Youth Health Risk Behavior Research Articles

Youth Health Risk Behavior Assessment among University Students in Baghdad, Iraq

INTRODUCTION: Health risk behavior is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. The social and economic costs associated with these behaviors can be reduced by changes in individuals’ behavior. Health-related behavior can either enhance or damage physical, psychological and social wellbeing. Human behavior is influenced by an individual’s health consciousness. OBJECTIVE is to study health related behavior that includes dietary habits, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption, screen time and behavior related to unintentional injury among students attending public universities in Baghdad. METHODS: Study design is Cross Sectional Study; sampling method is multi-stage Cluster sampling. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect student data, a total of 1836 students participated in the study RESULTS: Among the 1836 students who participated in the study, 21.4% are smokers, only 3.4% use seatbelts while driving, 11% took medicine without prescription and 78% did not perform regular exercise. 85% of students use the internet at least three hours per day. Dietary habits of students were average based on diet recommendation. CONCLUSION: Health related behavior traits were average among university students in Baghdad. Policy changes to reinforce stringent road traffic safety measures and initiate regular health promotion programs in universities to motivate students to be more proactive towards their health and fitness.

Association of health-risk behaviors with perceived academic performance among middle and high school students: A cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China.

Adolescence is a susceptible period to establish health-risk behaviors, which may have an impact on academic performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between health-risk behaviors (HRBs) and perceived academic performance (PAP) of adolescents in Shanghai, China. The data of the present study included three-round Shanghai Youth Health-risk Behavior Survey (SYHBS). This cross-sectional survey investigated multiple HRBs of students involved in dietary behaviors, physical activity and sedentary behaviors, intentional and unintentional injury behaviors, and substance abuse behaviors, as well as PAP by using self-reported questionnaire. Using a multistage random sampling method, 40,593 middle and high school students aged 12 to 18 years were involved. Only participants with complete data on HRBs information, academic performance and covariates were included. A total of 35,740 participants were involved in analysis. We used ordinal logistic regression to analyze the association between each HRB and PAP adjusting for sociodemographic, family environment and duration of extracurricular study. The results showed that students who did not eat breakfast or drink milk everyday were more likely to have a lower PAP, with a decreased odds of 0.89 (95%CI: 0.86-0.93, P<0.001) and 0.82 (95%CI: 0.79-0.85, P<0.001), respectively. The similar association was also found in students who did exercise ≥60 minutes for less than 5 days/week, spend time on watch TV beyond 3 hours/day and other sedentary behaviors. Most intentional and unintentional injuries, and ever smoked were associated with a lower PAP. Our finding suggests that multiple HRBs negatively associated with PAP of adolescents. It needs to raise public health concerns with HRBs in adolescents, and to develop and implement comprehensive interventions on HRBs.

청소년의 건강행태와 스트레스가 우울에 미치는 영향

Objectives: This study aims to examine factors affecting depression of adolescents by using the data of the 17th Korean Youth Health Risk Behavior Survey(2020). Methods: The total sample was 54,848 students who are in middle or high school. In this study, sociodemographic variables, health behavior variables, and stress were input to examine the effect on depression. The data was analyzed with χ2-test and hierarchical regression by SPSS statistic program. Results: The results showed that depression was related to sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and stress factors. In the result of hierarchical regression analysis, it was found that not only stress but also other variables had an effect on depression, which had a statistically significant effect. Conclusions: It was found that there are various causes such as environmental aspects and health behaviors that surround adolescents' depression rather than a single factor such as stress. Also, stress and depression are reciprocal rather than causal. Adolescents should be subdivided into groups such as grade, gender, or academic performance to relieve stress and depression at the same time through specific interventions.

