Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol
2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Adolescence is considered an important stage in the onset of high‑risk behaviors.
Identity styles have significant pathological effects in various aspects of high‑risk behaviors. The
present study was conducted aiming at investigating the association between high‑risk behaviors
and identity styles in adolescents.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present cross‑sectional research studied 384 girls and boys
studying in the second grade of High School in Babol in 2018. Data collection was done through a
demographic questionnaire, Mohammadkhani’s Risky Behaviour Questionnaire, and Berzonsky’s
Identity Style Inventory. Data analysis was performed using Chi‑square test, Pearson’s correlation
coefficient, and linear regression analysis. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: The mean age of adolescents was 17.21 ± 48.4 years (aged 16–19 years).
Aggression (23.4%), relationship with the opposite gender (14.5%), smoking cigarettes and
hookah (10.9%), consuming alcohol (9.3%), suicidal thoughts and attempts (5.7%), running away from
home (3.9%), and consuming psychotropic substances (1.8%) were among the most common high‑risk
behaviors observed in the adolescents. The scores of high‑risk behaviors were negatively correlated
with the identity scores of informational style (4.56 ± 3.107), normative style (4.45 ± 2.581), and
identity commitment style (4.15 ± 2.245) and positively correlated with the scores of diffuse‑avoidant
style (4.15 ± 3.089). Regression analysis showed that only the informational style had a negative
and significant correlation with high‑risk behaviors.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed significant prevalence of high‑risk behaviors and its
relationship with identity styles in adolescents, which requires regular and planned health education
intervention at schools.
Keywords
- Rueda MR, Cómbita LM, Pozuelos JP. Childhood and adolescence.
Cognitive Training. An overview of features and applications,
T. Strobach and J. Karbach, Editors. Springer International
Publishing, 2016. p. 33-44.
2. Sawyer SM, Azzopardi PS, Wickremarathne D, Patton GC.
The age of adolescence. Lancet Child Adolesc Health
2018;2:223‑8.
3. Nameni F, Yousefzadeh S, Golmakani N, Najaf Najafi M,
Ebrahimi M, Modares Gharavi M. Evaluating the effect of
religious‑based sex education on sexual function of married
women. Evid Based Care 2014;4:53‑62.
4. Layne CM, Greeson JK, Ostrowski SA, Kim S, Reading S,
Vivrette RL, et al. Cumulative trauma exposure and high risk
behavior in adolescence: Findings from the National Child
Traumatic Stress Network Core Data Set. Psychol Trauma
2014;6:S40.
5. Iravani M. A social work study high‑risk behavior among
teenagers. Manag Sci Lett 2012;2:313‑20.
6. Farid ND, Yahya A, Al‑Sadat N, Dahlui M, Su TT, Thangiah N,
et al. High‑risk behavior among young adolescents in the central
and Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia: Baseline data from
the MyHeART study. J Child Fam Stud 2016;25:3204‑13.
7. Hassanvand AM, Hassanvand AA, Hassanvand AM,
Ghadampour M. The effect of anger management skills training
on social anxiety and anger self‑regulation skills in social anxious
high school boys. Knowl Res Appl Psychol 2014;14:74‑84.
8. Bashkar S, Sodani M, Shehni YM. The effect of anger management
skills training on reduction of marital conflicts. Knowl Res Appl
Psychol 2012;4:199‑226.
9. Pasold TL, McCracken A, Ward‑Begnoche WL. Binge eating
in obese adolescents: Emotional and behavioral characteristics
and impact on health‑related quality of life. Clin Child Psychol
Psychiatry 2014;19:299‑312.
10. Jalalvand SH, Yoosefy B, Farahani A. Study of relationship
between physical activity and self‑esteem, body appreciation
and social physique anxiety among high school male and female
students. Q J Sport Biosci Res 2012;2:27‑37.
