TRANSITIONS OUT OF HIGH-SCHOOL - TIME OF INCREASED CANCER RISK

Background. The effectiveness of lifestyle behavior interventions with children to reduce chronic disease risks in adulthood assumes stabili ty in the lifestyle behaviors across time. The transition out of high school is a time when many changes occur in social roles, e.g., changi ng schools, leaving the parents' home, changing peers, finding employm ent, getting married, and becoming a parent. Cancer risk behaviors may increase as a result of some of these social role changes. Methods. C oncepts relevant to the stability or change in lifestyle behaviors thr ough the transition out of high school are presented, Literature conce rning diet, smoking, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, physical activity, se xual practices, and sun exposure behaviors through the transition is r eviewed. Results. Most lifestyle behaviors display increasing cancer r isk around the transition out of high school. Different levels of chan ge were associated with different pathways through the transition. Inc onsistent findings were obtained in the pattern of co-occurrence of th ese behaviors. Conclusion. Priority research includes establishing the pattern of co-occurrence of lifestyle behaviors through the transitio n, identifying the pattern of tracking of each behavior through the tr ansition, and identifying the primary influences on the group values a nd tracking of the behaviors. Longitudinal research is needed to contr ol for preexisting differences between pathways through the transition . (C) 1997 Academic Press.