Understanding Risky Behavior Engagement Amongst Chinese Adolescents

The goal of the current study is to examine whether neuroticism, cognitive emotional regulation deficits, and/or their interaction predict increased engagement in risky behaviors following increases in symptoms of depression. At Time 1, 411 Chinese adolescents from Yue Yang, Hunan completed self-report measures assessing cognitive emotion regulation, depressive symptoms, and risky behavior engagement. Follow-up assessments occurred once a month for 6 months, and participants completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and risky behavior engagement. In line with our hypotheses, results of idiographic, multilevel modeling analyses indicated that individuals who exhibited high levels of neuroticism and a tendency to utilize maladaptive cognitive emotional regulation strategies were more likely than individuals possessing only one or neither of these vulnerability factors to report greater engagement in risky behaviors following increases in symptoms of depression.