RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education

Social Integration As Predictor Of Health, Wellbeing, And Health Behaviour Among Adolescents

Bjorn Holstein & Pernille Due

University of Copenhagen, Department of Social Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark

Objective: To analyze the associations between social integration and self-reported health, wellbeing, and health behaviours.

Material and methods: The study is part of the WHO-collaborative research project Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC). A stratified random sample of Danish children 11, 13, and 15 years old answered a standardized questionnaire, n--4,046.

Results: We identified four groups according to their social integration: The INTEGRATED 64% have confidant relations with both parents and friends. The 17% ADULT-ORIENTED have only confidant relations with parents. The PEER-GROUP ORIENTED 13% have only confidant relations with friends, and the ISOLATED 6% have no confidant relations at all. More girls than boys are integrated, more boys than girls are peer-group oriented and isolated.

The integrated adolescents report the best health and wellbeing, the peer-group oriented and the isolated report worst health and wellbeing. Smoking, alcohol use, poor dietary habits, and no seat belt use is most prevalent among the peer-group oriented. Physical exercise is less prevalent among the isolated as compared to the other groups. Discussion: The results suggest that social integration, measured by confidant relations, is an area of key importance in the. analysis of adolescents' health, wellbeing and health behaviour and thereby in the planning of health promotion.

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