"Home Alone": Potential Implications for Adolescents

¹ University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642

Considerable attention has been given in the literature to the clustering of adolescent "problem behaviors" (premature sexual activity, substance abuse, cigarette smoking, marijuana use, school underachievement).^1-3 The resultant potential of these behaviors for morbidity and mortality has prompted further investigation into the clustering of problem behaviors as a concept. Moreover, if one theory or condition could be shown to underlie such high-risk behaviors, it might be possible to target interventions specifically toward that one etiology rather than toward the several elements of the combination of personal, social, and environmental etiologies that are thought to lead to risk-taking. The earlier the intervention, the potentially more effective it would be, because young people, their families, and society would be spared untoward outcomes.