Validation of the Adult Risk-Taking Inventory

Risk-taking behaviors (RTB) could lead to morbidity, mortality and poor quality of life. Past work has focused on specific risks (e.g., smoking, unprotected sex). But, people who engage in a specific risky activity are likely to take risks in other areas, suggesting a general tendency of RTB. A general tendency for risk taking constitutes a functional impairment in clinical populations. We introduce a RTB scale that should help clinicians and policy makers in assessing risky behavior and test its psychometric properties. The Adult Risk-Taking Inventory (ARTI) introduced here is a domain-general scale, based on insights from behavioral decision theory. We used two samples from Israel and China (N=1080) to evaluate the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factorial structure, and convergent validity of the scale. We found acceptable levels of internal consistency, a general risk factor, high convergent validity, and high test-retest reliability. The ARTI is a reliable and valid tool for measuring RTB in adults. The broad scope of this scale should prove useful for research as well as for public health services.