Social pressure on children and risk taking behaviour: international perspectives from HBSC

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Social pressure on children and risk taking
behaviour international perspectives from HBSC

• Candace Currie
• HBSC International Coordinator
• Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (CAHRU)
• University of Edinburgh

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Evidence for accelerated lives of children in UK

• UK compared with Europe and North America
• Recent trends in risk taking behaviour
• Highlighting gender, age and socioeconomic
  differences

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To gain insight into potential sources of social
pressure on children

• Examine risk taking behaviour that is more
  typically associated with older adolescents
• Consider factors that may influence the early
  onset of risk taking behaviour
• Investigate factors that may moderate or prevent
  it

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Data used to inform paper

• Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children WHO
  Collaborative Cross-National Study
• www.hbsc.org for full details of study and its
  survey methodology

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HBSC study overview

• Study initiated 1982 by 3 countries
• Soon after became WHO collaborative study
• Growth in size to 41 countries by 2005
• International network 220 researchers
• International Coordinating Centre CAHRU
  University of Edinburgh
• International Databank Centre for Health
  Promotion University of Bergen

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HBSC

• Presents a broad picture of health among young
  people in Europe and North America global
  patterns and variations
• Uses a conceptual framework that considers social
  and developmental determinants of health
• socio-economic, family, peers, school,
  neighbourhood and developmental factors

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HBSC data key source for other recent work

• UNICEF Innocenti Report Card An Overview of
  Child-Well-Being in Rich Countries (2007)
• IPPR Report Freedoms Orphans (2007)

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Potential sources of social pressureHBSC
measures

• Family
• Lack of specific family resources car, own
  bedroom, family computers, family holidays
• Global low family affluence
• Low occupational status
• Unemployed households
• Poverty/ disorganised household
• Poor perceived family wealth
• Family structure and relationships

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Potential sources of social pressure HBSC
measures

• School
• Dislike of school
• Academic pressure
• Poor academic achievement
• Lack of support from classmates
• Peer influence
• Spending most evenings out with friends
• Personal
• Poor body image
• Developmental
• Early or late maturation compared to peer group

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HBSC measures

• Risk taking - behaviour that has potential to
  harm ones personal physical, mental or social
  well-being in short or longer term
• Substance use (tobacco, alcohol and cannabis)
• Sexual behaviour (intercourse and contraceptive
  use)
• Violence
• High consumption of soft drinks, low fruit and
  veg diet etc
• Dieting behaviour
• TV watching (sedentary behaviour and exposure to
  advertising)

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Moderators of social pressure HBSC measures

• Pressures from different sources may be offset by
• Positive family relations
• Positive school experience
• Positive peer relations
• Positive leisure experiences
• Positive mental health

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Potential social pressures not measured by HBSC

• Exposure to marketing and advertising that
  encourage early adoption of teen lifestyles
• Peer to peer social pressure and social
  competition via internet web-sites such as
  Bebo, MySpace and Face Book
• Availability/ price issues related to risk
  commodities
• Social acceptability and gender norms in
  behaviour (pressure not to be physically active)
• Social pressure to be healthy (eg not overweight,
  active etc)

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International comparisons on risk taking
behaviour

• evidence for accelerated lives of UK children

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2001/2 HBSC survey

2001/2
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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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Scotland drinking trendsHBSC 1990-2006







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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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Scotland drinking trendsHBSC 1990-2006






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Scotland smoking trends HBSC 1990-2006













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Evidence for differential susceptibility to
social pressures by gender?
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Scotland drinking trends HBSC 1990-2006
Increasing proportion of female weekly drinkers
report repeated episodes of drunkenness (but no
change for boys)
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Cross-national comparisons of potential social
pressures
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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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Social pressures and moderators in relation to
risk takingfamily and school
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2001/2 HBSC survey
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Reported drunkenness and family structure HBSC
Scotland 2002
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2001/2 HBSC survey
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2001/2 HBSC survey
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Reported drunkenness and ease of communication
with mother and father HBSC Scotland 2002
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2001/2 HBSC survey
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Reported smoking and school experience HBSC
Scotland 2002

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Family affluence as a social pressure

• Lack of family resources

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Scotland
England
Wales
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Family affluence and daily fruit HBSC Scotland
2002
Significant differences between FAS groups
(p 47
FAS and physical activity Scotland 2002
Significant differences between FAS groups
(p 48
Global gender differences in risk taking and
moderating factors for social pressure

• Risk behaviour
• Lack of physical activity
• Dieting
• Moderating factor
• Body image

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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2001/2 HBSC survey

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Risk taking among UK children

• Patterned by gender and social circumstances
• Moderated by positive family and school
  environments
• UK has specific risk issues but others are common
  across countries
• Future work could include mapping of pressures
  and risks in UK compared to other countries

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HBSC approach

• enables understanding of how young peoples
  health is shaped by social circumstances and
  developmental processes
• draws attention to health inequalities age,
  gender, socioeconomic, geographic
• focuses policy on social and economic
  determinants

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WHO/HBSC Forum promoting young peoples health

• New international initiative to promote
  adolescent health improvement
• Draws on scientific evidence from HBSC and other
  studies
• Sharing of effective policy and practice at
  national level on international platform
• Supports integration of measures to address
  socioeconomic determinants of health into
  policies and interventions

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WHO/HBSC Forum

• 2006 Forum Socioeconomic determinants of healthy
  eating habits and physical activity levels among
  adolescents
• 2007 Forum Social cohesion for mental health
  among adolescents

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Sources

• HBSC http//www.hbsc.org list of all HBSC
  publications, survey methods etc
• HBSC International Report 2001/2 Young Peoples
  Health in Context
• WHO/ HBSC Forum reports
• CAHRU http//www.education.ed.ac.uk/cahru
• Scottish HBSC Briefing Paper Series 1-14, CAHRU
  University of Edinburgh (2003-2007)
• HBSC National Report for 2006 (in press)

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Forthcoming

• Inequalities in Young Peoples Health Report
  from 2005/6 HBSC Survey
• Report of most recent HBSC survey in 41 countries
• Planned for publication December 2007

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Acknowledgements
www.education.ed.ac.uk/cahru
HBSC International Research Network
Scottish HBSC team Joanna Todd Dorothy
Currie Kate Levin Joanna Inchley Fiona
Buchan HBSC International Coordinating
Centre Rebecca Smith Geraldine Debard Emily
Healy Roberta Orioli
www.hbsc.org