Abstract
Researchers, from a variety of disciplines, contend that social determinants play a substantial role in effecting the health of an individual. Particular interest has emerged in the past twenty years in response to the idea that social capital, especially at the neighborhood level, can influence behaviors and health outcomes. Little emphasis has been made to understand variables associated with adolescent health. This study will replicate the previous work of Boyce et al. (2008) to assess self-rated health among American adolescents and its relationship with neighborhood social capital and risk-taking behaviors. The United States data from the World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey (HBSC) 2001/2002 were used for the analysis. The HBSC is sponsored by the World Health Organization, and aims to gain insight into the health related attitudes and behaviors of young people in their social context. The current study adds to the existing literature, by substantiating the link between neighborhood social capital, risk-taking behavior, family affluence and their effects upon the self-rated health of American adolescents. There appears to be a positive association between neighborhood social capital and health reported health status of adolescents. Multiple risk-taking behaviors were shown to be detrimental to the health of U.S. adolescents; for each one-unit increase in the frequency of multiple risk-taking behaviors decreases the odds of reporting good health. Therefore, adolescents who report less frequent engagement in risk-taking behaviors are more likely to report having better health. Family affluence was not shown to influence risk-taking behavior among adolescence; however, the relationship between family affluence and the odds of reporting good health were positive and statistically significant.