The health of adolescents and the adults they will become can be linked to the health-related behaviors they adopt as children. To replicate a pilot study with a more culturally diverse population a descriptive, correlational study was undertaken with 379 seventh grade students. Key findings from this study include (a) students exposed or involved in violence (e.g., fighting and carrying a weapon) were more likely to report smoking cigarettes, (b) nearly a quarter (24%) of students have smoked cigarettes at some time, and (c) almost half of the students (48%) reported having at least one alcoholic drink. Middle school can be critical time in the life of an adolescent who may be faced with opportunities to experiment with and participate in health risk behaviors. School nurses, practitioners, and other health care professionals are in an ideal position to assess the type of and level of participation by an adolescent in a health risk behavior.
BolesS.BiglanA.SmolkowskiK. (2006). Relationships among negative and positive behaviours in adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 33–52.
2.
BradyS. STschannJ. M.PaschL. A.FloresE.OzerE. J. (2008). Violence involvement, substance use, and secual activity among Mecian-American and European-American adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43, 285–295.
3.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1996). YRBSS: Youth risk behavior surveillance system. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department for Health and Human Services.
4.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007). Tobacco fact sheet–Healthy youth! National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved June 6, 2011, fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/tobacco/facts/htm
5.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses—United States, 2000–2004. MMWR Weekly, 57, 1226–1228. Retrieved June 6, 2011, fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/
6.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010a). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States 2009. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries, 59, 1–36. Retrieved June 10, 2011, fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/mmwr
7.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010b). Student health and academic achievement. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion., Retrieved June 10, 2011, fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/health_and_academics/
8.
CunninghamR. M.ReskoS. M.HarrisonS. R.ZimmermanM.StanleyR.ChermackS. T.WaltonM. A. (2010). Screening adolescents in the emergency department for weapon carriage. Academy of Emergency Medicine, 17, 168–176.
9.
DowdellE. B. (2006). Alcohol use, smoking and feeling unsafe: Health risk behaviors of two urban seventh grade classes. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, 29, 157–171.
10.
DowdellE. B.SantucciM. E. (2003). The relationship between health risk behaviors and fear in one urban seventh grade class. The Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 18, 34–41.
11.
DowdellE. B.SantucciM. E. (2004). Health risk behavior assessment: Nutrition, weight and tobacco use in one urban seventh grade class. Public Health Nursing, 21, 128–136.
12.
GemelliR. (1996). Normal child and adolescent development. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
13.
HingsonR. W.ZhaW. (2009). Age of drinking onset, alcohol use disorders, frequent heavy drinking, and unintentionally injuring oneself and others after drinking. Pediatrics, 123, 1477–1484.
14.
HenryK. L.SlaterM. D. (2007). The contextual effect of school attachment on young adolescents’ alcohol use. Journal of School Health, 77, 67–74.
15.
JohnstonL. D.O’MalleyP. M.BachmanJ. G.SchulenbergJ. E. (2006). Monitoring the future: National survey results on drug use 1978–2003. (National Institute Health Publication No. 04-5507). Bethesda, MD. Department of Health and Human Services.
16.
KannL.KinchenS. A.WilliamsB. I.RossB. G.LowryR.GrunbaumJ.KolbeL. J. (1999). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States 1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries, 49, 1–95.
17.
MulyeT. P.ParkM. J.NelsonC. D.AdamsS. H.IrwinC. E.BrindisC. D. (2009). Trends in adolescent and young adult health in the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, 8–24. doi:10.1016/j.jadolhealth.2009.03.013
18.
MunE. Y.WindleM.SchainkerL. M. (2008). A model-based cluster analysis approach to adolescent problem behaviors and young adult outcomes. Developmental Psychopathology, 20, 291–318.
19.
U.S. Bureau of Census. (1994). Census of Population: Social and Economic Characteristics. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing.
20.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy people 2010: Understanding and improving health. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Government Printing Office.
21.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). Healthy people 2020: Topics & objectives. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 6, 2011, fromhhtp://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview
22.
WilsonS. J.LipseyM. W. (2005). The effectiveness of school-based violence prevention programs for reducing disruptive and aggressive behavior(Final Report). Retrieved from National Institute of Justice School Violence Prevention Research Planning websitehttps://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/211376.pdf
