Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7(5), 2161-2176; doi:10.3390/ijerph7052161
Article

Adolescent Propensity to Engage in Health Risky Behaviors: The Role of Individual Resilience

Mir M. Ali 1,* email, Debra S. Dwyer 2,3 email, Elizabeth A. Vanner 2,4 email and Alexander Lopez 2 email
1 Department of Economics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA 2 School of Health Technology & Management, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8204, USA 3 Department of Economics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8204, USA 4 School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8204, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 31 December 2009; in revised form: 15 March 2010 / Accepted: 30 April 2010 / Published: 4 May 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Behavior and Public Health)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [79 KB, uploaded 4 May 2010 11:12 CEST]
Abstract: In this paper we create indices of resilience to identify adolescents at risk of smoking, drinking alcohol, and using illegal drugs. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, three manifestations of resilience were identified: overall-resilience, self/family-resilience, and self-resilience. Our analysis reveals that the overall-resilient were less likely to engage in risky behaviors. The self/family resilient were more likely to engage in risky behaviors, but consumed less. The self-resilient had reduced risk for smoking and drinking alcohol but elevated risk for using illegal drugs and being in an addictive stage of smoking and drinking, if participating.
Keywords: resilience; health risky behavior; factor analysis; adolescent health

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ali, M.M.; Dwyer, D.S.; Vanner, E.A.; Lopez, A. Adolescent Propensity to Engage in Health Risky Behaviors: The Role of Individual Resilience. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 2161-2176.

AMA Style

Ali MM, Dwyer DS, Vanner EA, Lopez A. Adolescent Propensity to Engage in Health Risky Behaviors: The Role of Individual Resilience. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010; 7(5):2161-2176.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ali, Mir M.; Dwyer, Debra S.; Vanner, Elizabeth A.; Lopez, Alexander. 2010. "Adolescent Propensity to Engage in Health Risky Behaviors: The Role of Individual Resilience." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 7, no. 5: 2161-2176.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health EISSN 1660-4601 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert