Self-esteem and value of health as determinants of adolescent health behavior.
OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship between personality attributes and health behaviors and practices during adolescence.


METHODS
We have studied a total of 100 subjects aged 12-13 and 16-17 years of both sexes. To examine self-esteem and the value of health in a series of habitual practices of health, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was undertaken. The instruments used were the Gordon Personal Profile (GPP) (1978) to evaluate self-esteem, the Costa et al.'s (1989) Value of Health Scale to estimate the value of health and, the Rivas Torres (1991) Health Behavior Questionnaire to measure health behavior.


RESULTS
Self-esteem explains 39% of the mental health behavior and 5% of the social health behaviors. Meanwhile, the value of health, in the case of security behaviors, explains 13%, and in relation to personal health behaviors, 9%.


CONCLUSIONS
The importance assigned to certain personality attributes in relation to adolescent health behavior shows the need for additional investigations that incorporate other variables and subject groups with different ages.
Torres
R
R
Facultad de Psicología, Campus Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Fernández
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior