In recent years, studies have shown that anxiety may be a key factor affecting adolescent health risk behaviors. However, there is still controversy in academia regarding the specific relationship between anxiety and adolescent health risk behaviors, and the conclusions of related research are not unified. In view of this, this study adopts meta-analysis method to integrate relevant research, aiming to clarify the relationship between anxiety and adolescent health risk behavior, and explore the moderating factors that affect the relationship between the two, providing theoretical basis for intervention of adolescent health risk behavior.
The research results indicate that:
Firstly, anxiety is moderately positively correlated with adolescent health risk behaviors, indicating that adolescents with higher levels of anxiety are more likely to engage in health risk behaviors.
Secondly, the types of health risk behaviors are also important moderating factors, and the association patterns between different types of behaviors (such as substance addiction, intentional injury behavior, etc.) and anxiety are different.
Thirdly, regions and academic stages also have a moderating effect on the relationship between anxiety and adolescent health risk behaviors, with a stronger correlation observed in North American adolescents and a stronger correlation observed as the academic stage increases.
Fourthly, gender did not show a significant moderating effect on the relationship between the two in this study, possibly due to the offsetting balance of differences in different types of health risk behaviors among adolescents of different genders.
Based on this, the author provides the following suggestions:
Firstly, at the theoretical level, further research should focus on the dynamic relationship between anxiety and adolescent health risk behaviors. Longitudinal tracking survey methods can be used to gain a deeper understanding of the changing patterns and causal mechanisms of the two over time.
Secondly, at the practical level, when formulating intervention strategies for adolescent health risk behaviors, factors such as anxiety types, educational stages, and regional differences should be fully considered.
Thirdly, strengthen the research and standardized use of anxiety measurement tools to ensure the accuracy of measurement results.
Fourthly, future research should further explore the impact of various factors such as family socioeconomic status and peer relationships on adolescent health risk behaviors, in order to make the research more comprehensive and comprehensive.