Relationship of high-risk behaviors to aids knowledge in adolescent high school students

Objective. To assess the association between the frequency of anabolic steroid use and the frequency of other health risk and problem behaviors among high school students in Massachusetts. Methods. The 1993 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey was conducted on a random sample of 3054 high school students (49% male; mean age, 16 ± 1.2 years). The frequency of lifetime anabolic steroid use was measured on an ordinal scale from 1 to 6, representing "0" to "40 or more times." Other health risk and problem behaviors measured were sexual behaviors, suicidal behaviors, frequency of not wearing a passenger seat belt, riding a motorcycle, not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle, driving after drinking alcohol, riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, fighting, and carrying a weapon. The associations between the frequency of anabolic steroid use and other high-risk behaviors were determined using the Spearman correlation coefficient for ordinal data and the Kruskall-Wallis analysis of variance for categorical data. Representative indicators of each risk behavior significantly associated with anabolic steroid use were then analyzed using a stepwise multiple-regression analysis. Results. The frequency of anabolic steroid use was associated with all of the other high-risk behaviors analyzed. Using multiple-regression analysis, driving after drinking alcohol accounted for 12.5% of the variance of the model. Carrying a gun, the number of sexual partners within the past 3 months, not using a condom during last intercourse, injury in a physical fight requiring medical attention, history of a sexually transmitted disease, not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, not wearing a passenger seatbelt, and a suicide attempt requiring medical attention accounted for an additional 9.0% of the variance. The full model accounted for greater than 21% of the variation. Conclusions. The frequency of anabolic steroid use among adolescents is associated with other high-risk behaviors, thus supporting the hypothesis that anabolic steroid use is part of a "risk behavior syndrome" rather than an isolated behavior. This finding emphasizes the need for comprehensive high-risk behavior screening and counseling among teens who use anabolic steroids.

Download Full-text

Prevalence of High Risk Behaviors in High School Students of Qom, 2016

Pars of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences ◽

10.52547/jmj.16.3.44 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 44-51

Author(s):

ameneh marzban ◽

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

High Risk ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

School Students ◽

High Risk Behaviors

Download Full-text

Establishing Health Status Indicators by Surveying Youth Risk Behaviors of High School Students in the Dominican Republic

International Quarterly of Community Health Education ◽

10.2190/78ym-wkjq-7vpw-mlak ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 91-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wayne W. Westhoff ◽

Derek R. Holcomb ◽

Robert J. McDermott

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

High Risk ◽

Dominican Republic ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Suicide Ideation ◽

Health Status Indicators ◽

Health Risk Behaviors ◽

Urban Migration ◽

School Students

The purpose of this survey was to determine the health-risk behaviors among high school students in the Dominican Republic. Samples were taken from communities with an industrial base and an increasing population (n = 1175). The communities under study had dissimilar population sizes (i.e., 5,000, 30,000, 50,000) and were located in various geographical locations. Frequency data are compared by gender and population differences for high-risk health behavior indicators associated with urban migration. We found significant differences in tobacco, alcohol, and crack use among the different population sites, with higher rates reported by the more populous communities. Boys reported more fighting and sexual activity. Girls reported higher rates of suicide ideation and attempts. These results can be used to 1) help focus on those behaviors rooted during the school years that most influence health, 2) monitor those behaviors by establishing baseline data, and 3) supply data that are comparable with recognized categories of high-risk behaviors.

Download Full-text

A cross-national study to compare the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of sexually transmitted diseases and the sexual risk behaviors of Latino adolescents

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health ◽

10.1515/ijamh-2013-0509 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 203-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maximo O. Brito ◽

Melinda Davis ◽

Anindita Chakrabarti

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

High Risk ◽

Sexual Activity ◽

Sexually Transmitted Diseases ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Latino Adolescents ◽

Sexually Active ◽

School Students ◽

Sexually Transmitted

Abstract Background: Adolescents are at high risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, little is known about differences in knowledge and risk behaviors across nationalities. The objective of this study was to assess and compare the knowledge and perceptions of STDs and the sexual risk behaviors in Latino adolescents in the United States (US) and the Dominican Republic (DR). Methods: A survey was administered to 364 high school students after obtaining parental consent. The questionnaire asked about demographics, sources of STD information, risk behaviors, and knowledge of syphilis, gonorrhea, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Mean percentage scores were calculated to compare correct responses by nationality, gender, and sexual activity. Predictors of self-reported high risk sexual behavior were identified by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: In all, 242 (66%) US and 122 (34%) DR students were interviewed. Of these, 52% were males. Median age was 15 years (range, 13–18). Sexual activity was reported by 40% of the participants and did not differ by gender (p=0.43) or national origin (p=0.53), although it was greater for adolescents older than 15 years of age (60% vs. 35%, p<0.001). US students identified abstinence as an effective STD prevention method more often than their counterparts (p=<0.001). Knowledge of specific STDs was higher in girls (p=0.002) and Dominicans (p=0.003). Predictors of high risk behavior were male gender (OR<uni-003D;2.50, 95% CI 1.35–4.63) and being sexually active (OR<uni-003D;3.09, 95% CI 1.71–5.59). Conclusions: Sexual activity at an early age was prevalent, and knowledge of STDs low in these two groups of high school students. Males and sexually active individuals were more likely to engage in high risk behaviors. Girls and Dominican students exhibited greater knowledge of specific STDs.

Download Full-text

The relationship of multiple, simultaneously occurring health risk behaviors to academic performance of high school students

Journal of Behavioral Health ◽

10.5455/jbh.20130103102935 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 44 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yongwen Jiang ◽

Jan Mermin ◽

Donald Perry ◽

Jana Hesser

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Academic Performance ◽

High School Students ◽

Health Risk ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Health Risk Behaviors ◽

School Students ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

Download Full-text

High Risk Behaviors in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Death Anxiety and Death Personifications

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.2190/38ct-e5mb-12ng-yxar ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 119-137 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Richard P. Cotter

Keyword(s):

High School Students ◽

Locus Of Control ◽

High Risk ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Death Anxiety ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Risk Scores ◽

School Students ◽

Chi Square ◽

High Risk Behaviors

This study examines adolescent perceptions of death with a sample of 220 high school students. Variables examined were personifications of death, death anxiety, locus of control, self-esteem, and level of risk. Chi-square, regression analysis, and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. High risk behaviors were negatively correlated with death anxiety. Males had higher risk scores and lower death anxiety scores than females. Females revealed higher death anxiety scores than males and lower self-esteem scores. High self-esteem correlated with an internal locus of control. Most students selected a male, cold, remote death personification image; females were more likely to select a female death personification image than males. These results suggest that adolescents have formulated a perception of death. When asked to personify death most students chose a negative, cold, remote image, with females more likely to select a gentle, comforting death image than males. The grim, terrifying, and robot-like images were more likely to be selected by males but were chosen much less frequently than the cold, remote, and gentle well-meaning images.

Download Full-text