title: Health Risk Behaviors by Length of Time in the United States Among High School Students in Five Sites.
abstract: One in five public school students is from an immigrant-headed household. We used Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from one state and four large urban school districts to examine whether length of time living in the US was associated with health risk behaviors. Logistic regression models, using weighted data, controlled for sex, race/ethnicity, and grade. Compared to US natives, not having always lived in the US was correlated with lower risk for some behaviors (e.g., current marijuana use and alcohol use) among high school students, but higher risk for other behaviors (e.g., attempted suicide, physical inactivity). Many findings were inconsistent across the study sites. Interventions that specifically target recently-arrived school-aged youth to prevent behaviors that put health and safety at risk, may result in the best outcomes for immigrant youth. Care should be taken to understand the specific health risks present in different immigrant communities.
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, NE, MS-E75, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA. sce2@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Sherry Everett
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Clelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pezzi
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Lainz
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, NE, MS-E75, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Whittle
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D058445:Bullying; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000208:ethnology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000208:ethnology; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Acculturation; Health risk behaviors; High school students; Immigrant; Youth