title: Risk behaviour in Swedish adolescents: is shared physical custody after divorce a risk or a protective factor?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The increase in shared physical custody in Sweden has been dramatic; 20 years ago only a small percentage of adolescents lived in shared physical custody, but currently ∼30% of the adolescents whose parents have separated or divorced divide their residence between parents. We hypothesized that living in shared physical custody or in a single-parent family is associated with a higher prevalence of adolescent risk behaviour than living in a two-parent family.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on 15-year-old adolescents from the 2005/2006 to 2009/2010 Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey were analysed using logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adolescents living in shared physical custody had slightly higher rates of risk behaviour compared with adolescents from two-parent families, but significantly lower rates than their counterparts from single-parent families. Their odds of being a smoker or having been drunk were 60 and 50% higher, respectively, than those of their counterparts in two-parent families.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Shared physical custody after marriage break-up seems to constitute a health protective factor for adolescents' health and problem behaviour. In order to deepen our understanding of the positive and negative aspects of shared physical custody, our study should be followed by qualitative analyses and longitudinal studies of adolescents' experiences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden. asa.carlsund@miun.se
authors.forename: Asa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carlsund
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Löfstedt
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sellström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D002655:Child Custody; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012309:Risk-Taking; D057566:Self Report; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020954:Single-Parent Family; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden