תפיסת התנהגויות סיכוניות בקרב אימהות לבני נוער בישראל והקשר שלה לרמת הדתיות

Empirical evidence links parents’ attitudes, perceptions, and behavior with their children’s functioning and involvement in risky behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceptions of Israeli mothers towards risk behaviors and their willingness to accept risk behaviors in their children, while also looking at the connection of these behaviors to the mothers and the children’s level of religiosity. Quantitative questionnaires were given to 284 mothers of teenagers aged 13–18 – 141 secular mothers and 143 religious mothers. The findings revealed that the mothers’ willingness to accept risk behaviors by their children was more rigid than their general perception of risk behaviors and was related to the assessment of their child’s risk. The assessment of the child’s risk level was found to be related to their level of religiosity in the mother’s eyes. In addition, religious mothers were found to demonstrate a more rigid stance towards risky behaviors than secular mothers. However, no differences were found between religious and secular mothers in the willingness to accept their children’s risk behaviors. The research and applied importance of the findings is discussed.