Urban seventh grade students: a report of health risk behaviors and exposure to violence.
The health of adolescents and the adults they will become can be linked to the health-related behaviors they adopt as children. To replicate a pilot study with a more culturally diverse population a descriptive, correlational study was undertaken with 379 seventh grade students. Key findings from this study include (a) students exposed or involved in violence (e.g., fighting and carrying a weapon) were more likely to report smoking cigarettes, (b) nearly a quarter (24%) of students have smoked cigarettes at some time, and (c) almost half of the students (48%) reported having at least one alcoholic drink. Middle school can be critical time in the life of an adolescent who may be faced with opportunities to experiment with and participate in health risk behaviors. School nurses, practitioners, and other health care professionals are in an ideal position to assess the type of and level of participation by an adolescent in a health risk behavior.
Department of Psychology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA. elizabeth.dowdell@villanova.edu
Elizabeth Burgess
EB
Dowdell
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*