School of Applied Human Sciences

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Browsing School of Applied Human Sciences by Author "Karinge, Caroline Mwendwa"

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    The Role of Impulsivity in Mitigating Risk-Taking Behaviors among Emerging Adults in Kenya.
    (Daystar University, School of Applied Human Sciences, 2024) Karinge, Caroline Mwendwa
    Risk-taking behaviors are prevalent among emerging adults at the university with risk-taking commonly associated with impulsivity. However, understanding of the role of impulsivity on risk-taking behaviors, has relied heavily on data from the Western world. This research thus sought to establish the relationship between impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors of the emerging adults in Kenya. The Maturation-Gap Hypothesis, Sensation Seeking Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior guided this quantitative research design which employed a survey followed by a task-based experiment. A sample of 297 participants was used for the survey and then stratified random sampling was used to select 12 participants for the experiment. Assessment tools included a demographic and risk-taking questionnaire, BIS-11, NODS-CLiP and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted using SPSS (version 28) and Inquisit Software. Results showed that 61.3% of the students engaged in risk-taking behaviors of interest with 26.9% of them involved in multiple risk-taking behaviors. Male students were more likely to report high-risk sexual behaviors and problem gambling while female students were more likely to report suicidality. There was no significant gender difference in binge drinking or participation in multiple risk-taking behaviors. Risk-taking was not significantly associated with trait impulsivity except for suicidality which was significantly associated with attentional impulsivity. There was a small, positive, non-significant correlation between trait and cognitive impulsivity. These findings underscore a need for gender-specific mitigation programs, targeting multiple risk-taking behaviors, within institutions of higher learning in Kenya. Passive psychoeducation was employed to disseminate data and mitigate risk-taking behaviors encountered.