title: Health promotion and risk behaviors among adolescents in Turkey.
abstract: Adolescents experience the onset and development of several health-related behaviors. The purpose of this study is to determine health risk and promotion behaviors of adolescents between the ages of 11 and 19 who were attending and to test the reliability and validity analysis of the Turkish version of Adolescent Health Promotion Scale (AHPS). The study was a cross-sectional survey and the sample consisted of 1,351 participants. A questionnaire that included demographic information, health risk behaviors, and AHPS was used to collect data. In the current study, the Cronbach's α coefficient for the AHPS was calculated as .92. Female students had significantly higher mean total scale scores than males (p < .05). The 11-14 age group had a statistically significant higher scale total mean score than the 15-19 age group (p = .001). International directives highlight the important function nurses fulfill in health promotion. Nurses may play a key role in school health services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Nursing, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, School of Nursing, Ankara, Turkey. ortabagt@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tulay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ortabag
authors.forename: Serpil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.forename: Bilal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bakir
authors.forename: Nuran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tosun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012309:Risk-Taking; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014421:Turkey