Among adolescents, risk behaviors often cluster together and lead to risk behaviour syndromes. Multiple risk behaviors in turn become important determinants of health outcomes, including injuries.
A national sample (n = 11,415) of Canadian youth aged 11-15 years was examined from the 1997-1998 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey. Principal components analyses were used to characterize how adolescent risk behaviors cluster together into factors. Associations between these behavioral factors and injury outcomes were explored via multiple logistic regression analyses.
Two factors of risk behaviors emerged: lifestyle risks and psychological risks. Strong associations between the lifestyle risk scale and the occurrence of head and neck injuries were identified (P