Ten-Year Trends in At-Risk Behaviors

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Abstract
This study investigated at-risk behaviors among Black and White adolescents using data from a nationally representative sample of United States high school seniors that permits examination of cohort, gender, and race effects. Designed both to describe trends in at-risk behaviors and to examine the strength and stability of a 10-variable regression model, this study found that (a) Black high school seniors reportedfewer at-risk behaviors than did White seniors, (b) Black girls consistently reported fewer at-risk behaviors than did other race/gender groups, (c) the 10-variable model lost predictive power between 1976 and 1985, and (d) the number of nights per week that seniors went out 'forfun and recreation, "their religiousness, and their college plans had the greatest predictive power for at-risk behaviors.