Teen boys like taking risks

Teenage boys like taking risks more than men do, a new study says. Researchers at the University College London's Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience did a study of 86 boys and men aged between nine and 35. They asked them to play a computer game and looked at their emotional response to it.

The researchers found that teens are better at weighing up the pros and cons of their decisions than younger children are. But they take more risks than men do because they get a thrill from doing dangerous things.

One of the researchers, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, says the study helps to explain why so many teenage boys do dangerous things like driving too fast, taking drugs and having unprotected sex. “Understanding why teenagers take such risks is important for public health interventions and for families," she says.