predictors of risk-taking among female students in esfarayen in 2023: an application of self-regulation theory

Background: today, the prevalence of risky behaviors among adolescents is considered an important concern that can threaten their health. various factors can affect risk-taking, and one of the most important factors is excitement. according to the role of self-regulation theory in the regulation of emotions, this study was conducted to determine factors affecting the risk-taking of female students. methods: the current cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 on 300 first high school female students who were selected by a multi-stage sampling method. the data collection tools included a demographic information questionnaire, a risk-taking questionnaire for iranian adolescents, and a questionnaire to measure the strategies of self-regulation theory. descriptive statistics, mann-whitney tests, spearman correlation analysis, kruskal-wallis, and multiple linear regression were used for data analysis by spss. the level of significance in all tests was considered to be p<0.05. results: the mean (standard deviation) of the risk-taking score was 70.56 (±22.97). there was a significant direct relationship between the variables of educational background, history of violent behavior, experience of anger and emotions, and history of depression with risk-taking (p<0.05). moreover, a direct and significant correlation was found between risk-taking and age (r=0.168, p<0.001) and self-reflection (r=0.467, p<0.001). there was an inverse and significant correlation between risk-taking with goal-setting (r=-0.386, p<0.001), self-monitoring (r=-0.436, p<0.001), and evaluation and judging performance (r=-0.649, p<0.001). the results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the evaluation and judgment of the performance had a significant negative relationship and were the strongest predictors of risk-taking among female students (β=-0.434, p<0.001). self-regulatory strategies predicted 52.2% of students' risk-taking in total (β=-0.434 , r2=0.525 , p<0.001). conclusion: risk-taking can be significantly affected by self-reflection, self-monitoring, evaluation, and judging performance. it is suggested that educational interventions be designed based on self-regulation theory strategies with an emphasis on evaluation and judgment of the performance to reduce students' risk-taking and empower them to face risky behaviors.