Youngsters are inclined to think about early death and what is worse...

As a study of more than 20,000 kids grades 7 to 12 who were interviewed three times between 1995 and 2002 revealed, around 15% think they are to die young before age 35. Thus, survey suggests increase of drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior. It was also found that these fatalistic kids are engaged in more risky behavior than more optimistic kids. The study is to appear in the July issue of Pediatrics.

Scientists broadly believed that teenagers take risks because they underestimate bad consequences and are sure "it can't happen to me". This new research upholds evidence refuting that thinking. The study presents an even stronger case against the invulnerability idea, Cornell University professor Valerie Reyna believes.

The research challenges conventional wisdom that says teens engage in risky behavior because they think they're invulnerable to harm. And as University of Minnesota researcher Dr. Iris Borowsky considers, instead, a sizable number of teens may take chances "because they feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake."

As Borowsky says, such a behavior threatens to turn teens’ fatalism into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Over seven years, kids who thought they would die early were seven time more likely than optimistic kids to be subsequently diagnosed with AIDS. They also were more likely to attempt suicide and get in fights resulting in serious injuries, the researcher states.

Involved in the research Dr. Jonathan Klein, a University of Rochester adolescent health expert, suggests a new way doctors could detect kids likely to engage in unsafe behavior and potentially help prevent it. And one of the most important component of the ways, doctors can figure out who those kids at greater risk are, is probably asking about this sense of fatalism, the doctor says. 

One more surprising fact that was found is that Native Americans, blacks and low-income teens - kids who are disproportionately exposed to violence and hardship - were much more likely than whites to believe they'd die young.