Decision Strategies to Reduce Teenage and Young Adult Deaths in the United States

Abstract

This article uses decision analysis concepts and techniques to address an extremely important problem to any family with children, namely, how to avoid the tragic death of a child during the high-risk ages of 15-24. Descriptively, our analysis indicates that of the 35,000 annual deaths among this age group in the United States, approximately 20,000 could be avoided if individuals chose readily available alternatives for decisions relating to these deaths. Prescriptively, we develop a decision framework for parents and a child to both identify and proactively pursue decisions that can lower that child's exposure to life-threatening risks and positively alter decisions when facing such risks. Applying this framework for parents and the youth themselves, we illustrate the logic and process of generating proactive alternatives with numerous examples that each could pursue to lower these life-threatening risks and possibly avoid a tragic premature death, and discuss some public policy implications of our findings.

Understanding and Reducing Inconsistency in Seatbelt‐Use Decisions: Findings from a Cardinal Decision Issue Perspective

“…The scientific challenges implicit in inconsistent seatbelt use are formidable, too. Typically, scholarly analyses presume that seatbelt use rests on decisions . Suppose that a driver fails to use her seatbelt on a given trip.…”

“…This is assumed to have resulted from her decision to drive without her belt. Many analyses therefore focus on constructs that are implicated in other, analogous decisions, especially risk perceptions that underestimate the objective hazards of driving beltless . Then, however, we must meet the challenge of explaining several puzzling findings.…”

“…Typically, scholarly analyses presume that seatbelt use rests on decisions. (8,9) Suppose that a driver fails to use her seatbelt on a given trip. This is assumed to have resulted from her decision to drive without her belt.…”

“…Many analyses therefore focus on constructs that are implicated in other, analogous decisions, especially risk perceptions that underestimate the objective hazards of driving beltless. (9,10) Then, however, we must meet the challenge of explaining several puzzling findings. These include the fact that selfacknowledged beliefs about the connection between seatbelt use and the risk of injury or death are not markedly different for drivers who use their seatbelts routinely from those who do not.…”

Integrating Evidence-Based Interventions for Adolescents Into Primary Care

“…1 Behaviors such as substance use, physical inactivity, violence, and unsafe sexual behaviors are among the leading causes of preventable death among youth and tend to begin in adolescence. 1,2 …”