title: Comparison of selected health risk behaviors between adolescents in public and private high schools in South Carolina.
abstract: This study examined differences in selected health risk behaviors among 5,517 students attending public high schools (PUBHS) and 1,089 students attending private high schools (PVTHS) in South Carolina. The 1995 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey was used to collect self-report information on adolescent risk behaviors. Chi-square analyses were performed for comparing public and private students on selected risk behaviors. Both PUBHS and PVTHS students reported substantial involvement in most of the risk-taking behaviors examined. PUBHS students, in general, were more likely to report higher prevalence rates than PVTHS students for most of the selected health risk behaviors. However, PVTHS students reported even higher prevalence rates than PUBHS students for alcohol use, driving after drinking, and binge drinking; smoking cigarettes (past 30 days); chewing tobacco (males only); marijuana use during the past 30 days (females only); and use of alcohol or other drugs before last act of sexual intercourse. Results suggest attendance at a private high school is not a panacea for protection against adolescent risk behaviors, and that all high school students could benefit from a coordinated school health program.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Promotion & Education and Family and Preventive Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208, USA.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Valois
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Thatcher
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Drane
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Reininger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013022:South Carolina