Abstract
Adolescent health-risk behaviors can have long lasting negative effects throughout an individual’s life, and cause a major economic and social burden to society. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of the health-risk behaviors among Chinese adolescents and to test the trends in health-risk behaviors without and with adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Data were drawn from the School-based Chinese Adolescents Health Survey, which is an ongoing school-based study about the health-risk behaviors among Chinese adolescents (7th to 12th grade). During the first wave through the third wave, the prevalence of lifetime, past 12-month, and past 30-day use of opioid decreased by 4.19%, 0.63%, and 0.56%, respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of lifetime, past 12-month, and past 30-day sedative use decreased by 3.03%, 0.65%, and 0.35%, respectively. During the three waves, most trends in the prevalence of health-risk behaviors were downward, with a few exceptions: The prevalence of lifetime smoking, drinking, methamphetamine use, and sleep disturbance increased by 7.15%, 13.08%, 0.48%, and 9.06%, respectively. The prevalence of lifetime 3,4-methylene dioxy methamphetamine use (from 0.49% to 0.48%), lifetime mephedrone use (from 0.30% to 0.24%), or suicide attempts (from 2.41% to 2.46%) remained stable.
Highlights
Adolescence is usually defined as a developmental period of immense behavioral, psychological, and social change, and characterized as a stage of increased imitation and exploration with a range of health-risk behaviors (HRBs) [1]
12-month opioid use modestly decreased by 0.63%, and the prevalence of past 30-day opioid use modestly decreased by 0.56%
Most trends in the prevalence rates of HRBs were downward, with a few exceptions: The prevalence of lifetime smoking increased by 7.15%, the prevalence of lifetime drinking increased by 9.05%, the prevalence of lifetime methamphetamine use increased by 0.48%, and the prevalence of sleep disturbance increased by 9.06%
Summary
Adolescence is usually defined as a developmental period of immense behavioral, psychological, and social change, and characterized as a stage of increased imitation and exploration with a range of health-risk behaviors (HRBs) [1]. Most of the adverse health consequences experienced by adolescents are the results of their risk behaviors [2]. There is no uniform definition of health-risk behavior worldwide, it is generally considered as behaviors that negatively affect health, such as substance use (e.g., the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and psychoactive drugs), sleep disturbance, suicidal behaviors, and so on [3]. Those HRBs can have long lasting negative effects throughout an individual’s life, and cause a major economic and social burden to the society [4]. The Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) (2009/2010)
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