Dosage in Implementation of an Effective School-Based Health Program Impacts Youth Health Risk Behaviors and Experiences

PurposeThis study is part of a larger evaluation of a multilevel, multistrategy federal program to reduce high school students' risk for HIV/sexually transmitted infection and unintended pregnancy. Local education agencies supported schools in implementing three strategies: delivering exemplary sexual health education, increasing student access to quality sexual health services, and enhancing safe and supportive school environments (SSE). We examined how levels of school implementation of these strategies moderated program effects on targeted student outcomes. MethodsThe Youth Risk Behavior Survey was implemented in participating local education agencies in 2015 and 2017 to assess student behaviors and experiences, whereas the School Health Profiles surveys assessed school policies and practices in 2014 and 2016. We used these surveys to measure student-level outcomes and school-level program delivery, respectively, which were analyzed using multilevel modeling in a difference-in-differences framework. ResultsLevels of SSE implementation significantly moderated program effects on multiple student outcomes, including ever having sex, having four or more lifetime sexual partners, being sexually active, using hormonal birth control, dual use of a condom and hormonal birth control, ever being forced to have sex, missing school because of safety concerns, and lifetime and current marijuana use. However, we found few moderating effects of exemplary sexual health education and sexual health services dosage. DiscussionWe found a significant relationship between incremental increases in implementation of activities to increase the safety and supportiveness of school environments and enhanced program effects in improving multiple student health outcomes. These findings suggest that school implementation of SSE activities contributed to intended program effects.

Predictors of Suicide Attempt among Middle School Students with Suicidal Ideation: Analysis of Data from the 15th (2019) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing suicide attempts among middle school students with suicidal ideation.Methods: Data were from the 2019 Youth Health Risk Behavior Web-based survey collected by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data were analyzed using the SPSS program.Results: Participants were 29,384 middle school students, there were 14.1% of suicide ideation, and 22.2% of them attempted suicide. Among the students with suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts were higher in those who had experiences of alcohol drinking, smoking, substance abuse, and sexual intercourse.Conclusion: Therefore, to prevent suicide accidents among middle school students, there is a need for strategies that would reduce problem behavior such as alcohol drinking, smoking, sexual intercourse, and substance abuse. For middle school students who have already experienced problem behavior, efficient plans should be established for screening, prevention, and treatment of the high-risk groups in suicide attempts.

Risk Behaviors in Youth With and Without Tourette Syndrome

BackgroundSpecific health-risk behaviors are present in older adolescents and young adults wtih Tourette syndrome (TS), but little is known about health-risk behaviors in youth with TS. MethodsWe compared responses on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS) in youth with TS with those in a concurrent community control group. The YRBS evaluates risk behaviors most closely associated with morbidity and mortality in young people. Tic severity, presence of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), measures of ADHD symptom severity, and whether or not the individual had been bullied in school were also compared between the groups. ResultsData from 52 youth with TS and 48 control youth were included. We did not detect any differences between control youth and youth with TS in the reporting of risky behaviors. Tic severity was not significantly associated with high-risk behavior. However, ADHD was significantly more common in youth with TS (P < 0.0002), and youth with TS who identified themselves as victims of bullying had significantly higher ADHD symptom severity scores (P = 0.04) compared with those who were not bullied. ConclusionsRisk behaviors are not reliably or clinically different in youth with TS compared with control youth. ADHD severity, but not tic severity, was associated with being bullied in youth with TS.

The Association of Anxiety Severity With Health Risk Behaviors in a Large Representative Sample of Korean Adolescents.

ObjectivesAnxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders in adolescents and seem to occur the earliest among all forms of psychopathology. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of anxiety severity with health risk behaviors and mental health in adolescents.MethodsData from the 2020 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey were analyzed. A total of 54948 adolescents responded to the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) for the assessment of their anxiety severity as well as to the mental health and health risk behavior survey. Logistic regression analysis, t tests, and variance analysis of a complex sample general linear model were used to examine the association of anxiety severity with health behaviors and mental health.ResultsAfter statistical adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, the subjects in the severe anxiety group were significantly more likely to be current smokers (odds ratio [OR]: 2.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.72–2.50), current drinkers (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.67–2.19), experience habitual substance use (OR: 10.89, 95% CI: 8.22–14.42), have sexual intercourse (OR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.76–2.51), and have unprotected intercourse (OR: 2.21, 95% CI: 1.67–2.92) than those in the normal group. Anxiety severity negatively correlated with sleep satisfaction and happiness, but positively correlated with stress perception, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and suicidality.ConclusionAdolescent anxiety is associated with health risk behaviors and poor mental health. Thus, early screening and intervention for anxiety in adolescents could contribute to the management and coping of youth health risk behaviors in the community.

