Socioeconomic factors and health risk behaviors among adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To examine relationships between a wide range of socioeconomic factors, race/ethnicity, and adolescent risk behaviors.


METHODS
The Youth Asset Study (N = 1111) was used to examine multivariate relationships between sexual initiation, alcohol use, tobacco use, and drug use and 8 socioeconomic factors.


RESULTS
Socioeconomic factors beyond income and parental education (eg, wealth) were associated with some health behaviors depending upon gender. However, we did not find that a wider range of factors helped us better understand racial/ethnic disparities.


CONCLUSIONS
Even the more comprehensive set of socioeconomic factors considered may not accurately capture the underlying construct of adolescent SES.
Cubbin
Catherine
C
School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-0358, USA. ccubbin@austin.utexas.edu
Vesely
Sara K
SK
Braveman
Paula A
PA
Oman
Roy F
RF
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology