Determinants of health risk behavior in male juvenile offenders in rural Arizona

This study examined intrapersonal and contextual predictors of health risk behaviors of rural male juvenile offenders. The four predictors in the study included, intrinsic motivation, school attendance, exposure to violence, and self-esteem and their ability to predict health risks and physical fitness. A sample of male juvenile offenders (n=44) from a rural probation office completed questionnaires, including an investigator-developed questionnaire about school attendance, Things I Have Seen and Heard scale, Cox's Health Self Determinism Index for Children, Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, and the Dartmouth COOP Charts for adolescent health risk behaviors. The COOP Chart measures of health risk behavior were validated using selected questions from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The measure health risks from the COOP chart was a valid measure of health risk behaviors smoking, alcohol use, and risky sexual practices. The measure physical fitness from the COOP chart was a valid measure of sedentary behavior and physical fitness.

In this study, the Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior (IMCHB) (Cox, 1982) guided the selection of variables, and the analysis of interactions and cumulative effects of the selected variables. Logistic regression showed the four factors in the model (i.e., school attendance, exposure to violence, intrinsic motivation, and self-esteem) were able to predict health risks (93%) and physical fitness (84%) better than the observed model. School attendance, exposure to violence, and intrinsic motivation were significant predictors of health risk behaviors in rural male juvenile offenders and self-esteem was not a significant predictor of health risk behaviors.

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