{"id":23493,"date":"2024-07-25T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T12:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493"},"modified":"2024-07-06T15:52:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T19:52:00","slug":"faith-matters-4-ways-to-minimizing-teen-risk-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/07\/faith-matters-4-ways-to-minimizing-teen-risk-behavior.html","title":{"rendered":"Faith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We hear a lot about teens at risk. We know their brains are not fully developed, making them more susceptible to impulsive and risky behavior. But there are ways to decrease risky behavior. One of those happens to be religion. So let’s take a look at 4 conditions that researchers have identified to reduce risky behavior in teens and discuss how faith plays a role as a prevention factor.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. When risky behavior is not appealing, it is not engaged in as often. <\/strong>Due to the values of right and wrong, engaging in questionable behavior is less appealing because it bothers your conscience. Christians hold a world view<\/strong> that guides overall behavior. That world view, based on the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit in us, finds certain things unappealing and uncomfortable. When you don’t have a moral code, everything is up for grabs and worth a try. But being centered in your faith brings a different perspective. There are right and wrong ways to behave.<\/li>\n
  2. The Christian life encourages self-examination.<\/strong> As a Christian, we examine our life according to Scripture. Faith acts as a safeguard. When Christian teens are tempted to engage in risky behaviors, their faith provides guardrails around their behavior. Consequences have been discussed. Every day we are to renew our mind with the mind of Christ and act in ways according to what we believe.<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0Risky behavior is not morally acceptable.\u00a0<\/strong> The need to escape or distract through unhealthy behavior is not as strong for the Christian as Christ gives meaning and purpose to life. We are to treat our body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. When you aimlessly drift and have no compass, it is easy to just do what feels right in the moment. But self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and a mark of a Christ follower. So, while temptation exists, the Holy Spirit brings self-control. In other words, you have extra power to resist that which you know is not morally acceptable.<\/li>\n
  4. Low opportunity for risky behavior.<\/strong> \u00a0Christian teens in community find belonging. Church groups and activities provide support and encouragement to do life together based on shared moral values. Basically, Christian community is protective against risk behavior by taming impulsive behavior and influencing right behavior. More voices to do the right thing are present. The power of a healthy peer group is significant. And you are less apt to be around people on a regular basis who engage in risky behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So why do we see so much resistance against Christianity in schools when we know it is a positive factor to deter teen risk behavior? Faith practices lead to better outcomes in teen health and promote positive behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We hear a lot about teens at risk. We know their brains are not fully developed, making them more susceptible to impulsive and risky behavior. But there are ways to decrease risky behavior. One of those happens to be religion. So let’s take a look at 4 conditions that researchers have identified to reduce risky…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[8091,8100,8094,8061,8103,2095,8088,8097],"class_list":["post-23493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-christian-teens","tag-moral-behavior","tag-moral-compass","tag-risk-behavior","tag-teen-health","tag-teen-risk-behavior","tag-teens-and-faith","tag-teens-and-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Teens often engage in risky behavior. Yet, religious teens are less likely to engage in risky behavior, so the question is why?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Teens often engage in risky behavior. Yet, religious teens are less likely to engage in risky behavior, so the question is why?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-25T12:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-06T19:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/07\/girls-377661_1280.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior","description":"Teens often engage in risky behavior. Yet, religious teens are less likely to engage in risky behavior, so the question is why?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior","og_description":"Teens often engage in risky behavior. Yet, religious teens are less likely to engage in risky behavior, so the question is why?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2024-07-25T12:00:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-06T19:52:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/07\/girls-377661_1280.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493","name":"Faith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/07\/girls-377661_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-25T12:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-06T19:52:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"Teens often engage in risky behavior. Yet, religious teens are less likely to engage in risky behavior, so the question is why?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/07\/girls-377661_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/07\/girls-377661_1280.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23493#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faith Matters: 4 Ways to Minimizing Teen Risk Behavior"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23493"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23577,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493\/revisions\/23577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}