Chapter 6: Self-Efficacy, Adolescents’ Risk-Taking Behaviors, and Health

Perceived self-efficacy makes a difference in how people feel, think, and act (Bandura 1997). Thus, it is reasonable that self-efficacy also governs health behaviors. The role that self-beliefs play in the realm of health behaviors, health outcomes, and health care has been the object of many studies, and the construct of self-efficacy has sparked a great deal of valuable research in health psychology. This construct is of particular value when the aim is to predict whether people engage in healthy behaviors or avoid risky ones. We will commence with providing a brief definition of health behaviors and discuss the specificity of health behaviors in adolescence compared to other periods across the life span. We will provide an overview of health behavior theories and will then proceed to review the evidence reported in empirical studies conducted with adolescents.