FAMILIAL ANTECEDENTS OF YOUNG-ADULT HEALTH RISK BEHAVIOR - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

With a sample of 116,the authors asked how characteristics of the fami ly, rated by adolescents, predicted health risk behavior at young adul thood 6 years later and whether adolescent and young adult personal an d emotional functioning mediated these relationships. The authors also explored the consistency of relationships among these variables acros s 4 types of families: balanced, traditional, disconnected, and emotio nally strained. The family variables significantly predicted young adu lt health risk behavior over time and functioning at adolescence and y oung adulthood did not serve as a mediator. The family model operated well in 3 of the 4 family contexts; it failed to operate among offspri ng from disconnected families. Characteristics of the family affect th e display of health risk behavior when offspring come from families th at have well-defined and coherent family structures.