Factors associated with health risk behavior among school children in urban Vietnam

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the participants

Characteristics	%
Region (n=972)
Urban	51.7
Rural	48.3
Sex (n=952)
Male	51.3
Female	48.7
Grades (n=972)
Grade 6	33.3
Grade 7	36.0
Grade 8	30.7
Self-reported academic achievement in the school (n=966)
Distinction	32.8
Credit	44.9
Satisfactory	20.5
Unsatisfactory	1.8
Ethnic group (n=960)
Kinh	99.5
Others	0.5
Religion (n=932)
No	73.9
Yes	26.1
Family economic status (n=961)
High	12.3
Medium	74.1
Low	13.6

Table 2. Family characteristics and environment

Characteristics	%	Characteristics	%
Parent marital status (n=965)		Family arrangement (with whom the child currently lives) (n=964)
Living together	91.3	Living with both natural parents	95.1
Divorced	2.7	Living with one natural parent	3.5
Separated	3.5	Not living with natural parent	1.3
Death (one or both)	2.5	Number of siblings (n=957)
Parental education		Alone	8.4
Mother (n=946)
University and college degree	22.2	One	48.6
Technical/vocational education/high school	22.9	More than one	43.1
Completed secondary school	22.7	Parent quarrelling (n=965)
Completed primary school	32.1	Never	42.9
Father (n=942)		Rarely	42.6
University and college degree	25.2	Sometimes	12.8
Technical/vocational education/high school	20.4	Often	1.7
Completed secondary school	22.0	Parent fighting (n=967)
Completed primary school	32.5	Never	79.9
Parent occupation		Rarely	15.5
Mother (n=954)
Government staff	18.3	Sometimes	3.8
Self-employed	27.5	Often	0.8
Farmer	33.0	Sibling conflict (n=959)
Housekeeper/unemployment/other	21.2	Never	40.1
Father (n=956)		Rarely	29.9
Government staff	24.7	Sometimes	23.1
Self-employed	34.4	Often	6.9
Farmer	30.9	Emotional support (Who do you talk to when you need help?) (n=954)
Housekeeper/unemployment/other	9.7	Father	4.9
Parent alcohol problems (n=964)		Mother	20.0
No	89.9	Brother/sister	14.6
Yes	10.1	Friends	36.6
Parent drug problems (n=963)		Relatives/others	8.5
No	91.1	No one	15.4
Yes	0.9

Table 3. Prevalence of health risk behaviors among school children by gender, school location, and grade

	Gender			School location			Grade
Health risk behaviors	Male (n=488),%	Female (n=465),%	Overall sample (%) (Average)	City school (n=496),%	Suburb school (n=457),%	Overall sample (Average),%	Grade 6 (n=321),%	Grade 7 (n=341),%	Grade 8 (n=291),%	Overall sample (Average),%
Thought about suicide in the past 12 months	9.9	11.3	10.6	16.1; 95% CI 12.9–19.3	4.6***; 95% CI 2.7–6.5	10.6	9.9	10.6	11.4	10.6
Consumed alcohol in the past 30 days	19.7; 95% CI 16.2–23.2	9.7***; 95% CI 7.0–12.4	14.8	20.3; 95% CI 16.8–23.8	8.3***; 95% CI 5.8–10.8	14.5	13.6	16.3	13.4	14.5
Drove motorbike in the past 30 days	8.5	7.4	8.0	10.1; 95% CI 7.4–12.8	5.7**; 95% CI 3.6–7.8	8.0	2.8; 95% CI 0.9–4.6	6.5; 95% CI 3.9–9.1	15.5***; 95% CI 11.3–19.7	8.0

χ² test comparing prevalence of health risk behaviors among male and female, among students in City School and Suburban School and among students by grade (**p<0.01; ***p<0.001).

Table 4. Multivariable logistic analysis of factors associated with thinking about suicide (male and female)

Variables	OR (CI)
Male
School location	3.9 (1.7–8.7)**
Father care	0.9 (0.8–1.0)**
School connectedness	0.9 (0.8–1.0)*
Bullying	1.2 (1.1–1.4)***
Female
Economic status	**
High economic status	1.00
Medium economic status	0.4 (0.2–0.8)
School location	3.0 (1.2–7.5)**
Emotional support	**
Mother/father	1.00
Brother/sister (1)	0.9 (0.8–4.8)
Friends 2	1.7(0.6–4.9)
Relative/others 3	3.4 (0.8–13.7)
None 4	2.5 (0.7–9.5)
Mother care	0.9 (0.8–1.0)**
Father over protection	1.1 (1.0–1.2)***
School connectedness	0.9 (0.8–1.0)***

Note: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.

Table 5. Multivariable logistic analysis of factors associated with drinking alcohol (male and female)

Variables	OR (CI)
Male
School location	2.2 (1.1–4.6)***
Father education	*
Uni/college degree	1.0
Technical/vocational/high school 1	0.5 (0.2–1.0)
Complete secondary school 2	0.3 (0.2–0.7)
Complete primary school 3	0.6 (0.2–1.5)
Parental alcohol*
No	1.0
Yes 1	1.9 (0.9–4.0)
Father care	0.9 (0.8–1.0)**
Siblings conflict	*
Never	1.00
Rarely 1	2.2 (1.1–4.1)
Sometimes 2	2.5 (1.2–4.9)
Usually/often 3	2.8 (1.1–7.2)
Female
School location	6.3 (2.4–16.6)***
Mother care	0.9 (0.8–1.0)***

Note: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; *** p<0.001.

Table 6. Multivariable logistic analysis of factors associated with underage driving motorbike (male and female)

Variables	OR (CI)
Male
Age	2.8 (1.7–4.6)***
Mother education	*
Uni/college degree	1.0
Technical/vocational/high school 1	3.0 (1.0–9.0)
Complete secondary school 2	0.4 (0.9–1.4)
Complete primary school 3	1.4 (0.4–4.9)
Father occupation	*
Government staff	1.00
Self-employed 1	0.6 (0.2–1.5)
Farmer 2	0.2 (0.1–0.8)
Housekeeper/unemployed/others 3	0.5 (0.1–2.0)
Mother care	0.9 (0.8–1.0)***
Parental fighting	*
Never	1.00
Rarely 1	2.5 (1.0–6.4)
Often/sometimes 2	0.000
Female
Age	1.9 (1.1–3.3)***
School location	7.0 (2.2–21.0)***
Emotional support from	*
Mother/father	1.00
Brother/sister 1	0.5 (0.1–5.6)
Friends 2	3.1 (0.9–11.5)
Relative/others 3	2.6 (0.4–15.5)
None 4	1.7 (0.3–9.1)
Mother care	0.9 (0.8–1.0)***

Note: *p<0.05; ***p<0.001.

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