The role of family, peer, and teacher support on adolescents' health-risk behavior: profile analysis from 43 countries

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1155/cad/9662493

Introduction: Building on a recent study that identified five health-risk behavior profiles among males and six profiles among female adolescents from 43 European countries, this study is aimed at exploring the youth′s perceived support from family, peers, and teachers in relation to these profiles. Despite the emphasis on adolescent health-risk behaviors and perceived social support systems in previous literature, limited research has examined how these support domains intersect with person-centered patterns of co-occurring health-risk behaviors. Methods: Using the most recent publicly available data from the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey (N = 68,688), this study used the Bolck–Croon–Hagenaars (BCH) method to assess differences in perceived family, peer, and teacher support across the profiles identified from 11 health-risk behaviors among 15-year-old adolescents based on latent profile analysis (LPA), separately for males and females. Results: The results revealed that adolescents in the low-risk profile reported the highest family and teacher support. Peer support was highest among males in the poor lifestyle–smoking profile. The lowest support levels across all three domains were observed in the poor lifestyle–high substance use profile. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that social support patterns vary systematically across health-risk profiles, underscoring the importance of tailoring intervention strategies to adolescents′ specific needs. Since each profile represents a unique pattern of perceived support, a one-size-fits-all approach may be insufficient. Instead, prevention efforts that simultaneously strengthen family dynamics, peer, and teacher relationships may offer the greatest benefits for adolescents who demonstrate multiple risk behaviors across different areas.