The health of alternative education students compared to secondary school students: a New Zealand study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the health and wellbeing of alternative education (AE) students from the Northland and Auckland regions of New Zealand and compare these AE students with secondary school students of similar age from the same region.


METHODS
All 36 AE schools in the region were surveyed in the year 2000. A total of 268 AE students completed a youth health questionnaire using laptop computers. Regional data from a 2001 national secondary school survey that used the same methodology was used for comparison with the AE student data.


RESULTS
This study found that compared to secondary school students, AE students are more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds, with proportionally more AE students reporting socioeconomic difficulty and less parental connection. AE students were more likely to be vulnerable to behaviours that endanger their health, such as drug and alcohol use, risky sexual behaviours and risky motor vehicle use than secondary school students. AE students were also more likely to suffer from high levels of depressive symptoms indicative of significant psychopathology.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings from this study support the need for specific policies and programs for alternative secondary school students to address urgent and serious threats to their health and wellbeing.
Denny
Simon
S
The Centre for Youth Health, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. sdenny@middlemore.co.nz
Clark
Terryann
T
Watson
Peter
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires