Which Decision-making Styles are Connected With Risk Behaviour?

Abstract

Background: While the relationship between decision-making styles and other cognitive characteristics has often been investigated, little attention has been given to the connection with health. The main aim of the present research is to examine the association of decision-making styles with risk behaviour in terms of alcohol use, smoking and drug use. Methods: University students from Slovakia (N = 218) filled in the General decision-making styles questionnaire (Scott & Bruce, 1995) identifying five decision-making styles as part of the SLICE study. AUDIT (Babor et al., 2001) was used to assess alcohol use. Smoking was assessed by five items and drug use by ten. Findings: Dependent and spontaneous decision-making styles were positively associated with some aspects of alcohol use and smoking. The relationship of drug use with decision-making styles was not found to be significant. Discussion: Certain decision-making styles are associated with risk behaviour which highlights the importance of the way decisions are made in relation to keeping healthy.