Prevention and Management of Risky Behaviors in Adolescents, Focusing on Suicide, Substance Use, and Risky Sexual Behaviors through Empowerment Programs: A Narrative Review.

Abstract

Background: Empowering adolescents to manage and reduce unhealthy behaviors and promote adaptive behaviors is a promising approach to promoting healthy behaviors. This review was an attempt to evaluate adolescent empowerment programs aimed at preventing and managing risky behaviors.

Materials and methods: This narrative review was conducted in 2023. The texts were reviewed in two sections: (1) a review of articles and books in databases and (2) a review of international websites. The keywords used to search for studies and programs included substance-related disorders, risky behaviors, empowerment, program, adolescent, suicide, and risky sexual behaviors. These keywords were individually searched in international databases such as "PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science." In the second section, a search was conducted on the websites of international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). The inclusion criteria included having the full text of the original articles, articles in English, articles related to the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of empowerment programs, and the age range of adolescents. The texts that only had abstracts and were in non-English languages were excluded.

Results: The programs designed to empower adolescents were in three areas: (1) community-based and peer-based programs, (2) family-based programs, and (3) comprehensive programs. Most programs focused on peer group participation and skill interventions.

Conclusions: A powerful and effective empowering program for adolescents to prevent and control risky behaviors should be designed in the form of comprehensive programs in social, educational, economic, and health dimensions, and with the active engagement and participation of adolescents.