Descriptive analyses were conducted using SPSS. Because we used multiple measures to assess ECFs and impulsivity, it was important to identify underlying factors for each set of indicators (Huizinga et al., 2006) Hence, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify the factors and to test relations between them. In particular, we tested models in which measures of the three types of ECF and the two measures of impulsivity predicted risk taking as assessed by a variety of behaviors. We anticipated that risk behaviors would form a single factor but that impulsivity might form two factors, one for sensation seeking and another for poor behavior control (lack of planning or thinking and problems associated with those tendencies) assessed by the Eysenck scale. Assessment of externalizing behavior tends to reveal correlation between externalizing and internalizing problems (Krueger, Chentsova-Dutton, Markon, Goldberg, & Ormel, 2003; Youngstrom, Findling, & Calabrese, 2003). Hence, we expected to find the same pattern in our data.
