Connectedness of pregnant adolescents who smoke.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship of the constructs from the family and school environments and protective individual characteristics to health risk behaviors among pregnant adolescents who smoke.


METHODS
Inner-city adolescents (N = 53), aged 14-19 years, who were participating in a smoking cessation intervention program, completed self-report demographic, social, and behavioral questionnaires.


RESULTS
Independent variables included family connectedness, school connectedness, and individual characteristics of religiosity, self-esteem, and grade-point average. Three areas of health risk behavior were dependent variables: delinquent behavior, substance, and precocious sexual behavior.


CONCLUSIONS
Positive self-esteem served as a protectivefactorfor alcohol use. In contrast to past studies, school connectedness was a risk, not a protective, factor for substance abuse. Neither school nor family connectedness were protective against delinquent or precocious sexual behavior.
Albrecht
Susan A
SA
School of Pharmacy, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. saa01@pitt.edu
Reynolds
Maureen D
MD
Cornelius
Marie D
MD
Heidinger
Joely
J
Armfield
Caroline
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires