Acculturation and interrelationships between problem and health-promoting behaviors among Latino adolescents

Purpose: To examine: (a) the effects of acculturation on a healthy lifestyl e including problem behaviors (substance use and sex acts) and health-promo ting behaviors (e.g, seat belt use, vitamin intake, hours of sleep per nigh t) and Cb) the interrelationships among problem and health-promoting behavi ors among Latino adolescents. Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with Latino adolescents (n = 609) with questions covering the following areas: acculturation, sociodem ographics, problem behaviors, and health-promoting behaviors. The participa nts ranged in age from 11 to 19 (mean = 15) years. Bivariate correlations a nd factor analyses were used to examine the relationship between problem an d health-promoting behaviors. A combination of one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs), Chi-square tests, and Student's t-tests were used to analyze the effects of acculturation on problem and health-promoting behaviors. Results: Higher levels of acculturation were associated with an increased l ikelihood of exhibiting problem behaviors and a decreased likelihood of exh ibiting certain health-promoting behaviors. Foreign-born Latinos were signi ficantly less likely to engage in problem behaviors, problem behaviours wer e likely to co-occur; however, the co-occurrence of health-promoting behavi ors was not evident The results also revealed the co-occurrence of problem behaviors with selected health-promoting behaviors. Conclusions: Among Latino adolescents, there seems to be evidence that prob lem behaviors and certain health-promoting behaviors do co-occur. To the ex tent that "healthy lifestyles" are conceptualized as the presence of health -promoting behaviors and the absence of problem behaviors, less acculturate d Latino adolescents seem to fare better than those that are more accultura ted. Interventions to promote "healthy lifestyles" among Latino adolescents should be tailored to take into consideration the effect of acculturation. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2000.