Measuring Risk taking in adolescents: the contribution of the Domain Specific Risk Taking scale (DOSPERT)

The Domain Specific Risk Taking scale (DOSPERT; Weber et al., 2002) was developed to assess and predict risk taking behaviour. In line with the psychological risk-return model (Weber, 1998; Weber et al., 2002), the DOSPERT measures the self-reported probability of engaging in different kind of risky behaviours, but also the relative perceived risks, and the expected benefits across five domains: Social (e.g., admitting that your tastes are different from those of your friends), Recreational (e.g., bungee jumping), Financial/Gambling (e.g., betting a day’s income on the outcome of a sporting event), Health/Safety (e.g., drinking too much alcohol at a party), and Ethical (e.g., revealing a friend's secret to someone else). Figner and Weber (2011) proposed an adapted version of the DOSPERT for adolescents, later translated and adapted in different language versions . The aim of the current study was to test the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the DOSPERT for adolescents. Participants were 335 adolescents (mean age=19, SD=1.9; 52% female). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a parceling approach attested that the five-dimension model fitted the data in the all the scales (Risk probability: χ2/df =2.04; TLI = 0.93; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.056; Risk perception: χ2/ df =2.03; TLI = 0.93; CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.072; Perceived benefits: χ2/ df =2.04; TLI = 0.92; CFI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.062). Reliability values were adequate as well as criterion validity measures obtained exploring the relationships with behavioural measures of risk taking, personality characteristics, and real-life risk behaviours (i.e., gambling). Findings provided evidence of the adequateness of the DOSPERT in measuring risk taking in Italian adolescents.