the intervention program.
"Most people can
benefit from decision-making training. Will it always lead to the outcome you
wanted? No," Weller said. "However, it boils down to the quality of
your decision-making process."
That is something that
parents and other adults can help children learn. For instance, a parent can
talk about difficult decisions with a child. By exploring multiple points of
view or showing other people's perspectives on the issue, the child learns to
consider different perspectives, he said.
"Following a good
process when making decisions can lead to more favorable outcomes over
time," Weller said. "Focus on the quality of the decision process,
rather than the outcome."
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