title: Gender and ethnic differences in health-promoting behaviors of rural adolescents.
abstract: Although much is known about health-risk behaviors of adolescents, less is known about their health-promoting behaviors. The purpose of this analysis was to compare health-promoting behaviors in adolescents in Grades 9-12 by gender and ethnicity and explore how these behaviors changed over time. Data were collected from 878 rural adolescents (47.5% Hispanic; mean age at baseline 14.7 years). Males from all ethnic groups scored significantly higher than all females on physical activity; non-Hispanic Black males and females scored significantly higher than other ethnic groups on safety behaviors. Hispanic and non-Hispanic White females scored higher than males in these ethnic groups on stress management. Nutrition, physical activity, and safety behaviors decreased significantly for most participants from Grade 9 to 12 whereas stress management remained relatively stable. Findings are similar to those from nationally representative samples that analyzed cross-sectional data and have implications for school nursing interventions to improve health-promoting behaviors in rural adolescents.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, Austin, TX, USA ellerew@mail.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rew
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, The University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Kristopher L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Arheart
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Horner
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: cultural issues; exercise; health/wellness; high school; nutrition