AN ACADEMIC PARADOX - HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR CLASSSTANDING AND SELF-REPORTED RISK-TAKING

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) administered its 75-item 1991 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey to a nationwide r andom sample of 12,248 high school students. In a secondary analysis o f their data, one item on students' perceived class standing, was comp ared with selected health risk-laking practices. The 7.7% of students who indicated that they were ''below the middle'' in comparison with t heir classmates reported more participation in all risk-taking behavio rs than students who reported being ''in the middle'' (28.6%) or ''abo ve the middle'' (63.7%). Students' grades, ages, and ethnicity showed significant differences, with younger students and selected ethnocultu ral minority students more likely to report being ''below the middle.' ' Perceived class standing may be a proxy measure for estimating parti cipation in health-compromising practices.