The Relation of Health-related Behaviors and Family Function in Adolescents

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: It is well known that family is not only the basis but also one of the major factors for personal health management. In this study, we examined to find out the association of family function with health behavior. METHODS: From June to August, 1999, a total of 800 middle and high school students, selected from several metropolitan, medium and small sized cities and a 'myon', were questionnaired on their health-related behaviors like smoking, alcohol intake, diet, exercise and sleeping by means of 'Korean Family Function Assessment Tool'. RESULTS: Among the total, 599 students gave appropriate answers. They were composed of 323 (53.9%) middle school and 276 (46.1%) high school students. Male to female sex ratio was 307 (51.3%) to 292 (48.7%). In the aspect of smoking, smoking group and non-smoking group showed 127.0 +/- 23.3 and 144.9 +/- 23.6, respectively, in terms of Korean Family Function Assessment Tool and were statistically significant (P<0.01). The students were divided into three groups as heavy alcohol drinkers who consumed alcohol more than 168 g-in case of girls the datum point was 132 g-per week, light drinkers and non-drinkers. Their KFFAT scores were also significantly different from each other (P<0.01). On tukey multiple comparison, there was a significant difference primarily between the drinkers and the non-drinkers (P<0.05). Similer findings were shown between the regular and the irregular diet group (P<0.01). But there as no significance with respect to exercise and sleeping. CONCLUSION: Among the health-related behaviors of adolescents, smoking, alcohol intake and diet habit were significantly associated with family function, but exercise and sleeping were not.