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Body Piercing Linked to Risky Behavior in Teens


While body piercing has become common among adolescents
and many parents may see the trend as a harmless means of self-
expression, new study findings suggest that teens with piercings
are more likely to smoke cigarettes, use drugs and exhibit other
types of unhealthy behavior.


Researchers presented the results of their analysis of 1996 data
on more than 4,500 adolescents aged 12 to 21. The researchers
defined body piercing as piercing in a body part other than the ear.


Both boys and girls with body piercings were more likely to have
friends that used substances such as cigarettes, marijuana and
other illicit drugs.


Body piercing was less common in boys than in girls, with 7.1%
of females and 1.6% of males having piercings. In boys, piercing
was associated with problem drinking; getting in trouble with parents,
school and friends because of drinking; and truancy.


Girls with body piercings were more likely
to have smoked cigarettes or marijuana in the last
month, and to have failing grades. Pierced girls were also more
likely to have skipped school within the last year, and to exhibit
antisocial behavior such as painting graffiti, petty theft and shoplifting.


It may be that body piercing is a way for teens to identify with
their peer group, and that peer group tends to be higher in risk taking.

If a teen wants to get a body piercing, a parent might want to
have a discussion of why, and what other risk behaviors they
might be engaging in.


And given the behaviors associated with piercing found in his study,
the presence of body piercing should open up a dialogue about
other behaviors that the teen might be considering, or has
already tried.


Many of the behaviors adolescents engage in aren't really visible.
But body piercing, by its very nature, is visible. So this could
be a visual sign of behaviors that might otherwise go unrecognized


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