Young adolescents' wellbeing and health-risk behaviours: gender and socio-economic differences

In this paper we use the 1994-1997 Youth Surveys of the British Household P anel Study to examine the wellbeing of young adolescents. We conceptualize wellbeing as a multi-dimensional construct and we develop and test models o f gender and age differences. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we find c lear gender differences in self-esteem,self-efficacy, unhappiness and worri es. We confirm that wellbeing and some health-risk behaviours (fighting and smoking) are linked. We test models that examine how family structure, fat her's occupation, tenure, and household income, affect adolescent wellbeing . While socio-economic factors affect health-risk behaviours and also adole cents' reported worries, they have little impact on other aspects of youth wellbeing. The implications of these findings are discussed. (C) 2001 The A ssociation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.