Introduction

Although adolescent risk-taking is often characterized as negative, more recent work focuses on risk as a spectrum of negative to positive behaviors. We propose inclusive behavior as a new category of positive risk-taking focused on helping and facilitating social belonging for those who are marginalized or excluded. We use a qualitative approach to explore adolescents’ perceptions of the risks involved in inclusive behavior and the factors that motivate acting inclusively at school.

Methods

30 focus groups were conducted at 16 middle and high schools across the United States. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 194 students in grades 6–12 (11–19 years old). Students were majority female (61%) and self-identified as white (68%). Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis.

Results

Students often perceived the decision to act inclusively as risky because it involved weighing uncertain outcomes, including potential costs (e.g. peer rejection) and rewards (e.g. friendship). Students primarily focused on the role of peer group influence, but also discussed how school norms, the identity of the peer they were trying to include, and their own motivations affected the perceived risk involved in acting inclusively.

Conclusions

This study provides an exploratory look at adolescents’ experiences of inclusive behavior. Findings support the current conceptualization of positive risk-taking behavior and suggest a multi-level framework for inclusive risks. Exploring the factors that make inclusive behavior differentially risky across individuals and contexts is a first step towards understanding how inclusive behavior fits within the positive risk-taking framework and designing interventions to reduce the risks involved.

中文翻译：

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没错，但也有风险：包容性行为是青春期的积极风险

介绍

尽管青少年冒险行为通常被描述为消极的，但最近的工作将风险作为一系列消极到积极的行为。我们建议将包容性行为作为一种新的积极冒险类别，重点是帮助和促进被边缘化或被排斥的人的社会归属感。我们使用定性方法来探索青少年对包容性行为所涉及的风险的看法以及促使他们在学校采取包容性行为的因素。

方法

在全美 16 所中学和高中开展了 30 个焦点小组。横断面样本包括 194 名 6-12 年级（11-19 岁）的学生。学生大多数是女性 (61%)，自称为白人 (68%)。使用定性主题分析对数据进行分析。

结果

学生们常常认为包容性行动的决定是有风险的，因为它涉及权衡不确定的结果，包括潜在的成本（例如同伴拒绝）和奖励（例如友谊）。学生主要关注同龄人群体影响的作用，但也讨论了学校规范、他们试图纳入的同龄人的身份以及他们自己的动机如何影响包容性行为所涉及的感知风险。

结论

这项研究对青少年的包容性行为经历进行了探索性研究。调查结果支持当前积极冒险行为的概念化，并提出了包容性风险的多层次框架。探索使包容性行为在个人和环境中具有不同风险的因素是了解包容性行为如何适应积极的冒险框架并设计干预措施以降低所涉及的风险的第一步。