Abstract:

The period of adolescence is one of the key periods in every person's life, which is reflected in the development of human personality. Within peer groups, there is rivalry and constant comparison among the adolescents. Such a comparison and the adolescence period itself creates a great space for development of various adolescents' doubts and uncertainties about themselves and may lead to some risky activities associated with seeking exciting experiences, experimenting with addictive substances, and other forms of risky behaviour. Lately many studies have described the impact of self-esteem on risky behaviour among adolescents. The main aim of the research is to discover relevant findings concerning the tendencies of emerging adolescents risky behaviour in relation to their self-esteem. The research sample consisted of 257 pupils of primary schools in the Olomouc region in the Czech Republic, aged 13-15 years. To determine the empirical data, we used the following research methods: the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the risk behaviour scale VRCHA, (Dolejš, 2015). The results of the research suggested the following findings: the low self- esteem of the young adolescents was correlated to the risk behaviour while high self- esteem serves as a prevention towards risk activities. Gender differences were found as well.

Keywords:

Adolescents, risk behaviour, self-esteem.