Abstention refers to a deliberate act of self-denial. The period of adolescence involves considerable abstention, especially in the form of social and legal efforts to encourage adolescents to abstain from engaging in numerous types of behaviors. Included among the most frequent behaviors that adolescents abstain from are smoking (Jacobsen et al. 2005), consuming alcohol and illicit drugs (Rosenberg et al. 2008), engaging in sexual activity (Loewenson et al. 2004), as well as general delinquency (Boutwell and Beaver 2008). Our society has developed and continues to support numerous institutions that help adolescents abstain and that even can use the force of law to have adolescents abstain from activities deemed problematic. Illustrative of these efforts are the juvenile and criminal justice systems, schools, health-care institutions, as well as families. These institutions also embrace efforts to help adolescents abstain from more socially acceptable and legally permissible...
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Levesque, R.J.R. (2011). Abstention. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_353
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