determinants of risky behaviors in youth: a gender-based study

conclusions parental style could play a different role in conducting risky behaviors among girls and boys. therefore, appropriate parental styles should be used in bringing up children based on their gender. background gender differences play an important role in risky behaviors such as drug use, of the youth. despite having a substantial youth population in the middle east north africa (mena) region there are limited studies on this issue. objectives the present study explores the parental and individual factors related to risky behaviors of boys and girls. patients and methods this cross-sectional study used a multistage cluster sampling method. the five main areas of kerman were classified as clusters. within the clusters, a systematic random sampling was used to select the street, where five houses were examined for eligible candidates. a self-administered questionnaire (created by the author) assessed the 500 candidates (aged 15 - 29 years) on parental styles, level of education, social capital, modern leisure activities, and risky behavior in 2013. data were analyzed using logistic regression with spss 19 (statistical package of social sciences) at a significance level of 5%. results parental styles affecting the risky behaviors of both girls and boys were as follow: neglecting parental styles increased the risk of drug use (or = 8.63, p = 0.04 and or = 33.44, p = 0.001 in boys and girls, respectively). in addition, having a stay-at-home mother reduced the risk of drug use (or = 0.09, p = 0.002) in boys, and reduced the risk of drug use and smoking in girls (or = 0.34, p = 0.03 and or = 0.38, p = 0.04, respectively). also, engaging in modern leisure activities raised the risk of all risky behaviors for boys and girls (eg, alcohol drinking: or = 1.23, p = 0.000). in boys, higher level of education reduced the risk of drug use (or = 0.13, p = 0.05), whereas it increased the risk of sexual behaviors (or = 2.03, p = 0.03). in girls, higher level of education was related to an increase in alcohol use (or = 2.44, p = 0.05).