Factors influencing adolescent risk-taking behaviors

Objective. To assess whether risk-taking behaviors are related with each other and what are the personal, family or school-related factors influencing them. Methods. Data were taken from the 1993 Barcelona Adolescent Health Survey. Behavioral variables (drug use, sexual behavior and vehicle-related behavior) were defined. The possible association between some independent variables (personal, family and school-related) and the behavioral variables was then evaluated. Independent variables significantly associated with most behavioral variables in males and females in the bivariate analysis were introduced in a multivariate analysis to detect at least one behavioral variable. Results. All behavioral variables were significantly associated with each other. Of all the independent variables used to detect at least one risky behavior, only age, religiosity, mother's smoking status, father's drinking status, relationship with parents, relationship with teachers, enjoying school, and average grades, were significant. Conclusions. If adolescents have a good relationship with their parents and enjoy going to school, the chances of taking risky behaviors may be substantially reduced.