The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey

Using a social ecological perspective, we examined the effects of connectedness in multiple domains on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors among Asian American (AA), Pacific Islander (PI), and Caucasian/White American (WA) adolescents in California. After adjusting for age, gender, an...

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Main Authors: Yang, Fang, Tan, Kit Aun, Cheng, Wendy J. Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2014
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/1/The%20effects%20of%20connectedness%20on%20health-promoting%20and%20health-compromising%20behaviors%20in%20adolescents%20evidence%20from%20a%20statewide%20survey.pdf
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author Yang, Fang
Tan, Kit Aun
Cheng, Wendy J. Y.
author_facet Yang, Fang
Tan, Kit Aun
Cheng, Wendy J. Y.
author_sort Yang, Fang
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Using a social ecological perspective, we examined the effects of connectedness in multiple domains on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors among Asian American (AA), Pacific Islander (PI), and Caucasian/White American (WA) adolescents in California. After adjusting for age, gender, and socioeconomic status, the following consistent results emerged across the three ethnic groups: (a) community connectedness increased the odds of physical activity; (b) internal, family, and school connectedness decreased, whereas friend connectedness increased, the odds of substance use; and (c) internal and family connectedness decreased the odds of violent behavior. We also found specific ethnic variations pertaining to the effects of connectedness. Friend connectedness increased the odds of violent behavior for AAs and WAs, but not for PIs. Meanwhile, community connectedness increased the odds of substance use and violent behavior for AAs and PIs, but decreased the odds of these behaviors for WAs. Findings for healthy dietary behavior were inconsistent across ethnic groups and connectedness domains. Our overall findings suggest that the effects of connectedness were more salient for health-compromising behaviors than for health-promoting behaviors. Health prevention and intervention efforts in adolescents could target the role of their connectedness to their multiple social domains.
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spelling upm-356862016-11-30T03:46:02Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/ The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey Yang, Fang Tan, Kit Aun Cheng, Wendy J. Y. Using a social ecological perspective, we examined the effects of connectedness in multiple domains on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors among Asian American (AA), Pacific Islander (PI), and Caucasian/White American (WA) adolescents in California. After adjusting for age, gender, and socioeconomic status, the following consistent results emerged across the three ethnic groups: (a) community connectedness increased the odds of physical activity; (b) internal, family, and school connectedness decreased, whereas friend connectedness increased, the odds of substance use; and (c) internal and family connectedness decreased the odds of violent behavior. We also found specific ethnic variations pertaining to the effects of connectedness. Friend connectedness increased the odds of violent behavior for AAs and WAs, but not for PIs. Meanwhile, community connectedness increased the odds of substance use and violent behavior for AAs and PIs, but decreased the odds of these behaviors for WAs. Findings for healthy dietary behavior were inconsistent across ethnic groups and connectedness domains. Our overall findings suggest that the effects of connectedness were more salient for health-compromising behaviors than for health-promoting behaviors. Health prevention and intervention efforts in adolescents could target the role of their connectedness to their multiple social domains. Springer 2014-02 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/1/The%20effects%20of%20connectedness%20on%20health-promoting%20and%20health-compromising%20behaviors%20in%20adolescents%20evidence%20from%20a%20statewide%20survey.pdf Yang, Fang and Tan, Kit Aun and Cheng, Wendy J. Y. (2014) The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 35 (1). pp. 33-46. ISSN 0278-095X; ESSN: 1573-6547 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10935-013-0327-y 10.1007/s10935-013-0327-y
spellingShingle Yang, Fang
Tan, Kit Aun
Cheng, Wendy J. Y.
The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
title The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
title_full The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
title_fullStr The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
title_full_unstemmed The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
title_short The effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
title_sort effects of connectedness on health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents: evidence from a statewide survey
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35686/1/The%20effects%20of%20connectedness%20on%20health-promoting%20and%20health-compromising%20behaviors%20in%20adolescents%20evidence%20from%20a%20statewide%20survey.pdf