Citation

Holcomb DR, Westhoff WW, McDermott RJ. Psychol. Rep. 1998; 82(1): 215-220.

Affiliation

Health, Kinesiology and Leisure Studies Department, Purdue University, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9520557

Abstract

The centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) administered its 75-item 1991 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey to a nationwide random sample of 12,248 high school students. In a secondary analysis of their data, one item on students' perceived class standing, was compared with selected health risk-taking practices. The 7.7% of students who indicated that they were "below the middle" in comparison with their classmates reported more participation in all risk-taking behaviors than students who reported being "in the middle" (28.6%) or "above the middle" (63.7%). Students' grades, ages, and ethnicity showed significant differences, with younger students and selected ethnocultural minority students more likely to report being "below the middle." Perceived class standing may be a proxy measure for estimating participation in health-compromising practices.

Language: en