Understanding Adolescent Risk-Taking through Emotion Dysregulation: Clinical Pathways Linking Sensation Seeking and Peer Pressure

This study examined the relationships among peer pressure, sensation seeking, emotion dysregulation, and risk-taking behavior among adolescents, with particular focus on the mediating role of emotion dysregulation. Adolescent risk-taking is a significant developmental concern because, although some degree of experimentation is considered normative, persistent involvement in risky behaviors may lead to harmful psychological, social, and behavioral outcomes. This study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional design and a sample of 300 adolescents (N=300) was drawn using multi-stage sampling from schools in Rawalpindi. Assessment was done through self-report questionnaires, such as the Risk Orientation Questionnaire (ROQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-16 (DERS-16), Peer Pressure Questionnaire-Revised (PPQ-R) and Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS-8). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, reliability and mediation analyses were carried out. The findings showed that risk-taking behavior was positively correlated with emotion dysregulation (r = .21, p < .01) and sensation seeking (r = .12, p < .05), and risk-taking behavior was not significantly correlated with peer pressure (r = .04, p > .05). Peer pressure was positively correlated with emotion dysregulation (r = .26, p < .01) and sensation seeking was also positively associated with emotion dysregulation (r = .39, p < .01). The results of mediation analyses showed that emotion dysregulation significantly mediated the relationship between peer pressure and risk-taking behavior (indirect effect = .037, 95% CI (.013, .07) and sensation seeking and risk-taking behavior (indirect effect = .12, 95% CI (.03, .22). These findings imply that the susceptibility of adolescents to peer-related stress and sensation-seeking behavior can be increased by the level of emotional problems they encounter.