Health-related behaviour self-assessment of children living in a children's home; study based on own research realised in the Podlaskie Province.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the study was to diagnose the health-related behaviour of children brought up in children's homes, to compare the obtained results with those obtained from a group of peers brought up in their own families.


METHODS
The study group included 180 children living in children's homes in the Podlaskie Province and in a control group composed of children brought up in their own families and living in the same places where the children's homes are located. A questionnaire of the Health Behaviour Scale, composed of 40 statements determining health-related issues was used.


RESULTS
Self-assessment of health-related behaviour in the studied youth depended on age, for which a statistical significance was shown for: health self-assessment (p = 0.011), categories of stressful situations (p = 0.047), physical activity (p = 0.028) and social support (p = 0.001); gender, for which a statistical significance was shown for the categories of usage of stimulants (p = 0.000) and place of living, in which the factor "place" was significant (p = 0.000) for all categories; and education, where p = 0.000 for the following categories: stressful situations, using stimulants, physical activity, social support and health self-assessment. Relationships between the categories of health-related behaviour were much stronger in the assessments of the children brought up in children's homes were found.


CONCLUSIONS
The self-assessment of health-related behaviour of the studied youth depended on age, gender, place of living and education. Relationships between the categories of health-related behaviour were much stronger in assessments of the children brought up in children's homes as compared to controls.
Van Damme-Ostapowicz
K
K
Department of General Nursing, Medical University of Białystok, Poland. kostapowicz@interia.pl
Krajewska-Kułak
E
E
Wrońska
F
F
Szczepański
M
M
Kułak
W
W
Lukaszuk
C
C
Jankowiak
B
B
Rolka
H
H
Baranowska
A
A
D002648:Child; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019372:Orphanages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011044:Poland; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological