Original article
Prevalence of health risk behaviors among Asian American/Pacific Islander high school students

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(00)00093-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the prevalence of selected risk behaviors among Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) students and white, black, and Hispanic high school students in the United States.

Methods: The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced nationally representative samples of students in grades 9 through 12 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. To generate a sufficient sample of AAPI students, data from these four surveys were combined into one dataset yielding a total sample size of 55,734 students.

Results: In the month preceding the survey, AAPI students were significantly less likely than black, Hispanic, or white students to have drunk alcohol or used marijuana. AAPI students also were significantly less likely than white, black, or Hispanic students to have had sexual intercourse; however, once sexually active, AAPI students were as likely as other racial or ethnic groups to have used alcohol or drugs at last intercourse or to have used a condom at last intercourse. AAPI students were significantly less likely than white, black, or Hispanic students to have carried a weapon or fought but were as likely as any of the other groups to have attempted suicide.

Conclusions: A substantial percentage of AAPI students engage in risk behaviors that can affect their current and future health. Prevention programs should address the risks faced by AAPI students using culturally sensitive strategies and materials. More studies are needed to understand the comparative prevalence of various risk behaviors among AAPI subgroups.

Section snippets

Study population

Data from the national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted in 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were used for this study. Each YRBS used a three-stage cluster sample design to produce a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 in all public, parochial, and private schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia 5, 17, 18, 19.

In the first stage of sampling for each national survey, primary

Results

Of the 52,985 students who participated in the YRBS from 1991 to 1997, 3.5% were AAPI, 14.5% were black, 10.0% were Hispanic, and 72.0% were white. The percentage female ranged from 43.8% among AAPI students to 52.1% among black students, and the percentage male ranged from 47.9% among black students to 56.2% among AAPI students (Table 1). In all four race/ethnic groups, approximately one-fourth of the students were in each of the four grades.

Discussion

This study provides useful information about the prevalence of single and multiple risk behaviors among AAPI students. Overall, our results demonstrate that AAPI students are less likely to engage in most risk behaviors than are white, black, or Hispanic students. Other studies of AAPI students have demonstrated similar findings for cigarette smoking 6, 10, substance use 6, 10, and sexual activity 13, 14, 15, 16. Suzuki et al. (23) report that approximately 40% of high school students in Japan

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