Youth health risk behavior: effects of early sexual debut on HIV incidence among Rwandan youth

Youth health risk behavior: effects of early sexual debut on HIV incidence among Rwandan youth

An Assessment of the Role of Parental Incarceration and Substance Misuse in Suicidal Planning of African American Youth and Young Adults.

Suicide rates among youth are increasing, and African American youth are becoming the most likely group to die by suicide in the USA. We utilized ecodevelopmental theory to investigate the relationship between parental incarceration and substance misuse and their association with suicidal planning in a sample of African American youth and young adults. Participants consisted of 190 African American youth and young adults living in public housing in a mid-Atlantic city in the USA who completed a youth health-risk behavior measure, and parental incarceration and substance misuse measures. Findings indicate males were significantly more likely than females to have devised a plan to die by suicide, especially if their mothers were incarcerated or their fathers had an alcohol problem. The findings of this study suggest several implications for health prevention and intervention efforts to reduce suicide-related risks among African American youth and young adults, including strategies that promote family-centered, evidence-based interventions that are culturally tailored to provide further insight into the best practices in suicide prevention.

Parent Education and Future Transition to Cigarette Smoking: Latinos' Diminished Returns.

Background: High parent education is protective against youth health risk behaviors such as tobacco use. According to the Minorities' Diminished Returns theory, however, higher parent education seems to exert less protection for the ethnic minority relative to the majority groups.Objectives: To explore ethnic differences in the effects of parent education on the transition to cigarette smoking in a national sample of American never-smoker adolescents.Methods: This longitudinal study used data of waves 1 and 4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH 2013–2018). This analysis included 5,021 American youth who were never smokers at baseline (2013) and were followed for 4 years. Transition to cigarette smoking was the dependent variable. Parent education was the independent variable. Youth age, youth gender, and family structure were the covariates. Ethnicity was the moderating variable.Results: From the 5,021 American youth who were never smokers at baseline (2013), 89.4% continued as never smokers, and 10.6% became ever-smokers. Overall, 4.0% were current smokers at wave 4. Overall, a higher parent education was associated with lower odds of transitioning to ever and current cigarette smoker at the end of the 4th year. Parent education, however, showed significant interaction with Latino ethnicity on both outcomes suggesting smaller protective effects of high parent education against transitioning to tobacco use for Latino than for non-Latino youth.Conclusions: In the U.S., ethnicity alters the magnitude of the protective effect of parent education against youth transition to tobacco use. While high parent education is protective against transitioning to become a cigarette smoking overall, non-Latinos (a socially privileged group) gain more and Latino youth (a socially marginalized group) gain least from such a resource. In addition to addressing the SES gap, policymakers should identify and address mechanisms by which ethnic minority youth remain at risk of tobacco use, even when they are from highly educated families.

Protective Effects of Parental Education Against Youth Cigarette Smoking: Diminished Returns of Blacks and Hispanics.

BackgroundHigh parental educational attainment is protective against youth health risk behaviors such as tobacco use. According to the Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs) theory, however, higher parental education is less protective for marginalized groups relative to non-Hispanic Whites.ObjectiveTo explore race/ethnic differences in the effects of parental educational attainment on cigarette smoking in a national sample of American adolescents.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, we used baseline data of 10,878 American youth who had participated in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH 2013). The independent variable was parental educational attainment. The dependent variables were lifetime cigarette smoking, current (past 30-day) cigarette moking, and daily cigarette smoking. Youth age, youth gender, and parental marital status were the covariates. Race/ethnicity was the moderating variable. Logistic regression model was used for data analysis.ResultsOverall, a higher parental educational attainment was associated with a lower lifetime cigarette smoking, current (past 30-day) cigarette smoking, and daily cigarette smoking. Parental educational attainment showed significant interaction with race/ethnicity suggesting smaller protective effects of parental educational attainment on youth tobacco outcomes for Black and Hispanic than for non-Hispanic White youth.ConclusionFor American youth, race/ethnicity limits the health gains that are expected to follow parental educational attainment. While high parental educational attainment is protective against smoking overall, non-Hispanic Whites (the most socially privileged group) gain most and Blacks and Hispanics (the least socially privileged groups) gain least from such resource. In addition to addressing low SES, researchers and policymakers should identify and address mechanisms by which high SES minority youth remain at risk of tobacco use.

