title: Health behaviour and sense of coherence among pupils aged 14-15.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The overall aim of the study was to investigate if there was a relationship between health behaviour and sense of coherence (SOC) in pupils aged 14-15. A specific aim was to investigate if socioeconomic areas and sex could be related to health behaviour and SOC of these pupils.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of pupils in grade eight selected from primary schools in Stockholm city with regard to socioeconomic area. The final sample of the study was 383: 196 girls and 187 boys. Two questionnaires, the Health Profile Scale measuring health behaviour and the Sense of Coherence Scale were used to collect data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total group, girls had a significantly lower SOC mean score compared to boys. There were differences in health behaviour related to both SOC and sex. In comparison with boys, the girls showed a lower SOC in several health behaviours, e.g. breakfast, dinner, alcohol and bed-going habits. The pupils in the high socioeconomic area showed a low SOC score in several health behaviours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings in this study were that girls aged 14-15 had a lower SOC mean score compared to boys. The girls showed a lower SOC score related to several health behaviours. There were no significant differences in the SOC mean scores between the two socioeconomic areas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. britta.myrin@omv.ki.se
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Myrin
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lagerström
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology