Presenter:  Tara Demers
Faculty Advisor:  Dr. James Wallace
Phone Number:  x6683
E-Mail:  x2tdeme@stlawu.edu

Poster Presentation

The present study investigated the hypothesis that there would be significant relationships between risk taking and sensation seeking. While previous research focused on the risk taking and sensation seeking of adolescents and adults, the current study targeted a preadolescent population.  The revised version of the Sensation Seeking Scale for Children (SSSC) developed by Russo et al. (1993) was used to measure sensation seeking among 10- to 14-year-olds.  Risk taking was assessed with the version of the Self-Report Risk Measure used by Burnham (2001) and Joy (2001).  For this study, 24 children from each of the fourth, sixth, and eighth grades completed both the SSSC and the Self-Report Risk Measure in groups of four.  The order of the presentation of the two measures was counterbalanced to eliminate possible order effects.  Directions for how to use the two scales were provided to the children upon presentation of each of the scales, and demographic information was collected at the beginning of the Self-Report Risk Measure.  Data collection was completed on April 4th.  Multiple regression tests will be performed with the frequency of 18 different risks as the dependent variable.  Various subscales of the SSSC, items on the Self-Report Risk Measure, and demographic information will be the predictor variables.