THE PREADULT HEALTH DECISION-MAKING MODEL - LINKING DECISION-MAKING DIRECTEDNESS ORIENTATION TO ADOLESCENT HEALTH-RELATED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS

In light of the broad consequences of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, as well as the increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), pregnancy, and alcohol and drug abuse among adolescents, there is a great need to understand how adolescents make health decisions. This paper presents a model for adolescent health behavior, the Pre-Adult Health Decision-Making Model (PAHDM), which takes into account the differential information processing from peer sources, parent sources, or through critical or reflexive self-analysis. Also presented is a review of the large corpora of psychological and sociological literature on adolescent development, adolescent health behaviors, and, more specifically, AIDS and other STDs as a public health problem. The need for additional research in the area of adolescent health decision-making, and for a health behavior model that is specific to the "lifeworld" of the adolescent, is stressed.