Abstract

In recent years, adolescent issues including smoking, drinking, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, deviant sexual behavior, mental health problems, high suicide rate, juvenile delinquency and absence without due notice, etc are emerging as serious social problems and the debate on these controversial issues is heating up. The previous studies on adolescent health behavior and social juvenile delinquency such as run-away from home and absence without due notice have been conducted mostly by cause analysis utilizing social demographic factors or biological factors. In other words, the main factors analyzed were demographic and economic factors or parent's educational level, etc, which were the fixed environmental ones that were unable to cause the change in the health behavior. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to analyze factors which are changeable and fixable among the factors influencing the adolescent's health behavior and misconducts and, eventually influencing factors which can be used as the basis to establish health policies and health promotion program to reduce the health risk behavior and misconducts of adolescents. The study subjects were selected by dividing senior high school student in Seoul by region and through random sampling. The 890 subjects were selected from 10 schools including the preparatory school, vocational schools and institutional schools. The duration of the study was for July 1-5, 1997 for the first survey and the second one, for August 25-September 10. Regarding the analysis method, the SAS program was used. The adoptablity of theoretical model was tested through covariance structural analysis utilizing PC-LISREL 8.12 Program. The major findings of the study are as follows: As a result of establishing the model of factors influencing health behavior and juvenile delinquency, in case of male students as the health behavior self-efficacy, education level of fathers, economic level, self-control and the health interest of parent were higher, students were more likely to practice the health promoting behavior. Juvenile delinquency and health risk behavior were prevalent among those with the less shyness, the lower health behavior self-efficacy, lower self-control, lower self-assertiveness, lower economic level. The self-control was the most powerful factor. In case of female students, those with higher health behavior self-efficacy were more likely to practice the health promoting behavior whereas those with lower health behavior self-efficacy, lower self-control, lower self- assertiveness, less shyness were more likely to practice health risk behavior and juvenile delinquency. In case of prep schools, those with higher health behavior self-efficacy and better perceived health status were more likely to practice the health promoting behavior while those with less shyness, lower health behavior self-efficacy and lower academic achievement were more likely to engage in health risk behavior and juvenile delinquency. In case of vocational schools, as health behavior self-efficacy and economic level were higher, the practice rate of health promoting behavior was higher. As the self-control, shyness, self-assertiveness, health behavior self-efficacy were lower, the rate of health risk behavior and juvenile delinquency were higher. In case of social institutional schools, as, the health behavior self-efficacy, social support and economic level, health interest of parents were higher, the rate of health promoting behavior were higher. As the self-control, shyness, self-assertiveness, health behavior self-efficacy and social support were lower, the rate of health risk behavior and juvenile delinquency were higher. So the health promoting behavior was positively related to the health behavior self-efficacy, health interest of parents, social support, education level of fathers, level of perceived health status, economic level. The health risk behavior and juvenile delinquency were higher with the lower health behavior self-efficacy, self-control and self-assertiveness, lower health locus control, less shyness and loneliness, lower economic level and academic achievement. In conclusion, the health risk behavior and juvenile delinquency can be reduced by enhancing self-control, self-assertiveness, health behavior self-efficacy and social support. According to the final model drawn by connecting health behavior and juvenile delinquency, the reduction of health risk behavior can greatly contribute to decreasing social juvenile delinquency as the process of juvenile delinquency was extended from common behaviors to problem behaviors and further into juvenile delinquency.

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