Youth Health Risk Behavior Surveillance during Medical Education Period

Youth Health Risk Behavior Surveillance during Medical Education Period

Interaction Between Smoking Cigarettes and Alcohol Consumption on Sexual Experience in High School Students.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to analyze nationwide representative data from the 11th Korean Youth Health Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey to determine whether factors including socio-demographics, smoking and alcohol consumption, were factors related to high school students that had experienced sexual intercourse.MethodsA total of 33,744 students (17,346 boys and 16,398 girls) in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade at high school were analyzed. SPSS complex samples methods were used for analyses. Socio-demographic and health risk behaviors (type of region of residence, family structure, and economic status, student academic achievement, gender, high school grade, pocket money, student smoking, alcohol consumption, and having engaged in sexual intercourse) were considered as independent variables.ResultsThere were 3.6% of girls and 9.9% of boys in high school that were sexually active. This behavior and the average number of cigarettes smoked daily, and alcohol consumed weekly, represented a dose-response relationship, after considering confounding factors. Compared with students that did not smoke or consume alcohol, smoking 1–9 cigarettes per day and consuming 1–6 cups of alcohol and group “smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day and consuming more than 7 cups of alcohol, had a 5.94 and 22.25 higher risk of having had sexual intercourse, respectively.ConclusionCigarette smoking and alcohol consumption were associated with an increased likelihood of high school students engaging in sexual intercourse.

Gender-differential associations between attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms and youth health risk behaviors

Gender-differential associations between attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms and youth health risk behaviors

Comparison of Methods for Processing Missing Values in Large Sample Survey Data

Missing data occurs in every field and most researchers choose simple approach to deal with. But this approach may introduce bias and result in inaccurate results. In this study, we will explore the method suitable for large sample and multivariate missing data patterns. In this paper, we utilized a cross-sectional survey data, providing information about youth health risk behavior in Beijing. Using R to simulate random missing data sets with different proportion of missing data based on the survey data set. For each of the missing data set, complete case analysis (CCA), single imputation (SI) and multiple imputation (MI) were adopted to process this and overall 30 complete data sets were obtained. Finally, logistic regression was used to analysis these complete data sets. The indicator (Akaike's Information Criterion, AIC) is used to evaluate both advantages and disadvantages of the three methods and the other indicators such as the significance of the regression coefficients (β), the fraction of missing information (FMI) are utilized to evaluate the applicability of the MI. Compared with the original data set K, the value of AIC of data sets processed by CCA and SI gradually decreases and the relative error gradually increases with the increase of the proportion of missing data. The value of AIC of data sets processed by MI changes slightly. With the increase of the proportion of missing data, especially more than 30%, the meaningless variables of the regression coefficient and the value of FMI gradually increased. Under different proportion of missing data, the MI performs well compared with CCA and SI. When dealing with missing values under MCAR, we recommend using MI instead of CCA and SI. Second, the changing of FMI can also be used as an indicator of MI to process missing data. Third, it is suitable for MI to process large sample survey data, and no more than 30% of proportion of missing data is the proper scope of application of MI.

“Safe” and “At-Risk”: Cyberbullying Victimization and Deviant Health Risk Behaviors in Youth

This study explores the links between cyberbullying victimization and a set of health risk behaviors associated with juvenile delinquency (cigarette smoking, marijuana usage, alcohol usage, and sexual frequency). These links are examined with data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey ( n = 9,122). Using cluster analysis, respondents are categorized into two groups: “safe” students who report on average no engagement in the behaviors measured, and “at-risk” students who report on average moderate to high levels of engagement in sexual frequency, marijuana usage, and alcohol usage. Findings suggest that cyberbullying victimization increases the odds of a student being categorized into the “at-risk” cluster. This effect holds controlling for physical bullying, a proxy measure of self-control, and demographic variables.

Cultural Stress, Emotional well-being, and Health Risk Behaviors among Recent Immigrant Latinx families: The Moderating Role of Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics

Latinx families can experience cultural stressors, which can negatively influence their emotional and behavioral health. Few studies have examined if perceived neighborhood characteristics buffer against or exacerbate the negative effects of cultural stress on adolescent and parent health outcomes. To address this gap in the literature, this study investigated how parent (social cohesion, informal social control, extent of problems) and adolescent (support) perceived neighborhood factors moderated the associations of parent and adolescent cultural stress with parent and adolescent emotional and behavioral well-being. Data came from waves 1 and 3 of a six-wave longitudinal survey with 302 recent immigrant Latinx adolescents (47% female, Mage = 14.51 years) and their parents (74% mothers, Mage = 41.09 years). Results indicated that when parents reported low levels of neighborhood problems, adolescent cultural stress did not predict adolescent health risk behaviors. However, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted higher levels of adolescents' sense of hope when parents perceived low levels of neighborhood problems. Furthermore, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted higher youth depressive symptoms and health risk behaviors when positive neighborhood factors (informal social control, social cohesion) were high. Similarly, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted lower adolescents' sense of hope and self-esteem when positive neighborhood factors were high. These findings indicate that efforts to reduce the negative effects of cultural stress on youth emotional and behavioral health may benefit from combating neighborhood problems. Results further indicate that research is needed to clarify unexpected findings. Directions for future research are discussed.

Public Health and Youth Health Risk Behavior in Central Asia

Public Health and Youth Health Risk Behavior in Central Asia

Longitudinal Effects of Latino Parent Cultural Stress, Depressive Symptoms, and Family Functioning on Youth Emotional Well-Being and Health Risk Behaviors.

U.S. Latino parents can face cultural stressors in the form of acculturative stress, perceived discrimination, and a negative context of reception. It stands to reason that these cultural stressors may negatively impact Latino youth's emotional well-being and health risk behaviors by increasing parents' depressive symptoms and compromising the overall functioning of the family. To test this possibility, we analyzed data from a six-wave longitudinal study with 302 recently immigrated (<5years in the United States) Latino parents (74% mothers, Mage =41.09years) and their adolescent children (47% female, Mage =14.51years). Results of a cross-lagged analysis indicated that parent cultural stress predicted greater parent depressive symptoms (and not vice versa). Both parent cultural stress and depressive symptoms, in turn, predicted lower parent-reported family functioning, which mediated the links from parent cultural stress and depressive symptoms to youth alcohol and cigarette use. Parent cultural stress also predicted lower youth-reported family functioning, which mediated the link from parent cultural stress to youth self-esteem. Finally, mediation analyses indicated that parent cultural stress predicted youth alcohol use by a way of parent depressive symptoms and parent-reported family functioning. Our findings point to parent depressive symptoms and family functioning as key mediators in the links from parent cultural stress to youth emotional well-being and health risk behaviors. We discuss implications for research and preventive interventions.

Evaluation of Youth's Health Risk Behaviors in Baghdad City

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Objective(s): To evaluate youth's health risk behaviors in Baghdad City and to determine the relationship between such behaviors and the youth's demographic characteristics of age, gender and grade. Methodology: A descriptive study, using the evaluation approach, is carried out to evaluate youth's health risk behaviors in Baghdad City for the period of January 26th 2016 to May 20th 2016. A non-probability "purposive" sample of (160) University students is selected for the purpose of the study from four groups of colleges (medical, engineering, sciences, and education) and it is equally distributed of (40) student from group of colleges. The sample is consisted of (50%) males and (50%) females. A questionnaire is constructed for the purpose of the study. It is comprised of eight parts which deal with youth's health risk behaviors of unintentional injuries, tobacco use, drinking alcohol, drug use, sexual behavior, unhealthy dietary behavior, inadequate physical activity, and health related behavior. Internal consistency reliability and content validity are determined for the study instrument through pilot study. Data are collected through the utilization of the questionnaire and the application of the structured interview technique as means of data collection. Data are analyzed through the application of the descriptive statistical data analysis approach which includes frequency, percent, total score and Cronbach alpha correlation coefficient. Results: The study depicts that most of the students have experienced health risk behaviors of unhealthy dietary behavior, inadequate physical activity and health related behavior regardless of their colleges' classification. Male students have been exposed to health risk behaviors of unintentional injuries, tobacco use, drinking alcohol, drug use and sexual behavior more than female students. Recommendations: The study recommends that Youth Health Risk Behaviors Program should be designed and implemented to present these students with all the information for the prevention and control of such behaviors. Further research is needed to determine whether low grades lead to health risk behaviors or health risk behaviors lead to low grades, or some other factors lead to both of these problems.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;