Assessing the Health Behaviors of African American Emerging Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to assess the overall health behaviors of African American emerging adults who live in a Midwestern city. Two hundred participants, ages 18–25, completed a 129-item survey. Results indicate that African American emerging adults are engaged in relatively healthy behaviors (i.e., physical activity, low substance use). The results also showed that within the emerging adult developmental period, there are differences in behavior for those who are in the younger (18–20) versus those that are older (21–25) in the developmental period. Limitations, future research, and implications for practice will also be discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• African American
• emerging adulthood
• role transitions
• substance use, physical activity

Notes

*Total does not equal 200 because of missing data.

*Selected questions from the PANAS inventory (Watson & Tellegen, 1982).

*Significant at p < .01.