Health Risk Behaviors by Length of Time in the United States Among High School Students in Five Sites

Abstract

Background One in five public school students are from immigrant-headed households. Methods We used Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) 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. Results 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 activity). These findings were not consistent across the study sites. Discussion 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.

Incorporation of Social Determinants of Health in the Peer-Reviewed Literature: A Systematic Review of Articles Authored by the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

“…We identified 118 articles in the SDH category of education and schooling. Of the 118 articles, we classified 81 (69%) as having a minimal SDH focus 24 –26,28,32,33,35,36,38,40,42,45,49,50,59,61,70,73,74,85,108 …”

“…The category of neighborhood or built environment included search terms related to violence and crime. Of 67 articles identified as having a focus on neighborhood or built environment, 50 (75%) had a minimal focus 17,39,73,84,89,103,105,109,114,116 –118,120,127,132,147,171,173,178,179,198,200,203,219,243,252,267,328,341,345,347,356,363 –380 and 17 (25%) had a substantial focus. 45,81–83,104,119,184,228,359,381 …”

Learning Outcomes: Safety Education for Comprehensive School Pupils

“…Based on the contents of the new Core Curriculum (FNAE 2014;POP 2014, 100, 155, 283), the researchers picked up four safety themes: fire safety, water safety, traffic safety and the first aid. Based on the earlier studies, these themes are also important development areas concerning child safety competence (Espelage, Low, & Polanin, 2014;Jones, Pezzi, Rodriquez-Lainz, & Whittle, 2016;Lindfors, Somerkoski, Kärki, & Kokki, 2017). The researcher contacted the external experts and each of them organized special safety lessons as a part of the intervention for the students.…”

“Safe” and “At-Risk”: Cyberbullying Victimization and Deviant Health Risk Behaviors in Youth

“…This includes irregular regular consumption of fruit and vegetables, not eating breakfast, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol use, marijuana use, unprotected sex, and sex with multiple partners. A large body of research has associated these health risk behaviors with, among other factors, low income and low self-control (de Winter, Visser, Verhulst, Vollebergh, & Reijneveld, 2016), immigration status (Jones, Pezzi, Rodriguez-Lainz, & Whittle, 2016), and adverse childhood experiences such as childhood abuse and family dysfunction (Downey, Gudmunson, Pang, & Lee, 2017; Hertz, Jones, Barrios, David-Ferdon, & Holt, 2015).…”