Risk-Taking Behavior

This is a thoughtfully selected and well-arranged presentation of interrelated psychosocial research efforts by 16 recognized authorities with broad knowledge and expertise in the study of human risk-taking behaviors. Editor J. Frank Yates has managed to pull this diverse theoretical and methodological information together into a readable and useful whole. However, for the most part, these studies are not medically or psychiatrically focused and probably will prove of limited interest or direct utility to the average practicing physician. From a research-oriented viewpoint, there is significantly more to be gained, of course. Chapter 8, "Risk Taking and Health," by Adler, Kegeles, and Genevro, is notable in this regard, especially the discussion of models for studying health behaviors and two examples of health problems studied. One deals with identifying and changing risky behaviors related to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the other with behaviors connected with unwanted pregnancies. Other obvious aspects of health