Role of Neuroticism and Conscientiousness in Adolescents’ Health Risk Behaviour

Abstract

Adolescence is a crucial developmental period during which people undergo physical, emotional, and cognitive changes as they grow from infancy to maturity. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to health-risky activities during this time. Many researchers have found that neuroticism and conscientiousness significantly correlate with health-risk behaviour in adolescents. This research explores the role of neuroticism and conscientiousness in health risk behaviour and how neuroticism and conscientiousness contribute to adolescents’ health-risk behaviors. Using purposive sampling included 100 adolescents aged 10 to 19 from diverse backgrounds. They were administered the Risk-Taking scale to evaluate health risk behaviour and BFI-2 to assess personality traits, especially conscientiousness and neuroticism. Pearson product moment correlation and regression used for the analyses and results of the study indicated that conscientiousness is negatively and significantly correlated with health risk behaviour, and neuroticism has a positive and significant correlation with health risk behaviour. Conscientiousness and neuroticism are substantial predictors of adolescents’ health risk behaviour.