Behavioral determinants of adolescent health in Russia

The article presents results of the study of adolescents’ self-preservation behavior as one of the key health determinants. The logistic regression analysis based on the RLMS-HSE Round 20 data using dichotomized self-reported health status and presence of chronic diseases as dependent variables has provided seven behavioral risk factors: alcohol use, smoking, irregular eating patterns, lack of physical activity, refusing medical treatment for financial reasons, low self-esteem, and sense of a low level of control over life. Our qualitative study, based on 39 semi-structured interviews with adolescents held in Udmurtia and Moscow oblast in 2009-2012, has shown that friends play an important role in involving adolescents into alcohol use: companies of friends often strongly influence the choice of alcoholic drinks and intensity of drinking. Some adolescents do not consider smoking a risk behavior; regular meals are not usually indicated by respondents as a basic element of the healthy lifestyle; middle and high levels of physical activity are often combined with drinking alcohol and smoking. The research has explicitly demonstrated the necessity of taking into account the presence of other people when interviewing RLMS participants, since the results of the logistic regression analysis in the two groups in question differ significantly.