11. Meath S. Handbook of evidence‑based practices for emotional
and behavioral disorders: Applications in schools. Sch Soc Work
J 2015;39:83. - 12. Etemad K, Eftekhar Ardabili H, Rahimi A, Gouya M, Heidari A,
Kabir M. Attitudes and knowledge of HIV positive persons and
high risk behaviors groups in Golestan, Iran. Iran J Epidemiol
2011;7(1):23‑31.
13. Williams MT, Effing TW, Paquet C, Gibbs CA, Lewthwaite H,
Li LS, et al. Counseling for health behavior change in people
with COPD: Systematic review. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis
2017;12:2165‑78.
14. Shawar YR, Crane LG. Generating global political priority for
urban health: The role of the urban health epistemic community.
Health Policy Plan 2017;32:1161‑73.
15. Sawyer SM, Afifi RA, Bearinger LH, Blakemore SJ, Dick B,
Ezeh AC, et al. Adolescence: A foundation for future health. Lancet
2012;379:1630‑40.
16. Rahmani M, Ghasemi V, Hashemianfar A. Investigation of the
effect of social relations on high‑risk behaviors of adolescents of
Bojnord city, Iran. J Appl Sociol 2016;27:1‑26.
17. Mir Heydari M, Tavafian SS, Montazeri A, Fallahi H. Effect of
educational interventions on sexual high risk behavior between
drug addicts ex‑users based on the health belief model. J Sch
Public Health Instit Public Health Res 2014;12(2):93‑104.
18. Ahmadi K, Khodadadi J. Comparison of high risk behaviors
among adolescents of military and unmilitary families. Police
Med 2016;5 (2):135‑42.
19. Marcia Mussi‑Pinhata M, Maria Quintana S. Screening for
infectious diseases during pregnancy: Which test and which
situation. Curr Womens Health Rev 2012;8:158‑71.
20. Sachs‑Ericsson N, Cromer K, Hernandez A, Kendall‑Tackett K.
A review of childhood abuse, health, and pain‑related problems:
The role of psychiatric disorders and current life stress. J Trauma
Dissociation 2009;10:170‑88.
21. Soenens B, Berzonsky MD, Papini DR. Attending to the role of
identity exploration in self‑esteem: Longitudinal associations
between identity styles and two features of self‑esteem. Int J Behav
Dev 2016;40:420‑30.
22. Crocetti E, Erentaitė R, Žukauskienė R. Identity styles, positive
youth development, and civic engagement in adolescence. JYouth
Adolescence 2014;43:1818‑28.
23. Eckstrand KL, Potter J, editors. Trauma, Resilience, and Health
Promotion in LGBT Patients: What Every Healthcare Provider
Should Know. Springer International Publishin; 2017. p. 57‑73.
24. Maktabi G, Soltani A, Booeshhaghi M, Nokarizi H. The
relationships between parental bonding and self assertiveness
with behavior at risk. Biannual J Appl Couns 2014;4:69‑82.
25. Hajabi MZ, Hosseini TH. The relationship between emotional
intelligence, honesty, impulsivity and compatibility with a
desire for a relationship with the opposite sex. Rev Publicando
2018;5:927‑37.
26. Ghazanfari A. A Study of the Reliability and Validity of Identify
Style Questionnaire (ISI‑6G).Journal of Studies in Education and
Psychology; 2004; 5 (1): 81‑94.
27. Esmaielzadeh H, Asadi M, Miri N, Keramatkar M. Prevalence
of high risk behaviors among high school students of Qazvin in
2012. Iran J Epidemiol 2014;10(3):75‑82.
28. Clarke S. Safety leadership: A meta-analytic review of
transformational and transactional leadership styles as
antecedents of safety behaviours. J Occup Organ Psychol
2013;86:22‑49.
29. Hajfiroozabadi M, Amiri S, Bahrami Babaheydari T, Khoshkesht S.
Prevalence of tendency to substance abuse among medical
university students and its relationship with identity styles.
Alborz Univ Med J 2017;6:60‑5.
30. Ghasempour F, AzimiM, Sanagoo A, Mobasseri AA. Investigation
of relationship between identity styles and achievement
motivation in high school students in the city of Sari. PSJ
2018;16:46‑52.
)