A MULTIMETHOD ANALYSIS OF RISK PERCEPTIONS AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN

Child and adolescent risky behavior rank high as causes of negative he alth outcomes for contemporary youths. The main focus of the present i nvestigation was to examine the congruence (convergent validity) among several methods (e.g., self, peer, teacher) of assessing youths' risk propensity and to explore the relation of these measures to self-repo rted frequency of risky health behavior in a sample of 436 children in elementary and junior high school. Findings indicated low degrees of congruence between the rater sources in their assessments of target su bject riskiness. There was a tendency, however, for peers and teachers to agree with each other more than either agreed with self-reports. I n addition, several interesting developmental patterns in children's r isk perceptions were revealed. Specifically, the efficacy of the vario us measures' ability to predict risk-taking criterion measures varied depending on whether a risky or preventive behavior was being assessed and on the grade level of the target subject. Theoretical and applied implications of the findings are discussed.