title: Parental marital status and adolescents' health-risk behavior.
abstract: This article reports the results of a questionnaire survey of a representative random sample of all the in-school Francophone adolescents of Montreal. The sample size was 4,539 and included adolescents from legally intact homes, separated/divorced homes, and homes in which a parent was decreased. Health-risk behavioral indicators were smoking (how many cigarettes a day), fastening of car seat belts, and intemperate drinking. Adolescents who lived in intact families engaged less in health-risk behavior than the other adolescents, especially those from separated/divorced families. The results for adolescents from widowed families were mixed. Several mutually complementary explanations are presented.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002170:Canada; D004243:Divorce; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D010290:Parents; D012309:Risk-Taking / Q000502:physiology*; D012622:Seat Belts; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires