Can government policies help adolescents avoid risky behavior?
BACKGROUND
This study examines the extent to which policies influence participation of adolescents in alcohol and tobacco consumption and in unsafe sex.


METHODS
Data were obtained from the 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) conducted by 20 different states and cities in the U.S. These data were combined with state data on cigarette taxes, vending machine laws, beer taxes, and family planning clinic availability. A model of teenage risk taking suggested that the three risk behaviors were codetermined by a common latent risk-taking propensity. We used a structural equation model (SEM) accounting for this shared latent propensity to estimate the extent of participation in terms of frequency of smoking, drinking, and the number of sex partners.


RESULTS
Estimating simultaneous equations for all three risk behaviors was statistically more efficient than equation-by-equation estimates of each behavior. Estimates indicated significant deterrent effects of beer taxes, vending machine restrictions, and increased density of family planning clinics on teenage risk behavior.


CONCLUSIONS
State policies, such as taxes on beer, and restrictions on location of cigarette vending machines, and placement of family planning clinics influence adolescents' behavior. Because there is interrelationship between these behaviors, systems estimators, can offer improved estimates of these effects.
Bishai
David M
DM
Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. dbishai@jhsph.edu
Mercer
Dan
D
Tapales
Athena
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D006801:Humans; D011640:Public Policy; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking; D014481:United States; D047568:Unsafe Sex