Teens Divulge Risky Behavior On Social Networking Sites

January 6, 2009 6:36 a.m. EST

Miami, FL (AHN) - Teens often post candid information about sex, drugs, alcohol and violence on social networking sites that may later prove embarrassing when viewed by future employers, according to two new studies from the University of Washington and the Seattle Children's Research Institute and the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

The studies, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, also found that if someone warns the teens about the risks of their behavior, the teens often delete the information.

In one study, Dr. Megan Moreno, working for the University of Washington and the Seattle Children's Research Institute, randomly selected 500 teens on MySpace who identified their ages as 18. She and her colleagues found that 54 percent of the teens' pages contained information about their risky behavior - with 24 percent referencing sexual behavior, 41 percent referencing substance abuse and 14 percent referencing violent behavior.

For the second study, researchers randomly selected 190 social networking profiles of young people ages 18 to 20 that contained information about their risky behavior. Half the young people were sent an e-mail from a physician warning them about their behavior and suggesting they not publish the information.

Almost 14 percent of the people contacted deleted the information, compared with 5 percent of the others, the Washington Post reported.